The Gym of Life

Never thought I'd be radicalized on urban planning but here I am

I strongly sympathize with the point on the elderly. Often, Americans come to me and say “Well, my grandma can’t bike, she’s too frail!” Here in Europe, my grandmother bikes 3 hours a day, and she’s 74 years old. People wouldn’t be so frail if they had just biked their entire life, it’s a preventative measure.

The first time I traveled outside the US I went to china and I was shocked that at night and in the morning all the elderly people came outside to dance, do taichi, walk, and play in the park. Most elderly people in my part of the US had homes, stayed inside, and watched the news. Parks were only for kids and usually empty at night aside from maybe some teenagers messing around, but in China the public parks would be full of people of all ages, but especially the elderly, well into the night. That completely shocked me.

Your speaking tone and the pace is so clear, sharp, and easy to follow. And the fact that you don't use any background music makes it even better. Please don't change this

My (Dutch) grandpa is 101 years old, and he still bikes 60km per week. He had to start using a tricycle, as his lowered reflexes made it difficult to balance on a normal bike, but he's still going strong and enjoying life!

Good on you for popularizing the term "car-dependent". It helps dispel the twisted view that needing a car to go anywhere is somehow a form of freedom rather than a form of dependence.

I tried to explain to my parents a few years ago that I liked biking to work partly because it was good exercise. They weren't really a fan of me biking. They thought it was too dangerous and that it took too long so I would be constantly late to work. So they tried to convince me to get a gym membership. Even at the time I knew that was a bad option. I already had my bike, I didn't have to pay a monthly membership to take it to work in the morning. I also knew how my brain worked. If my daily exercise has to be a separate event from the rest of my day, I'm never going to do it. Ever. Eventually having the argument every day was too exhausting so I ended up driving almost every day over the summer months. They asked why I even had a bike if I wasn't going to take it out. 😒

My grandma cycled until she was 82. She took a fall into her home that broke her hip and didn’t dare to cycle anymore after. This was the beginning of her decline, both physically and mentally. RIP grandma, but I’m glad she was able to stay healthy that long in NL. The bike sure played a role in it.

I’ve been craving that dopamine hit of good urban planning and walkability, thanks NJB.

My last job was in a newly built walkable mixed use area. I would spend my 1 hour lunch break walking around instead of eating lunch most of the time because it was enjoyable. I can definitely see those obesity stats being spot on.

The older people thing is critical actually in that it doesn't just give them exercise, but freedom and socialization! My grandma never goes anywhere because she can't drive anymore. She is just trapped, alone, at her house, completely dependent on her daughter coming by occasionally to bring her groceries.

I’m really glad you fixed the video for Australia and New Zealand so they’d be able to see it right way up. This is the kind of thoughtful accessibility practice you don’t get on just any old channel. 👌

I've always been puzzled we never talk about obesity as a systemic problem like this. Study after study says that telling people to workout doesn't work but we don't talk about the built environment.

Yesterday, a resident of the Town I work for said we should tax cyclists. This is why I have little faith that we will be able to build proper infrastructure in Canada.

"The pit of laziness." This is a spot-on metaphor. Please don't mind me as I assimilate this into my self-awareness and my understanding of the world at large. And thank you so much for your videos!!!

Almost 10 minutes into the video (having watched a bunch more earlier), and just noticed that virtually no one wears helmets whilst riding their bikes in the Netherlands. That alone shows how much safer the streets are there ... and how they remove one more barrier to riding (you'd be amazed how many times my kids changed their mind about riding their bikes, just because they didn't want to wear a helmet).

One of my USA colleagues was considering moving to the Netherlands. She was very keen to cycle but was concerned; "Won't people think it's silly if an obese person like me tries to cycle?" and that just made me super sad D: Since cycling is not a sport, and the bicycles themselves are conferable, no one's gonna give a damn that you're trying to cycle as an obese person (we will judge you for wearing a helmet instead :'D )

To anyone who has concerns about cycling with physical disabilities: Recumbent bikes and trikes are a thing and they can be adapted to suit specific needs, and electric assist upgrade kits are also a thing.

I'm taking a risk commenting without even watching, but I'm so confident I know exactly where this is going that just gonna go for it: My last several years of school involved a combination of walking and transit for my daily commute. Throw in a stop in at the grocery store on the way home, and I'd get between 45 minutes to 1.5 hours of walking in every day. Literally as soon as I started an internship that required me to drive to work and back, I gained about 25 pounds within a few months. No diet change or anything else - just the free exercise that was built into my day was removed. The idea of having to pay money to flail about either at home on expensive equipment or go to a gym, all so I can not be fat but still drive everywhere... no.

My grandpa has run six miles every day since he was fourteen. He is now seventy-two and in better shape than I am. I am sixteen. Let that sink in. This is why I'm planning on starting to commute by bike everywhere within my city, which is where I go 90% of the time. I don't want to die young from preventable health issues like more and more Americans are.