Culture and Society
PUBLISHED
There was a time finding breakfast meant going foraging. That starting our day involved getting wherever we were going on foot. And meetings? They hadn’t been invented yet.
Then along came the Industrial Revolution. It wasn’t long before we had cars to take us to work and phones to connect us to those who were far away. The advent of the internet meant entire boardrooms could gather in your living room, and somewhere along the way we stopping having time for something we were made to do: move.
Ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10, sneaker brand ASICS have teamed up with experts to create The Movement Conservation Project. It aims to re-establish the importance of moving our bodies for our minds, and helpful ways to get back on our feet – literally and figuratively – when modern life makes it hard to get outside.
The project conducted a survey of 34,000 people from 31 countries to find out about people’s movement habits. It also established the Movement Conservation Status, which classifies activity levels as Active (150+ minutes of movement a day), At Risk (30 to 149 minutes of movement a day), or Endangered (0 to 29 minutes of movement a day).
The results revealed that the average person spent 86 percent of the waking day not moving, with young people moving the least. Over half of adults surveyed fell into the At Risk or Endangered categories.
Fifty-seven percent of people aged 18 to 24 were falling short of recommended movement levels and this group also had the lowest State Of Mind scores of those surveyed. This could be connected to the viral trend of “bed rotting” that entails lying still while watching videos, TV, or doomscrolling for extended periods of time.
It’s thought to be a response to stress and anxiety, which could explain why it’s so popular among Gen Z and women – two groups that are more stressed out than pretty much anyone else these days. Unfortunately, it’s a coping mechanism that carries dangers ranging from “self-fulfilling prophecy” to sleeping problems and blood clots.
Technology appears to sit at the core of the issue, encouraging people to conduct tasks online that once could have been done IRL. There was also a spike in artificial intelligence usage in younger groups, with 34 percent aged 18 to 24 staying they get AI to complete tasks they would previously have done themselves.
It figures, then, that as the world grows ever more automated, we are falling further into the trap of stasis. Given that movement was linked to improved State Of Mind Index scores in the Active group vs. the Endangered group, ASICS and their associated experts are eager to get people back on their feet.
The good news? Gaining the benefits of movement doesn’t have to mean a marathon, as research has shown even low-intensity exercise can boost your mood and enhance focus.
In fact, the ASICS study revealed that just 15 minutes of movement could have a meaningful impact on health and wellbeing. As such, they're encouraging everyone to take “15 Minutes To Thrive” ahead of World Mental Health Day – just a quarter of an hour that could help support the body and mind.
“The findings are a reminder that movement isn’t an added extra; it’s fundamental to how we feel, think and function,” said David Raichlen, Professor of Biology and Anthropology at the University of Southern California, in a release emailed to IFLScience.
“The encouraging thing is that it doesn’t take much to change: small, achievable moments of activity can make a real difference, and the challenge is to simply build them back into the world we live in now.”
Read the full report here.
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