In 1553, Spanish physician Cristobal Mendez wrote the first book on the benefits of exercise. The book, El Libro del Ejercicio Corporal y Sus Provecho, discussed different types of exercises from a medical standpoint and its benefits in preventing and overcoming injuries. Since then, thousands of books have been written discussing the advantages of physical activity, with new concepts being introduced as further medical information comes to light.

In modern times, doctors globally recognize that in order to improve longevity, individuals need to be physically active. According to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC), benefits of exercise include increased cognitive activity, weight management and reduction of potential health risks such as diabetes. Even so, very few people actually meet the recommended guidelines. 

According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, “adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week.” However, physical trainer Alicia Yuhas believes many fail to reach that standard.

“In my opinion, this [lack of exercise] is due to most people having sedentary lifestyles and habits, especially long periods of sitting,” said Yuhas. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this lack of exercise extends to about 1.8 billion people, which is approximately a third of the world’s adult population. These individuals’ sedentary lifestyles can be attributed to a variety of things, including lack of motivation and busy schedules. 

Physicians worry about what the absence of exercise can do to the human body. A study from the CDC found that, in 2023, 76.4% of US citizens suffered from some form of chronic disease. Chronic diseases are prolonged health-conditions that typically last for a year or more. The National Library of Medicine (NIH) argues that over 80% of these illnesses could be prevented by exercise.

“Physical inactivity is a silent threat to global health, contributing significantly to the burden of chronic diseases,” said Dr Rüdiger Krech, the Director of Health Promotion at WHO. 

So, if being inactive is a recipe for disaster, why is it not being discussed more? A study by the NIH suggests that the lockdown produced by COVID forced many people into a more  sedentary lifestyle they have yet to rise out of. 

“Although, even before the pandemic, most adults failed to meet the minimum daily recommendations, we noted an additional 40% decrease of MVPA [moderate and vigorous physical activity], a 40% decrease in walking time and a 30% increase of PI [physical inactivity],” said Rado Pisot, author of Physical Inactivity  – the Human Health’s Greatest Enemy.

Alongside the impacts of COVID, the Body Positivity Movement also plays a part in the normalization of physical inactivity. 

The movement began in the 1960s with the creation of the Fat Acceptance Movement. Bill Fabrey, an engineer from New York, formed the National Association to Aid Fat Americans in honor of his wife, Joyce, who he believed was treated unfairly due to her weight. This began the campaign across the country for the acceptance of people who are overweight, coining the term “fat activism.” 

It was not until the early 2000s that this activism became the Body Positivity Movement. With the rise of social media came bullying, but within the cracks, individuals also found a space for community. What was once a movement for equal rights for fat individuals became a space for everyone with “imperfect” bodies, who were learning to love themselves despite their perceived flaws.

While the movement is centered around a healthy virtue of self-acceptance, it also comes with its own costs. According to a study in England by the NIH, people have begun to misinterpret what their actual body weight is, and in response were 85% less likely to try to lose weight in contrast to those who accurately interpreted their weight. While the body positivity movement has had the benefit of increasing self-love, it appears to come at the cost of acknowledging the truth about an individual’s health. 

That is not to say people do not want to be active, though. In fact, 75% of citizens in the United States do classify being in shape as very important, but 45% of those individuals are inactive. So, what can be done to fix this?

One major reason why people fail in their exercise journey is that they lack motivation. A common source of amotivation is the drowsy feeling that comes with being tired or exhausted. 

According to famed fitness company Peloton, it is important to know the difference between being tired or truly exhausted. The company defines tiredness as “a short-term state that has a known cause and solution — typically sleep”. In contrast, exhaustion is, “an incessant mental or physical state of fatigue that has no set cause and solution”. 

For someone who is lacking motivation due to being tired, fitness can actually be beneficial. When working out, the adrenal glands release the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. These endocrine signals support blood flow to muscles, increasing heart rate and, therefore, stimulating the feeling of wakefulness. 

“Exercise is a natural mood booster,” Yuhas said. Additionally, according to Yuhas, these neurochemical reactions can also target stress and depression, in turn helping to improve sleep. 

However, exercise should only be done when experiencing minor slumps. If an individual is tired due to lack of sleep, it is best to get either a 20- or 90-minute nap. A 20-minute nap helps to improve alertness and motor performance, while a 90-minute nap completes a full sleep cycle. Anywhere in between can be dangerous to workout after, at least for a couple hours, due to the potential of waking up in the middle of the deep sleep portion of rest, resulting in the increased feeling of grogginess for a period of time. 

However, working out during a state of exhaustion can be harmful. 

“If you are truly exhausted, your coordination may be off which can affect your balance and form, which increases the risk of injury,” Yuhas stated. “Knowing your body is important to determine whether you should rest or push through.”

So, how do you know if you are too tired to workout? According to Peloton, experiencing chronic sleep deprivation, soreness without reason and trouble focusing are all a few reasons why you should take a rest day. 

Another commonly found reason why individuals do not exercise is due to the perceived financial burden. When people think of working out, they typically think of going to the gym or being on a competitive sports team, both of which cost money. 

However, this is a misconception. While being able to do a bench press or go swimming might require money, exercise does not inherently require going to the gym. In fact, one recent exercise trend, calisthenics, deliberately forgoes the use of weights.

According to an entry in the Journal of Education, Health and Sport titled Potential Health Benefits and Risks Associated with Calisthenics, a Sport of Increasing Popularity – A Literature Review, calisthenics is a way to exercise in which the resistance comes purely from the body. This means that no dumbbells or barbells are required, only an individual’s body weight. 

