Our discussion/position statement on the wide spread social and cultural issue: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/reevely-centrally-planned-gym-class-is-a-poor-substitute-for-active-parenting
“Premier Kathleen Wynne and Education Minister Liz Sandals announced this week that they’re . . . well, let’s be specific. They’re embarking on a partnership with two different health-promotion groups that will launch pilot programs in 20 schools this year and another 230 next year. The idea is to “identify factors that contribute to successfully achieving 60 minutes of activity each day.”
The responsibility game is such a waste, when we were kids we were far more physically active at home and school…but modern adults are not on whole in good shape whatsoever so what happened?! Sure today’s kids may be in front of screens far more but so are their parents, so is it technology’s lure which is at fault? When you combine high tech sedentary pass-times (like writing this blog) with a proliferation of cheap calories and candy is the degrading state of modern health inevitable? Micro-manage it, point the finger, play the blame game and look for a quick fix from medicine, not only do matters just get worse but time and resources are lost while entirely missing the point.
“The Education Ministry is working on getting children 60 minutes of exercise a day because parents aren’t doing it. There’s a place for gym class at school and a place for book learning at home, but parents are really best placed to show the benefits of eating a salad and going for a bike ride”
It’s not just being sedentary that is the problem it is the reasons behind why we choose not to be physically active. It’s the same reason we tend to choose the type of food, which is enjoyed short term yet takes away our quality of life long term. It is evolution and until we address the actual fundamental drive behind obesity and the physical weakening of society it will only get worse. 
The increase in aches and pains which impede living life and productivity at work, obesity’s viral spread, the growth of cancer rates and serious auto immune disorders all point to collapse worthy concern.
No it is not all doom and gloom in the sense that we have beat basic starvation and staved off many of the worst diseases. The fact is though health and fitness is still so ignored that even the incredible advancements of modern dwelling and technological genius are threatening our well-being.
People we are here to tell the truth – food and the trappings of modern living are not causing the problems…your ancestors are. You are designed to do things smarter, quicker, using less energy and get, then store calories (fat) with extreme prejudice. The facts are tough to deal with but simple in nature and we are sick of hearing and reading the dismissive, anti intelligence haters confusing the issue.
People food is not to blame, technology is not to blame, the school is not to blame, laziness is not to blame, artificial colors are not to blame… Our health and fitness is dependent on traits which suited a totally different environment. Before you run off like some and try to turn back the clock playing Paleo remember that ancient humans did not have physically fun lives. They suffered starvation, disease and exposure at every turn. Regardless of how tough it was going down and going through they ate almost anything they could find. They killed each other without a second of thought in order to survive. Your inherent inner tech has evolved to turn over generations quickly so that those best suited for the existing conditions of the time survived the best and procreated the most. As well, conditions (ice age) changed unpredictably so another even stronger trait than basic survival urges came to be – adaptability.
So yes you get out of shape and over weight crazy easy and it takes far, far more to reverse the process. And yes those who are too weak on the inside (immune system) and/or too weak on the outside (strength, endurance, agility) are less likely to thrive BUT there is an answer which indecently is why humans have survived as a species at least thus far. Unlike even a high functioning ape we can totally solve such problems. We can treat a wound and avoid infection the kind which often leads to death. We can create our own clean food and water. We can design and erect amazing shelter solutions.
We think and we learn and we adapt. Our body’s greatest trait is to gather all the countless chemical neurological signals together and adapt to problems and changing circumstances.
When you bend your legs and squat down then stand up your muscles and supporting structures/systems work. Keep doing it and doing some more maybe adding some extra weight and your legs will get stronger and your system better conditioned, more robust. Your legs don’t actually get stronger while they are squatting; actually they get weaker, tired, burning and inflamed with plenty of micro damage inside. You use up some calories which then puts your body into alert mode and signals itself to be hungry and replace those used up calories. As well, if you squat long enough your system will reduce the level at which you use calories, increase the rate at which you store fat all to offset Lipolysis.
Lipolysis is the breakdown of lipids and involves hydrolysis of triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids. The following hormones induce lipolysis: epinephrine, norepinephrine, ghrelin, growth hormone, testosterone, and cortisol.Basically the survival ability to use small amounts of fat stores to feed energy needs when blood sugar levels drop and often brought on by sustained physical movement.
The magic of fitness adaptations actually happens later when you are resting.
