Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding
Daniel E. Lieberman
If exercise is healthy (so good for you. ), why do many people dislike or avoid it. These engaging stories and explanations will revolutionize the way you think about exercising—not to mention sitting, sleeping, sprinting, weight lifting, playing, fighting, walking, jogging, and even dancing. more
464 pages, Hardcover
First published Pantheon
4.18
Rating
7617
Ratings
856
Reviews
Daniel E. Lieberman
8 books 452 followers
Daniel E. Lieberman (born June 3, 1964) is a paleoanthropologist at Harvard University, where he is the Edwin M Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences, and chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. He is best known for his research on the evolution of the human head and the evolution of the human body.Lieberman was educated at Harvard University, where he obtained his A.B., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. He also received a M. Phil from Cambridge University. He was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows and taught at Rutgers University and the George Washington University before becoming a professor at Harvard University in 2001. He is on the curatorial board of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, a member of the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, and the Scientific Executive Committee of the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation. He is the director of the Skeletal Biology Laboratory at Harvard University.
Lieberman studies how and why the human body is the way it is. His research combines paleontology, anatomy, physiology and experimental biomechanics in the lab and in the field. He has focused to a large extent on why and how humans have such unusual heads. He is also well known for his research on the evolution of human locomotion including whether the first hominins were bipeds, why bipedalism evolved, the biomechanical challenges of pregnancy in females, how locomotion affects skeletal function and, most especially, the evolution of running. His 2004 paper with Dennis Bramble, “Endurance Running and the Evolution of the Genus Homo” proposed that humans evolved to run long distances to scavenge and hunt. His research on running in general, especially barefoot running was popularized in Chris McDougall’s best-selling book Born to Run. Lieberman is an avid marathon runner, often barefoot, which has earned him the nickname, The Barefoot Professor.
Community reviews
I’ll save you 7 hours. We didn’t evolve to run marathons, play tennis, go jogging etc. Nor did we evolve to sit around all day. Move often. Eat fresh food. more
The mantra of this book is that nothing about the biology of exercise makes sense except in the light of evolution, and nothing about exercise as a behaviour makes sense except in the light of anthropology. This examination of history is by a paleoanthropologist Professor – something of an expert both on the evolution of the human body and the study of hunter gatherer societies, both which an emphasis on how they have led to the evolution and development of human physical activity. He is perhaps best known for his work on endurance running which was adopted by the barefoot-running movement. He himself is a reluctant exerciser (albeit a marathon runner) and this book represents his study of exercise i. e. more
Exercise is one of those topics, along with diet, that generates a lot of confusion. And while there is no shortage of advice to be found online, it is rarely based on our best science or on our understanding of the intricacies of human physiology, evolution, and anthropology. In Exercised, Harvard professor of evolutionary biology Daniel Lieberman explains that to truly understand exercise science, you must first understand something about human evolution and anthropology and how the body evolved to handle exercise. As Lieberman wrote, “nothing about the biology of exercise makes sense except in the light of evolution, and nothing about exercise as a behavior makes sense except in the light of anthropology. ” Using this evolutionary/anthropological framework, Lieberman sets out to explain how the body works when at rest (sitting and sleeping), when active (walking, running, lifting, fighting, dancing), and what this means for establishing effective exercise habits in the modern world. more
Everyone knows they should exercise, but few things are more irritating than being told to exercise, how much, and in what way. Exhorting us to “Just Do It” is about as helpful as telling a drug addict to “Just Say No. ” Daniel LiebermanUnless you are someone like Donald Trump most people know that exercise is good for you. In this book Daniel Lieberman tries to explain why that is so difficult for so many people. As an Anthropologist he explains that our early forebears had two main goals — to find enough to eat and to reproduce. more
If exercise is healthy (so good for you. ), why do many people dislike or avoid it. If we are born to walk and run, why do most of us take it easy whenever possible. And how do we make sense of the conflicting, anxiety-inducing information about rest, physical activity, and exercise with which we are bombarded. Is sitting really the new smoking. more
"The mantra of this book is that nothing about the biology of exercise makes sense except in the light of evolution, and nothing about exercise as a behavior makes sense except in the light of anthropology. "▪️EXERCISED: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding by Daniel E. Lieberman, 2020. In a world and and social media sphere that thrives and propogates "bro science", expensive fads, equipment, MLMs, and "earning your food/drinks" with x amounts of exercise, it really is a wonderful thing to know that books like this - REAL SCIENCE. - are out there. more
