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You might say Americans have an obsession with exercise.
Which is strange, because we are sicker, fatter and more out of shape than we have ever been.
But if you look at Instagram or Tik Tok or YouTube or the fitness section of your local bookstore, there is no shortage of books, videos and other content teaching you how to exercise.
And there is so much variety! No matter what your skill level, ability or interest.
There’s exercises for people with low back or hip pain.
Exercises for people with only 10 minutes to spare.
Exercises for people who love to walk outside.
Exercises for people who can’t get away from their desks.
So, like, why are we so obsessed with working out?
First of all, there’s a lot of social and cultural pressure to exercise.
Because exercising means you’re a healthy person that takes care of themselves. Being a “healthy person” means you could make a better mate and have healthier offspring.
Because we feel pressure to look a certain way, and that means someone who is in shape and healthy.
For men, we exercise to show that we can be a good provider and protector for our family.
But there’s also a ton of biological pressure for us to exercise.
Like I mentioned above, we have biological drives to show to potential mates that we are healthy, fertile, and able to be a provider and protector.
Even deeper than that, our bodies have a biological need to move.
In the past, that biological need to move would have been satisfied by day to day life.
Walking for miles hunting or searching for food.
Lifting and carrying heavy things for miles and miles.
Digging and tilling and planting and harvesting crops on a farm.
Building, shaping, constructing tools and buildings and anything else that needed doing.
We would have spent all day, every day, moving our bodies in a thousand different ways.
Take walking for example.
In our past, we would have walked many, many miles a day. Hunting, gathering, migrating, farming, fishing, building.
These days we complain about getting 8,000 steps in a day (that’s about 4 miles.)
But our bodies need to move!
Moving helps our body digest and assimilate food. It keeps blood sugar levels down and insulin in check.
Moving encourages blood to flow to our outer extremities, making our heart work harder and get stronger.
Moving stimulates our brain and nervous system, challenging our senses and making us sharper.
Moving keeps our bones and joints strong and durable.
Moving keeps inflammation down and our veins and arteries open for proper blood flow.
Moving switches off our stress response allowing us to rest and repair.
Moving helps push out and remove toxins from our body.
When we don’t move, like so many of us here in America, we get sick.
We get heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes. We get gout and we get brain fog and we don’t sleep well. We get depressed and anxious.
Do you need to go to a gym 5 days a week to get the benefits of moving? No.
And I think that is where we have gone wrong. We think that “movement” needs to be a type of exercise you do at a gym or at home for 30-45 minutes a day, and that’s it.
But your body wants to move all day.
I know most of us don’t move every day just to complete the basic tasks of living.
We don’t farm or hunt or gather.
We drive to office jobs where we sit for 8 hours, then drive home and sit there, too.
How to add more movement into your day
We’re obsessed with working out with this country, but we’re doing it all wrong. We think doing a 30 minute HIIT routine 3 times a week is enough.
That said, we should definitely be including some kind of formal exercise each week.
Something that challenges you.
The best exercise for you is the one you enjoy doing and will stick with long term.
Find something you enjoy doing, like jogging or swimming or prancercising, and do it as often as you can.
Our ancestors were very good at lifting and carrying heavy things.
I recommend spending time lifting and carrying something heavy 2-3 times a week. This can be weight training, CrossFit, even just rucking with a heavy pack.
Lifting weights brings the benefit of being better able to pick things up off the ground and lift things above your head as you age.
Find time to walk every single day. Walk around the floor of your building, take a walk around the block at lunch. Walk the dog in the morning and in the evening. Walk around the block when you check the mail.
Honestly, walking is probably the single most beneficial movement you can do with your body. Do it a lot and do it often.
Like I said, your body needs to move. It wants to move. It’s in your DNA.
One of my main focuses when I work with clients is adding more movement to their day.
It’s about forming healthy habits and seeing all the amazing health benefits of movement, not just exercise.
If you need help getting your daily movement on track, we should talk.
I’ve got spots in my 6-month health coaching program.
Ready? Let’s go!
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