The American College of Sports Medicine’s Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends revealed High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) as the top fitness fad for 2014. What’s next? Kettle Bell yoga, pole dancing on Power Plates?
Post Updated September, 2018
Exercise has become yet another chore in a long list of to–dos. How the heck did this happen? Exercise is really about body movement and movement should be innately pleasurable.
History of movement
Around 500 million years ago, animals left the oceans and began to explore the land.
We evolved to move our bodies in order to run from threats, farm the fields, make and raise children, hunt for food, draw on caves and shoot arrows. Somewhere along the line, body movement has morphed into body exercise.
ex·er·cise/noun
activity requiring physical effort, carried out especially to sustain or improve health and fitness
- dancercise (1967)
- jazzercise (1977)
- boxercise (1985)
- zumba (mid 90’s)
I believe the solution to creating a lifelong habit of body movement is to stop treating movement like exercise – something to get done.
The solution came for me when I decided to leave a successful Chiropractic practice, to take my posture videos online full-time. Somehow leaving my practice to do the work that I love (in posture correction) signaled the end of formal exercise and the beginning of a life-long habit of body movement.
I stopped going to the gym and began moving my body every single day. It no longer felt like part of a to-do list.
When you switch from exercise to body movement you will be free – no longer trapped in a search for the next best fitness fad. No longer placing undo stress and strain on your body joints or pounding the pavement with an ex-army sergeant screaming at you for 10 more!
Related: Posturecise: How to Create a Healthy Posture Habit for Life
The switch doesn’t happen overnight, and some of you will be resistant to the idea of replacing exercise with daily body movement. But you have to admit that body movement sounds more enticing than Boot Camp!
New Habits
Like any new habit, it takes time for your brain to create new neural pathways. It doesn’t matter what form your body movement takes, just as long as you are purposefully moving your body every day!
If you need inspiration, and feel that exercise has become one more chore to add to your never ending list of to-dos, here are three ways to begin your attention from exercise to movement:
- Stop using the words exercise, fitness or workout and try using the word movement.
- Begin to wiggle and fidget on a regular basis – on the toilet, waiting in line, on the phone or sitting at your desk.
- Observe children and notice when and how they move (they skip, hop, run, jump, spin, climb, bounce, leap and dance). It’s fun – give it a try!
Body movement is natural and something you will learn to love; until you no longer have to remember to do it – because you begin to feel stronger, looser, vibrant and young!
Here is a short list of some of the fitness (exercise) fads we’ve endured:
- Boot Camps
- HIIT (high-intensity-interval-training)
- Zumba
- Cross Fit
- Water-aerobics
- Slimnastics
- Yogalates
- Vibrating belts
- Thighmaster
- Ab Roller
- Power Plates
- Kettle Bells
- Spinning
- Pole Dancing – OK this one does sound fun!
What others have you tried?
