I’ve spoken before of the benefits of daily movement. By now, you know that your sedentary lifestyle is your vice, because humans are made to move. In this article I want us to further explore why movement is superior to exercise, and how by leading with this fundamental belief, your weekly movement practices or “workouts” will evolve for the better.

As children, many of us fulfilled daily movement practices through play. Maybe it was catch outside with your sister, jumping on the trampoline, or bear crawl tag. Whatever it was, it was fun and routine. It was this sort of playful daily movement that kept us active and flexible. As we got older some of us added scheduled athletic practices, and it was here that things went downhill. As sports practices took over, daily movement practices took a hit. Adulthood, of course, brings along new challenges as we enter the workforce. Not only do we become more sedentary but our regular sports practices are replaced by sporadic “workouts.” And this is where many of us find ourselves today. Sitting and working out occasionally…for a fairly short amount of time.

This sort of approach promotes a “workout for workout sake” type of mentality. Oftentimes, I see trainers and gym-goers using “sweat rate” to gauge the success and effectiveness of a workouts. The more you sweat the better. And, if you were able to achieve that fairly quickly, then you’re golden. This sort of mentality serves it’s purposes, sure. But, is it sustainable and worthwhile for most? Absolutely not.

You know what is sustainable? Play. Lead with play and you’ve got yourself a forever movement practice as well as a progressive and exhaustive workout. You can apply this ideology on both a macro and micro scale. Applying this on a macro level might mean using this mindset as footing for your day; considering your days as a “game,” with your movement practices as skill enhancement via play. This way your movement focuses more on the movement patterns you use, or want to use, consistently, rather than arbitrary movements you’ve thrown in “just because.” On a micro-scale this mindset takes on a more literal application. Think: professional athletes who optimize their trainings for specific skill based goals.

Physical play is fun skill acquisition. It’s the culmination of strength, flexibility, creativity; moving your body freely in an enjoyable way, whatever the stakes. If you lead with fun and play, you’ll win.

Check out practitioners who follow this movement < exercise mentality:

• @IdoPortal

• @TheMovementJourney