To improve my health, I recently started the #30days30walks challenge. In this post, I want to share why this important to me and why I highly recommend other devs to start doing something similar.

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Some Background

Before I started working as a web developer, I worked on many other things. Most of them required physical effort of some kind. When I was a carpenter, I used to lift heavy stuff most of the time, and working in a mall or as a waiter, I used to expend a lot of hours on my feet.

Also, I worked out way more than I do now. For instance, when I was living in Spain, I played football (⚽) every weekend and twice a week I trained.

In my middle 20's my weight was around 70kg. As I said, I used to exercise a lot.

Web development and Pandemic

We, as web developers, are sitting down most of the time. And this might not be a problem if you have other activities, like going to the gym or hurrying after that train or bus to get to the office. Because working out is not just lifting weight, but moving your body.

That routine changed for me in March 2020. With the first lockdown we lived in Israel, I started working from home. That meant no more hurrying to catch a train or bus to get to the office. If I used to do around 9k steps per day, it dropped to 1k per day.

Although I tried a few times to start running in the evenings, it didn't endure, and 11 months later I found myself with my back hurting and 91kg of weight.

Real Problem

One day I couldn't sit down because my back was hurting and I worked all day standing up. I remember the next day also my legs were hurting and I had to take the day off.

After an x-ray and a visit to the doctor, I was diagnosed with a herniated disc. Lucky me was still in an early stage so with physiotherapy and exercise I could avoid surgery.

Conclusion

I tweeted this the other day and I think it wraps up everything I want to say.

For a good work-life balance, stay active and healthy.

Picture by Jon Tyson