Matias Piggin 2022 PA Unifying Theory

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The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity
Thiago Sousa Matias & Joe Piggin
To cite this article: Thiago Sousa Matias & Joe Piggin (2022): The Unifying Theory of Physical
Activity, Quest, DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2021.2024442
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QUEST
https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2021.2024442
The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity

a b
Thiago Sousa Matias and Joe Piggin
a
Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil; bSchool of Sport,
Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicester, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
This article offers a governing, trans-disciplinary theory for understand Critical theory; physical
ing physical activity in humans. The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity activity; human movement;
involves three aspects. First, it frames physical activity as an essential affect; physical education
human act resulting from inherent urges: to feel, to explore, to transform
and to connect. These urges prelude and compel people's involvement
in physical activity and contribute to the meanings and purposes that
sustain life and growth. Second, we argue the act of physical activity is
made of three conditions. Physical activity possesses a potentiality, and it
is distinct and integrated. Third, at the external level, there are social,
political, and situated forces that interplay with the urges and shape
human experience in/of physical activity. We offer conclusions about
how this theory can inform research, policy, and practice about physical
education, physical activity and health promotion.
Introduction
Movement is an inherent part of human life. There is a wide variety of reasons for, and
benefits of, movement. More commonly articulated as “physical activity,” human move
ment is an increasingly important concern for governments, health agencies, workplaces
and schools around the world (Piggin, 2019). Health-related benefits of physical activity
have dominated rationale within physical education curricula around the world for decades.
In 1989, it was argued that “health,” as corporeal and individualistic has become pervasive
within the new health consciousness, and school physical education represents one site
among many (such as workplaces, transportation and leisure spaces) where the ideology of
healthism is produced (Kirk & Colquhoun, 1989). Indeed, there appears now to be
a colloquial ubiquity between physical activity and health.
Various events have contributed to the physical activity-health discourse. Research has
examined the effect of people exerting at specific intensities and durations to produce
positive physiological outcomes (Hartley & Llewellyn, 1939; Morris et al., 1953; Rook,
1954). This has legitimized the entanglement of physical activity with health promotion,
with physical inactivity becoming something to beware of, monitor through surveillance,
and warn against. In parallel, physical activity has become traditionally defined in physio
logical parlance and having epidemiological consequences: physical activity as “any bodily
movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure” (Caspersen
et al., 1985, p. 126). Positive effects of physical activity have become more intensely
CONTACT Thiago Sousa Matias thiago.matias@ufsc.br UFSC, Campus Universitário Reitor João David Ferreira Lima,
Florianopolis 88040900, Brazil.
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.
© 2022 National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE)
2 T. S. MATIAS AND J. PIGGIN
connected with not only health promotion, but disease prevention (Andersen et al., 2016).
Also, there is growing frustration at the lack of increase in population-wide physical activity
levels (Guthold et al., 2018; Hallal & Pratt, 2020).
We argue that much research, policy and practice around human movement and
physical activity has become dominated by health discourse and healthism (albeit for
benevolent purposes), and in turn this has subjugated many aspects of human movement
beneath instrumental, utilitarian, and commercial objectives (Alexander et al., 2014; Johns
& Tinning, 2006; Krajewski, 2021). This article steps back from health goals of physical
activity to focus on the first principles of human movement – the most intrinsic reasons for
why people are active. We articulate and discuss various elements of physical activity which
might inform policy, teaching and research across a range of disciplines. In doing so, we
offer a model of thinking about physical activity and moving humans, which we call the
Unifying Theory of Physical Activity. We hope the model liberates physical activity more
fundamentally from being dominated by health and commercial objectives, and situates it
more firmly as part of a human experience. By examining, confronting and reshaping some
of the taken for granted assumptions about human movement and physical activity, we
hope to open space for more dialogue and reflect a range of practices. For example, there
may be opportunity to consider “macro” practices such as organizational policies and
resource allocations, and micro-political aspects, such as which aspects of physical activity
are included in educational settings. This might help guide educators and policy makers to
consider more broadly their own goals and justifications for researching and promoting
human movement.
We argue physical activity/human movement is an essential human act of corporally
existing through inherent urges: to feel, to explore, to transform and to connect. We argue
that these urges are a prelude to psychological needs and motivations and are the primordial
foundation of an integrated embodied structure and experience (Figure 1). Our thinking
about physical activity is informed by Johnson’s (2015) premise of organism-environment
interaction, which both sustains and enhances life quality;
our activities as biological organisms give rise to our capacity to perform a wide range of
cognitive and affective functions. These specific emerging functions define who and what we
are, and they shape the way we make sense of our experience, . . . (Johnson, 2015, p. 1)
Thus, physical activity (physical activity understanding1) is the nature of our existence and
the conduit to produce understanding about ourselves, our world, and other people.
Further, understanding is:
. . . a series of full-bodied engagements with significant aspects of one’s environment that are
meaningful for them and that sustain their life and growth, and this happens not just at the
physical level, but also at the interpersonal and cultural levels. In other words, understanding is
our way of making sense of and inhabiting the world in which we live, so that we can go
forward with our lives. Understanding is thus less a form of knowing or thinking than it is
a matter of experiencing and acting. (Johnson, 2015, p. 3)
The starting assumption of the Unifying Theory of Physical Activity is the acceptance that
humans are active, experience-oriented organisms. As Deci and Ryan (2000) note:
QUEST 3
Figure 1. The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity.
Thus, for example, it is adaptive for children to play, but they do not play to feel competent.
Similarly, curiosity-based exploration, openness to the sensory experiences of nature, and
assimilation of values extant in one’s social milieu—all natural activities—require the nutriments
of basic need satisfaction to operate optimally, but these activities are not necessarily (indeed
they may seldom be) consciously intended to satisfy the basic needs. (Deci & Ryan, 2000, p. 230)
Thus, physical activity urges represent inner possessions of human embodied expression of
physical activity that are fundamental for ongoing growth. These urges can be considered in
an analogous system that assumes a fundamental role toward physical activity
understanding.
The article proceeds by shunting the concept of physical activity from its traditional and
predominant home as a marker of, and proxy for, physical health. That is, we explain how
physical activity “for” health has marginalized other ways of thinking about physical
activity, and suggest that thinking more widely about it will have a variety of benefits.
Following this, we explain our approach to theory building. We also present the founda
tional urges which contribute to our experiences and perceptions of physical activity and
discuss our development of the formal model. The theory is expanded to show how these
internal urges can be connected with external factors which shape physical activity experi
ences. We conclude by offering suggestions for how the theory can be employed to
conceptualize new avenues for thinking about physical activity at both a population and
individual level.
The case for a unifying theory – More than health imperatives

The health narrative has come to dominate thinking about physical activity in a variety of
ways. First there is at various times a policy and promotion foci on the public benefits of
being active, as distinct from the reasons people are active. For example, Morris (1994)
claimed exercise was the “best buy in public health” (emphasis added), a phrase which has in
recent years been applied to physical activity. Similarly, physical activity has been articu
lated in as being “an underestimated investment in human capital” (emphasis added) (Bailey
et al., 2013). These types of ideas posit physical activity as instrumental. That is, physical
activity is useful in that it has specific benefits.
The threat of premature death has been prominent as an advocacy tool to lobby for
increased funding and policy attention to physical activity. This potential for the delaying of
premature death has come with an associated framing of physical activity as saving lives. For
example, Hallal and Pratt (2020), stated that “investment in physical activity already saves
millions of lives” (p. e867). Other narratives have been deployed when framing physical
activity in academic journals. It has been called the Cinderella risk factor for noncommu
nicable disease prevention (Bull & Bauman, 2011). Increasing physical activity rates has also
been connected with economic benefits for countries (Sallis et al., 2015). However, there
appears to be a frustration about the lack of change in population levels of physical activity,
leading to advocacy messages that “rapid, aggressive, and well-funded policy changes by all
countries are needed” (Hallal & Pratt, 2020, p. e867–8). While these claims make empirical
sense when attempting to salve (if not solve) the harms from inactivity, it is useful to
acknowledge that the framing emphasizes utilitarian, instrumental, population-based med
ical concerns. Of course, we agree physical activity for health promotion is important, but
our following analysis proceeds on the assumption that there is (much) more to physical
activity than health.
At population levels, data appear to show that in many regions around the world physical
activity rates continue to decline (Guthold et al., 2018), despite its impassioned promotion
by various advocates around the world. Since many populations are falling short of meeting
recommendations, a deficit model is created. As a result, health agencies might become even
more fervent in promoting advice and speaking about the seriousness of the issue. It appears
that the last two decades have seen increases in alarm about this population deficit, which
has in turn given rise to increased measurement and surveillance programs. Subsequently,
lamenting deficits, increasing surveillance, and promoting health and economic benefits
have all contributed to a framing of physical activity as something which is done for
particular reasons, (some of which may not be in the specific interests of an individual
but a group, such as a city or nation of people). By conceiving of physical inactivity as the
cause of harm to groups, the individual is (inadvertently) marginalized and (potentially)
blamed. And so, in this article we return to the individual (not in a neo-liberal/free market
sense) but to examine what physical activity is, where it comes from, and how we might
elevate the person more in discussions of physical activity.
Entitling this proposal as a “unifying” theory is purposeful. We hope that it will
transcend disciplines of kinesiology, physical education, public health and sport sciences
and offer common ground for justifications (beyond physical health) to research and teach
in the area. By doing so, it might bring overlap and connection to often mutually exclusive
fields. Moreover, the “unifying” idea is to draw attention to and criticize what Thomas Kuhn
QUEST 5
called normal science (Kuhn, 2021). The taken for granted Cartesian scientific paradigm of
physical activity and health separated mind and body, the individual from the environment,
the sense of moving from social life. Thus, the “unifying” idea is a way of questioning and
challenging the physical activity community (including ourselves) about the underlying
established assumptions of physical activity. Simultaneous to our challenging of assump
tions, we propose a theory to account for how human urges merge with the expression of
physical activity.
Approach to theory building

The process for our theory construction is broadly founded on the initial stages of the
Theory Construction Methodology (Borsboom et al., 2021), which is based on an abductive
theory method (Haig, 2018). This approach argues that scientific examination consists of
two macro phases: a) empirical phenomena are detected, and b) theories are built to
understand the phenomena. While we acknowledge a non-hypothetico-deductive method,
we adopt a method in which theories are “developing entities” and aim to create an “ample
methodological space for their growth” (Borsboom et al., 2021, p. 2). Further, we support
the idea that theories have both predictive and explanatory virtues.
Identifying theory core components: Early human motivation theories

