As we grow older, our daily routines become increasingly sedentary. School, work, technology and other responsibilities mean we spend more time sitting and less time moving. Physical activity gradually becomes something we have to consciously make time for rather than a natural part of our day.
A study by ASICS involving 34,000 people across 31 countries found that respondents spend 86% of their waking hours inactive, while 53% reported not meeting recommended physical activity guidelines. ASICS, a Japanese sportswear company, has been studying this shift in our everyday movement. The brand’s research looks at the relationship between physical activity and wellbeing, and how incorporating more movement into our daily routines can help address increasingly sedentary lifestyles. They illustrated it saying : “From once a very interesting species, an apex predator, now at risk of being endangered”. The species? Physically active human beings.
ASICS followed 3 human beings with 3 different reasons for being physically inactive. One of them is stuck in a 3-by-3 cubicle at a meeting they can’t get out of. Their life revolves around that cubicle. Another case shows a person binge watching, forgetting how to move. The last case is our average doom scroller, who forgot that there is a world outside of online. Some forgot moving because the world told them so, some just simply chose it for the appeal of it. What is the solution to it all? A global habit that is almost impossible to solve?
ASICS found the solution to be our innate nature. That is, running. For 15 minutes everyday, we must run. Stuck at the desk for too long? Take a walk. Feeling crushed by pressure? Go somewhere, stretch the body. The wellbeing of the body confirms the wellbeing of the mind as well. All of this, so that our natural habitat doesn’t become a sofa, a chair, a desk. Because our natural habitat will always be with other people, we are a species who love to travel. ASICS and its NatGeo style documentary mocks our decline as a species, where our world is consolidated in a cubicle, in our devices.
The inspirational documentary which starts out in a mocking tone, shows that there is still hope. We are not shackled, we are free. Gary Raucher, Global Head of Marketing at ASICS, said: “Today, as modern life quietly designs movement out of everyday life, we hope to inspire people everywhere to move for just 15 minutes”. 15 minute is a phrase ASICS uses a lot, in hopes of making people do the bare minimum. Will this playful and interesting point of view get people out of their cubicle? Time is the testament here.
Leave a comment