Getting 'A Head' of Wellness

According to Ducharme, this phenomenon was demonstrated in a 2018 study conducted by the University of Ottawa. A physical activity researcher named Matthieu Boisgontier and his colleagues "found that avoiding sedentary behavior took more brain power." Says Boisgontier, this suggests we have "an automatic tendency" to choose relaxing over moving. It is a conclusion that shows up repeatedly in research. For example, when people choose to take an escalator instead of the stairs. "Modern life gives us so many chances to give in to our preference for rest that we have reached an extreme that is no longer beneficial to our health," Boisgontier says. Gaining an understanding of how the human brain works can go a long way in changing things, adds Lieberman.

Jackie Hargreaves is a senior lecturer on sport and exercise psychology at the U.K.'s Leeds Beckett University, who also helps to reframe what is considered exercise.

"It's not about going out and doing vigorous, competitive sport," Hargreaves says. "It's about moving and finding ways to move that are actually enjoyable."

"You don't need to spend an hour lifting weights at the gym; even taking a few minutes per day to dance in your kitchen or weed the garden is great for your mind and body," Ducharme says.

Medicalnewstoday.com states that "a new meta-analysis assessed evidence collected in 10 studies that considered the health benefits of various types of dance for people (who are overweight and obese)." The 10 studies showed that "dance arguably provides more entertainment than traditional exercise while it improves mood and executive function and provides a chance to enjoy more social interaction."

The analysis published in PLOS ONE found that people who regularly engaged in dance exhibited improvements in body mass index, waist circumference, percentage of body fat and kilograms of fat lost compared to people who did not dance.

The report says that "the key to any successful exercise program is adhering to it past the initial decision to get started, and dancing may offer enough entertainment value to make this more likely."

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