The importance of play in health and fitness

Welcome to the weekly warble here at Ideanthro Movement.

This week I'm going to talk about the importance of play in health and fitness.

When we hear the word play, it's common to immediately think of kids playing games together. However I also mean play in the more general sense of any activity that is enjoyable and somewhat spontaneous. Any activity where one action leads to another in a manner that isn't completely planned out. This could mean kids playing tag in the playground, but it could also be as simple as two adults throwing a ball to each other.

The thing about almost all approaches to health and fitness is that they lack that spontaneity. They're planned, structured and routine. And there are good reasons for that. For developing attributes like strength, that structure and routine really helps. 

But attributes like agility, nimbleness and our ability to react safely to the unexpected are also important, and these don't benefit as much from structure and routine. What does develop them well is more playful, spontaneous activities. Playful activities ask us to be agile and nimble, and to react quickly to the unexpected, and thus they develop those exact attributes.

So if you've ever wished you were more agile, nimble and coordinated, then adding a playful element to your health and fitness might be exactly what you need.

If you'd like to find out more, feel free to get in touch. You can contact us at www.ideanthromovement.com/contact-us

Cheers

Jack

Jack MullalyIdeanthro Movement