Earlier this afternoon, my daughter and I took off for one of our adventure walks. It has been such a beautiful spring day here, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to spend some 'girl' time with her, as well as get some exercise in the warm sunshine.
About half way into our journey, I realized how differently a 5 year old and a grown-up approach "exercise"! For years I've read that our hunter/gatherer ancestors moved their bodies in an incredibly varied way... sometimes it was full-out running, either for food or for sake of not becoming someone's food, sometimes climbing, balancing, walking, squatting, jumping, throwing, etc.
It has been said that the average adult 'back in the day' was in the same condition as our modern day elite, Olympic decathletes. Wow, how far we've strayed from our innate movement patterns!
So today, I saw first hand how truly amazing kids are! Left to their own devices, without the distraction of a pesky television or video game, they naturally move their bodies in a much more holistic way than us fuddy-duddy grown-ups tend to.
For a solid hour, this child of mine was performing an entertaining, energetic combination of sprints, skipping, walking, throwing rocks, climbing a tree, rolling down a hill, dancing the "booty-shake", balancing on and walking effortlessly along a fallen tree, puddle jumping, more sprints and WAY more skipping!
It was some of the best and definitely the most fun interval training I've ever done! I couldn't help but think, "no wonder this kid has such a lean, toned body with hardly an ounce of fat on her!"
I think exercise programs should be designed by 5 year olds! We'd all be more carefree, definitely more fit... and we'd certainly smile a LOT more since we'd all be skipping everywhere we go!
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