Disclaimer: I wholeheartedly support nearly any type of physical activity and movement as a healthy behavior. In my day-to-day coaching, I echo and advocate the initiatives to add all movement as medicine. Doing any additional physical activity beyond what we currently do will elicit health benefits. Trying new things, becoming socially engaged, and being adventurous with various physical activities and exercise modes throughout the lifespan is also essential. However, I do not want to lessen the urgent need for and the importance of safely challenging our physical fitness through evidence-based, progressive exercise programming.
For 60% of Americans who have at least one chronic health condition and 40% who have two or more, adding a little more movement to daily life is not sufficient. Outside of going from completely sedentary to active, we have to begin to introduce more progressively challenging activity into our routines. All of us, even those in tip-top shape, are in the never-ending race against time:
Sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass)
Osteoporosis (loss of bone mass)
Some degree of osteoarthritis
Lower cardiorespiratory capacities
Some degree of cognitive decline.
Without action in exercise to improve physical fitness, we are all on the path toward negative health consequences. More than 66% of US adults are overweight, and now, 20% of our children have classifiable obesity. Just moving more is not enough for most people to reverse their health conditions. There has to be evidence-based, structured, goal-oriented, and rigorous exercise programming added along with other lifestyle behaviors to reverse the trends and save our nation from the decades of ongoing epidemics in obesity, diabetes, metabolic diseases, heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia, and still more chronic diseases related to deconditioning and sedentary lifestyles. For a long time, the focus has been on entertaining our minds while exercising our bodies - taking our thoughts away from being physically uncomfortable. Without the presence of mind, focus, effort, and attention paid to our bodies through exercise, we cannot expect to make significant changes to our health. To reverse these trends and address the course of our nation's future health and well-being, we have to find the value in and adopt the challenge of exercise as medicine.
Once we begin moving, just moving through our daily life activities is not enough to continue to see improvement in our health. Yes, we have to show up for ourselves and try to find some enjoyment, but we also have to find the right level of challenge that pushes us out of our comfort zone and into accomplishment. We find ways to make adjustments and achieve success in our exercise routine every day, day-by-day. But, make no mistake, it's the uncomfortable challenges that change our body and mind. Beyond the beginning phases of initially adding exercise to enhance health and fitness, we won't see continued improvements simply going through the motions or movements without intent. Let me tell you how I know:
My dear mother was a custodian — my dad was a farmer and a preacher. Both were very active in their jobs. Both were significantly overweight my entire life. Sadly, Mom passed away in June of 2024 just six weeks after being diagnosed with a sudden bout of aggressive kidney cancer. My dad's a 25-year type two diabetic, double amputee, open-heart triple bypass surgery, and hepatitis C kidney transplant recipient. Both of my parents moved for many hours every day, well beyond the 150 minutes per week recommendation we often hear about. The problem is that type of movement was well within their comfort zones after doing it for years. That doesn't mean their bodies felt fine doing it; physical labor spread over hours breaks us down, too. One primary issue was the absence of continued challenge to the intensity of the physical activity and no conscientious effort to restore and rebuild the body stronger to be able to handle that daily stress.
Effort is a term relative to everyone and where they are in their journey. It can take some people a minimal amounts and others a very long amount of time to learn proper movement mechanics for their individual needs to be safe enough to push into higher, more vigorous intensities with primary motor patterns like lunging or squatting with weight. But it only takes a little effort to do a bunch of side leg raises until we feel a burn in those lateral hips and thighs. Most people can do that from day one while attentively and mindfully learning general movement patterns and motor skills at much lower intensities. As the skills are being developed, the intensities must continue along a progressive overload to challenge us.
We can always adjust the intensity of our exercise routine for whatever our mind and body need that day. Even something as simple as a quick 60 seconds of arm circles and another minute of shoulder stretches will have positive effects on our immediate well-being — feeling the neuromuscular burn in our shoulders and pushing through that barrier then restoring length and tension through static stretching.
The beauty of movement is that anything beyond what we're currently doing can help elicit minor benefits to our health in the long run. The beauty of exercise is we can always count on it to challenge us to get out of our comfort zone and have an immediate and significant influence on reshaping our mind and body. (*Side Note: breathwork is another fantastic way to reshape the mind and body. I personally find the psychological challenge of breathing drills much more difficult than the physicality of exercise.*) Learning to use maximum effort strength and power in the safety and control of proper exercise training is the only way we can fight the effects of the aging body and mind in the long run.
Motor learning through practice is another beautiful thing about exercise and movement, but it can be a double-edged sword. When we're not paying attention to how we move, like when we're going about our daily chores, our bodies will find ways to make it easier on us. The body is a survivor and it's a great cheater! Being of the present mind, moving with the intent, using feedback when there is an error, and making adjustments to do it correctly is the process of motor learning and skill acquisition done through the central and peripheral nervous systems. It is a sound, secure system that will improve with enough practice. With skill and safety progressions must also be progressive challenging and familiarizing ourselves with our limitations and our highest levels of capability.
I've always been the type to challenge the status quo. Right now, the status quo in America around exercise is that we do not like to do it. When I work with people, it's not my only goal to help them improve their physical health and fitness or help them find enjoyment in exercise. Another important goal is to help them find gratification and enjoyability in the parts of exercise that we don't like inherently - the difficult and uncomfortable parts. Only when we become uncomfortable and overcome challenges do we change our chemistry and release the endorphins and neurotransmitters that control mood and motivation and signal the body to build stronger resilience and durability. That's where we’re able to make the biggest impact in a person's self-efficacy. When we begin to enjoy challenging our physical fitness and learn to balance it with the stress-relieving components of exercise and movement we develop a healthier lifestyle, healthier minds and bodies, healthier relationships and communities, enhance our longevity, and elevate our quality of life.
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