Fitness and Play
We should be finding more fun in our lives.
Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash
Sprinting is all the rage these days. I’ve touched on it a little when writing about Heavy Conditioning, but many others have also done a good job of covering the concept. However, one recent Medium article made my ears perk up. The idea, which is surprisingly novel still, is that we should be looking at our training, our physical activity, as fun.
Everyday fitness is about maintaining your health and physical ability so you can live your life to it’s fullest. But aren’t those actually the same thing? What if living your life, having fun, was an endeavor that improved your health and fitness in and of itself?
Enter NEAT
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) is an umbrella term that scientists and scholars use to talk about everything else we do with our day that isn’t training hard, resting, or sleeping. That walk to the mailbox? NEAT. Doing dishes, yard work, or cycling to the store? NEAT.
The higher your NEAT, the more calories your body uses each day, which has a direct impact on fat loss and thus overall health.
I probably don’t need to explain the idea that some activities have a higher NEAT than others. Kneeling in a garden and pulling weeds is much lower than splitting lumber. NEAT is the concept that explains why people who labor for a living are often thinner than desk-bound knowledge workers.
I’m not asking you to quit your desk job and go work bailing hay or whatever to increase it! So what you need to focus on is something I discussed in another article — leisure time physical activity. The US recommendations works out to a 22 minutes per day minimum to increase longevity and quality of life, with additional benefits as that time increases (even up to 120 minutes of moderate activity).
So What?
What am I actually saying here? In short: you don’t play enough. Your “fun” involves sitting still in various ways — on the couch, in bleachers, in a car, or a whole bunch of other things. I’m definitely not saying stop doing those things. Watch movies, tv, sports games, go for boat rides, I dunno — all these things are fine. But you can carve out 22 minutes, right? You can shuffle things just a bit to make a 22 minute gap for play. Do something that’s not sitting, that you enjoy.
I can see some of you thinking “but what if I don’t enjoy any physical activity at all?” — to which I say “bullshit, you just haven’t tried enough things.”
Even a brisk walk in the park is sufficient. Go for a hike up a hill, play fetch with your dog, or take a fun bike ride. There are tons of things to do!
And if you don’t like being outside? Dance, play ping pong, or do some somersaults. Being indoors limits your physical play, sure, but it doesn’t mean there’s no options.
But I Already Workout!
That’s awesome! But it doesn’t matter here. I want people to focus a little on fun. On play. On being active because it’s enjoyable in its own right, not because it will make you thinner, or stronger, or more supple. You need to find enjoyment in activity, and then train so you can keep enjoying that activity.
Train to live, don’t live to train.
Sign up for more posts from Everyday Fitness: