During a recent annual physical, my doctor was gathering basic health information,
“Do you participate in at least 30 minutes of purposeful exercise 3-5 times a week?”
I admit that, as an almost-famous personal trainer/group instructor/nutrition coach, I was a bit taken aback by this question. So, after a dramatic ‘psssshhhh!’, I looked her straight in the eyes, and said,
But, because I am well-mannered, I think my response sounded more like,
“Why, yes I do exercise regularly.”
“Now, when I say ‘purposeful exercise’ I don’t mean cleaning, mowing the lawn, washing the car, grocery shopping or that kind of thing.”
If I were to drive to the gym, purposely pick up 25 pound dumbbells then hike around the weight room for 60 seconds, I can count that as exercise.
But picking up a 50 pound bag of dog food from the pet section of Farm and Home, carrying it to the checkout, tossing it into my car, then, once home, hauling the bag up the stairs and dumping it into the officially sanctioned Kody Food Bin, isn’t exercise?
If I were to participate in an hour-long bootcamp 7 days a week, then spent the remaining 161 hours of the week slumped on my sofa binge watching Breaking Bad reruns, would I be healthy?
Conversely, if I never set foot in a gym but I worked construction, walked my dog daily, rode my bike on weekends and ate mostly unprocessed foods, would I be unhealthy?
Strength In Numbers 