Calisthenics takes away the need for the equipment of a gym by replacing it with things you can find in your everyday environment. Common exercises include pushups, pull-ups, jumping jacks and more, all of which require minimal to no equipment. 

“Due to the ease of performing most calisthenic exercises, their availability, and the health benefits of practicing it, its popularity is constantly growing among people of all ages” Potential Health Benefits and Risks Associated with Calisthenics, a Sport of Increasing Popularity – A Literature Review said. 

Like all forms of exercise, calisthenics carries both its own benefits and limitations. 

Exercise of any kind can increase the chance of injury. According to the NIH, a study done on calisthenics found that there was an injury rate of 27.8% annually across participant data. Even so, in comparison to other forms of exercise, such as CrossFit and body building, the injury rate is low. 

On the other hand, consistent calisthenic exercise can significantly increase cardiovascular health, muscle mass, muscular endurance and assist with the reduction of body fat. It has also been proven to decrease mental illnesses such as stress and anxiety. 

However, if calisthenics is not calling to you, it is not the only option for working out without accessing  a gym. Other ways of exercising on a budget include running, yoga, pilates and even vigorous chores around the house.

“Their are many ways to stay active outside of a standard gym,” Yuhas said. “One of the best exercises is walking … Bodyweight exercises are another great way to stay in shape without access to any equipment. Home exercise videos (such as those from Youtube) are also popular and available for free.”

Despite this, sometimes people who have the strongest motivation and stable finances are still being inactive. According to Medical Professionals Reference, “Half of the 21 million Americans who have a disability don’t exercise, and that lack of exercise is jeopardizing their health.”

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, being disabled is defined as someone who “has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a history or record of such an impairment (such as cancer that is in remission), or is perceived by others as having such an impairment (such as a person who has scars from a severe burn).” 

For these individuals, getting exercise can be very difficult, and traditional working out may even be impossible. Does this mean that people suffering from disabilities are unable to get their recommended amount of physical activity in? 

Between the 1930s to around the 1970s, individuals with disabilities likely would not have been able to be active. 

In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt — the father of the New Deal — was elected for his first of four terms as president. Under Roosevelt’s New Deal came the Social Security Act, which aimed to provide relief for the elderly and the disabled persons by providing federal funding to assist them.

Despite the safety-net the New Deal was supposed to provide individuals with disabilities — and the fact that FDR himself was disabled — the enforcement of the New Deal actually harmed the physically and mentally impaired more than it helped. 

This was especially seen with the increased rate at which individuals with disabilities were being institutionalized, where individuals were often put into overcrowded spaces and “treated” for their impairments. These treatments included procedures such as electroconvulsive therapy and frontal lobotomies.

The United States has come a long way since the New Deal was enacted nearly 100 years ago. Institutionalization led to individuals with disabilities being forced into a sedentary lifestyle, strict routines and inadequate care taking. Now, however, these persons typically have the authority over their own lives. 

Even so, individuals with physical and mental impairments today still face some hardships. 

Another space that is hard for people with disabilities to access is the gym. These places are rarely made available for individuals with impairments, especially those suffering from physical disabilities. 

With inaccessible equipment and improperly trained staff, being physically active may feel impossible for the disabled. However, this does not have to be the case, and there are plenty of individuals with disabilities who prove that true.

One such example is Mike Egan, a US Marine Combat Veteran who competed in the Go One More (G1M) Ultra race hosted by Bare Performance Nutrition at Bare Ranch in Texas. The race requires competitors to run 4.2 miles every hour on the hour. This continues until only one competitor remains. 

Those who did not already know Egan might have thought him an unlikely competitor. Having lost both his legs due to an explosion during his service in Afghanistan, Egan competed the race in the confines of his wheelchair. 

Despite thunderstorms locking up the wheels of his wheelchair during the race, Egan kept going, even pulling his wheelchair for a portion of the race. Egan ended up placing in the top 28 — outlasting 120 of the 145 racers.

“Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional,” Egan stated in an Instagram post from April 13. “Life can be painful, brutal at times… but that pain can be used for something good. Maybe something as simple as a guy pulling a wheelchair through the mud.”

With people like Egan proving that physical activity is for everyone, that just means an individual needs to find the right kind of exercise for themselves. And luckily, resources are now being provided to help.

The CDC, alongside the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD), created the “Reaching People with Disabilities through Healthy Communities” project in January 2016. The project works to create policy, systemic, and environmental changes that will assist people with all forms of disabilities to increase access to “healthy living opportunities, such as healthy eating, physical activity, general accessibility improvements, and tobacco use prevention or cessation,” the CDC said.

While this project is ongoing and long-term, the CDC also provides information on how people with disabilities can participate in physical activity now. This includes a list of programs and videos that were designed to help disabled persons keep movement in their daily lives. 

There are many other reasons why individuals may be physically inactive, but there are resources to help. The internet can provide ideas on how to get out of slumps. Physicians and physical trainers — like Yuhas — can help a person figure out what works best for them. Therapists may be able to help overcome mental barriers that keep an individual sedentary. 

Even when it may seem difficult, physical activity is important for maintaining an individual’s overall health. Exercise, even only a couple minutes a day, can decrease the risk of developing health conditions and also improve mood. Working out is not just for people who want to lose weight or build muscle, it is beneficial for everyone. 

Exercise does not have to be about how fast you can sprint or how much you can lift. For the majority of people, exercise is just a bit of daily movement a day. While the type of physical activity someone does can vary from person to person, the purpose does not always have to be about physical appearance. Exercise is for improving the mind just as much as the body.