Darryl Edwards, is a Natural Lifestyle Educator, movement coach, nutritionist and creator of the Primal Play Method™. Darryl developed the Primal Play methodology to inspire others to have fun whilst getting healthier, fitter and stronger.

After almost 2 decades working as a technologist in investment banking, he transformed his own health. Darryl now addresses obesity and other chronic lifestyle diseases as a keynote and motivational speaker.

Darryl is the author of several award-winning books including Paleo Fitness and Animal Moves. His work has been published in titles such as Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Elle Magazine, and he has featured on the BBC TV documentaries Eat to Live Forever and Doctor In The House.

His TEDx talk, ‘Why Working Out isn’t Working Out’ addresses the issues with sedentary lifestyles and why many people don’t like to exercise even if they know they should!

In this episode, we talked about:

In the UK, 75% of children spend less time outside than prison inmates. The previous generation grew up spending far more time outside, enjoying unsupervised play. Less movement results in less physical ability, more mental health and emotional issues, and compromised ability to manage risk. ‘Health and safety’ is perhaps too cautious and overmanaging children leads to the loss of children making their own decisions. There’s been a shift towards less unsupervised, free play, towards more structured activities. This generation of children will then go on to become parents and elders who teach their children to navigate the world in a similar way
Aerobic fitness, heart health and grip strength have all declined. Diabetes and cardiovascular disease is now showing up in pre-teenage children
There are huge benefits of exercise and movement on cognitive function, concentration and academic performance
Issues of unsatisfactory daily movement - it should be 60 minutes of activity a day minimum (180 minutes if you’re 5 years old) - integrating movement throughout the day- more focus on fun rather than formal activity
Eye-hand coordination, jumping, landing, developing functional movement patterns. The link between physical milestones and cognitive development, when really the mind and body are interconnected
Personal responsibility, parental responsibility, societal responsibility - the shift to becoming more sedentary has happened over years and has now become ‘the new normal’. Sedentary living has so many poor health associations
There can be a large drop-off with physical activity, even if people have seen benefits and enjoyed it
Adults need more activities that offer fun and exploration as an inherent part of the activity
The importance of fun. Play as an attitude rather than the activity. You can even make housework fun! Play music and make up dance moves whilst changing the beds, balance on one leg when brushing the teeth, crawl down the stairs
The more often you can break up sedentary, rather than just one block of activity - for compound benefits of physical activity
‘Primal Play’ - rediscovering a zest for life. Movement is medicine and affects all aspects of our physiology
Mindfulness during play and activity by learning how to adapt to the environment and burning off energy
“If children are crawl-deprived, it has ramifications on other areas: they are affected academically, physical development and emotionally. Crawling is important for cross-body, left/right motion and exploring their environment. Crawling, pulling and rolling are instinctive movements
It’s part of learning to fall or flounder
Play as a way of processing experiences, good and bad
Jumping like a cat at the Great Wall of China!
Built-up trainers reduce proprioception and fine movement. Barefoot movement helps you to become more sensitive, relearn how to move the body and have good form. Jumping is more about the landing than the height of the jump
“In terms of locomotion, our feet are the most important devices we have”. As bipedal creatures, our feet are even more important than the eyes and help us to be stable, coordinated and find balance. Relearn how to be in our animal nature