I'm not exactly "young" anymore, but when I was, the main reason I didn't like physical outdoor activities over physical indoor activities is the same as it is now:
It's hot as hell outside for three months out of the year.
Something crazy I've experience is when I swam in an outdoors pool every morning early for a while. This involves several temperature shocks, like jumping into the shower (hot), then walking from the shower to the pool (cold), then jumping into the pool (very cold initially, then ok), then walking back to the shower then showering again. This whole routine happens over just 60 minutes.
Other than the overall health and wellness I got I normally associated with exercise, and improved breathing because of swimming, I felt immune to temperature discomfort! After a while, the routine itself didn't bother, nor walking 15 minutes from the parking lot to my office under 50C summer sun at noon. I could go out in winter in any clothes I want.
It was very noticable and very specific. Sensitivity to temperature itself may be a form of unfitness.
I think your body has natural mechanisms to mitigate that initial discomfort.
I am now sitting under a tree, after biking in 85 degree weather in July on the east coast. I’ve also biked in 90 and 95 degree weather.
And I don’t feel hot at all. Going outside might seem unpleasant, but once you’re out there, it’s not just fine, but refreshing
I don’t know exactly
why, but it’s probably sweat, clothing, basic metabolism, and basic psychological facts (perception is often triggered by change)
Likewise, I bike in cold weather (all 12 months on the east coast). I think it is pretty established that this is both tolerable and healthy - ie it’s a mild version of the people who swim in freezing lakes in the dead of winter
And keep in mind I worked in an office
my whole career,
and have never competed in a single sporting event in my life (although I do like some sports)
Could it be that your experience doesn't apply to everyone?
I've been living in the same area as you, and I go for walks almost daily; it's astonishingly miserable out.
I have a friend who does almost identical physical activity to me, as we have similar jobs. He sweats very little when outside unless physically exerting himself. I sweat profusely when just walking; even when wearing significantly less clothing.
> I think your body has natural mechanisms to mitigate that initial discomfort.
I think the main natural mechanism the body uses is endorphins..
In my experience it also benefits from training, coming on quicker at the start of a regularly strenuous lasting activity. When I started going on runs regularly I could clearly sense when the internal drug supply turned on and it became the point where I mentally marked transitioning from a short sprint to endurance mode.
I've also noticed when taking people on long hikes who don't usually do such things, if we take an extended break they usually start complaining of aches and pains and are suddenly wrecked. My assumption has been this is the endorphin supply shutting off, and it's a tough hump to overcome to get flowing again now that the pain/soreness/exhaustion has become realized. I suspect folks who aren't accustomed to getting out and active at all are kind of pre-trapped in that state and don't reach the endorphins flowing mode even once before going back indoors to play vidya.
I don’t even work out with kettlebells and TRX in my AV/exercise/VR room when it is hot. I do get what exercise I can when it is cool but I haven’t been getting up before to hike this year because I’ve come to understand how important sleep is to my mental health. (e.g. back when I was getting up before sunrise to get a 6 mile walk in every morning my mental health wasn’t good)
I read a NYT's article that said heat stroke's much more common in the start of summer than the end, so I made a conscious effort to get out walking a ton during this years first heat dome... and I'm pretty sure it works pretty well?
Even on humid, hot days with feels like 100 I can get out and bike pretty dang far at this point (non-electric 45 lb Citi Bikes here in NYC)
The downside is that I start sweating absolutely profusely basically the moment I step outside now :sob:
For context here though, much prefer the cold, and have never been a fan of the hot, humid, heat really unless I'm at the beach. But this year's been decent!
There's a reason people flock to the coasts. I grew up in the deep southern US. It was hot and humid, but we spent all day every day outside. We either went to the beach or played in the river. You just get used to the heat. We barely had AC until I was 15 or so and we could afford a house with central HVAC.
To keep things simple, "activity is better for cognition". It doesn't have to be outside. Let's start with just promoting any activity...
There's already well-known studies showing that doing physical activity _before_ the school day starts, and then having the most challenging/cognition intense classes first, following the physical activity, boosts learning.
Patiently waiting for the skeptical comment, or the more recent formula "we should put that in a drug so people can have the benefits of outdoor exercise without leaving their room!"
I'd be interested to see them also test for physical activity indoors while surrounded by houseplants or other greenery, as well as high lux indoor lighting to simulate sunlight exposure.
There's been other studies that showed just looking at nature can improve cognitive function and mental health, including house plants. I suspect, outside of the benefits of sunlight exposure, it's less about outside vs. inside and more being in/around greenery/plants.
I agree with your lighting comment outside sunlight and polarised light affect the body metabolism differently, Indoors kidney works more than outdoors.Also oxygen levels and humidity are better outdoors than indoors.
I think these type of studies would be more interesting if they controlled for lighting levels/type and air quality. What exactly is the difference between indoor and outdoor here?
It's good to have a study like this to first confirm that there is a difference. If you jump right to factors, and you study the wrong ones, you might miss the real difference.
I'm not exactly "young" anymore, but when I was, the main reason I didn't like physical outdoor activities over physical indoor activities is the same as it is now:
It's hot as hell outside for three months out of the year.
Something crazy I've experience is when I swam in an outdoors pool every morning early for a while. This involves several temperature shocks, like jumping into the shower (hot), then walking from the shower to the pool (cold), then jumping into the pool (very cold initially, then ok), then walking back to the shower then showering again. This whole routine happens over just 60 minutes.
