Modern life is brilliant.
We can order our shopping without leaving the sofa. We can use a remote control rather than getting up to change the television channel. We have lifts instead of stairs, electric bikes instead of pedalling, robot vacuum cleaners instead of pushing one around the house, and cars to take us just around the corner.
Convenience has never been more prevalent.
The problem is that our bodies haven’t evolved as quickly as our technology.
For almost all of human history, movement wasn’t optional. If you wanted food, you had to find it. If you wanted water, you carried it. Daily life naturally involved lifting, walking, climbing and carrying.
Even today, there are still communities around the world where this is simply how life is lived. Whether it’s farming, collecting water, walking long distances or carrying children and supplies, movement is built into everyday life rather than something squeezed into an hour at the gym. Unsurprisingly, these communities often have much lower rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease than we see in Western countries.
Today, we’ve engineered much of that effort out of our lives.
The irony is that, whilst life has become easier, staying healthy has become harder.
Our bodies are incredibly adaptable. If we challenge them, they become stronger. If we stop challenging them, they adapt to that too.
Every time you choose the lift over the stairs, ask someone else to carry something heavy for you, or drive a journey you could easily have walked, you’re sending your body a message: “I don’t need this ability anymore.”
Fortunately, the opposite is also true.
Carry your shopping instead of pushing the trolley all the way to the car. Walk to the local shop instead of driving. Take the stairs whenever you can. Stand up while you’re on the phone. Get down on the floor to play with your grandchildren and then get back up again without using your hands if you can.
None of these things counts as a workout. They can simply become part of your daily life.
I’m not suggesting we abandon modern conveniences. I’m as grateful for them as anyone. The trick is not to let them remove every physical challenge from your day.
A little discomfort is often exactly what your body needs.
Choose the harder option every now and then. Carry rather than wheel. Walk rather than drive. Climb rather than ride. They may seem like small decisions, but over the years they quietly shape the body you’ll be living in, and they can be the first step, pun intended, towards a fitter, healthier life.