Pandemic is turning us into couch potatoes ‘Any motion is better than just sitting around’ By CNN staff | December 15, 2020 at 2:33 PM EST - Updated December 15 at 5:55 PM (CNN) – One of the side effects of the pandemic for many is a sedentary lifestyle. Combine social isolation, working from home and binge-watching TV, it all adds up to Americans sitting for hours longer each day when compared to their pre-pandemic lifestyles. Because of that, people are reporting new aches and pains, which doctors are directly linking to our inactivity. “Muscles weaken a lot with just a little bit of inactivity and when muscles are weak … joints don’t work so well,” according to Dr. Angela Smith, a professor of orthopedics at Sidney Kimmel Medical College.