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Natural, Local, Community Movement

Getting the body back onto the street, the trail and the neighbourhood pitch.

Start the practiceSee what is nearby

The Industrial Revolution (18th–19th century): Goodbye to Movement

Before this, most of humanity worked the land, hunted or did manual work. Movement was not «exercise», it was survival.

  • What changed:The shift from agrarian to industrial and then post-industrial societies moved work out of open spaces and physical tasks and into indoor settings and mental tasks. A «chair and screen» job took hold, with low physical demand and long days sitting down.
  • The cost:Structural sedentariness appeared. For the first time in history, human beings began spending 8 or 12 hours sitting or standing in one place, under roofs that hid the sun from us. With machines replacing physical effort, the door opened to chronic sedentariness and many modern diseases such as obesity and cardiovascular risk.

The hidden cost of driving two blocks

Sedentariness did not stop at the office chair: it followed us to the front door. Starting the car or the motorbike to reach the market, the shop or someone who lives ten minutes away is paid for three times over, and none of it shows on the receipt.

  • The fuel:Petrol and maintenance for a trip that fitted on foot, repeated several times a week for years.
  • The air and the noise:Emissions and noise on your own street: the one your neighbours breathe and where their children play, not a distant chimney.
  • The body:Fewer steps and less spontaneous energy expenditure —the kind that happens without meaning to—, which is exactly what keeps metabolism going through the day.

The counterweight: your territory is the place you move

Walking or cycling the short trips, using the trails, parks and pitches nearby, and backing the gyms, studios and classes in your neighbourhood turns your surroundings into the place where you move. You do not need to change your life: you need to stop motorising what already fitted on foot.

A Movement practice

Living, local, functional movement

A trip that was already in your day and two minutes on your feet, so moving stops needing a new slot in your calendar.

Move without an engine

Pick a short trip you would make today by car or motorbike —the market, the shop, someone’s house— and do it on foot or by bike. If you use a wheelchair, crutches or a cane, or you cannot go out today, your own way of getting around counts exactly the same.

Two minutes that count

For every 50 minutes in a chair, stand up and move for two minutes however your body allows: squats, calf raises, hip mobility. Making it longer is good for your body; points count days, not volume.

Sign in to begin

Recommended ritual

Head out, pause, get sun, get strong and notice

Five steps that fit into an ordinary day. Only the two anchors make the day count; the other three add a lot and are free.

  1. 1Head out without an engine: the short errand, on foot or by bike, with your legs or your own propulsion.
  2. 2Two minutes on your feet for every 50 in a chair: squats, calf raises, hip and thoracic mobility.
  3. 320 to 30 minutes outdoors, on soil, grass or a trail, to get direct sunlight and wake the foot up.
  4. 4Useful strength and sport with people: calisthenics in the park, carrying the shopping, work in the garden, a neighbourhood match, or the gym, studio or class in your area.
  5. 5Notice the triple impact next day: vitality in the body, fuel you did not spend and neighbours you actually ran into.

Adapt movement to your capacity, your space and your supports: if you use a wheelchair, crutches or a cane, your way of getting around counts the same. Stop if something does not feel safe and follow guidance from your health professionals.

Near you

Neighbourhood gyms, coaches and classes to move right here. The closest comes first, because the short trip is part of the practice.

Who has it nearby

  • Hazlo Sano

    Hazlo Sano

    1. Sueño: Recuperación biológica y descanso optimizado. 2. Alimentación: Nutrición natural y conexión con el origen local. 3. Movimiento: Ejercicio funcional y actividad física constante. 4. Mente y Comunidad: Gestión emocional, propósito y conexión social.

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The rhythm of the day

Three frequencies, no counting of sets or kilometres. What decides the outcome is how often you come back, not how much you do in one go.

  1. Every 50 min

    Two minutes on your feet

    Squats, calf raises, hip and thoracic mobility. Breaking up the chair wakes up glutes and legs, which have been switched off for nearly an hour, and gets oxygen to your head.

  2. Every day

    20 to 30 minutes outdoors

    On soil, grass or a trail. Direct sunlight synchronises the same body clock as Pillar 1, and uneven ground wakes up the foot and your balance.

  3. Every week

    Useful strength and sport with people

    Calisthenics in the park, carrying water bottles or the shopping, work in the garden, a neighbourhood match, a group walk —or the gym, studio or class in your area, which are neighbourhood businesses too and count just the same—.

