How to Like Being Active, Have Fun, and Get Healthy
Statistics show that 80% of American adults don’t meet national physical activity recommendations for aerobic and muscle strengthening. Additionally, around 45% of us don’t move around enough to get any health benefits from our activities. (Physical Inactivity)
Why We Don’t Move Enough
We all know there are a lot of good reasons to exercise. They include improving our energy, health mood, and better sleep. Not to mention reducing anxiety, depression, and stress.
Our thoughts vary about what physical activity and moving are. First, we don’t want force ourselves to do monotonous activities we hate. And, we don’t want to hear that exercise will fix something wrong us. We also don’t want to spend our life in a gym. Sometimes the idea of moving fills us with dread, which isn’t particularly motivating.
Plus, we may believe it takes too long to see any results. Willpower won’t keep us going long-term. Ultimately, improving our health isn’t motivation enough to make us get up and go (anywhere).
As a challenge, what other intriguing movements can you think to do? If you’re so inclined, take a short (5 or 6 seconds) video of you performing an activity and email it to me. When I get 10, I’ll post them in an upcoming blog post.
Thanks to: Amy, Jack, Joanna, Jose, Linn, Liz, Lenny, Lenora, Lloyd, Mark, Matha, Michael, Mimi, Nancy, Newton, Nilopher, Otis, Patricia, Peter, Roberta, Susan, Vinnie, and anyone whose name I didn’t get.
Watch this video of clients and friends doing different activities, familiar to unusual. I want to inspire you to love activity and moving.
How to Like Being Active: Have Fun and Be Well
Hardly anyone thinks about exercise as simply moving. In fact, exercise is a narrow view of human movement. Actually, there are many alternatives to boost moving our bodies other than traditional exercise.
Start with any activity. You can reach a mile by different methods: biking, running, skipping, swimming, walking, or a combination of those activities. So, choose one that will make you happy both as you do it, and when you’re finished.
The key to sticking with a physical activity is that we enjoy it. When we finish doing something we enjoy, we feel successful. And success is a confidence builder.
Variety is the Spice of Life
We have a lot of choices in how to begin and enjoy moving (not-exercise). Moving is a moveable feast.
Jacqueline Gikow, is a movement/fitness coach, medical fitness specialist, and health and wellness coach. Her holistic, health and wellness practice, Audacious Living NYC™, centers on pain relief through better movement. She is certified through the National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM), the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBCHWC), the Functional Aging Institute (FAI), Medfit (MFN), and the Arthritis Foundation (AFAP/AFEP). Her fitness practice includes in-home and remote, one-on-one fitness training and coaching in New York City. Jacqueline can be reached at: https://audaciouslivingnyc.com. Her fitness group, on Facebook, is https://www.facebook.com/groups/audaciouslivingnyc