America's approach to regular physical activity is gym membership or getting pumped up for a triathlon, 5K race, CrossFit, or yoga. They work for a single-digit percentage of people long enough."They fail practically everyone, almost always.
Many Blue Zones residents walk regularly. It's easy to walk more than 10,000 steps a day in Singapore, where cars are pricey.
For those who spend much of the day commuting from vehicles to workstations to couches, it may seem like a lot. But happily, you don't have to sell your car or move abroad to profit from walking.
High heights in Blue Zones like Sardinia, Italy are connected to longer lifespans because residents go up and down stairs or hills regularly.
A recent study indicated that even one minute of heart-pumping exercise like climbing stairs or carrying groceries a few times a day can lessen the chance of early mortality.
The US spends billions on gym subscriptions that are rarely used. Though well-intentioned, we can't manage to stick to exercise routines long enough to notice results.
Loma Linda, California, another Blue Zone, has made exercise a community event, whether on the pickleball court or in the pool.
Ikaria, Greece, shows how to make partying a workout by combining Blue Zones exercise methods like being social and finding inadvertent ways to move.
Running and dancing burn about the same amount of calories each hour. An hour of dancing is fun.