The Question of Exercise

I recently gave a presentation where I jokingly suggested an exercise regime entitled, "Clean Your House for Fitness." The idea behind this off-the-wall thought rests with the definition of exercise, which has to do with movement. So why not, I asked, set a timer for 20 minutes and deep clean in a room of your choice. Wouldn't that be considered a session of exercise?

And what to my wondering eyes should appear on one of my favorite Internet sites, TED.com, but a presentation by Dan Buettner entitled, How to Live to be 100+. For those of you unfamiliar with TED it's a site that has a boatload of video presentation, each about 20 minutes long, on any number of topics. Great stuff to check out.

At any rate, according to a study conducted by National Geographic and the National Institute on Aging, which sought out populations known for longevity and then looked for common denominators among these populations, exercise was examined. And what did these auspicious institutes find? The envelope, please. None of these populations exercised! Well, at least not in the way that we define exercise. But before you get too crazy and call all of your friends with memberships in health clubs, consider the rest of the story.

All of these people lived lives that constantly nudged them into intentional physical activity that they enjoyed. Those were things like walking and water skiing and chopping wood and gardening. There's a few more things that people can do to insure a longer healthier life. Check out the talk on TED and find out. You'll find Dan Buettner in the list of speakers. That would be a fun start in getting to know the TED site.

Enjoy!