Exercise is a fundamental human requirement for health and longevity, so why does it seems so hard to do sometimes? You would think that exercising would be as universally enjoyed as eating, since it is nearly as essential to life!
Yet for some reason, many people dread exercise and sometimes even go out of their way to avoid it. Many people think of exercise as difficult, painful, or just unenjoyable (by the way, I'm not one of those people, but there are certainly times when I can relate!), and we can see the result of this mindset all around us in the epidemic of obesity and sedentary-lifestyle-related diseases facing our society today.
So why don't we all love to exercise?
I do think some of it has to do with the messages we see in the media about exercise being "hard," as well as the portrayal of thin, fit bodies as an ideal that we just don't feel we can live up to. However, I think an even greater cause of our dislike of exercise is the unnatural separation of movement from our livelihoods and daily routine.
Humans originally evolved as creatures of nearly constant movement. When we weren't sleeping or eating, we were moving - climbing, walking, running, jumping, chasing prey (or being chased), digging, stooping, reaching, and generally incorporating movement into just about every aspect of our day.
As we became more settled and adopted an agrarian lifestyle, our lives were similarly intertwined with motion as we cultivated and harvested crops, erected homes, built furniture, killed and cooked and processed our food, scrubbed laundry, tended to animals, and went about all the tasks of daily living in a world where we had to provide most of our physical needs for ourselves.
The industrial revolution began to change all of this, as factories automated so many aspects of production, moving us further and further from the processing of our food, the making of our textiles, and the creation of most of our worldly goods - namely, everything we used to do for ourselves that involved exercise.
Now we find ourselves in what can rightfully be called a "knowledge economy," where the jobs that are considered the highest "value" are also usually the ones that require the least physical labor, and our health as a society is suffering for it.
So what is the solution?
It is neither practical nor advisable for everyone to go back to growing, harvesting, and processing 100% of our own food (although I heartily support anyone who tries!), or making all of our own clothing, furniture, and other goods, and generally spending all of our time just trying to physically survive. But clearly we need to find a way to get more exercise into our daily routine. Our health depends on it!
There are many ways to do this (and you can browse our archives for some of them), but in my mind the easiest way lies in finding ways to incorporate more natural movement into our daily lives, beyond just "working out" at the gym for an hour every so often. Not only does this method involve less effort and planning than more structured workout routines, but it is also more attractive to those who "hate to exercise."
Below are 7 easy and fun ways to get more exercise - without working out:
Yet for some reason, many people dread exercise and sometimes even go out of their way to avoid it. Many people think of exercise as difficult, painful, or just unenjoyable (by the way, I'm not one of those people, but there are certainly times when I can relate!), and we can see the result of this mindset all around us in the epidemic of obesity and sedentary-lifestyle-related diseases facing our society today.
So why don't we all love to exercise?
I do think some of it has to do with the messages we see in the media about exercise being "hard," as well as the portrayal of thin, fit bodies as an ideal that we just don't feel we can live up to. However, I think an even greater cause of our dislike of exercise is the unnatural separation of movement from our livelihoods and daily routine.
Humans originally evolved as creatures of nearly constant movement. When we weren't sleeping or eating, we were moving - climbing, walking, running, jumping, chasing prey (or being chased), digging, stooping, reaching, and generally incorporating movement into just about every aspect of our day.
As we became more settled and adopted an agrarian lifestyle, our lives were similarly intertwined with motion as we cultivated and harvested crops, erected homes, built furniture, killed and cooked and processed our food, scrubbed laundry, tended to animals, and went about all the tasks of daily living in a world where we had to provide most of our physical needs for ourselves.
The industrial revolution began to change all of this, as factories automated so many aspects of production, moving us further and further from the processing of our food, the making of our textiles, and the creation of most of our worldly goods - namely, everything we used to do for ourselves that involved exercise.
Now we find ourselves in what can rightfully be called a "knowledge economy," where the jobs that are considered the highest "value" are also usually the ones that require the least physical labor, and our health as a society is suffering for it.
So what is the solution?
It is neither practical nor advisable for everyone to go back to growing, harvesting, and processing 100% of our own food (although I heartily support anyone who tries!), or making all of our own clothing, furniture, and other goods, and generally spending all of our time just trying to physically survive. But clearly we need to find a way to get more exercise into our daily routine. Our health depends on it!
