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Why You Should Channel Your Inner Child When It Comes to Exercise

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Why You Should Channel Your Inner Child When It Comes to Exercise

Do the reasons you exercise today line up with how you approached movement as a child? Chances are, probably not.

As children, exercise was instinctive. We ran, jumped and climbed because it felt good. But as adults, the motivation to exercise is all too often focused on aesthetic gain and competition, and the world of fitness can feel like an all too serious place.

New research suggests that as adults, the majority of us lose touch with moving for the way it makes us feel. An independent survey commissioned by sports giant ASICS found that 77% of adults don’t look forward to exercise and see it as a chore, and that 63% exercise solely for physical gain. Some of those said that exercising is about discovering ‘how much you can push your body’ and that they feel they ‘have to [exercise], rather than want to’.

On the flip side, 92% of children aged six to 11 said they enjoy exercise, and 77% told researchers they exercise purely for fun, with comments including, ‘It just powers me up,’ and ‘It feels good, and you feel really energetic’.

Exercise for how it makes you feel, not how it makes you look

So, how do we recapture that motivation? It’s a question that’s kept the experts at ASICS busy for some time, forming conversations across its corridors and high-level meeting rooms. Eventually, they landed on an obvious truth – that if we want to reconnect with that childlike joy of movement, who better to look to than a cohort of children?

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It’s why ASICS has formed the world’s youngest exercise influencer team, the Little Reminders, which makes its debut on the subscriber cover of this month’s Men’s Health. Comprised of Tillie, Hiba, Joash, Imuujin and Henry – all aged seven or eight – the Little Reminders have also launched their first ever exercise guide, to remind adults to move for enjoyment and not just for performance.

Asics

Left to right: Tilly, Henry, Joash, Imuujin and Hiba

The Little Reminders workout

Don’t sweat it – this workout doesn’t require any equipment and can be done at home. Focus on feeling instead of form, working your way through this list as many times as you like.

  1. Stand with your arms and legs wide and do 10 star jumps
  2. Stretch your arms out wide and spin around five times
  3. Pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time while hopping (10 hops on each leg)
  4. Stick your arms out like wings. Run around for 60 seconds like an aeroplane
  5. Swing your hips in circles like you’re Hula-Hooping. Do this 10 times
  6. Jump onto an object of furniture quickly
  7. Hopscotch to one side of the room. Repeat the other way
  8. Lie down. Turn your body into a pencil, making it as long as possible. Roll right and left three times

There’s a bigger point to this

The Little Reminders workout probably won’t make it into your weekly rotation, but it serves to make an important point. As leading psychologist (and adult) Dr Linda Papadopoulos puts it: ‘Children approach physical activity with a sense of uninhibited joy and curiosity, moving for the pleasure of it rather than for external validation. ​​Embracing this mindset as adults could be the key to restructuring our relationship with exercise in a positive way.’

a group of people in blue uniforms

ASICS

Taking a different, more fun approach might also benefit those who struggle with commitment. Findings published in Frontiers in Psychology highlight that, for the 24 men and women participating in the research, enjoyment was found to be ‘a common factor among those who kept a regular exercise routine’.

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All of this means one thing: if tomorrow’s gym session is already feeling like one rep too many, you may want to pull back on the pull-ups, sled drags and tricep dips, and instead focus on your mental gains. Whether that’s taking on a climbing wall, traversing the monkey bars on the rig or just cruising along in the pool, we’ll be making sure to do the same. After all, a bigger smile is more important than a bigger deadlift.

Visit asics.com/littlereminders to find out more

Lettermark

Ed Cooper is the former Deputy Digital Editor at Men’s Health UK, writing and editing about anything you want to know about — from tech to fitness, mental health to style, food and so much more. Ed has run the MH gauntlet, including transformations, marathons and er website re-designs. He’s awful at pub sports, though. Follow him: @EA_Cooper

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Can’t Get To The Gym RN? I’m Opting For Plank Shoulder Taps After A PT Confirmed They’re The Most Effective Home Move

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Can’t Get To The Gym RN? I’m Opting For Plank Shoulder Taps After A PT Confirmed They’re The Most Effective Home Move

How many times have you said, “I can’t believe it’s December already,” this year? If your answer veers somewhere between “a fair few” and “honestly, I’ve lost count”, you’re in good company. It’s become the seasonal equivalent of asking about the weather – a reliable go-to as the year starts winding down. And while I’ll spare you the usual cosy festive clichés, December is the month when gym plans loosen, and most of us swap weighted plates for quality time and mince pies.

Still, if moving your body is something that helps you feel grounded, there’s no reason you can’t carve out little pockets for it over the festive period (just as there’s absolutely no shame in pressing pause altogether). Research consistently shows that even short bursts of exercise can support both mental and physical health, which is why keeping one or two genuinely effective, at-home moves in your back pocket can be a lifesaver when festive stress starts simmering.

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Applying the Stoic Cardinal Virtues for Both Optimal Performance and Longevity

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Applying the Stoic Cardinal Virtues for Both Optimal Performance and Longevity

Making healthy, sustainable choices for our health and fitness can often feel like a secondary goal, always on the back burner. The philosophy of Stoicism, originating in Greece and refined in Rome, offers a timeless framework for living well. Its four cardinal virtues, taught by philosophers such as Plato, are wisdom, courage, justice and temperance. These virtues can help you navigate health, wellness and fitness decisions with clarity and purpose by helping you:

  • Make healthier choices (moderation in food/drink; exercise)
  • Reduce stress through focusing on what’s controllable
  • Push outside your comfort zone to grow
  • Act responsibly for our community
  • Find peace by accepting mortality

Together, these lead to a more virtuous, less anxious, and purposeful life, which inherently supports well-being and longer, better living. 

