It is undisputed: Sport and exercise are panacea that have a positive effect on the entire body and our brain as well. Regular physical activity gets the most out of our genes, prevents diseases and can also help heal them faster. Sport is a real fountain of youth!
But we all know the other side of the coin: sore muscles, aching limbs and joints and the feeling of being barely able to move or only being able to move slowly – the phrase “sport is murder” literally comes to mind when we are doing sport again have gone to our limits or beyond.
Often times, it’s the dose that makes the poison. With this article we want to go back to the origins together with Maik Levie, a movement hero. How do you find the golden mean between fun and frustration in sports? Does a lot really help a lot and how much is enough to keep the fun of sport and the joy of movement?
Who better to answer these questions than someone who started competitive sports at an early age and realized relatively quickly that you can not just do many sports side by side. Better still: You can do many sports at the same time!
After the sporty all-rounder changed his view of sport and exercise, Maik got a happy, meaningful and healthy understanding of how much fun exercise is when it is intuitive.
But let’s start from the beginning:
What are the differences between sport and exercise?
The terms exercise and sport are often used synonymously and are often confused with one another. These are completely different aspects that all have to do with our musculoskeletal system, but can have different effects.
” Sport is understood to be a certain form of moving, playing or competing. In each case, certain movements of the person are emphasized. Movement, on the other hand, is a physical activity without subordinating it to a specific form. By that I mean the voluntary activity of the human musculoskeletal system (body) regardless of a type of sport, ”Maik differentiates the terms sport and movement.
Movement is therefore everything we do in everyday life. Sports differ in the setting of goals – in sports it is often the result that counts.
Sport is murder?
Sport is murder – an assertion often made by those who don’t like sports in order to ward off physical activity. Churchill’s “No sports” is often quoted in this context to support this statement!
The ambition to be better, faster and fitter than the competition (measured by results) is what makes the sport competitive.
“This sport then has nothing to do with normal movement in life and what some people do to achieve a certain result little to do with sense and understanding. Happiness and health should be the only values we strive for in sport. ”
Ambition is therefore a double-edged sword: Although the right portion of ambition can drive us to top performance, “… excessive pressure to perform – be it from outside or from the athlete himself, exercises that are too hard, emotional stress, negative evaluations and not very relaxed, fun-related Moving are reasons why people distance themselves from the natural urge to move, ”states Maik.
Who of us doesn’t like to remember childhood days long ago, when we pursued our natural urge to move and had great fun climbing trees, running through fields and meadows or jumping into a puddle with both feet!
Instead of being forced to exercise more fun again
“Movement is something expressionistic, something original that rises deeply from the soul of the individual. It communicates our personality and brings our unconscious to the surface.
This promotes the genius of everyone and not just those who are particularly well suited to a particular area. Movement is an art, just like poetry or painting, ”describes Maik.
According to Maik, in order to fully enjoy the potential of your movement, you should:
- just start something for fun
- go out into nature to use the surroundings for sporting activities
- do sport together with friends / in a team
- Benefit from the change in many different sports cultures
- As a supplement after training, stretch and meditate if you only want to concentrate on one sport.
- Get active instead of just exercising to consume through digital channels
