It doesn’t matter how busy the airport or mall is you will seldom find the stairs in use. In fact it is estimated only 2% of people use the stairs when there is an escalator right by the side of it. Once you know this, you will always notice it.
Being in that 2% isn’t just about taking the stairs though. It’s about taking all the little opportunities we have each day to choose the harder path.
Our lifestyles are much more sedentary than our ancestors. Humans are naturally hard wired to be lazy and most activity is uncomfortable to us. This was by design. If our ancestors burned more calories than they could eat then they would eventually die. Luckily, life for them was extremely active; hunting, building, fighting. These activities were necessary and provided all the movement they needed.
As life got more comfortable and our sedentary lifestyle started giving us various diseases, we invented exercise. Our daily movement became something we did in a 30-60min workout. The problem is that isn’t enough. We need more.
We don’t need more workouts (60min a day is plenty), but we need more general activity in our life. We need to seek out the harder paths whenever we can. We need to be a 2 percenter!
Life is very different to that of our ancestors. We don’t have to hunt our food, fight a local tribe or move our homes in different seasons. But our bodies still need plenty of movement. Being a 2 percenter is a mindset. You see the options and pick the hardest. The more things you do this with, the fitter & healthier you will be.
Try some of these when you have the opportunity:
- Park in the furthest spot away from the store
- Take the stairs
- Take walks during the days – do calls on the move
- Carry things as much as you can
- Add a weighted pack to walks
Everyone over the last two years has become less active. Many people’s commute to work is now within their own home and with less activities available we are naturally doing less. Your workouts are important. You need them, but they are not enough. You also need to add as much “non-workout” activity in to your day.
Take the stairs, choose the harder option and be a 2 percenter.