Exercised

Exercise is ironic. According to evolution, you shouldn't want to exercise. You shouldn't expend unnecessary energy doing unnecessary things. Daniel Lieberman explores this idea in his new book, Exercised.

When visiting the Hadza, a hunter-gather tribe in Africa, the author noted their physical activity, and was surprised they spend much of the day sitting around and hanging out at their camp doing light chores.

According to a study referenced by Lieberman, an average adult Hadza spends 3 hours and 40 minutes a day doing light physical activity and around 2 hours of moderate/vigorous activity. This ends up being 5 miles of walking per day for the women and 7-10 miles for the men. About 12 times as much as Americans/Europeans currently average.

Lieberman explains, "exercise was extremely rare until relatively recently." Over the years as our culture and lifestyle has changed, exercise has become more important. We no longer do hours of activity in the morning followed by sitting around recovering. We do more of the inactive part, and not nearly as much as the active part.

Your body would prefer to eat chips and sit on the couch, not go for a run. Why expend unnecessary energy when there's free calories right here? Whether we're built to run or to sit, one thing is for certain. Our bodies like movement and need it. Our bodies also like relaxing. And given a choice, relaxing can easily win. Knowing this about ourselves can let us plan against it.

Take a lesson from our ancestors and don't rely on just an hour in the gym. That hour alone cannot combat a day of inactivity. Set yourself up for success by doing more simple things; walking, sitting on the floor, getting outside, eating real food and being consistent with something. Exercise is weird, but it isn't going anywhere.

Justin MIner

@justinminergain