And if you can give it more time, all the better for you: the minimum is a floor, not a ceiling. The one thing that does not change is that points count days and not volume, so nobody has to compete on intensity or distance.

The foot and the ground

The foot has twenty-six bones and more than thirty joints, and it spends the day inside a narrow last on a rigid sole. Giving it work back is what holds your balance up once the ground stops being flat.

What to look for in a functional shoe

  • A wide toe box: your toes have to be able to spread and bear weight, not be squeezed into a point.
  • A flexible sole: the foot should be able to bend and feel the ground, instead of riding on a rigid platform.
  • Zero or low drop: little or no height difference between heel and toe, so the posterior chain does its work.

And what to look for in the ground

Grass, soil, sand and uneven trails force a correction at every step: they strengthen the arch, improve balance and spread out impact. Walking barefoot for a while on grass or clean soil is the simplest version and costs nothing.

Change footwear gradually. A foot used to a rigid sole and a raised heel needs weeks to adapt, and rushing that transition is the most common way to get injured while trying to take care of yourself.

A catalogue of ways to move

What to do, what it does for your body and what it does for your neighbourhood. The four ways the rhythm gets filled.

  • Proximity and active breaks

    • Going to the market or the corner shop on foot or by bike.
    • Squats, calf raises and rotations every 50 minutes in the chair.
    • Taking the stairs instead of the lift.
    • Getting off one stop early and walking the last stretch.
    In the body and posture
    Keeps fat and glucose metabolism active, relieves tension in the lower back and gets the legs circulating again.
    In the community and the environment
    Zero emissions on short trips, direct savings on fuel and transport, and streets with people running into each other again.

  • Biomechanics and natural ground

    • Walking barefoot on grass or clean soil.
    • Shoes with a wide toe box, a flexible sole and zero or low drop.
    • Hip and ankle mobility on uneven ground or trails.
    • Walks along paths, fields or parks in your region.
    In the body and posture
    Strengthens the arch, improves balance, aligns the spine and spreads impact naturally.
    In the community and the environment
    Gives reasons to look after and preserve local trails, parks and green spaces, and does not depend on disposable plastic gear.

  • Functional strength and field work

    • Calisthenics: push-ups, free squats, pull-ups in the park.
    • Farmer’s walk: carrying water bottles, buckets or the shopping from the market.
    • Work in the garden: hauling soil, firewood or compost.
    • A guided routine at the gym or studio in your area.
    In the body and posture
    Increases bone density, preserves muscle mass, improves grip strength and stabilises the core.
    In the community and the environment
    Uses the infrastructure that already exists, sustains the neighbourhood’s exercise businesses and, with a garden, pushes food sovereignty along.

  • Endurance and community sport

    • Running on trails or in the hills.
    • A neighbourhood football match or any team sport.
    • Group walks with family or neighbours.
    • Group classes —dance, boxing, functional training— at a local studio.
    In the body and posture
    Strengthens the cardiorespiratory system, lowers cortisol levels and releases endorphins.
    In the community and the environment
    Weaves community, reduces isolation, creates belonging and reclaims the public spaces that fall out of use when nobody goes out.

How it connects with the other three pillars

These are not three more tasks. Two of these bridges are the same act you already do, told from the other pillar.

  • With Sleep: moving by day makes the body ask for night

    The day’s activity builds up the sleep pressure that makes you sleepy at dusk, and the outdoor light of your time outside anchors the same clock that opens your morning over there.

    Go to the pillar

  • With Nutrition: the errand on foot is your sourcing

    Your engine-free trip to the market is at once this pillar’s anchor and the other one’s nearby sourcing. You do not have to choose between them: it is the same journey.

    Go to the pillar

  • With Mind and Spirit: the same time outdoors

    The 20 to 30 minutes on soil or a trail this pillar asks for are the same ones that bring the noise in your head down over there. One is enough for both.

    Go to the pillar

This pillar is about pushing back on sedentariness by working physical activity into daily life. It is not limited to the gym, and it does not exclude it either: it covers walking, cycling, playing football, working the land or training at a neighbourhood studio. The aim is for movement to fit back into the day, and for your surroundings —streets, trails, pitches and local businesses— to be where it happens.

References