The core components of the Unifying theory (the four physical activity urges – to feel, to
explore, to transform and to connect) emerged from an abductive empirical process. The
concept of urges provides a rationality for the interpretation and integration of physical
activity diversity in human experience and action. We consider physical activity urges to be
an essential aspect of individual-organism integration and growth. Later, physical activity
provides the basis for people to become more conscious of their movement, to act purpose
fully in the world, to satisfy their own interests, to exercise their full capacities, to pursue
community and cultural interactions, and to integrate exertion, emotions, and ideas into
a relative unity. Next, we visit two theories which provide important supportive context for
our model.
Self-determination theory
We acknowledge a range of psychology theories which assume that human experience
requires needs, and employ behaviors to fulfill needs. This includes Maslow’s (1943)
influential statement about human needs, Bandura’s self-efficacy construct (Bandura,
1977), and the well-stablished Self-determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 2000). We
acknowledge SDT as involving epistemological sentiments regarding human needs. SDT is
a broad framework for the study of human motivation focusing on how social and cultural
factors facilitate or undermine people’s sense of volition and initiative. Conditions support
ing the individual’s experience of autonomy, competence and relatedness foster the most
volitional and high-quality forms of motivation for, and engagement in activities, including
enhanced physical activity performance, persistence, and creativity. In addition, SDT
proposes that the degree to which any of these three psychological needs is unsupported or
thwarted within a social context will have a detrimental impact on wellness in that setting.
We value SDT’s basic psychological needs claim. However, it appears there are urges
more linked to behavior which can manifest prior to psychological need. The need for
autonomy, competence and relatedness can be, for example, a consequence of the human
physical activity experience; a child, prior to being competent or not, seeks to explore a tree
through physical activity. Thus, exploration is a feature that can animate psychological
needs in various forms (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Continuing with the example above, encoura
ging parents can support their children’s exploration, which in turn can support the basic
need for autonomy. We argue that physical activity urges are behavior-dependent (con
sidering an embodied existence point of view); they are an inner attribute and act inde
pendently from psychological needs.
Physical activity urges appear to have inner forces that impose the will to act despite social
and cultural factors. However, as observed in SDT, social conditions and opportunities in
people’s lives can animate these urges as well as constrain them. As a general framework for
human motivation, SDT is not concerned with addressing a particular phenomenon of
a specific behavior. Contrastingly, our proposition seeks to explain the merged function between
physical activity and the urges, and how this relates to physical activity understanding,
including the quality of basic psychological needs. Even pleasure, satisfaction and enjoyment
can be a consequence of an action. Several activities seem to have an innate ability to be an
enjoyable experience, such as children’s play; but a pleasant experience can be diminished
through lack of exploration, feeling, transformation and/or losses of connection.
The idea of an active set point of organism-environment integration recognizing
humans’ “curious exploration, investigatory manipulation, vigorous play and other spon
taneous activities that had no apparent ties to the dynamics of drive reduction” (Deci &
Ryan, 2000, p. 228) is closely related to our conceptual notion of urges. This human
orientation toward learning, relationships and socialization through/within physical activity
has been recognized by SDT (Ryan & Deci, 2017; Teixeira et al., 2020; Rhiannon Lee White
et al., 2021).
Our theory emphasizes the antecedents of psychological needs, construing physical
activity as the manifestation of inherent urges prior to psychological needs and motivations.
For example, SDT argues that intrinsic motivation is illustrated when people behave for
their own sake, such as in children’s exploration and play. Thus, we contend that explora
tion is a virtue of the human experience of physical activity.
Flow theory
The account for an autotelic view of human behavior has been captured by empirical evidence
from Flow theory research. Key ideas in Flow theory are intrinsic rewards and optimal
experience; thus, optimal experience appears when the individual acts harmoniously merging
thoughts, feelings, wishes, and action, regardless of any potential extrinsic rewards (Nakamura
& Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Flow has been shown to appear in activities such as play and sports
considering a sense of organism-environment integration. Thus, the notion of being “in the
moment” is related to action-awareness merging, sense of control, time transformation, clear
goals, focus on the moment (Csikszentmihalyi et al., 2014; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi,
2009). Regarding physical activities, this inbuilt integrative consequence (flow) seems to
QUEST 7
require nutrients (urges) to produce positive consequences. Not surprisingly, recent evidence
from a systematic review on flow in different physical activity contexts did not provide much
progress in understanding flow occurrence and related variables among youths; intervention
studies did not report success among the reviewed studies (Jackman et al., 2021).
Many intervention studies propose contextual manipulations (e.g., imagery); these are
limited by the context being detached from the object of study, which is the relationship
between the individual and physical activity. Strategies to foster a more authentic experience
of physical activity should consider the nature of the activity in relation to the individual
and not have an imposition of desired destinations. So, imagery seems to be much more
a consequence rather than the cause. Therefore, acknowledging and incorporating physical
activity urges may inform physical activity understanding and subsequent outcomes such as
flow. Relatedly, Jackman and colleagues found that flow was consistently associated with
task-involving motivational climate and task goal orientation (Jackman et al., 2021). The
authors argue that both orientations relate to allowing people to explore their potential, as
well as experimentation in ways that facilitate “open goals” and new paths toward gradually
demanding tasks. These results inform physical activity opening the intrinsic aims to an
embodied experience.
The nature of physical activity urges: Empirical evidence

To explicate the meaning of urges in the Unifying Theory of Physical Activity, we consider
both the theoretical concept and empirical evidence about the phenomena we refer to. In
doing so, we review the literature on physical education, kinesiology and related areas (with
particular reference to child development and growth) that inform the framework of
physical activity urges.
When children are born, they seem to possess an a-priori awareness that their own body
is a distinct entity that is bounded and substantial, as opposed to disorganized (Rochat,
2019). In their urgency to get to know the world, they touch, crawl, walk, et cetera. With
each movement, a set of structural changes take place: in the children and in their/our
world. Over time, this dynamic provides the basis for more conscious development of our
relationship with the world, and this makes human movement a great adventure of human
existence. Of course, we acknowledge that for many reasons, such as disease, disability or
paralysis, ranges of movement can be affected or impossible.
However, being physically active is more than the contraction of muscles. Beyond and
more important than burning calories, human movement involves being able to sense and
experience things that make lives meaningful. In this relationship, physical activity carries
with it inherent potentials that provide the internal reasons for people to move. These
reasons are the manifestation of urges that make physical activity make sense for people’s
lives. Social conditions and opportunities in people’s lives can accommodate these urges as
well as frustrate them. For example, experimental studies in the 1970s on intrinsic
motivation showed that external influences on naturally interesting activities, such as
children drawing, interfered negatively with the quality and time children spent drawing
due to interference with the child’s needs to explore drawing free of pressure (Loveland &
Olley, 1979).
Thus, the human being’s ability to purposefully act in the world carries inherent elements
that potentially fulfil basic human needs. Individuals are naturally oriented toward psycho
logical growth and integration (Deci & Ryan, 2008); they therefore seek to learn things, to
actively participate in the world and to connect with others. However, this human aptitude
does not happen by chance, it requires supportive conditions to flourish.
We argue that the expression of physical activity naturally carries potential elements that
can meet essential human needs (Matias & Piggin, 2020) and physical activity can be
a powerful example of human essence enabled by inherent urges. Thus, physical activity
not only has an obvious physical component demonstrated through experiences as diverse as
cultural and religious dance, children’s and professional sport, leisure walks, and the adven
turous climbing of trees. It also appears in forced migration to escape from civil wars, and in
protest marches against oppression. In all these forms of physical activity, the physical activity
urges are expressed to support ongoing existence/consciousness through physical activity.
Kinesiology and physical activity-related areas have produced robust evidence about the
phenomenon we are encapsulating here. However, these studies tend to be (a) fragmented in
their sub-areas and (b) lack an epistemological and ontological view of human movement,
meaning the physical activity community does not necessarily have a common foundation to
understand their own object of study. The urges that inform movement, for example, could
be illustrated by basic physiology since every intentional interaction between the individual in
the environment (from blinking to a complex sport performance) is based on the contraction
of skeletal muscle and this body tissue is the only effector organ of the somatic nervous
system (associated with the voluntary body movements, as well as for processing sensory
information that arrives via external stimuli) (Hall & Hall, 2020). Even if neglecting the
individual’s complexity was an option (which it is not in this theory), movement is the
phenomenon that produces organism-environment integration.
We will take from the literature some examples in which physical activity urges are
expressed, as well as provide scientific examples in which the expression of physical activity
is a matter of human interaction, learning and socialization. Recent systematic reviews on
the effect of green space exposure on physical activity, development and health among
children and adolescents have considered this ongoing organism-environment interaction
(Islam et al., 2020; McCormick, 2017). As well as the notion of embodiment through
supportive contexts for our urges (e.g., social interaction); natural environments seem to
meet human needs for the expression of physical activity such as the desire to feel things, to
explore, and transform surroundings. In these environments, people are indeed more active
and secondary outcomes occur related to well-being (Bell et al., 2014; Kelly et al., 2018;
Thompson Coon et al., 2011). Experimental evidence shows that the simple interaction with
images of natural environments causes a series of positive neurophysiological changes in
people (Tang et al., 2017).
This suggestion of existence toward embodied understanding illustrates a symbiotic and
symbolic relationship between the symbol formation in people and the symbols that are
captured from reality to guide human movement. A systematic review spanning 70 years of
creativity interventions for children provides some evidence of a combined function
between physical activities (e.g., creative exercise programs) and children’s imagination
and fantasy; children engage mostly in imaginative exercises, which in turn have positive
effects on creativity expression (Alves-Oliveira et al., 2022). Creativity can be a powerful
QUEST 9
example of feeling, exploration, transformation, and connection manifesting together in

a sense which gives people the understanding and appreciation of being in the world and
participating in it.
Researchers argue that exposure to different movements determines the quality of
people’s brain structure, the more exposed to the possibility of exploring things, the more
these connections will make sense for our development. Exploring assists in predicting our
own and others actions (Falck-Ytter et al., 2006) and infants can merge the ability to actively
understand and interact with the world (Gredebäck & Melinder, 2010); infants exposed to
a nearby stimulus are highly adaptive where neurons are capable of assisting the infant in
producing a response with the necessary precision (van der Weel et al., 2019). This example
illustrates a “more objective” facet of the urge to explore. However, the unknown is in the
feelings of a child who is about to begin a piano exam and in a child who draws (even in an
abstract way). Exploring unfolds curiosity, creativity and possibility, which can conse
quently reveal people’s satisfaction.
The concept of “curious play” framed by Gurholt and Sanderud (2016) offers an
important rationale for our understanding about the urges (e.g., to explore and to trans
form). An ethnographic study of children playing in nature showed that curiosity and
action are merged to provide children’s existence and growth:
We are also proposing that children should be viewed existentially, active explorers and playful
agents in shaping their selves, knowledge, skills and world-view. Exploring children expand
their abilities to manage and make sense of their lived-play experiences and life-worlds through
a dialogue that challenges. Thus, they may alter and broaden their existing knowledge and
mastery of environments. (Gurholt & Sanderud, 2016, p. 9)
The authors provided a worthwhile example from the ethnographic study of a boy climbing
a slender birch tree:
The tree trunk was about as thick as a tennis ball, and the branches were so slender that they
bent when Stian put his weight on them. As he approached the top of the tree, it swayed and
slowly arched downward. When he was just above the ground Stian let go of the tree and
landed on his feet, safely and elegantly. The boy was well coordinated and knew how to take
advantage of gravity in combination with the tree’s flexibility. While climbing, he exhibited
both confidence and control. (Sanderud, 2011, as cited in Gurholt & Sanderud, 2016, p. 6).
Thus, the urges can allow individuals to understand themselves, others, and movements:
enabling purpose and discovery. A recent qualitative study examined primary school
students’ exploration in physical activity during recess; over 250 students were investigated
in two different conditions (mobile equipment vs traditional equipment provisions) and in
both conditions physical activity appeared as a function of students’ own exploration.
However, the mobile nature of movable equipment altered students’ experience of physical
activity to a more complex, purposeful and social pattern (Hyndman & Mahony, 2018).
Relatedly, an analysis of 17 focus groups (at 17 different schools) among 10-year-old
children showed that lack of exploration (e.g., lack of space and facilities) negatively altered
children’s engagement with physical activity. Interestingly, the barriers to physical activity
were not only related to the schools’ structure (e.g., small spaces) but also with students’
desire of having their exploration expectation met (Pawlowski et al., 2014).
This connects with the idea of a “spiritual” aspect of connection through physical
activity. Dance, for example, often has deep cultural aspects to it, and is also closely
connected to spirituality and/or religiosity. For example, in Māori culture, there is
a connection between the human and spiritual realms, illustrated by the Māori haka (a
ceremonial dance performance) (Palmer, 2016):
As a team, emphasizing our relationship with tribal depictions of Māori women as physically,
ethically and emotionally strong helped us to justify that what we were doing was part of our
whakapapa (genealogy) and so far, we have garnered support from Māori iwi and hapū to continue
expressing our personal and collective stories in rugby through various haka. (Palmer, 2016,
p. 2181)
Being able to participate, create, understand, and be understood through physical activity
offers the possibility for people to build a bridge between what they are and the socio-cultural
elements that surround them. An ethnographic study conducted by Dhillon et al. (2020) was
able to capture these transforming powers of physical activity. The purpose of the study was
to capture the experiences (variety of dance, music, and drumming circle) of 17 Convention
refugees engaged in a community program. It was observed that an embodied space was built
to allow for transformation, rather than imposing elements culturally already determined by
the countries that receive these refugees. This is a way of giving voice and facilitating
acculturation. Refugees are forced to leave their homes because of fear and persecution and
the study showed that situating these refugees with physical activities from their perspective
has the potential to transform that unfamiliar environment into a more comfortable one:
This physical activity program, self-created by the Convention refugee youth, illuminated the
nature of movement in space through active voice. This creative participation was imperative to
the notion of active voice, as the collective contribution of active voice from the newcomers and
their respective cultures laid the foundation for culturally relevant experiences. (Dhillon et al., 2020,
p. 328)
Thus, both physical and social transformation was made possible. Culp’s assumptions
regarding spatiality are useful to consider here: (a) spatiality involves giving people
space; (b) we should not focus on deficits, but on the possibilities; and (c) we should
go the “hard way.” “Going the hard way” in physical activity can include the need to
manipulate the essences that promote physical activity consciousness as well as increas
ing reflection on how and why these boundaries (social, political, cultural) are created
(Culp, 2020).
A contemporary understanding of physical activity transformation can be illustrated by
parkour: similar to adventure sports, parkour involves intense bodily engagement and
multisensory dialogue with the human-made, urban environment (Højbjerre Larsen,
2021); Parkour envisions a symbolic act against the alienating and restricting urban
elements, while at the same time practitioners develop a lively, transformational and
reactive relationship with urban space through fast, traversing movements. Apart from
the obvious strength and agility gains, parkour involves learning to move efficiently and
wisely; it embodies freedom of movement and a desire to escape from forces of repression
and control (Højbjerre Larsen, 2021). While parkour is an example of fulfilling various
urges, due to its transgressive actions, we do not suggest any activity is necessarily better
QUEST 11
than another. Of course, the ways in which individuals choose to fulfil their urges will differ
immensely (and might also have consequences that are offered in “standardized” settings,
such as school physical education).
The literature discussed above has informed our thinking about the theory we present,
and we recognize that a range of important (empirical) work has been conducted already.
This work, as well as our own critical reflections about human movement and the limita
tions of the dominant discourse of physical activity, has led us to construct the following
theory.
The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity constructs

The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity is represented by 3 different constructs. At the
core of the theory are the physical activity urges namely to feel, to explore, to transform, and
to connect. The most external level of forces that interplay with the urges are the social,
political and situated qualities of physical activity. In between urges and qualities are the
features of physical activity: its potential feature, distinct feature and its integrated feature.
These aspects will be discussed in detail (for illustration, please review Figure 1).
Physical activity urges

To feel
Physical activity is an experience of a sensing human who seeks feeling through the
experience. Thus, feeling is not just a consequence, it is lived bodily experience. It may
appear through the well-known senses of touching, hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling as
well as the connection of an experience to one’s values, or desires, or memories. Thus, the
urge to feel is both an ingrained part of the experience, and a human urge that contributes to
the activity in the first place.
This urge includes the integration of movement and the emotional aspect of physical activity.
Rather than disentangling biological and affective processes, we argue for physical activity as an
experience of feeling. From simple acts of balancing through yoga practices, or more dynamic
acts of competition in a sports event, the urge to feel also illustrates this human need of being
consciously involved in an act and becoming more connected with our own existence.
The different ways of acting corporally (accounting for political and environmental
circumstances) will determine both the way we will exist and the way we will feel the
world and our presence in it. Consequently, it is important to consider the spectrum of
feelings that come with physical activity. Physical activity can be an inherently rewarding
activity that contributes to happiness and satisfaction (Deci & Ryan, 2000, 2008), while it
can also involve suffering, fear, and anguish (Massey & Whitley, 2021). Also, affective
consequences of physical activity or anticipation of its affective response relates to the
value of movement (Kwasnicka et al., 2016; Marks, 2018; Williams, 2008).
Various behavioral theories emphasize affect as preconditions of essential human needs.
These theories favor promoting the potential for positive effects on aspects included but not
limited to affiliation, relatedness, status, esteem, competence, self-efficacy, sense of autonomy,
and self-protection. A systematic review of behavior theories to explain maintenance to
behavior change showed that behavior is sustained if individuals experience congruence;
thus, behavior will be sustained when the individual experiences immediate and affective
outcomes, such as enjoyment when experiencing the action (Kwasnicka et al., 2016). The urge
to feel can be illustrated when people experience physical activities that allow integration of
multiple interrelated components such as meditation and spirituality (Vergeer et al., 2021).
Urge to explore
Exploration is a fundamental part of being human. Exploration and its synonyms, like
adventure, searching and discovery, hold connotations of wild journeys through uncharted
territories, where the explorer faces challenges and tests to arrive at their destination,
whether it is a new home or old. We are not so concerned here about the scale of obstacles
a person faces at the frontier of their understanding; rather the emphasis here is on the
frontier itself. The point of change and growth are set just on the boundaries of our corporal
existence, and it is in these moments of unknowing and incorporating through movement
that is the essential urge to explore through physical activity.
Take, for example, a child climbing an unfamiliar tree for the first time. The experience,
likely filled with various amounts of trepidation, hesitation, caution, bravery, and a desire to
achieve a higher status (literally), is exploration through movement. The child’s movement
and attitude toward the tree will never be passive, but active. The child needs to actively
know the limits of this tree in view of its possibilities.
One might argue that this urge would be vastly diminished in familiar surroundings. But
social landscapes are in constant flux, the people encountered, the weather endured, which
means that movement through space always has the potential for something new. Similarly,
while the physical landscape of a tree might have become known to the child, there is always
potential to see new things, and explore new routes up the tree, hence a climbed tree is by no
means finished for a child. This desire to cross the boundary between the known and
unknown is the urge to explore, sometimes connoted with adventure, based on Latin
adventurus meaning about to happen. The immediate world is always about to happen,
and we discover it by acting.
Urge to transform
Beyond the biological transformation throughout a human life, we argue that in physical
activity and interaction within inhabited spaces, humans possess an urge to transform. We
transform our bodily positions, and through exerting force we transform the external envir
onment. To illustrate, from babies playing with toys, to dancers or construction workers, the
urge to transform manifests in a wide variety of ways. Transformation, in this context, is an act
of creation. It is through this action that we in turn create ourselves, whether it is identity
construction, bodily and musculature construction, or environmental construction.
Transformation is symbiotic and the consequences of how we transform the external
environment are becoming more apparently profound. The effect of climate change, and the
behavior changes that will be necessary to manage it, highlight this symbiotic transforma
tion. That is, human-made transformations in the past (such as industrialization) have
contributed to sedentary lifestyles, which in turn have contributed to the physical inactivity
crisis which health promoters are concerned with. At the same time, this encourages people
to transform themselves. Therefore, the urge to transform might be one of the most
powerful examples of regulation created by physical activity.
QUEST 13
Urge to connect
This urge, which can be considered in many other ideas (such as quests for understanding,
for community, for synergy), also encompasses the human need for belonging and what is
considered the “spiritual” element of physical activity. Connection, with oneself, with
others, and with the material and spiritual worlds through physical activity is strived for
in an enormous variety of ways.
The urge to connect is an inherent exercise of knowing ourselves and self-mastery;
physical activity offers the capability of a full body experience promoting awareness,
integrating and making the most of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual experi
ence of living (Matias et al., 2020). The urge to connect is one of the powerful cores of
physical activity which produces instruction of what and how living is going to be. We live
with ourselves; we transform and are transformed by the conduct, actions, attitudes of
ourselves as we move and manipulate the world, thinking and feeling throughout. Thus,
socialization/relatedness/affiliation signal that an individual life is not wholly sufficient to
wholly live.
The competitive struggle of sport relies on an acceptance of and connection with
others. While in conflict, there is also cooperation to allow a contest to take place. For
people involved in outdoor pursuits, such as hiking, cycling, and climbing, the emphasis
might not be on competition with others, but there is an opportunity for communion with
nature, to “return” to the wilderness, with a desire for harmony or connection with the
material world.
The structural features of physical activity

We argue the urges which compel physical activity themselves possess three conditions.
Physical activity possesses a potentiality, it is distinct and integrated. These attributes are
latent forces, preparing a mover, setting the boundaries of human uniqueness, and reinfor
cing the view of an individual as entirely cohesive. Thus, humans are looking for ways to
interact corporally with the world, whether through dancing in the shower, surfing, drum
ming on the table, or even imagined through dream states.
Potential
The rationale for the potential feature of physical activity is grounded in evidence from the
past 40 years of behavioral research. The appeal of awareness over action does not seem to
justify our essence. On the contrary, there seems to be an overriding urgency in which an
embodied person appears, primed with self-knowledge and a desire to connect with the
world through exploration. The potential feature is a latent force that prepares and informs
physical exertion. This force allows active exertion in/on the world (Rochat, 2019). One can
think of children playing for hours without requiring food, water or anything else; absorbed
fully in an activity. Or a musician who cannot seem to differentiate themselves and the beat.
Exertion therefore, can arise in the experience of human movement (Csikszentmihalyi et al.,
2014; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2009), intentionally, in the face of causation (external
forces) that make us exert, or as a consequence of experiencing basic human needs (internal/
inherent reasons; Ryan & Deci, 2020), or both. Therefore, exertion can move the volume-
intensity relationship of things (important attributes of the physical activity and health area).
Our capacity to maintain ongoing exertion and physical activity understanding is closely
related to physical activity urges manifesting within individuals. A previous review shows
that greater tolerance to higher intensity levels is possible when the tasks are self-selected as
opposed to imposed; impositions contribute to a decrease in both effort and pleasure
(Ekkekakis et al., 2011). Nonetheless, evidence from meta-analyses show that physical
activities with an instrumental locus of causality (e.g., enforced by another person, required
to get paid and mostly concerned to the “physical” domain) such as physical activity at work
is associated to worse mental health due to impediments on individual’s senses, lack of
choice and volition (White et al., 2017). These choices and senses are all related to our
proposed urges, showing that the behavioral “amount” of activity alone can be meaningful
(Deci & Ryan, 2000).
Distinct
Physical activity is distinct; it is clearly seen, heard, and felt, and it is unique and
exclusive to the actor. Physical activity is distinguished in terms of how individuals
exist through the physical activity experience and how the environmental conditions
(both historical and material) shape ways to act and live. Children with dreams of
becoming someone (else) in the future manifest their plans in different ways: imagining,
playing with friends, or practicing. Indeed, the inner experience of acting distinctly
further develops the individual’s identity, enabling different ways to explore and trans
form the world. Progress in infancy research consistently shows that newborns can
inherently perceive themselves as a situated entity in the environment. Examining
newborns (aged less than 18 hours) and infants aged between 3 and 5 weeks, Rochat
and Hespos (1997) showed infants’ innate ability to discriminate between self and
externally caused stimulation. This suggests an early capability of an ecological self,
perceiving the body as an exclusive and active entity within the environment; putting
them in a position to explore the consequences of their own actions (Rochat, 1998).
Integrated
The third feature of physical activity is that every act is entirely integrated. Physical activity has
an inherent characteristic of being physically, emotionally, and cognitively cohesive, in which
many different facets are inherently connected and run together. Also, it is combined with
environmental conditions which can enable or constrain further development. These inte
grated active elements are evidenced even in newborns. Newborns can intentionally move their
arms toward external forces; and they move their arms more when they can see (integrating
visual perception) their arms; researchers have argued that action is a way in which “newborns
babies acquire important information about themselves and the world they move in . . .” (van
der Meer et al., 1995, p. 694). Thus, existence comes from the very beginning, allowing us to be
situated and capable to act to explore the world. This experience of existing is completely
integrated, in which discrimination appears through a feeling body (Damasio, 1994).
Similarly, sports settings also provide excellent examples of integration; literature shows that
performing (e.g., practicing, mentally simulating practice and observing) can facilitate neuro
plastic changes in the sensorimotor system (Ruffino et al., 2017). Thus, proficient athletes (such
as tennis players) who use equipment can incorporate the racquet into their body schema, and
the racquet is sensed as an extension of the athletes’ hand (Fourkas et al., 2008).
QUEST 15
The holistic qualities of physical activity

At the external level, various forces interplay with the urges and shape human experience
in/of physical activity. These conditions of physical activity, which we call qualities (to
represent a distinctive attribute possessed by these aspects), are the social dynamics that
shape human activity, the political norms and principles of a society; and the material
context of traditions, rituals and symbols that present humans in space as situated agents
(Piggin, 2020).
Social
The social aspect of physical activity involves the inherent dynamics of human beings in
which embodied experiences produce exchange between people. Physical activity is an
inherently social activity that puts individuals in a position to produce reciprocal
understanding by mutual influences, a sense of belonging and community building.
This social quality enables opportunities to act and mitigates the quality of
relationships.
The nature of the holistic qualities represents a symbolic idea of meaning and purpose;
thus, reciprocal interaction between individuals in a social environment will produce
different symbols (Stryker & Vryan, 2006) and develop individuals’ attitudes toward
physical activity according to the meanings that physical activity conveys to them (e.g.,
friendship). This interaction can be seen in how school curricula shape children’s everyday
movements and their related behaviors to become gendered (Martin, 1998). The field
observation showed external constraints (including clothing rules and language) were
used to differentiate boys from girls. These differences significantly limit girls’ physicality
in preschool and become the everyday experience of physical activity at school, diminishing
girls’ physical activity understanding.
Political
Political forces shape physical activity to the extent that they influence its provision and
structure. From state resources provided to participate in it, to cultural expectations as to
what is allowed or forbidden, politics is omnipresent before, during and after physical
activity takes place (Casper et al., 2011; Dudley, 2017). Zeitgeists, or spirits of the day, from
anti-obesity discourse to environmental sustainability discourses, all play a part in the
shaping of how people think about physical activity.
Situated
The spaces and places in which physical activity takes place are enormously various
and incredibly complex. These aspects are widely acknowledged and generally
understood as involving the situated context in which humans live, which in turn
may affect opportunities or impediments to physical activity (Piggin, 2019). These
aspects all undoubtedly contribute to the interests, emotions, ideas, instructions, and
relationships which humans experience (whether implicitly or explicitly) in their
physical activities. Thus, human experience of physical activity is also entirely
situated.
Encountering physical activity urges elsewhere

There is a policy matter of allocating, suggesting (or prescribing) an amount of physical
activity for optimal outcomes. Sport and exercise science literature contains a wide array
of risks associated with sedentary behavior and not meeting physical activity thresholds.
Similarly, the dangers of over-exertion, or addiction are receiving more attention. While
much physical activity is predicated on the imposition or prescription of particular
durations and intensities (such as in sports training and physically demanding labor),
this theory does not attempt to prescribe exact doses to satisfy the various urges. We argue
individuals will invariably prefer different durations and intensities of activity. Further,
these two metrics are only two of many which could be considered. For example,
proximity to others, proximity to nature, concentrations of various sensory stimuli
involved, all work to create a physical activity experience, far beyond the intensity and
duration metrics.
As a consequence of the manifesting urges, we argue in favor of high-quality exertion
in the experience of physical activity; however, we recognize that such urges can also
lead to harmful experiences. We take the example of video game use to illustrate this,
while noting it is not our intention to stigmatize playing video games as a problematic
“inactivity” behavior. Studies have suggested that video games have features with the
potential to satisfy psychological needs (e.g., competence). In turn, this can contribute
to spending more time immersed playing because the satisfaction of basic psychological
needs generates satisfaction and pleasure (Johnson et al., 2016; Mills et al., 2018). Thus,
video game overuse can be associated with a continuous search for the fulfillment of
these basic psychological needs, as well as individuals’ overreliance on video games to
compensate for other psychological needs that have been reduced as a result (Mills et al.,
2018). Video game features are closely related to the physical activity urges we are
discussing here; video games allow people to choose the way to play, allow exploration
through different scenarios, allow progression toward goals, promote excitement, sus
pense, and apprehension, and promote connection through communities (King et al.,
2011). Taken together these features provide contextual support for the notion of
exertion, as well as for the urge to feel, explore, transform and connect. Video games
are designed to establish narratives based on existing systems such as sports, offering
a frame for storytelling that bring together the player, their role and the context, which
are in constant flux (Graft, 2015). Parallels can be seen between this example of video
games to active adventure sports, such as skiing, mountain biking and parachuting. The
desire to push personal boundaries (e.g., to explore more, feeling something new/
different), to take risk, to overcome fear, to connect with the natural environment, as
well as to experience a set of kinesthetic bodily sensations within nature are motives
commonly reported by people involved in adventure sports (Kerr & Houge Mackenzie,
2012).
Continuing with the video game analogy, it is possible to observe that sedentary
behaviors can meet the same physical activity urges whether sitting down playing video
games, reading a book or watching a movie. Therefore, the recent consensus regarding
sedentary behavior: “Sedentary behavior is any waking behavior characterized by an
energy expenditure ≤1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs), while in a sitting, reclining or
lying posture” (Tremblay et al., 2017, p. 9) seems as reductionist as the taken for granted
QUEST 17
Caspersen’s “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy
expenditure” (Caspersen et al., 1985, p. 126) physical activity concept. Both concepts are
unable to capture the inherent reasons why people choose certain behaviors over others.
This may have consequences for the suggestion to replace sedentary behavior with
physical activity (Bull et al., 2020), which may be meaningless as the behavior it is
suggested to replace may not meet any physical activity urge; and people will probably
choose to keep watching movies since behaviors are maintained when people encounter
purpose/meaning while acting (Kwasnicka et al., 2016). Therefore, as much as we recog
nize the potential feature of physical activity, it can be dismissed when other behaviors
offer better alternatives on supporting physical activity urges through vicarious forms of
physical activity or living.
Foundations for the unifying theory

To create and formalize the theory and its components, we used the abstract notion of
a “state” as physical location and motion to metaphorically understand different attributes
of our constructs (Johnson, 2015) (e.g., euphoria can illustrate a state of the urge to feel;
animating euphoria represents that a person becomes euphoric). For each theory construct,
a set of locations related to physical activity were summarized to illustrate the phenomen
on’s attributes (e.g., changes in euphoria can illustrate an urge manifesting within indivi
duals). Examples of primary locations of the theory and a glossary of terms are offered
(Supplemental material 1 and 2, respectively).
The urges exist as potential forces in the core of the human expression of physical
activity. They inform the most immediate reasons individuals are active and produce
ongoing organism-environment interaction. The way these urges are animated and/or
supported will influence the ongoing expression of physical activity, its quality, and
subsequent physical activity understanding. When opportunities allow us to support
these manifesting urges, physical activity gives rise to our capacity to perform and
understand our actions within/in the world. Urges can mutually merge/interact within
the expression of physical activity and have no contingents (a priori) other than building
patterns for getting to know the world, ourselves, and others, allowing embodied
existence in a broader sense.
Each theory construct can be metaphorically represented by locations in the
Unifying Theory of Physical Activity. The aspects that inform physical activity are
shaped by how changes in those locations appear, affecting how physical activity will
sustain life. A child who experiences joy (a location from the urge to feel) when
climbing a tree changes (animating) one location in the urge to feel. This change is
due to be aligned with changes in other locations, such as creating a new path up the
tree (a location from the urge to transform), adventurously changing body position to
a higher state (a location from the urge to explore), and experiencing his or her own
body (a location from the urge to connect). Manipulating uncertainty or risk (urge to
explore) can increase fear (urge to feel); thus, physical activity might not be considered
a possibility, or its quality will be decreased. In this case, the means of embodying the
urge to explore and urge to feel have different paths, and may decrease the sense of
meaning and growth.
The qualities of physical activity (contextual factors such as the social, political, and the
situated) can influence the urges and the mutual relations between them. For example,
supportive parents or physical education teachers can represent physical forces in the
present model and influence the urges. How these contextual factors change will influence
the quality of changes in the urges. In the tree example, parents could encourage new ways
of exploring the tree, and children can experience greater satisfaction rather than anxiety;
the parents act as a supportive contextual factor.
In between urges and qualities, physical activity features (potential, distinct, integrated)
appear. How the urges are animated can enable, inhibit, and/or determine the quality of
these features. Likewise, the qualities of physical activity (the contextual factors) can act as
enablers or constraints for those features: directly or through the urges. Physical exertion
can be illustrative of a location of the potential feature of physical activity. As long as some
degree of exertion is present in every expression of physical activity, the manifesting urges
can increase or decrease exertion (e.g., an individual playing a game with others in which
strategies become familiar can become less engaged) as exertion can influence the urges. For
example, increasing exertion might increase self-awareness (a location from the urge to
connect). The contextual factor (the qualities of physical activity) can impose forces in the
features; for example, the cultural values of exercise within a community related to body
appearance might favor a physical activity more focused on mechanical (physical) attributes
of the body. Thus it is potentially less integrated.
Practical implications and limitations

This model promotes a perspective of physical activity that moves beyond health dominated
narratives and toward a holistic view of physical activity as an embodied practice. There are
opportunities for people to recognize their interests and potential for themselves including
and aside from traditional health benefits. Our interest, in part, is to offer this theory so that
teachers, researchers, and policy makers can look at physical activity without neglecting the
individual in favor of the population.
This framework suggests that physical activity promoters can acknowledge these human
urges. Recognizing the urges that inform physical activity, it becomes possible, pedagogi
cally speaking, to understand what could be valued from social life to promote physical
activity and what should be avoided. Of course, this is not to say there will be any utopian
accomplishment of a completely ‘active’ society. However, it might allow us to understand
our own limitations when arguing about physical activity.
Policy implications include an opportunity to include more consideration of these urges
when articulating justifications for physical activity participation in policy. Relatedly, one
specific policy recommendation is to think beyond duration of physical activity and to
consider in more detail the social and environmental determinants of physical activity. The
potential for reframing physical activity messaging may be ripe for exploration through the
model. Therefore, anyone dealing with physical activity (either their own participation or in
their work) could consider these urges of physical activity. We argue while it is important to
acknowledge subjectivities within the realm of physical activity and human movement
(such as different motivations for, and different feelings from being physically active),
there are urges which allow these subjectivities to manifest as they eventually do.
QUEST 19
Researchers, policy makers and teachers who are heavily focused by health interventions
might, before intervening, ask simple questions such as: Does my intervention allow people
to be authentic and explore different ways of acting and feeling different emotions? Does my
intervention encourage people to explore the (or their) world, discover things and challenge
themselves? Is my intervention capable of creating opportunities for people to transform
(internally and externally), create, recreate, and learn? Does my intervention allow people to
connect with people, with the land, with culture?
This theory is also in part, an attempt to move beyond critique of why people are not
sufficiently physically active, and to place physical activity holistically. Our hope has been to
progress discussion about physical activity, whether it is in an educational setting, leisure,
work, or public health, and connect it more with the urges that inspire people to act. By
being explicit about the urges, moving away from desired (health) outcomes, we can
consider more closely how to contribute to positive physical activity experiences.
Our hope for the theory is that it will broaden understandings about physical activity
more holistically, far beyond traditional conceptions of health promotion. However, we
appreciate that people’s sense of purpose also has consequences for health promotion.
Recent evidence has demonstrated that a sense of purpose is associated with ongoing health
behaviors such as physical activity (Kim et al., 2020). Likewise, health behavior is associated
to sense of purpose and longevity. Evidence from a longitudinal study indicates a pattern of
association between physical activity and sense of purpose in life in adults and older adults,
since being active can provide the structures to feel and understand purposes aligned with
wishes of a healthy life (Yemiscigil & Vlaev, 2021). Further, we note that behaviors that are
maintained during a lifetime are those in which people experience “resemblance”
(Kwasnicka et al., 2016), whereby “assets” that inform physical activity (e.g., psychological
needs) are related to the individual’s sense of purpose, such as psychological well-being (e.g.,
control, autonomy, self-realization, and pleasure) (Kim et al., 2017).
However, as with any offering of a new model, potential limitations need to be acknowl
edged. Most of our assumptions might be biased by Western philosophies of human
existence, nature, social life, and happiness. Eastern philosophical schools might see exis
tence/conscience from perspectives other than the physicality or exercising physical forces
within the environment (Joshanloo, 2014). While we recognize a holistic view of physical
activity, in Eastern philosophical schools there is less emphasis on the individual; there is
much more emphasis on backgrounds and harmony (Joshanloo, 2014). Indeed, cultures
around the world will emphasize distinct values and practices.
While our theory’s tenets are related to established theories of human motivation, the
degree to which the urges encapsulated here precede or are associated with basic psycho
logical needs remains a matter of debate. We recognize that the essential aspect of indivi
dual-organism integration also assumes that existence within social environments will
produce different symbols which outline human urges and subsequent individuals’ attitudes
toward physical activity. Embodied endeavors, social interactions and culture emerge to
create understanding, whether examination of the sequential ordering and influence of
physical activity urges is up for debate.
We do not assume hedonism as an a priori principle, as affective consequences (positive
or not) are not a particular desire of the expression of physical activity, even though
pleasure, for example, may be a consequence of supporting physical activity urges and
psychological needs. Physical activity urges are assumed to be at the core of human
experience of physical activity. However, diverging from a biological deterministic ideology,

the same human experience of physical activity is integrated/oriented within individuals’
social world, learning and culture.
Summary and conclusions

We have presented the foundations of a theory that seeks to explain the unifying function
between inherent human urges that result in organism-environment interaction and the
human expression of physical activity. Using an abductive scientific examination, we
argue that these urges (the four physical activity urges – to feel, to explore, to transform,
and to connect) are the basis to inform ongoing physical activity and its quality, as well as
to provide bodily existence with a significant sense of meaning to sustain life and growth
(physical activity understanding). We began by observing that the taken for granted ideas
of physical activity reinforced the separation of mind and body and the sense of move
ment disconnected from the sense of existence. Physical activity as a scientific focus, has
prioritized health/disease prevention as desired destinations and marginalized senses and
meanings that inform an embodied life such as exploration, learning, harmony, commu
nity, et cetera. We also observed that core psychological needs could grow from the urges.
Thus, physical activity carries the potential to animate these needs. A foundation to
a model was offered to show the influence of contextual factors (the social, political,
and situated quality of physical activity) interplaying with the urges and shaping the
human expression of physical activity. Intersecting urges and qualities, we consider three
different physical activity possessions (potential, distinct, integrated) that will inform the
quality, the uniqueness, and the sense of harmony when expressing physical activity. We
ended by offering practical implications so that physical activity in research, policy, and
teaching can allow us to recognize human essences that should not be neglected in favor
of external wishes. We acknowledge limitations from the present work. However, this is
not an absolute claim, and phenomena and the theory are developing entities. In the
present article, we have aimed to transcend the boundaries of physical activity study, with
an opportunity for a changing paradigm.
Note
1. “Physical activity understanding” is our theoretical desired destination; it represents a human
bodily existence with a significant sense of meaning and in a way to sustain life and growth.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
ORCID
Thiago Sousa Matias http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0241-3776
Joe Piggin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1361-6248
QUEST 21
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The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity

Thiago Sousa Matias & Joe Piggin

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The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity

Figure 1. The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity.

The case for a unifying theory – More than health imperatives

Approach to theory building

Identifying theory core components: Early human motivation theories

The nature of physical activity urges: Empirical evidence

example of feeling, exploration, transformation, and connection manifesting together in

The Unifying Theory of Physical Activity constructs

Physical activity urges

The structural features of physical activity

The holistic qualities of physical activity

Encountering physical activity urges elsewhere

Foundations for the unifying theory

Practical implications and limitations

experience of physical activity. However, diverging from a biological deterministic ideology,

Summary and conclusions

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