Check out the YouTube recording of this blog/pod episode: https://youtu.be/bd11i35U7bQ
Exercise has gotten a very bad rap. What is just movement has turned into a chore.
Exercise is defined as "activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness."
Ickity-ick. It requires physical effort? Of me? Of my kids?!? And it's about health and fitness, things that I don't see the real impact of in the day-to-day?
Exercise has been co-opted by the health and fitness industries.
Think about it: "Back in the day," our grandparents and great-grandparents didn't have to worry about exercise. It was called life. Yes, they will all tell us about walking 2 miles, uphill both ways, through snow and sleet to get to school and back, daily. They were tending animals and farms and a bajillion kids.
They were constantly moving, by design, as a part of life.
We do not do that anymore.
When we started getting all of the convenience appliances and widespread automobiles and public transit, there was less need for all the glorious stories of our movement, so exercise came on the scene. (I'm picturing those ridiculous advertisements for the 1950's housewives with their hip-shaking machines, which were all BUNK, folks).
The more focus there was on the body, weight and "health" being defined by the appearance of the body, the more exercise recommendations, marketing of contraptions and fitness programs that popped up.
And here we are with our kids, in the year 2025, trying to figure out how to encourage exercise without making it about the weight.
1) Stop making it about exercise
Exercise is movement with an end point, and for a lot of folks those end points (sweat, discomfort, weight change, winning the trophy) just don't work. And the more we push, the more our kids push back.
Normal.
2) Remember what it's really about
MOVEMENT
Bodies need movement. Bodies that don't move don't function optimally -- and I'm not talking about how they aren't primed to win the trophy, I'm saying that movement keeps the pipes working and systems intact. Systems like:
Cardiorespiratory variability and endurance
Gastrointestinal motility (ok seriously, think about a time that you didn't move as much... did you experience the dreaded constipation? Just me? Whatevs... trust me, it's a thing, and one I don't want to experience again)
Musculoskeletal development - lack of movement can prompt bone loss, loss of flexibility and strength. It's truly a use-it-or-lose-it situation.
Skin - breakdown can occur with immobility
Mental health - the stone-cold most important reason IMHO. Movement is more about using your body, tapping into its intelligence and connection with the world, to explore the world and to get curious about our experiences in the world. Movement changes the scenery, the players and the vibe. It is a key supporter, factor and treatment of mental health.
Movement is about being.
Say it out loud: Movement is about BEING.
3) Other perks
Movement is magical. How's that for a perk? Movement changes state: our physiology changes, our mood, our outlook. And it is very often a super highway for creative juices to start flowing, as well as for focus. I use movement as my stimulation for creativity, brainstorming and then focus. Check out John Ratey's work, including the book SPARK, without getting too hung up on the word exercise. 'Cause we now know, it's more than that.
4) We start with what movement is and finally land on what it isn't
It's not about weight. Weight is the end point, the result, of a whole slew of factors in our lives, from genetics to environment to muscle and fat mass to metabolism (and more). Even if we were to make a case of how exercise supports weight, we have to acknowledge a few things:
-- we cannot dial in a weight (you cannot select this weight as your goal and then make it happen; that's your body's job)
-- when you move more, you tend to increase appetite and muscle mass, both of which can increase weight. That does not mean anything is wrong. It actually supports why we cannot connect movement and weight goals.
-- focusing on our children's weight overlooks all the many, many factors that contribute to weight and it is boiling down their health, their being, and their role in the world to a number on the scale. Your child is so much more than that.
Let's encourage movement because it "does a body good," truly, the whole body, not about the weight. It supports growth and metabolic health and bone density and strength and mental health.
Bring it on:
What questions do you have? Send them to [email protected] to have them featured in an upcoming version of the blog.
Check out the Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD Podcast!
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