Activity

We explain what an activity is and specifically what economic, recreational, cultural, aerobic and anaerobic activities are.

What is an activity?

In principle, activity is the condition in which active things and people are found. That is, that which is empowered to act, or that is in the process of doing something, is carrying out an activity, that is, it is active. It is in direct opposition to that which is idle, in a state of passivity.

Etymologically, the word activity comes from the Latin activitiesderived from activus (“active”), a term that is composed of the words actum (“act”), from the verb agere (“carry out”) and the suffix -ivuswhich conveys a condition. Thus, the activity supposes from its origins the ability to carry out things, to do or act while passivity means the opposite.

Thus, when we use the term activity, we may be essentially referring to two things:

• The state in which an entity is, when it is acting or doing something. For example: “the printer is in full activityyou can’t use it yet.”
• By extension, the work itself that said entity carries out . For example: “Printing so many pages is a activity very costly for the company.”

This word is used in an endless number of different contexts, ranging from everyday language to natural sciences or psychology. In the latter, for example, activity refers specifically to the set of phenomena of active life, that is, through which an individual relates directly to reality: instincts, will or habits are examples of activities of living beings.

Thus, there are activities of many different types and in many different fields, some of which we will address separately below.

Economic activities

In the field of economics, an activity It is any action or productive process that aims to generate value . This means that whenever we produce a good or service intended to satisfy a particular need in exchange for monetary remuneration, we are carrying out an economic activity.

Thus, the more economic activities are carried out in a period of time in a given territory, the more robust the local economy will be, that is, the more wealth it will generate and the more complex its network of economic exchange relationships will be. In general, these economic activities are classified into three large economic sectors, according to their very nature:

• Primary or extractive sector responsible for obtaining the raw material from nature itself to start the production process, often refining that material or applying certain basic transformation dynamics to make it later consumable by other industries. A clear example of the sector is the metallurgical industry, which takes terrestrial minerals and extracts metal from them.
• Secondary or manufacturing sector responsible for radically transforming the raw materials obtained by the primary sector into manufactured items for final consumption (or semi-finished for intermediate consumption). An example of this would be a nail factory, which takes metal sheets from the steel mill and turns them into these small carpentry utensils.
• Tertiary or service sector in charge of an immense variety of non-productive services (that is, that do not produce goods) but essential for the perpetuity of the production circuit, or for the transportation of goods, or the training of the workforce, etc. An example of this would be both the transportation services that take nails from the factory to the stores, as well as the stores themselves that sell them to consumers.

Recreational activities

recreational activities are those whose sole purpose is entertainment or recreation . These types of activities are closely linked to leisure and fun, but also to learning during the childhood stages of life: play.

Recreational activities cannot be mandatory, but rather are adapted to each person's taste, and can consist of an endless number of different proposals, such as:

• Games whether physical, sports or video games.
• Sports specifically his contemplation, like someone watching football on TV.
• Hobbies as in miniature modeling, amateur carpentry, etc.
• Hobbies such as crossword puzzles, word searches or recreational reading.

Cultural activities

For their part, cultural activities have to do with the enjoyment of culture, that is, with the enjoyment or dissemination of the social, religious, idiosyncratic, artistic or identity values ​​of a people .

Culture is a very broad concept, which includes everything from art and gastronomy to folklore and religion, and practically all human activities have a margin of cultural importance; but some of them are specifically directed to the context of the humanities and the cultivation of the spirit, such as:

• Exhibitions in museums and libraries, or installations in cultural centers.
• Gastronomic fairs and events aimed at the enjoyment of culinary art.
• Exchange events between migrant communities and the local majority.
• Conferences, talks and educational formats regarding historical, artistic or social topics.
• Literary contests, musical concerts and plays.

Aerobic and anaerobic activities

In the latter case, we refer to two different types of physical activity that is, activities that we can perform with our bodies. The difference between aerobic and anaerobic activities lies precisely in the mode of exercise they involve: with oxygen consumption and without oxygen consumption, respectively.

So, Aerobic activities are those that require abundant use of oxygen since they put the body's cardiovascular system to work (breathing, heart rate, etc.) and help us increase our effort capacity in low intensity situations but for a long period.

These exercises do not build muscle, but they burn plenty of fat. Examples of this type of activities are: long runs, jogging, aerobics, swimming or dancing.

Instead, Anaerobic activities do not require continuous consumption of oxygen but rather they make use of our resistance capacity, during brief but intense periods of physical effort. The latter cannot be sustained for long, since the body gathers all its reserves to carry out the work, burning calories to generate muscle.

Examples of this type of activities are: weightlifting, sit-ups, artistic gymnastics or high-speed races.

References

• “Activity” in Wikipedia.
• “Activity” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
• “Radication of Activity” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
• “What is 'economic activity'?” in Management and Social Participation Foundation (Spain).
• “Aerobic and anaerobic activities” at Illes fitness club & spa (Spain).