Your body repairs the damage and replenishes the used up resources. Then if you didn’t over or under do it (relative to your individuality) you will over compensate and build new extra strength and endurance to better deal with possible future exposure to squatting. This super compensation in simplistic terms is incredibly useful if say your terrain changed dramatically as you foraged for food, water and shelter. Long flat plains where huge amounts of walking and perhaps different stages of running may eventually turn to hilly even steep mountainous challenges. Different muscles and different abilities would need to take over in favor of the new stress. You may lose some basic distance covering endurance but gain some lifting and balancing strength. Then down the other side out on to the plain again and things could reverse.
As we got more educated we increased control over conditions and these raw adaptive traits took a back seat to the technological brain. We solved health threats with medicine but mostly through ‘after the fact’ reactive science. Now in modern life we have the conditions to live safe, long lives but quality and quantity is under assault and at risk. We aren’t doubling lifespan and people are as sore and sick as ever past mid life. It is sad because it is almost completely unnecessary. A basic inexpensive, non-time consuming clinical approach to fitness changes the entire prognosis. Some education and understanding of how your individuality interacts with different nutrition elements and exercise effects is all that is needed.
The solution for today’s kids is not really motivation to move but motivation itself. If a kid does not have the natural energetic desire to move something is very – very amiss. They are eating wrong for them, their body isn’t strong in the ways that it needs to be to naturally feel like being vigorously physical. Think about it, when we were kids weren’t we were jumping out of our skin to get going?! 
Only a few kids were really mellow and too much of it made them over weight and/or weak. Then we got out of shape and didn’t want to lift our kids up over and over to climb and investigate. Kids then fast become easily fatigued and physically uninspired themselves. It is a vicious quickly self-devouring circle. Losing fitness begets losing the underlying energy let alone drive to live life. Curling up with a good book…or tablet/smart phone is fine but if you despise carrying a few things out of a store into your vehicle watch out. If you always want close parking spaces because you don’t feel like walking an extra 90 seconds it should be a huge red flag. If the only possible motivation you have for being vigorously physical for an hour is that it must be really distracting, super fun, maybe burn ugly fat…trust us you are falling apart inside – you are losing the connection with the natural life affirming fitness you had as a child.
The ignored issue here is the elephant in the room: “We shouldn’t have to watch over, teach or motivate anyone to be physically active everyday”. Your body is born and built for it and if the ability isn’t there and the natural drive is gone…you are unfit. You need to rekindle a relationship with proper exercise and self-sustaining nutrition supported by quality rest and resulting in daily stress reducing, equilibrium giving physical activity.
Those in power have either lost it and don’t notice or never lost it and don’t relate. We need to stop looking out for a solution and look in. We need to incorporate basic self health understanding and allow people to discover their own individual interface with food, exercise, activity and recovery. Generic programs and well meaning but ultimately these superficial studies never work and have done little to improve our public let alone children’s fitness and health.
Listen we grew up with and love such things as: http://www.participaction.com/splash/ We fully support encouraging a culture which appreciates staying physically, as well as technologically, mobile. The fact is you can teach children something like good dental hygiene but things are individual at times and they can get complicated if they are left to get tangled. Sure it sounds like a sales pitch but everyone can use the help of a serious fitness professional like a Fitness Clinician™. You can do plenty on your own but if people consulted and work with a dedicated professional from time to time things and people would be far better off.
Our bodies are amazing but complex networks of interactions and cross influences and once things goes sideways it gets scary fast. We can have such beautiful physical lives but we need to understand ourselves and our daily needs before the shortcomings become so disconnected from the initial causes it then feels impossible to decipher.
While these officials debate and design programs we look on and see the massive gap. You…we, all have a human body and it makes or breaks everything else related to us. Why don’t you know just how it actually works and what is similar and different about yours to others on the inside? Why don’t you know the basics about how nutrients interact with your body and what your inherited and lifestyle needs may be?
Sure possibly you can’t fix your own car but you know how to drive it without injuring yourself right ;?) You take it to a mechanic for repairs AND if you are sensible for maintenance…and is just your automobile (and of course the same goes for bicycles as well)…you see right? You need to know what kind of body you drive and what kind your kids have. You need regular tune-ups…you need to keep it functioning and if it is you will naturally go ahead and travel.
Lets educate ourselves about ourselves, this will naturally disseminate to the people of our future. Lets forget compartmentalizing ‘time at play’ with just set/set-up activity schedules…lets actually be fit and live life.
wefit.ca 