Incidental Exercise

I often long for the days when people's lives were more centered around hard physical work, like farming. Although I have done the 'gym thing' it always feels artificial somehow.

It is funny that the further we move forward as a society the less healthy we become. We make every thing easier so that we can be more productive, which makes us fat because we don't have to do anything.

But it really is our own fault. doing small things to change the way you function can have a huge impact on your fitness level.

Shop hard. I like that one. :-)

I do go to the gym, but I also try to keep moving out of the gym. It's not hard, cleaning the house regularly, hula hooping while watching TV, walking to the corner store instead of getting in the car. I love that I don't have to do hard physical labor for a living, I like my back free of aches and pains thank you, but I think we get carried away with "labor saving" in our society. Really, it's often faster to walk to the mini-mart for some milk than to get in your car and park... not to mention the gas savings!

this post ties in with "I can't lose weight because I can't afford a personal trainer, (or) gym membership, chef,) and so forth--I hear this tired old excuse all of the time. Try being really poor. My dad had an old funky bike he found in the trash and fixed up. He cycled to and from his job 6 days a week. that was about 12 miles a day--and get this: In all weather ! -- on really snowy days he'd ride in the cleared roads or walk most of the way.He had to do this for almost a year until he could afford to buy a car.I was only 10, but it really impressed me on so many levels, while it embarrassed my brother.

Not everybody in the past was a farmer or had to do demanding physical labor. Their were writers and pasket weavers and such, that did not demand much physical labor. I am reminded of the Greeks and how they prided themselfs on physical prowess. Fitness was part of their core education. They commonly worked out; running, wrestling and such. Now we have advanced machinery to make our workout lives easier, but we just dont use it. Everything about our ives is easier now, even staying in shape. People just dont do it.

Thanks for this post :-)
I am finding my exercise lately by walking to store, walking to the post office.
I plan to do machines soon but ealking right now is helpfull.

I totally agree with your point and I can testify that it works for weight loss as well. While I lost my hundred pounds, my only exercise was walking everywhere with my daughter in a baby carrier. I made it a point to make it a little longer or harder, but that was it.

Nowadays I love to exercise, but I make a point of having an active lifestyle as well. I run outside with my toddler (this way she'll get exercise too) or do resistance exercises while she sits on my legs (I swing her around, she loves that!)

I recently got a bike and absolutely love it. I bike a minimum of 25 miles a week whereas before I did almost no physical activity. If I have an errand to run, I hop on the bike and take care of it.

Within a month I had lost over ten pounds, without really changing my diet much. Quite simply, the key to exercise is to find something you love, and then it's not work or a chore. It's fun!

It is fun reading everyone's ideas on exercise.

I answered an ad on Craig's List for someone who wanted a walking partner. It is working out so well for me because when I know someone is meeting me or waiting for me I am less likely to skip it. We walk at 7:00 am 5 days a week for at least an hour. On 2 or 3 of the days we also throw in 45 minutes or so of tennis. The plan is to add golfing or bike riding occasionally to keep it interesting.

Excellent point on keeping our lives more active. My whole family does not workout but are in great shape becuase they are very active and hard worker. Yes, my family are farmers but they also play lots of basketball and other games while eating pretty clean. Exercising at gyms has become nessecary for many to get their exercise in but not everyone has to put up with all those hours at the gym if they keep their life active.

I've often thought that engineers must be the laziest people on earth...coming up with every labor-saving device known to mankind. Or more accurately, to be a good engineer you have to be really lazy and think of the easiest way to do everything. Back in the days before everyone NEEDED a car, people had alternate transportation...their feet! When I was living on campus, I did not own a car because I couldn't afford it. I walked everywhere and if it was too far to walk, I rode my bike. If I had to carry too much stuff, I broke down and took a bus. People do make exercise too painful these days...you don't HAVE to run on a treadmill to get in shape! You can bike to work or walk to the store or whatever...just move more. I'm constantly amazed at just how sedentary some people's lives are when they really could add incidental exercise in many places.

It's amazing the positive compounding effect simple natural movement can have on your body. Just as small unconcious spending can nickle and dime your bank account to a massive loss - a little extra movement here and there can withdrawl significant calories from your body over a week, month, year. Plus, most of the things you mentioned in your post are fun and have the extra side benefit of strengthening relationships and personal accomplishment. Great post...

I used to walk/run to and from work (8 miles each way) when I lived out on the suburbs and had no car... It's actually quite nice to get to work endorphins already abuzz.
My only problem with it was, no matter what you are trying to do, roads and the drivers in the suburbs are NOT pedestrian or cyclist friendly. Plus, any set training can really fall quick... At 16 miles a day, and 8-12 hour work days on your feet (retail-inventory), plus the requisate walking to the grocery store, cleaning, etc, you don't feel much like training. And your fitness can stagnate like that.

Family picnics circa 1975: Everyone was running around, playing games, eating, playing sports, kids playing tag... even the elderly women had a dance contest. A lot of laughter and movement.

This summer...same family-- all obese, many diabetic, kids don't want to play--sit with ipods, bored. toddlers walking around with food in hand... adults sitting around picking at food all day, talking, not much to be cheery about. But the elderly people (age 80-90) are still moving! (horseshoes, walking, dancing, and eating normal portions of food) -- hmmm...

We all can build more activity into our busy day's routine but if you also want to add FUN to your day's routine, get a dog. We did a study on people and pets trying to lose weight together and found that dogs motivated their owners to be more active which made their weight loss less drudgery and more fun. Isn't that the missing ingredient to living a healthier lifestyle?

The whole exercise thing is so over rated when it comes to weight loss. Eat the right things and weight gain is not an issue. Provide lions with an over abundance of prey in an enclosed area and watch what happens. They will gorge themseves every few days and sleep the rest of the time, barely moving at all, and yet never get fat. The only exercise they ever get is when they have to hunt.

One of the best things I did was to buy a pedometer. I keep track of how many steps I take daily. My goal each day is 10,000 steps. Whoever came up with the 10,000 step program is a genius. It is easy to follow, and as time goes by, my daily goals are easier to attain and maintain.

Carrie

Thanks for sharing the story about your father and the old bike. I found it very touching.

Excellent article. Very good ideas on increasing physical activity. You're right we're not getting enough exercise today and making the time to do so is very difficult in today's society. The main reason why we're becoming overweight, however, is lack of exercise.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommendation of exercise for weight loss is as follows. We should exercise at an exercise intensity of between 65%-85% for at least 45 minutes on most days of the week. Most people exercise at the weight maintenance level, which is only 3-4 times per week.

I long for those days as well. As much as I enjoy my new slimming body, I wish I could move to Asia or Europe where exersize is for those who are truly health/physically oriented towards it and not a daily thing.
A place where strange things like turbojam, trimspa and the Firm are just that-strange and not saturating life. Where people are only heavy because their genetics may code for it and not because the general population is overweight.
But also where people are healthy by doing ordinary things all the time. Being trim is not an obsession, its just normal and fairly easy to maintian.
but thats just a fantasy world.....

Stretchy: people certainly used to move more. Anyone over the age of thirty will probably agree. So much for the brave new world of technological marvels.

One more point: Get the mail :-) I live at the foot of a 100m steep driveway. Even going to the mailbox is enough to get my heart pumping.