From when man first evolved, we have recognised the need for exercise, whether it was for building shelters, hunting for food or travelling large distances, even our earliest ancestors had to be aware that they needed energy for these movements.
Unfortunately modern society has had an inverse relationship on the amount of energy that is required for given tasks in our lives. In fact I will go so far as to say that technology is making us lazy. We no longer have to run for our lives or to travel for days to find food and water. It is all around us in abundance and there is no immediate danger from predators, just poor lifestyle choices. Indeed it has come to the point that we no longer need the required amount of energy expenditure necessary for survival.
I believe that we have lost sight of our inner warrior, our ability to be self aware, to be in tune with our bodies and it’s natural sense to exercise and eat naturally.
The last 100 years has seen “fitness training” become a necessity because of the decrease in our survival workload. In fact instead of it being mandatory it is now voluntary to the detriment to our health and longevity. More recently, in the last 50 years there have been growing trends leading to what people now know as cardio training. The term aerobics is known by most and has a multitude of meanings. Firstly jogging was the exercise, which was then replaced by “working out” in fitness centres and gyms.
Unfortunately, we have now become victims of what I call “shiny object syndrome”, where every conceivable gadget has been constructed to entice us to buy devices that are so contrived, that we as a species have lost touch with what the human body was designed for. So now every new gadget promises you fitness nirvana and it seems these days that most “cardio” activities are simply something mildly interesting and if a company can make a gadget promising you by using it 5 minutes a day will give you the body of your dreams then you are sold!
Today’s gyms have rows of shiny treadmills and spin bikes , which are a far cry from what we should be doing. Now we see fitness moving from gyms to the home with even more contrived gadgets, marketed to be the next best thing when in fact they take you further from where you need to be. Despite all these shiny objects, statistics show that we are getting increasingly obese and sedentary, people want to lose fat but without the cost (time & effort) required.
This has to stop, exercise is simple, doing it is the challenge and for that you need to know your why. If you know why you want to achieve your goals then you need to realise that it is hard work not “shiny objects” that are going to get you there. you have the perfect training tool already, your body is all you really need to reach the goals you want. You need to move more frequently and choose your food wisely. Keep it simple and Get Moving!
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