More people than ever before are buying in-home equipment, and there are an ever-multiplying number of connected equipment to an extent that it is kind of the “golden age” of in-home fitness equipment.

But…we need more connection to nature, not to wi-fi.

We are now in a situation where there is more fitness equipment than ever before within financial reach of more people.
But you would never know it.

The only equipment most people seem to be aware of are the really expensive ones that require a wi-fi connection. They have little awareness of most of the relatively affordable equipment like I wrote about in the previous post. But almost everyone is aware of the existence of the Mirror, Tonal, and of course, Peloton.

It’s as if there are cars everywhere but the only ones people notice are Tesla and Ferrari.

These uber-expensive, trendy fitness offerings mostly do an ok job at delivering fitness.  The workouts seem fine enough from what I have seen, but nothing special.  At the price point for these pieces, we should be blown away and awestruck by the never-before-seen fitness programming.  Ok workouts should not come with such a hefty initial price tag and significant ongoing monthly expense.

But the real concern is this:  The last thing we need right now are things that drive us inside more often.  We need (Yes, need…see the book Your Brain on Nature for details as to why) to be active outdoors whenever we can to optimize our fitness experience. 
We need more connection to nature, not to wi-fi.  It’s practically cliché to point out that as we have gotten more connected (to devices) we have gotten less connected (to each other).

Welcome now to “Disconnection 2.0” – a disconnection from ourselves in nature.  

It is hard enough as it is for most of us to stick with exercise since our biology is hard-wired to steer us away from doing physical activity that is not directly related to today’s survival.  (Our brains enthusiastically say “yes” to chasing down prey or climbing trees for berries to eat; and say “no” just as emphatically to chasing down nothing on a treadmill.)

An aside for those immune to nuance: I am not saying that it is bad to run on a treadmill and that there are no humans who enjoy doing it. Just that it presents an extra challenge for us to stick with regular exercise.

Recently, for my own workout, at the last minute I decided to do part of it outside, despite the fact that it was quite cold.  I had been inside most of the day to that point and felt a deep drive to be active outdoors.  I just needed to get moving in the fresh, crisp, air.
Off I went with my Son of the Beast Ropes and Core Hammer,  See the video (I did manage to be able to get my daughter to join me…just long enough to shoot the video!)

Whatever gets more people to exercise more consistently I am cool with. So get a connected gadget if that’s your thing.  Just make sure you connect the fitness you get from using it to something out in the real world – out in nature.  Use it to literally open a door for you to get outside and do something physical that you want to try for the first time or that you have not done in a long time.

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