In a post entitled The Workout Enigma, yesterday the NY Times Well blog reported that “researchers in Finland made the discovery that some people’s bodies do not respond as expected to weight training, others don’t respond to endurance exercise and, in some lamentable cases, some don’t respond to either. In other words, there are those who just do not become fitter or stronger, no matter what exercise they undertake.”

Researchers never lose interest in exercise and fitness. They also never seem able to reach consensus on its value or impact.

This is one reason why I take my cues on what’s good and healthy from direct experience and intuition rather than research. Instead I swim because:

• * It’s always the best part of my day.
• * I love the feeling of using my body well.
• * Swimming provides a lifetime of opportunities to improve.
• * The possibility of continuous improvement stokes passion, and the pursuit of it concentrates my mind.
• * Practicing-to-improve becomes a ‘moving meditation’ and that creates Flow States.
• * The air seems fresher, the sun brighter, food more flavorful, and everything more possible after my practice.

And at the end of the day I know I’m healthier for it.

A comprehensive primer on the healthiest way to exercise is TI Coach Grant Molyneux’s book, Effortless Exercise — A guide to Fitness, Flow States and Inner Awareness.