What is exercise?

I just read this on another fitness website and I thought it was darn good, so I want to share it here:

Exercise—What Is It?

" . . . Most people seem to think that any activity they perform—from walking around the block to running a marathon—is exercise. By this common definition, bowling, golf, fishing, gardening, dancing, playing shuffleboard, or even flying a kite, are considered exercise, because doing any one of them is more strenuous than sitting around watching television with a remote in your hand or reading a book.

Yes, it’s true that these activities, undemanding though some of them are, all might improve your fitness to some extent. But then, what is fitness? Well, fitness is what you get when you exercise—but that definition just brings us back full circle to where we started.

So let’s just agree that to be considered exercise, an activity must make you stronger, improve your cardiovascular system, help you lose excess body fat, improve your endurance, improve your flexibility and balance, and build you up by preserving or increasing your bone density and muscle mass.

Any activity that accomplishes ALL of these objectives is exercise, while anything that falls short, while perhaps beneficial to some degree, we’ll categorize as play—especially if it’s a pleasurable pursuit. . . . "

Copyright © 2007, John E. Peterson

[CF-OC_gal]

I'd say it is all exercise, especially play. Unless you are talking about a playful state of mind. It's so horrible the way kids are told not to play this game or that game on a school playground then then have their gym classes taken away or restructured into treadmill grind.

Nothing wrong with play or recreation unless it becomes an uncalled for competition.

[trainerty]

Pretty interesting....only problem exercises that burn fat may not be the same that build bone density and neuro-efficiency.

[TomG]

It's good he defined what he meant by exercise when he talks about exercise.

However, in that case, exercise is not necessarily any more healthy than play. I'm willing to bet there are a lot more hundredgenarians who got that old by farming, gardening, and pleasure-walking than by doing exercise by that definition.

[luke.w]

Originally Posted by pierini

or reading a book.

reading I would think exersices the eyes and possibilly the brain?

it's my understanding that it's important to exersice the brain as we age, I guess physical exersices (functional training) can help, but I believe more forms of "thinking" stratagies need to be performed?

also I'd call the majority of my training (not ALL) more pleasurable, and I'm gaining in all those areas.

[TomG]

This explains exercise pretty well:

Putfile - Daily Exercise

[yorkie85]

Great video! Love the catharsis through Maltese Cross training at the end!