Exercise or Play?

By Carol D. O'Dell

I spent a good deal of my childhood up a dogwood tree high above the earth imagining the wicked queens in their fortresses unable to penetrate my lofty perch. My cat Charlie and I would hide in the azalea bushes, his large disk eyes staring wildly at me. I had to hide him from the evil spies in the cars that cased my neighborhood seeking to kidnap the world’s most valuable cat and his diamond collar that held valuable secret codes.

I could swing high, higher, higher than all the other neighborhood kids. I’d swing so high the chains slackened their taut pull and wobbled indecisively, and then I’d push off and leap—suspend—and land two flat feet on soft sand. I did it! The highest I’d ever been! I’d try it again even though most attempts resulted in a mouthful of dirt, which I can still taste to this day. Apparently, my mother never looked out the window when I did this because if she did, she would have scolded me and then ordered Daddy to dismantle my swing-set.

That’s how I played as a child. What about you?

Now that I’m in my mid-forties, no one asks me to come out and play. But they should. Adult are preoccupied with stress, jobs, weight loss, bone loss, sleep loss, and we’ve forgotten the key. We follow the rules, or at least know the rules and warnings we’re not following. And a lot of numbers are rolling around in our heads: What your BMI score, your cholesterol score? Do you know your HDL and LDL levels? You better. Include omega fatty acids in your diet but avoid trans-fats. Don’t forget, thirty minutes a day of exercise that raises your heart rate and be sure to eat whole grains. Lots of whole grains.

No one will argue about the benefits of exercise. It’s a key component to weight management and can have a profound impact on many diseases such as cardio-vascular disease and diabetes. According to Fitness Today Magazine, there are six exercise goals:

• Muscular Size, Strength and Endurance
• Bone Strength
• Cardiovascular Efficiency
• Enhanced Flexibility
• Body Leanness
•
• Increased Resistance to Injury
But exercise can’t help us if we can’t stick to a routine. Ken Hutchins outlines the differences between exercise and play in his Super Slow Exercise Guide:

Exercise Recreation
Logical Instinctive
Universal Personal
General Specific
Physical Mental
Not Fun Fun



The differences are mostly mental. Many forms of exercise and play overlap. Attitude is everything. So how about listening to good ole’ mom? Go outside and play.

Play is a happy word. Play conjures up playgrounds, backyards, swing sets, swimming pools and baseball fields. Every child plays, or should. Every child plays differently. Some are naturally team sport player, others are runners, gymnasts, dancers, tree climbers, others love to roll down hills, build snow men, join swim teams, play with their pets, make mud pies. Every family has their own play history as well. Some families are hikers, touch football families or like mine, water gun families. We chase each other for hours, hide behind sheds and cars. Attack. Squirt. Run. Duck. Scream. We play for hours. We play after dark. We forget we’re hungry or tired. Or old.

Adults need to play. Ditch the exercise routine and dip back into those childhood memories and remember what kind of kid you were and how you liked to play.

What’s Your Play Style?
Were you an explorer? Then go for a hike. Team player? Take up karate or adult soccer. Loner? Join the Y and do laps or find your Zen state in tai-chi. Did you like to climb trees? Go rock climbing. The point is, you can still play, still be you, and you’ll find that by tapping into your play history you’ll stir up some great memories, rev your endorphins and never look at your watch in hopes that you’re workout’s almost over.

Why is play so much fun? Play engages a different side of our brain. The classic text The Handbook of Psychology by Jaan Valsiner and Kevin J. Connolly states that the most widely acceptable working definition of play is that it has “no apparent immediate purpose.” The text also states that play can resemble more serious behaviors and can include “exaggerated motions and vocalizations.” Anyone who’s ever watched or participated in a rousing game of beach volleyball can attest to there being plenty of “exaggerated motions and vocalizations.”

Many psychologists, behaviorists and anthropologists have noted that humans in all societies and throughout history play. Animals such as dogs, cats not only play, but they play with us in a wonderful exchange and can be both exhilarating and comforting well into our senior years. It’s also apparent that birds and marine mammals such as dolphins play. Scuba divers have observed that some species of fish also seem to play.

Play can be easy, challenging or engaging. Time and place begin to fade. We can play by ourselves, with our pets, with family and friends. Play can be hard, sweaty or dirty. Play can be quiet, loud, rowdy or easy. Play does more than merely release endorphins and give us a natural high. It’s good for our souls.

Me? I was and still am the bicycle queen. In my mind, I was an Air Force Pilot flying in an out of enemy lines. Zoom downhill on my bike--faster, faster, get my hips just right, lean, lean a little to the left, tilt, hold it, hold it, let one hand go, balance, let go of the other…no hands! Wind in my face, trees whiz by, wave to old lady Darcy, jump the creek, lean, lean, turn the curve. Do it again.

Carol has been published in numerous publications and is the author of Mothering Mother: A Daughter’s Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir. She rides her bike in her neighborhood most mornings and let’s go of one hand.

Sources:
Fitness Today Magazine, June 2005.
The Handbook of Psychology by Jaan Valsiner and Kevin J. Connolly
http://www.relaxationexpert.co.uk/RecreationVSExercise.html
http://www.superslow.com/articles/exercise_vs_recreation.html