Want to get fit? It’s actually pretty simple. Here’s your prescription: move, lift, carry, push, pull, run, play—and do it consistently.

We live in an age of fitness technology. There are watches that count our steps, apps that track our sleep, machines that measure our performance, and endless products promising faster results with less effort.

But underneath all the technology, the fundamentals haven’t changed much.

Strong people still need to lift things. Fit people still need to move. Healthy bodies still benefit from walking, running, swimming, carrying, climbing, squatting, pushing and pulling.

In other words, fitness doesn’t have to be complicated.

Start with the basics

A simple fitness prescription begins with the major movements.

Then carry, drag, push or walk with a purpose.

You don’t need every exercise. You need the ability to perform the basic movements well and progressively challenge yourself.

Make conditioning part of the prescription

Strength is only one piece of fitness.

Your body was designed to move over distance and to work at different intensities. Walk. Run. Bike. Swim. Row. Hike. Carry something. Push something. Drag something.

Even a purposeful 30-minute walk can be a useful starting point.

And occasionally, turn up the intensity.

Short, hard efforts can challenge your cardiovascular system and teach you to work when you’re uncomfortable. The exact method matters less than building a balanced routine that includes both easier movement and appropriately challenging work.

Variety keeps you capable

One of the most useful ideas in the original World-Class Fitness in 100 Words is the importance of variety.

Five or six days of movement doesn’t mean doing the same workout every day. In fact, doing exactly the same thing forever isn’t necessarily the goal.

Variety also keeps training interesting. When exercise becomes an endless repetition of the same routine, motivation can disappear. New movements and activities give you another reason to get outside and move.

Keep food simple

Training cannot completely compensate for poor eating habits.

The World-Class Fitness in 100 Words approach emphasizes meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some starch, limited fruit and little or no added sugar, while matching food intake to activity and body-composition goals.

The broader lesson is simple: eat mostly nutritious food, pay attention to how much you’re eating, and fuel the activity you’re asking your body to perform.

There is no need to turn every meal into a mathematical exercise. Build your diet around quality foods and make choices you can sustain.

Get outside

Whenever possible, take your fitness outdoors.

Walk through the neighborhood. Run on a trail. Carry something across the yard. Play a game with your kids. Hike with friends. Swim. Bike.

There’s something different about moving through the real world rather than spending every workout staring at a screen.

And perhaps that’s the biggest lesson.

The next fitness breakthrough probably isn’t hiding inside another gadget.

It may be waiting outside your front door.

The old prescription still works

Lift.

Squat.

Push.

Pull.

Carry.

Run.

Walk.

Play.

Eat well.

Sleep.

Repeat.

You don’t need a perfect program to start becoming fitter. You need to get off the couch and give your body a reason to adapt.

Start with what you can do. Learn the movements. Increase the challenge gradually. Keep some variety in your training. Make movement part of your everyday life.

Technology can measure fitness.

Machines can assist training.

Apps can help with accountability.

But none of them can do the work for you.

The old way is remarkably simple: use your body. Challenge it. Recover. Then do it again.

And if you’re looking for some friends to do it with, maybe book a No Sweat Intro and see how fun simple can be!