Wisdom (Understanding/Learning)

Wisdom starts with learning, but it also requires understanding what is truly within your control: your judgments, actions and responses. Working out for an hour a day is the easy part of the fitness goal. The other waking hours of making healthy choices are the more challenging parts of the goal. In health and fitness, this means focusing on your habits and mindset rather than worrying about uncontrollable outcomes such as genetics or trendy social media posts from fitness influencers selling supplements. In a nutshell, use wisdom in these three ways to improve health, fitness and wellness: 

  • Control what you can control. Do this especially when faced with setbacks, such as a missed workout or a slip in diet. Redirect your energy toward what you can do next, not what you cannot change.
  • Seek facts, not opinions. Approach nutrition, exercise plans and wellness advice with an objective mind that is based on science. Avoid emotional reactions and look for evidence-based information.
  • Make sound choices. Use reason to evaluate what’s beneficial or harmful for your training and nutrition, avoiding extreme diets or fad workout routines. 

 

Courage (to Push Outside Your Comfort Zone)

Courage is not just about bravery. Courage is more about enduring discomfort and doing the right thing, especially when it’s hard. In your fitness journey, this means pushing through challenges and facing fears, such as trying a new activity or simply walking into a gym for the first time. The courage to challenge yourself with activities you are new to or not good at doing will help you become a well-rounded exerciser with performance and longevity goals. Try these three ways to add courage that enables you to make better decisions:

  • Accept the discomfort that comes with growth, whether it’s physical strain in exercise or emotional struggle in changing habits.
  • Remain focused on your goals and health commitments. Prioritize sleep, rest or recovery, and along with not skipping training days, even when external pressures tempt you otherwise.
  • Act objectively and see your circumstances as they are, not how you wish them to be, and respond realistically to challenges. Assess your progress regularly.

Justice (Fairness and Kindness)

Justice is about treating others and yourself with fairness, kindness and respect. In fitness, much is passed down from the older generation to the younger. Be that person who shares what you know with the next generation. This means supporting a positive training environment, whether at the gym, in group classes or among friends and family.

  • Treat others well by showing encouragement to people at every stage of their health journey, regardless of ability or background. This is powerful in people’s lives and makes you feel good, too.
  • Serve others by sharing knowledge, motivating workout partners, family members, and contributing to a supportive culture of activity to help others build the habit of fitness. Justice is also holding each other accountable.
  • Teach and communicate about your experiences, failures, and successes with humility. Having others learn from your mistakes and experiences is a smart way to communicate with the younger generation and beginners to fitness.

Temperance (Moderation and Discipline)

Temperance is discipline. None of these works can be done without discipline. We must learn to manage desires, impulses and habits to avoid excess in anything. In fitness and wellness, this virtue is vital for long-term success and well being. Training needs to be balanced with recovery, and this takes discipline to make some days easier than others. Too much of any good thing becomes a bad thing.

  • Avoid too much food, social media, supplements or even exercise. Balance is key to optimal performance, longevity and long-term goal achievement.
  • Manage impulsive responses to stress, frustration or temptation, choosing actions that keep you on track with your values and goals.
  • Practice discipline by doing things that are good for you, even when you do not want to.  Working out daily is often the easy part. The rest of the day, when food choices are tempting us to cheat on our diet, is the hardest for most people.

For many who find comfort in making the easy options or cheating on diets, you can also experience the same comfort (dopamine hit) by not doing it and choosing the healthier choice. These four virtues work together to flip the switch on how your body responds to new disciplined actions. For example, justice requires wisdom to discern the right action. Then, it takes courage to act on those insights and push yourself outside the comfort zone. Finally, deciding to be disciplined and hold firm is the temperance that avoids selfishness or excess. In your health journey, applying all four virtues helps you stay resilient, make thoughtful choices, and build a sense of purpose and connection.

You can also use the Military.com Fitness Section to aid your health, wellness, and fitness journey. There are thousands of articles and videos full of practical tools for building resilience, mitigating stress and disciplined living for optimal performance and longevity. By focusing on what you can control, acting with courage and kindness to others, and practicing self-discipline, you create a foundation for lasting health and wellness, not just for yourself, but for the wider community as well.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you’re thinking of joining the military, looking for fitness and basic training tips, or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox.

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This is the best budget-friendly fitness tracker we have tested this year

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This is the best budget-friendly fitness tracker we have tested this year

Why you can trust Live Science


Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best ones for you. Find out more about how we test.

If you’re looking to get back into exercising, or are just starting out, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 may be the best fitness tracker for you. This fitness tracker does a great job of tracking your workouts and summarizing the data in an easy-to-understand format, without overcomplicating anything. The interface is user-friendly, and even those who aren’t into tech should be able to navigate around this smartwatch in no time at all.

While this is a budget fitness tracker, that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in features. You can do more than just track your workouts with this smart band: you can also track your sleep, stress levels, heart rate and so much more. There’s also no shortage of sports modes — with 150+ to choose from, you’re bound to find the workout you want on this watch.

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