Other than the overall health and wellness I got I normally associated with exercise, and improved breathing because of swimming, I felt immune to temperature discomfort! After a while, the routine itself didn't bother, nor walking 15 minutes from the parking lot to my office under 50C summer sun at noon. I could go out in winter in any clothes I want.
It was very noticable and very specific. Sensitivity to temperature itself may be a form of unfitness.
I think your body has natural mechanisms to mitigate that initial discomfort.
I am now sitting under a tree, after biking in 85 degree weather in July on the east coast. I’ve also biked in 90 and 95 degree weather.
And I don’t feel hot at all. Going outside might seem unpleasant, but once you’re out there, it’s not just fine, but refreshing
I don’t know exactly why, but it’s probably sweat, clothing, basic metabolism, and basic psychological facts (perception is often triggered by change)
Likewise, I bike in cold weather (all 12 months on the east coast). I think it is pretty established that this is both tolerable and healthy - ie it’s a mild version of the people who swim in freezing lakes in the dead of winter
And keep in mind I worked in an office my whole career, and have never competed in a single sporting event in my life (although I do like some sports)
I think that's great for you. Truly.
Could it be that your experience doesn't apply to everyone?
I've been living in the same area as you, and I go for walks almost daily; it's astonishingly miserable out.
I have a friend who does almost identical physical activity to me, as we have similar jobs. He sweats very little when outside unless physically exerting himself. I sweat profusely when just walking; even when wearing significantly less clothing.
> I think your body has natural mechanisms to mitigate that initial discomfort.
I think the main natural mechanism the body uses is endorphins..
In my experience it also benefits from training, coming on quicker at the start of a regularly strenuous lasting activity. When I started going on runs regularly I could clearly sense when the internal drug supply turned on and it became the point where I mentally marked transitioning from a short sprint to endurance mode.
I've also noticed when taking people on long hikes who don't usually do such things, if we take an extended break they usually start complaining of aches and pains and are suddenly wrecked. My assumption has been this is the endorphin supply shutting off, and it's a tough hump to overcome to get flowing again now that the pain/soreness/exhaustion has become realized. I suspect folks who aren't accustomed to getting out and active at all are kind of pre-trapped in that state and don't reach the endorphins flowing mode even once before going back indoors to play vidya.
I don’t even work out with kettlebells and TRX in my AV/exercise/VR room when it is hot. I do get what exercise I can when it is cool but I haven’t been getting up before to hike this year because I’ve come to understand how important sleep is to my mental health. (e.g. back when I was getting up before sunrise to get a 6 mile walk in every morning my mental health wasn’t good)
I read a NYT's article that said heat stroke's much more common in the start of summer than the end, so I made a conscious effort to get out walking a ton during this years first heat dome... and I'm pretty sure it works pretty well?
Even on humid, hot days with feels like 100 I can get out and bike pretty dang far at this point (non-electric 45 lb Citi Bikes here in NYC)
The downside is that I start sweating absolutely profusely basically the moment I step outside now :sob:
For context here though, much prefer the cold, and have never been a fan of the hot, humid, heat really unless I'm at the beach. But this year's been decent!
Heat adaptation is a thing.
There's a reason people flock to the coasts. I grew up in the deep southern US. It was hot and humid, but we spent all day every day outside. We either went to the beach or played in the river. You just get used to the heat. We barely had AC until I was 15 or so and we could afford a house with central HVAC.
So you like "only" for 9 months of the year?
Eh, it's cold for another three, then stormy for the other six.
They joys of living along where the jet stream dips in North America.
As we say in Scandinavia: there's no bad weather, just bad clothes.
Sometimes nudity is not an option when it goes above 100F.
Yes, imagine the sunburns.
If I'm in Scandinavia, this isn't a problem.
There are benefits to heat training, assuming it's not insta-heatstroke temps: https://www.outsideonline.com/health/running/training/heat-t...
There's beaches, pools, lakes if you really can't be in the heat.
Eventually you just get used to it.
Cold sucks though, glad I left that lol
To keep things simple, "activity is better for cognition". It doesn't have to be outside. Let's start with just promoting any activity...
There's already well-known studies showing that doing physical activity _before_ the school day starts, and then having the most challenging/cognition intense classes first, following the physical activity, boosts learning.
See the book Spark[1] to learn more.
[1] https://a.co/d/2ZCabyM
These charts show that the outdoor exercise is better than twice as good as indoors in several respects.
Patiently waiting for the skeptical comment, or the more recent formula "we should put that in a drug so people can have the benefits of outdoor exercise without leaving their room!"
> we should put that in a drug
If it can be done, it will be done and should be done.
I'd be interested to see them also test for physical activity indoors while surrounded by houseplants or other greenery, as well as high lux indoor lighting to simulate sunlight exposure.
There's been other studies that showed just looking at nature can improve cognitive function and mental health, including house plants. I suspect, outside of the benefits of sunlight exposure, it's less about outside vs. inside and more being in/around greenery/plants.
I agree with your lighting comment outside sunlight and polarised light affect the body metabolism differently, Indoors kidney works more than outdoors.Also oxygen levels and humidity are better outdoors than indoors.
I think these type of studies would be more interesting if they controlled for lighting levels/type and air quality. What exactly is the difference between indoor and outdoor here?
It's good to have a study like this to first confirm that there is a difference. If you jump right to factors, and you study the wrong ones, you might miss the real difference.
If outside wasn't full of cars children could walk/cycle to school. It's become so much more difficult to be outside in recent decades.
> Outdoor physical activity is more beneficial than indoor physical activity for cognition in young people
Why did you drop "physical" from the title?
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