If you noticed an eerie silence on my part last week, then it’s great to know I was missed, but rest assured that as always, I was not far from the realm of exercise and fitness.
I’ve been frequently harping on about the war on obesity and inactivity of late. Is there a chink in the armour? A battlefield casualty? A weapon malfunction? Far from it. In fact you could actually say I was out on the very front line, and it certainly felt like a front line.
I was out in the wilderness away from computers, internet and even away from the gym. Now that’s about as cut-off as it gets by my standards. I was in a place where the air is fresh, the leaves dance with the breeze under the midday sun and the sea glistens upon a breathtaking panorama.
To be precise, I was at a campsite somewhere in the north of the island, accompanying a large group of college sports students on their annual camp, enjoying a refreshing escape from civilization.
It would seem outdoor and adventurous activities represent a huge, untapped market on these fair islands of ours.
I’ve always been a fan of exercising outdoors, but dedicated outdoor pursuits are a step further and the ultimate method of maximising our wonderful climate and beautiful scenery.
Exercising outdoors could include activities as simple as running, cycling or circuit training on the beach, but going all the way might include trekking or orienteering, rock climbing or canoeing.
What joy to test one’s spirit and experience such a thrilling and far-removed escape from everyday life
In this particular trip, team-building games and trekking ruled the roost and I was thrilled to see countless benefits emerging from such a simple and relatively easily organised set of activities.
Problem-solving, communication, teamwork, determination, resourcefulness, mental robustness and physical fitness were all required to complete the activities set.
Every participant ultimately rose to the occasion, fulfilled their potential and went over and above what they thought they were capable of. What joy to test one’s spirit and experience such a thrilling and far-removed escape from everyday life.
Teams were required to solve clues to complete the designated routes. The clues themselves involved a mix of puzzle-solving, orienteering skills and the use of some direction-finding techniques not involving a compass.
In their respective teams, the students navigated by the sun by day and the stars and moon by night. They covered vast amounts of distance honing their physical fitness and mental fortitude.
They laughed, they argued and they nearly cried, but they emerged the victors by working together and most importantly of all, by having some fun along the way. When the dust settled, they were tired but happy, crowding around the campfire under the starlight talking for hours on end.
Pitching tents, cooking outdoors with gas and solid fuel stoves and learning basic, survival techniques was just the icing on the cake. Upon witnessing such a fruitful and developmental educational experience unfold before my eyes, I just could not help but wonder what the immense potential of such activities might be.
The corporate aspect of outdoor and adventurous activities is already being fully exploited in some countries. For companies operating in high-pressure, competitive industries, teambuilding and promoting employee health and well-being are way up on the agenda.
In high-stakes environments, employers know that energetic, healthy and fit employees who operate effectively as a team perform better at work and ultimately generate more profit.
Outdoor pursuits have the wonderful ability of pushing people outside of their comfort zones. In such situations natural leaders emerge and team members band together to achieve the tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Upon returning to the more familiar set of problems encountered closer inside the comfort zone back at the office, employees operating in the same teams usually experience a renewed, fresh and invigorated approach to their work. They emerge more motivated and boosted in their collective morale.
It could be said that any other context in which adult participants must work closely as a team might witness a boost in performance through outdoor pursuits. Even sports teams have been known to dabble in such events in efforts to correct waning team dynamics or to boost morale ahead of an important fixture.
More and more managers and leaders are being forced to think outside the box in this ever-changing world of ours to get the seemingly impossible results required to get ahead.
If such benefits can be enjoyed by our work forces and athletes, what about our famously overweight and obese children? This is just the sort of thing private boot camp programmes thrive on in the US.
Children can learn basic survival, hone their fitness, lose weight, work individually and as part of teams, and develop self-discipline and a more mature and self-sufficient outlook in the process. If the opportunity arises for you or your loved ones, I seriously encourage you to take the plunge.
Perhaps the next front line in our war on inactivity is quite literally, the front line. There are boots, tents, roll mats, gas stoves and other outdoor tools of the trade you might see more often in a military movie than anywhere else.
Considering you might lose considerable weight on just one boot camp event, and experience enough of a shock to your routine to affect permanent changes to your lifestyle, would you consider it too?
matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt