prestige in moving your body

so for any of the (video) gamers out there, you might recognise the word ‘prestige’ being used in this context. i remember growing up with games like Call of Duty (which given the war ravaged state of the world now, is a terrifying thought), and one of the claims to fame as a teenager was to reach ‘prestige’ level – to complete the game, keep all of the loot, and start again as the strongest player on the field. it was usually an indication of socioeconomic status now that i think about it, to afford the consoles and have the time to kill but hey, we were none the wiser. begging santa for the things that everyone else had as if it were nothing, just a wish and it would arrive. i digress – this edition is largely about how i did finally manage to prestige a game, but it’s not the one i’ve mentioned already… its Just Dance.

when i was living in perth, i was reminded that i have a shocking relationship with exercise. i always have, that’s why i throw myself into sport. the more i can hide the work and health benefits, the better. i mean, i did spend 20 years effectively standing in a field (playing cricket) but i played every position you can think of: i leveraged my early maturation and growth spurt to pepper tween boys who were (socialised to be) deeply outraged at my presence in their competitions with fast bowling, then would hunt for the ball whenever i was fielding by standing as close to the batter as legally possible and counting how many times i had touched the ball. yes, i was, and still am, an absolute menace. i would compete in every single inter-school carnival and tournament day just to get a day off school – including the dark arts like cross country and track running (my skin crawls at the thought of running). by the time i had finished high school, i’d played about 20 sports, spent most evenings at training of some sort, and stopped getting invited to things like a normal teenager because, you guessed it, i had training. i loved every moment of it though, there’s something so enticing about learning, about doing something that you couldn’t do before – even if the messiness along the way can sometimes be infuriating.

as a trained exercise scientist, i am well aware of the entangled benefits of moving our bodies, lifting weights, running etc. but like any behaviour change theory will tell you, there is not enough knowledge in the world to change behaviour if you do not want to. wow, i could do a high intensity interval training session with literally just dumbbells and my own body weight and (probably) improve my longevity or at least my bone mineral density and muscle mass but… i don’t wanna. the thought of going to the gym is the most uninspiring thing i could do with my precious time, but i did find joy in pilates. jumping up and down with little springs to add some resistance, stretching and pulling and reaching and putting your feet in the hand loops and swimming in mid-air? fuck yeah, sign me up. i used to think these aversions and quirky loves made me defective – surely a normal person would just go to the gym for gods sake. but (beyond the ADHD diagnosis) i’ve since learned that there is nothing actually governing what is the ‘right’ way to move our bodies, that is just a socially constructed story that we need not subscribe to.

enter… Just Dance. as always, it kinda started as a joke. a friend invited me round for a games night, which began with the classic cards and boards before wandering over to trivial pursuit. after sitting still (and some trash talking), we booted up a version of just dance that was still on the console and began our dance battles. it always pains me as someone who did a lot of hip hop training in high school that the controllers do not really care about the execution, as long as your hand is moving in the way they want you to, but we definitely added some flair. i was reminded in that moment how much i enjoy dancing, and we worked up a sweat. i went home that night and bought the cheapest edition of Just Dance on my switch, not really expecting anything to come of it. that was almost 2 years ago now. i now own the ultimate 2026 edition, with a year-long subscription to the entire catalogue of songs and new releases. rather than going for a walk, or a run (ew), i boot up the game and get boogying.

it seems like such a simple thing, but when we approach the problem as ‘how can i move my body’ rather than ‘i must exercise’, i engage with it entirely differently and i’m sure i’m not the only one. as part of my ‘quarterly quests’, i keep a few moving-my-body related challenges like how many times can i go to jiu jitsu training in a month? how far can i ride my bike? i wanna learn the macaco (the acrobatic move, not the monkey) and to control a handstand (rather than ‘kick up and pray’). all of these things are incredibly functional and beneficial for my health and wellbeing without having the ‘exercise’ connotation that makes me immediately not want to do it. my quest to play 50 sports also stems from that notion: i want to be able to play anything, anytime, anywhere. oh you’re a player short in futsal tomorrow night? lemme get my shoes. need a partner for badminton? yeah i’ve still got my racquet. wanna play in a fistball tournament for your country against New Zealand? fuck yeah i’m there. to me, moving my body is about being skill-full ~ full of skills. and that’s more than enough.