Natural Movement: Keeping Health and Fitness Grounded, Approachable, Simple, and Fun

The sentiment that ‘exercise’ is important doesn’t escape anyone’s conscience, but while it might conjure thoughts of hours of grueling treadmill work or high-octane spin classes, you can reap the rewards of getting more active in ways you probably haven’t thought of.

This is the idea behind ‘natural movement’: the notion that a wide array of health benefits can be derived simply by prioritizing the ancient, instinctual ways of moving our bodies. We might not have the need to track prey (or run from predators!) or build shelters anymore, but mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, and cleaning a bathroom can have a surprisingly equivalent positive impact on our overall health and well-being.

Surely this sort of stuff can’t be as effective as traditional cardio, though, right? Well, it turns out that more vigorous isn’t always better, and often, the simplest method can be the most effective.

The difference between physical activity, physical exercise, and natural movement

First, we need to make a couple of distinctions. While the terms physical activity and physical exercise are often used interchangeably, there is a difference, and the concepts underpinning natural movement are somewhat separate still.

When we consider physical exercise, we’re usually talking about periods of time dedicated towards improving your fitness or skill at a sport – anything from an hour on the elliptical machine to a powerlifting session would fall under this category. It could be done with the express goal of losing weight, improving your conditioning, or for the passion itself.

Physical activity, on the other hand, is the differentiation between doing nothing with your body and doing something. We’re not talking about actively working out: the term embodies a huge range of activities involving body movement, whether it’s simply walking about the house or performing myriad daily tasks.

The principle behind natural movement – sometimes referred to as natural or primal fitness – stems from the foundational concepts of physical activity, and encompasses a broad range of holistic efforts toward a healthy, active lifestyle. Given the breadth of this area, it meanders between the boundaries of physical exercise and physical activity depending on the individual.

In many ways, natural movement resembles a philosophy, too: it focuses on the fact that our modern lives have become malformed to work against our natural, instinctual habits as a species, which has led to a prevalence of sedentary lifestyles and the health complications that come with immobility. Like any physical intervention, this goes hand in hand with the principles of a healthy, balanced diet, and many of the possible examples of natural movement activities also prioritize the mental health impacts of being outdoors/in nature and connecting with others.

But does doing a bit of gardening really make that much of a difference? The devil is in the detail, as they say, so let’s take a look at the science.

What the data says

Reliable sources like the World Health Organization and the NHS all agree on one thing – there’s a huge difference between doing something and doing nothing. 

Their guidelines strongly reflect that. In the UK, for example, the NHS puts a large emphasis on reducing your time spent sitting; they stress the importance of breaking up long periods of inactivity by being mindful of simply getting up and walking around for a few minutes.

While such a minor intervention might seem like it wouldn’t make much difference at first, considering these recommendations alongside the relevant literature reiterates the importance. A key paper from 2012 exposed a strong association between prolonged sitting and premature mortality. It transpired that people who sat too much were at an increased risk of a wide range of health issues, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and type-2 Diabetes.

Crucially, these risk factors didn’t fully diminish even if the individual regularly engaged in traditional exercise, implicating prolonged sitting as its own independent risk factor. Meaning you can’t just hit the gym and then sit for the rest of the day. Given that the University of Leicester found that, on average, people sit for around 9-10 hours per day, the humble efforts of even the most minor bouts of physical activity hold a lot of weight.

Alongside suggesting you break off your intimate relationship with the couch, the NHS also set clear, achievable guidelines for what you should be doing with your time spent standing up. You can have a read through those yourself, but in a nutshell, they recommend strengthening activities that utilize all major muscle groups alongside at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week.

And where do those guidelines point us? Natural movement. As we’ve established, though, there’s a huge range of activities under this umbrella, so now onto where to start.

What to do…

In a nutshell, the main pillars of natural movement are:

• Functional: It involves one or more of our natural functional movement patterns such as running, throwing, catching, balancing, climbing, lifting, carrying, and crawling.
• Adaptability: Given the breadth of possible activities, it can be performed outdoors or indoors and on your own or with others.
• Variability: Natural movement includes very basic, low-skill-level activities right up to extreme challenges for the well-initiated.

The first thing to decide is the level of intensity that is applicable to you personally. If you’ve lived a very sedentary lifestyle up until this point, your choice of natural movement activities probably isn’t going to be mountaineering or parkour, but instead adapting your daily life to be generally more active. No matter what your present level, the beauty of this method is its creativity, enabling an individual to take their personal fitness into their own hands in a way that makes the most sense for them.

Here are some examples to get you thinking:

Walking, Biking, or Hiking: Whether it’s walking the dog or a leisurely hike, most all forms of cardiovascular activity constitute a focus on natural movement. Simply choosing to take the stairs, park in a faraway parking spot instead of the closest one available, or, if it’s an option, walk to the supermarket instead of driving is a great place to start. Once you’re more comfortable, why not take to the woods for a short trek or go on an evening cycle with your partner?

Dance and Play: Maybe it’s playing with your kids/grandkids, a casual game of football with your friends, or dancing after dinner or on the weekend. Any of these covers the whole spectrum of natural movement.

Household Chores: Keeping busy around the house is a great way to get your natural movement exercise in, whether it’s gardening, washing up, vacuuming, or cleaning the car; as long as you’re on your feet and keeping active, you can be assured it’s having a positive impact on your health.

Ultimately, natural movement exercise is one of the most versatile and impactful forms of activity people can engage with, and really, anyone can participate. As the often bewildering amount of personal fitness possibilities continues to increase with the growth of the internet and social media, the principles outlined above are a reminder that less is often more, and that keeping things simple is usually your most surefire route to success.

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