FITNESS Exercise is just movement – it’s not that scary

Let your inner child play


Personal Trainer
Paul O'Brien

Exercise is just movement. These days, amidst the cacophony of new exercise regimes, online programmes, cutting-edge equipment and the like, it’s easy to lose sight of this simple fact.
Physically speaking, we haven’t changed that much since our ancestors first emerged onto the open plains, stood upright and began to roam the environment in search of food and shelter. Our evolutionary hardware (the body) remains pretty much as it was then. However, factors that influence the body’s health have changed. The first, of course is our environment. Those of us lucky enough to live in developed countries no longer need to live the active lifestyles that were characteristic of our forebears. For most of us, food is abundantly available us, and we don’t need to spend hours on our feet to acquire it. Shelter is also constant, and it ensures a more settled environment. Happily, no matter where you live, we don’t have to outrun sabre-toothed tigers anymore either. The upshot? Our hardware is the same, but it’s not used as much.
Now, to our ‘software’ – that really has undergone seismic change. Though physically our brains are little bigger than those of our Palaeolithic ancestors, the amount of information flowing through them is infinitely greater. In evolutionary terms, our brains are the hare, light years ahead of the tortoise in the race, our physical bodies. And there’s a lot of catching up to be done.
These software and environmental changes have, unfortunately, led to a modern crisis of pandemic proportions. Modern science has yet to invent a body that can lounge around, eat highly-processed foods and move minimally without being beset by chronic disease and illness. If science ever achieves this (or even wanted to), I’d want the planet to stop turning so I could get off!
Simply put, the modern western lifestyle, with its emphasis on easy access and minimal effort is killing us. We are acting contrary to our biology. As we continue to bombard our bodies with more of what it doesn’t want, our poor brains become distraught. Confused and overtaxed with the amount of contrary information it is being asked to process, our minds become a part of the problem. Enter psychological disorders and general poor mental health.
And yet, there is a simple solution. Give our bodies more of what they want and less of what they don’t. Form a cornerstone of a balanced, healthy diet based on non-processed foods, and  nurture our bodies’ innate passion for movement. Run, walk, jump, climb, crawl, swim and dance. Don’t label it with words like ‘exercise’ or ‘training’. Instead, call it releasing your inner child – the joy and freedom that comes from doing what is natural.
I’m not suggesting that a lack of movement is entirely responsible for our modern ills. Not entirely anyway. Experience and observation have convinced me though, that we would be a whole lot happier if we listened to our bodies and just let them play.

Paul O’Brien is a personal trainer and life coach based in Westport.