When talking to people about their exercise routines, a frequent comment I will hear is something like, “I don’t like being inside exercising. I prefer to get my exercise outdoors running, hiking, biking.”
Though I agree outside activities are great for your health and quality of life, there is a distinction between activity and exercise.
Movement practice vs. fitness training
What is a movement practice?
Your movement practice is built on the things you do to stay active. Hiking, cycling, walking, and swimming are all examples of one’s movement practice. I would also put yoga, dance, martial arts, and other forms of exercise under the category of the movement practice.
What is fitness training?
Fitness training by design and intent produces a specific training stimulus, resulting in measurable physiological change. For example, testing your one rep max in the back squat, doing as many pull-ups as possible in one unbroken set, and running a mile as fast as you can.
Each of these examples can be measured — how much weight you squatted, how many pull-ups you completed, and the time to complete the run. If performed regularly, would increase the amount of weight you can back squat and the number of pull-ups you can do, and reduce the time it takes to run a mile.
So then, the difference between your movement practice and fitness training is (1) your intent, and (2) what’s being measured. Walking up the “M” trail with a friend is movement. Racing your friend up the “M” trail for time is training. Both are important for maintaining a high level of health and quality of life.
If you’re getting eight hours of sleep, then you have sixteen hours a day to work, move, and play. If you have an active job, you’re in luck. You have an opportunity to move a lot. But many have more sedentary jobs where they sit or stand for up to eight hours a day.
As a general rule, you want to be moving eight hours a day. And by “moving” I mean squatting, lunging, hanging, stretching, crawling, climbing, and playing. It doesn’t have to be continuous. It can be spontaneous and sporadic throughout your day.
And why is an eight-hour-a-day movement practice important?
Movement acts as the circulatory pump for your fascial system, similar to how the cardiovascular system supports your organs. Movement plays a crucial role in providing essential nutrients to your fascia, ensuring its strength and overall health.
And what is fascia?
Fascia is a complex and extensive network of connective tissue that permeates almost every part of your body. Fascia plays a vital role in maintaining structural integrity, facilitating movement, and supporting overall function.
Fascia comes in many forms — tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, meniscus, and aponeuroses are some examples of fascia. Every cell and organ system is dependent on the vitality of your fascia. Healthy fascia needs to move.
I invite you to pay attention to the amount of time you’re moving compared to the time you’re still. Look for times and places you could move more.
In the next article, we’ll look at fitness training.
Fitness training is an important and distinct aspect of one’s movement practice.
Go to the next article in the series
Energy Systems Decoded