Take back the joy of movement from the numbers

Cathrine Telstø Pedersen says exercise should be measured by the pleasure and confidence it brings, not by pace, distance or performance.

Cathrine Telstø Pedersen argues that the pleasure of being active is too often narrowed by comparisons, numbers and other people’s expectations. In a debate piece published by Aftenbladet, she says activity should be understood as something personal rather than a contest measured in pace, distance or weight lifted. For one person, that may mean a marathon; for another, it may be a walk around the neighbourhood.

Pedersen, who says she is approaching 40 and trains regularly without being an elite athlete, writes that movement gives her energy, confidence and space to spend time with friends, family and colleagues. She links that view to her work as a division manager in environmental health and licensing control at Rogaland brann og redning, where she encounters people with very different lives, strengths and challenges. A health glossary entry from AWORK similarly describes activity as physical or mental engagement and notes its importance for overall well-being, while exercise psychology research says enjoyable movement is more likely to be repeated over time.

Her central concern is that many people now associate exercise with failure rather than satisfaction. At a public health conference, she heard discussion of “activity shame” – the sense that children, teenagers and adults can come to see movement as a source of embarrassment or exclusion. Pedersen says that focus on times, records, kilometres and performance can turn something potentially uplifting into something that has to be proven.

The article also broadens the argument into questions of resilience and preparedness. Pedersen says discussions about emergency readiness often centre on food, water and heat, but physical capacity matters too: the ability to carry, to walk long distances and to cope with demanding situations. That point is consistent with research in the open-access study collection at PubMed Central, which finds that people are more likely to stay active when they experience movement as joy rather than duty, and that support matters in helping them find forms of exercise they actually like.

She ends by returning to the social side of activity. Writing about a recent race in Spain, Pedersen says what stayed with her was not just the finish line but the encouragement, companionship and support surrounding it, including from people who did not run at all. Her message is that leaders, parents, neighbours and friends should ask what brings someone pleasure and a sense of mastery, rather than what time they achieved. In her view, the value of activity lies not in being best, but in making movement part of a fuller life.