The Big Difference between US fitness and European Fitness
If there’s one huge takeaway about exercise, I got from my time in Greece,
It’s that regular exercise, according to a few locals I spoke to, isn’t necessarily prioritized, and that’s okay.
One Athens native told me that in Greece, “exercise is not the first thing on our mind — especially in the summer, when we vacation, we don’t think about it at all.
“I commend you [for running while on your vacation], because if you told that to any other Greek person, they might laugh at you.”
Newsletter Summary
Why the Europeans don’t need to prioritize movement like we do
What we as Americans could learn from European culture
One quote about travel to start the week
🇺🇸 US versus European Fitness
I’m flying back from Greece today after a two-week honeymoon, which I absolutely loved.
I’m also ready to delve more into my working as Q4 kicks off, and have some ambitious goals and tough conversations to have.
But in my two weeks here, I’ve only done 6 workouts, a dramatic drop-off from my usual routine with a few big races coming up that could determine my standing for some even more crucial competitions next year.
You may read that and think, “who works out on vacation at ALL?”
And you might be right to scoff.
I’ve written before about how travel and vacations have healing properties that are probably beneficial for overall health, so unless you’re a competitive athlete like myself, exercising on vacation isn’t necessary.
But what I lost in structured workouts I made up for in exploring, high-quality food, and high step counts.
Many who travel to Europe experience this cycle:
“Wow, I felt like I ate so much, but when I returned home and stepped on the scale, I actually LOST weight!”
A trip to Europe can be the most illuminating example of how poor American food quality is, how little we’re incentivized to walk (or even step out into sunlight, for that matter), and how stressed the modern American life is.
Europeans might have less urban development — but you could make the case that it’s a strategic means of getting their people to move more.
The EU has strict laws in place about PFAS, toxins, and preservatives in food that make it nearly impossible for the chemicals that penetrate the American gut to exist.
And whatever your thoughts about the economy abroad are, it’s clear that not having a work-centric mindset at every waking hour gives dramatic benefits to the immune system.
Studies have shown that simply looking at plants can lower stress levels, bringing a connectedness to nature that our furthest ancestors fostered in our DNA to maintain a calm, homeostatic body.
It would make sense, then, that a less hyper-industrialized environment like Europe — filled with beautiful nature attractions, clean seas and bustling wildlife — is better for one’s body and soul.
I’m seeing the effects of how relaxed I was these past two weeks from my dwindling weekly screen time.
Europeans don’t have to prioritize fitness like Americans do because their societies set them up to be physically capable individuals in every pursuit of life, from walking to their jobs to hauling groceries.
Americans, however, complacent with our innovation and ease-of-access to literally everything, have no sense of what it means to be active and even feel entitled to being less active.
🇬🇷 What America could learn from European Culture
While my wife and I were on a catamaran, we spoke to the boat’s captain and his daughter, the co-owner of their yachting business who told us she worked out.
(We had to pick her brain since we both work in fitness).
She gawked and admitted, “it’s very infrequent — when I return home to Athens, I try to work with a trainer during the winter months, but I never work out during the summer months.”
But really, why would she try and do structured exercise during her yachting season from April to October?
Despite not “exercising,” she’s a thin, strong young girl in her 30’s with chiseled shoulders, likely from hoisting and lowering sails and anchors multiple times a day.
That IS her exercise.
She lamented to us that in Greek culture, exercise isn’t prioritized like it is in America.
“I commend you [for running while on your vacation], because if you told that to any other Greek person, they might laugh at you.”
Without explicitly saying it, I could tell why she said what she said.
Greek people, from what I’ve observed across four Cycladic Islands in two weeks, make daily movement a part of their lives without even trying.
In our boaters’ cases, their work requires them to exert.
Many people in the restaurant industry work the front AND back of house, which lends itself to more daily micromovements like unpacking and loading goods.
And the desire to take public transportation simply isn’t as prevalent — not for lack of buses, trains, planes or boats — because walking is an activity that has been ingrained in the region for centuries.
We can take the lowest-hanging fruit of walking more with us very easily as Americans.
Doing more of what Michael Easter calls “taking the stairs” — both a literal recommendation and a metaphor for choosing the hard over the easy whenever possible — is another European trait we can start to adopt in our lives.
The third and probably hardest thing Americans can do to be more like Europeans with regards to fitness is to find a hobby (or a job!) that allows you a meaningful amount of movement throughout the day, ideally in a way that is personally rewarding and fulfilling to you.
These hallmarks of European fitness are why i’m certain that, when adjusted for population size and vacation-length, Europeans tend to live longer, healthier, and happier than Americans do.
🔎One Quote about Travel to start the week
“Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Efharistò — have a great week.
🇬🇷