If you look at pictures of old nudist events, you see a lot of activity. That activity is called exercise, but if the word exercise scares you, we can just say they were active. They swam laps, played volleyball, ran, played active games, and the list goes on. Nowadays, we celebrate nudist stew, which is a special blend of nudists sitting in the hot tub or pool adding their own little bit of spice to the conversation. Much as I love the conversation of the nudist stew, I am wondering where the action went. Did it die out with the hippie movement, causing our hippies to expand a bit?
This whole exercise question has been on my mind lately as I’ve worked toward having a healthier life, including drinking water, eating nutritious foods, and, that’s right, exercising. After trying out this exercise thing, I find that it quite agrees with me- I feel GREAT after a good exercise session! Why is it that I’m just discovering the joys of exercise yet it’s been around since people were invented? I dunno, but I do know that exercise is great.
Sometimes I exercise while with clients- they are kids who have mental health issues and would really benefit from the awesome feeling of doing exercise. But I can’t exactly exercise clothes-free with them, so much of my exercise occurs at home, which is my nudist camp. Now my nudist camp is FABULOUS and filled with many awesomely amazing people, but I do notice that there isn’t always a lot of exercise going on. Golf carts are used for travel rather than walking, the pool is more for standing and conversing than swimming laps or activity, and many of the events are more sedentary. This is the norm at nudist camps and in America at large- it’s certainly nothing unique to the campground where I live.
Still… I would love to go back to the old days that I see in the vintage nudist photos. The old days of volleyball, active swimming, hiking, and sooo much more activity and exercise seem like forever ago. I know that when Young Naturists of America comes to my campground in another week that we’ll have lots of exercise going on and I’m very excited about that! But I wish we could have all that activity all the time. A girl can dream. Or maybe, just maybe, this girl needs to not only dream, but propose some events that include a bunch of activity. Huh, I do believe I’ve got something to think on here.
What exercise do you enjoy participating in at your nudist location? Do you have any big events that revolve around movement-kinds of activity and exercise?
Tags: activity, exercise, health, healthy, naturist, nudist, YNA, Young Naturists America
You make a good point about how it seems that most of what goes on at nudist camps is relaxation rather than exertion. A lot of us aren’t quite up to par in that respect!
Part of that may be due to the ageing of our population (which is changing thanks to you and your friends!)and to a couple of other factors as well.
Those photos you refer to are probably like most that are taken either for publicity or posterity; they depict the ideal rather than the reality. Pics of nudists playing volleyball are ubiquitous to naturism and exist in abundance today yet as you point out, not everyone plays volleyball all of the time. In fact, even among the very active most of their time is spent between activities; no one can run around all the time!
Furthermore, some folks actually have jobs where they get all the exercise they want during the week and just want to relax on their weekend off. Whether at home in a hammock or lounging on a pool deck naked, it’s their idea of R&R and I doubt that has changed since the days of the 60 hour week.
One more thing to consider is that though ideally we should all be fit and health-conscious, we aren’t, and had not the less-active population taken up(taken over?)nudism in the large numbers they have over the years, there would be far fewer venues and much less money and effort going into the social nudist community.
It remains to be seen whether a younger generation of more fit and body aware naturists will show the commitment and investment their elders did by investing their savings (Savings? What’s THAT?) into the large network of clubs and camps throughout the country. It’s well and good to organize events at someone else’s venue; it’s quite another to raise funds to build your own from the ground up!
Those camps may be boring to the young and fit but at least they’re there. If they don’t receive the attendance and support required, then nudists in the future will indeed be doing their nude exercising at home.
Perhaps those seeking more physical activities could volunteer their time and money to improve facilities at their local camp, thus improving the situation for all involved!
A new generation of committed young naturists is vital to the future of nudism/naturism but I surely wouldn’t dissuade young couch-potatoes from joining: their money and work just might be what helps make it happen!
And don’t forget about acceptance; you might not share their lifestyle but we all share a love of the socially nude lifestyle, and that’s what counts the most!
AllNudist,
I absolutely support our/ my club and applaud all that they do. In no way would I discourage anyone from going to a club and I agree that volunteering to assist in creating more active activities is a great thing to do!
It was only recently that I became aware and involved with my health and I hope that some of my enthusiasm for making healthy choices rubs off on others. Whether old, young, or somewhere in between, healthy choices like participating in exercise is beneficial to us all.
Ouch. Sorry that ran on so long. Promise, short & to the point next time!
I agree with you about the being able to see modern nudist resorts in photos looking like they did in the old days but you would have to have a few things to do that…
1. Is people less afraid of being in nude photos.
2. More nudists with bush over shaved.
3. Resorts that are more active in nature rather than having say a wi-fi hotspot, they have more pools, fitness type activities.
Then to me the photos in modern nude resort websites,brochures etc would match those of 20 years ago…
This is a great point and I agree that we should try for greater physical activity at nudist parks and clubs. The maintenance crew approach that All-Nudist suggests is a good idea. And there are places that host nude Olympics or nude Survivor-type games, nude volleyball tournaments of course, nude 5K runs, etc.
But it also seems to be true, as Jerry says, that in the Internet age people are less willing to appear in photos. I often wonder what “The Raw Ones” nudist documentary would look like if it were filmed today! Of course it could be set up to “look like” a typical day at a naturist park full of fun, fit, active people – the original was no doubt also a set-up. If you tried to do an impromptu documentary at a naturist park today, most people would not want to be filmed, and those that would agree to be filmed would probably not be doing flips on the trampoline or cartwheels across the meadow!
Hi. I have noticed a similar aspect to the majority of events my friends and I attend. Loots of standing around talking. We have tried waking things up bit get frowned at by the other members. Fair enough they are there to relax but then they wonder why the youngster aren’t coming anymore. Any we have started having our own things like games nights with physical games. And everyone us enjoying them.
Possibly to the consternation of my fellow naturists at our monthly swim/potluck, I do actually ‘swim’ at the swims. The other day myself & another were swimming laps of sorts in the short indoor pool. The club we use has had problems with the hot tub & sauna, hence the pool was really the only gathering space (besides the front room). I didn’t really need to swim per se, since I had done thousands of yards that morning at Masters. Erica & I talked about swimming a bit (she swam on her high school team; I only picked it up a few years ago). Honestly, however, I do respect those nudists in our club who wish to just float on the noodles or toss the ball around, but if the opportunity arises I’ll practice my techniques.