There’s lots of different ways of characterized kinds of exercise.
I often think in terms of cardio, strength training, flexibility, and balance. That’s a goal directed way of looking at it.
But a recent article in my newsfeed, Your body needs these three forms of movement every week, organized exercise differently into three different ways of moving. There’s everyday movement, deliberate athletic training, and social exercise.
“First is the movement your body is owed or requires every day, such as walking, stretching and bending. Second is athletic movement, which you can do a few times a week to improve your fitness or to train for a sport. Third is social movement that you do for fun or to connect with others, such as dancing or playing volleyball.”
It’s the third I’m missing at the moment. As I start to plan my fitness future, I need to think about how to get that back. I’m tempted by CrossFit because I love the community, but I’m worried about hurting myself. Bike groups would be great if I could find one my speed! I think martial arts are still out for now. Swimming is fun and social, if I follow your advice, and get out in the fall.
What do you think of this way of classifying exercise? Do you get all three in your life?
I get all three, but only if I think of the social exercise as a less intense segment. More like the every day movement, I guess. I live in a retirement community where anyone who feels like it shows up for a walk every morning at 7:30. There are usually two groups; one is very gentle; the other goes farther and a bit faster. Neither one gets my heart rate up. I also take a few tap dance lessons most weeks. Again, since I do so much of the second category, I am hardly ever too warm or out of breath, but I definitely get different movements and get to do it with other enthusiasts.
Your thoughts actually look a bit like adding to the second category. In my case, I am already doing all of that I can effectively do. Some of it does overlap, when I ride with friends. But there is only so much intensity/effortful exercise we can do and still have really good results, so I choose to do most of the social part at more of a recovery level of effort.
Good luck finding the ideal activity for you! It’s can be a really fun part of a day.
Interesting categorization. I’m not sure how useful it feels to me. Though I also feel like I get all three decently regularly. For me, the challenge is to calibrate between cardio, strength and flexibility. I was curious about your categorization of CrossFit as social, since I’d think of that as active workout. And I guess that the three categories may have strong overlap. Food for thought. And always, more dancing is good.