The Health Pyramid-Movement Part 1

The Health Pyramid

MOVEMENT: PART ONE

Your Body Was Made to Move

I have a confession to make.

I am not someone who loves the gym. 

I wish I could tell you that I wake up excited to put on workout clothes, head to the gym and spend an hour lifting weights or running on a treadmill. I don't.

But one thing Peloton has taught me is this: if you have a body, you are an athlete.

I love that idea because somewhere along the way, I think a lot of us decided that the word athlete belonged to someone else.

Athletes are the people who run marathons. The people lifting heavy weights at the gym. The people who played sports in high school or college. The people who actually enjoy burpees, which I will personally never understand. 

But what if we stopped thinking about movement that way?

What if being an athlete didn't mean being the fastest, strongest, thinnest or most coordinated person in the room? What if it simply meant recognizing that you have a body that was designed to move?

Movement doesn't have to happen inside a gym. It can be walking your dog, dancing in your kitchen, stretching while you're watching television, gardening, cleaning your house, swimming, taking the stairs, playing with your kids, carrying groceries or getting up and walking around after you've been sitting for too long.

Of course, movement can also be a Peloton ride, a strength workout, a run or an hour at the gym.

There isn't one right way to move.

And I think that's an important place to start because too many people have an all or nothing relationship with exercise. If we can't do the hour long workout, we do nothing. If we miss a few days, we decide we've fallen off the wagon. If our bodies can't move the way they used to, we assume what we can do doesn't count.

It counts.

Your body doesn't need movement because you need to earn your food. It doesn't need movement because you need to make yourself smaller. And movement should never be punishment for something you ate.

Your body needs movement because movement is part of how it functions.

WHAT MOVEMENT IS DOING INSIDE YOUR BODY

YOUR HEART AND CIRCULATION

Your heart is a muscle, and movement asks it to work. When you move, your heart pumps more blood through your body, delivering oxygen and nutrients to the tissues that need them. Regular physical activity can help improve cardiovascular fitness, support healthy blood pressure and improve the way your blood vessels function. Even movement that doesn't feel like a traditional workout can interrupt long periods of sitting and get blood circulating again.

YOUR BRAIN

Movement isn't only physical. Your brain benefits too. Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain and is associated with better cognitive function, memory and attention. Movement can also influence chemicals involved in mood and stress. Sometimes a walk will not solve the problem in front of you, but it can change the state of your body and brain while you deal with it.

YOUR MUSCLES

Muscles are a use it or lose it system. They respond to the demands we place on them. Strength based movement helps maintain and build muscle, while everyday activity reminds those muscles that we still need them. Muscle matters for much more than appearance. It helps us lift, carry, climb stairs, get off the floor, protect our joints and continue doing ordinary things independently as we age.

YOUR BONES

Your bones are living tissue. Weight bearing activities such as walking, dancing and resistance training place healthy stress on bones, which helps stimulate the processes involved in maintaining bone strength. This becomes increasingly important as we age. Movement is not just about what we can do today. It is one of the ways we invest in what we want our bodies to be able to do years from now.

YOUR JOINTS AND MOBILITY

Joints are meant to move. Appropriate movement helps maintain range of motion and supports the muscles surrounding our joints. When we spend long stretches of time in the same position, many of us notice stiffness. That does not mean every painful joint should simply be pushed harder. Movement can and should be adapted to the individual body, especially when pain, injury or medical conditions are involved.

YOUR METABOLISM AND BLOOD SUGAR

Your muscles use glucose for energy. When they contract during activity, they can take up glucose and improve the body's response to insulin. Regular movement is one important piece of metabolic health. This is another reason movement should not be reduced to calories burned. Things are happening inside your body that you cannot see on a fitness tracker.

YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Gentle movement can support normal gastrointestinal motility and is one reason a walk after a meal can feel good for some people. Our digestive system does not operate separately from the rest of us. Sleep, stress, nutrition, hydration and movement all interact.

YOUR LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

Unlike your cardiovascular system, the lymphatic system does not have a heart acting as a central pump. Muscle contractions and body movement help move lymphatic fluid through the body. This system plays important roles in fluid balance and immune function. It is another example of why simply getting up and moving matters.

YOUR MOOD AND STRESS RESPONSE

Movement can be a powerful tool for mental wellbeing. Physical activity is associated with improvements in mood and can help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression for many people. It also gives the body an outlet for some of the physical tension that accompanies stress. This does not mean exercise replaces mental health treatment when treatment is needed. It means movement can be one more tool in the toolbox.

YOUR SLEEP

Regular physical activity can support better sleep quality for many people. Movement helps reinforce the body's daily rhythms, can reduce stress and creates a healthy demand for recovery. Timing and intensity can affect people differently, so this is another area where paying attention to your own body matters.

YOUR BALANCE AND INDEPENDENCE

Balance, coordination, strength and mobility are abilities we often take for granted until they become harder. Movement gives us opportunities to maintain them. The goal is not simply to live longer. It is to preserve as much function as possible so we can keep participating in our own lives.

MOVEMENT COUNTS, EVEN WHEN IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE EXERCISE

We have made movement complicated. We count steps, minutes, miles, calories, reps and heart rate zones. Those tools can be useful, but they can also make us forget the simplest truth: your body benefits from being used.

• Take a ten minute walk.

• Stretch while the coffee is brewing.

• Put on a song and dance around the kitchen.

• Park farther from the entrance.

• Garden or work in the yard.

• Play with your kids or grandkids.

• Walk the dog.

• Take the stairs when it makes sense for your body.

• Stand up and move around during long periods of sitting.

• Try yoga, swimming, cycling, strength training or a class you actually enjoy.

You do not have to do all of these things. You do not even have to like the same kinds of movement that someone else likes. The best kind of movement is not necessarily the hardest workout. It is movement that is appropriate for your body and that you can realistically keep coming back to.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

We have spent years being taught to connect exercise with weight. Burn more. Eat less. Shrink your body. Work off dessert. Earn the meal.

I want us to disconnect those ideas.

Movement is not a transaction between your body and your food.

It is care.

It is circulation. Strength. Mobility. Brain health. Bone health. Metabolic health. Stress relief. Independence. Energy. And sometimes, it is simply doing something that reminds you that you are alive.

You don't have to become a gym person.

You don't have to train for a marathon.

You don't have to look like anyone you follow online.

You have a body. That body is yours. And wherever your starting point happens to be, there are ways to move it.

We aren't moving our bodies as punishment for what we ate or because we don't like the way they look. We're moving them because we want them to carry us through the lives we're trying to build.

Movement: Part One