There are many ways to do this (and you can browse our archives for some of them), but in my mind the easiest way lies in finding ways to incorporate more natural movement into our daily lives, beyond just "working out" at the gym for an hour every so often. Not only does this method involve less effort and planning than more structured workout routines, but it is also more attractive to those who "hate to exercise."
Below are 7 easy and fun ways to get more exercise - without working out:
1. Play with your kids. Go make piles of leaves in the backyard and jump in them. Chase them around. Pretend you’re a monster and try to catch them. Give them horsey rides. They’ll love it - and you will too!
2. Join a martial arts class. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what a gi is, or that you’ve never done a class in your life. There’s sure to be other newbies in pretty much any class you choose. Look at all the different types in your area. Look at it this way: you’ll be active, you’ll learn some self-defense moves, and you’ll feel like Neo in The Matrix. Okay, maybe not, but you’ll definitely be a cooler version of your current self!
3. Wash your car. If it’s nice outside, get out there and wash your car! You’ll get to enjoy some sunshine, burn off some calories, and your car will look pretty when you’re done.
4. Do something active with friends instead of meeting for coffee. Next time your friends want to meet for coffee, why don’t you suggest doing something active? Go bowling, play some Frisbee, go for a walk, or play some mini golf.
5. Spring clean your house/apartment. Yes, as mentioned, regular housecleaning doesn’t count, but if you do more than you usually do, it counts. For example, take down all the curtains and wash them, wash all your baseboards, empty out your cabinets and clean inside, clean your fridge, clean your oven…the list is really quite long of things you can do. A side bonus is that your place will be really clean!
6. Play Wii Fit or some other video game that requires you to move. Dance Dance Revolution is great. You also have Wii Tennis and other ones similar. Don’t have a Wii? Have a party and play Twister.
7. Join a recreational league. Not only are rec leagues great for getting some exercise, they’re also perfect for meeting people and making new friends. You probably have a choice from several, like soccer, softball, bowling, volleyball, biking, ice hockey, and/or swimming, depending on the season. Pick something you like or have always wanted to try, and just do it!
Find more fun exercise ideas where these came from at PaleoHacks.com.
It doesn't really matter what you choose as long as you do it regularly, and a combination of these and other types of exercise can be a great way to get the daily exercise that you need, and improve your health at the same time!
To your health,
Rose.
2. Join a martial arts class. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what a gi is, or that you’ve never done a class in your life. There’s sure to be other newbies in pretty much any class you choose. Look at all the different types in your area. Look at it this way: you’ll be active, you’ll learn some self-defense moves, and you’ll feel like Neo in The Matrix. Okay, maybe not, but you’ll definitely be a cooler version of your current self!
3. Wash your car. If it’s nice outside, get out there and wash your car! You’ll get to enjoy some sunshine, burn off some calories, and your car will look pretty when you’re done.
4. Do something active with friends instead of meeting for coffee. Next time your friends want to meet for coffee, why don’t you suggest doing something active? Go bowling, play some Frisbee, go for a walk, or play some mini golf.
5. Spring clean your house/apartment. Yes, as mentioned, regular housecleaning doesn’t count, but if you do more than you usually do, it counts. For example, take down all the curtains and wash them, wash all your baseboards, empty out your cabinets and clean inside, clean your fridge, clean your oven…the list is really quite long of things you can do. A side bonus is that your place will be really clean!
6. Play Wii Fit or some other video game that requires you to move. Dance Dance Revolution is great. You also have Wii Tennis and other ones similar. Don’t have a Wii? Have a party and play Twister.
7. Join a recreational league. Not only are rec leagues great for getting some exercise, they’re also perfect for meeting people and making new friends. You probably have a choice from several, like soccer, softball, bowling, volleyball, biking, ice hockey, and/or swimming, depending on the season. Pick something you like or have always wanted to try, and just do it!
Find more fun exercise ideas where these came from at PaleoHacks.com.
It doesn't really matter what you choose as long as you do it regularly, and a combination of these and other types of exercise can be a great way to get the daily exercise that you need, and improve your health at the same time!
To your health,
Rose.
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