I love a good debunking book that also cuts through the BS and tells you what is and isn't true and what we can and can't know. This book is a nice corrective to wild claims about sitting is the new smoking or myths about our running ancestors and their paleo diets. It just didn't happen like that. Yes, we were more active, but just walking to find food and stuff and also we've always had back pain basically. The tension of our species is that we like to sit and rest because we need to conserve energy but we are too sedentary and that is creating all sorts of effects. more
In Exercised, Daniel E. Lieberman, a paleoanthropologist and evolution biologist, sets out to explain the 12 myths about physical exercises. The main question is, if exercise is so good for our health, why do so many people find it very hard, and why haven't we evolved to enjoy it. The short answer is, our body expects to be physically active while saving as much energy as possible. In other words, yes, we are born to run, and yes, we are born to be couch potatoes. more
Exercise it’s good for you. There you go now you can go for a nice run rather than read this repetitiousness. . more
I picked up this book by Harvard professor of human evolutionary biology Daniel Lieberman looking for an answer to my conundrum (and that of many people I know) of why though I understand how important movement is for my body and mood, I still prefer to lay on my couch or lounge on my deck chair (usually with a book). The key lies in the difference between physical activity and exercise. Lieberman's epigraph for this book includes the definitions of physical activity, "any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that expends energy," and exercise, "voluntary physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and undertaken to sustain and improve health and fitness. "We evolved to be physically active. In order to survive, our ancestors walked miles everyday, usually carrying things, which consumed a lot of energy. more
ARC received from the publisher, Allen Lane, in exchange for an honest review. 3. 5 stars. Exercised is a well-balanced and comprehensive book that does not preach but instead presents a wealth of evidence from various researches into the benefits of physical activity, which in our modern lives mean exercise. The subject of exercise is something close to my heart, and that is why I was interested in reading this book. more
Sport. Eine Aktivität, die in der Form wie wir es heute tun, kein Teil unserer Evolution ist aber dafür wichtig für unsere Gesundheit. Inwiefern sporteln Tiere und wo siedelt sich der Mensch an. Tiere legen kurzfristige Sprints hin, die durch das „nicht-sterben-wollen“ initiiert sind. Liebermann schaut nicht nur in die Anatomie der Menschen und vergleicht diese mit Tieren, er wertet auch wichtige Daten aus und wie diese mit der Gesundheit korrelieren oder eben nicht korrelieren. more
By far, the most important book of the year. I just want to keep moving, and let evolutionary mechanisms that reside in the human body do the rest. Human beings evolved to be active, they did not evolve to precisely "work out". The title of the book is "Exercised", the meaning of that word is "The feeling of being upset or agitated because of something". So, the whole book is a study of evolutionary biology and anthropology, in relation to physical activities. more
якщо ти багато сидиш, лінишся піти на тренування та постійно відкладаєш будь-яку фізичну активність - вітаю, ти нормальна людина. еволюцією в нас закладено заощаджувати калорії і уникати зайвих фізичних навантажень. «…тренажерний зал був безрадісним підвалом, де тхнуло застарілим потом і не було природного світла. ніхто, здавалося, не тішився, переходячи від одного тренажера до іншого під лампами денного світла і з похмурою рішучістю виконуючи свої повтори. …»фізичні вправи - це витрачання енергії заради витрачання енергії. more
This book has some interesting trivia about the history of exercise and physical activity, but it becomes tiresome pretty quickly because the core message (physical activity is good for you) is not surprising and repeating it a zillion times in different ways doesn't make it more captivating. Also, I'm generally concerned about jumping from (evolutionary) theory to medical recommendations. Nerd addendum: -Some of the factoids are questionable. For example, on p. 245 he talks about how we "live much longer than our farmer ancestors. more
This book is quite long and covers a lot of topics surrounding exercise. For me it seemed the first half was more anthropologically inspired, and the second more influenced by modern studies. The book needs a good edit. It’s too long, it’s a work out in itself just getting though it. He also repeats himself word for word multiple times. more
This is one of my favorite reads in quite a while, which is saying a lot (I think I read over 300 books last year). It's fascinating, helpful, informative and really well researched. I found myself telling family members about it again and again, which is the biggest sign that a book is a hit with me. Lieberman is an anthropologist who has thoroughly researched what sorts of natural exercise humans have evolved to do over time, along with how our closest primate relatives exercise and what makes the difference between us. He has spent time with hunter-gatherer tribes and gives a fascinating contrast to how they age compared to how most modern humans do, and he's packed the book with good science, good history, good stories and great advice. more
This is an important book on a conversation that can be quite polarised. It is an analysis on how while our modern day lifestyles are drastically different to our hunter-gatherer friends, our bodies are still the same. I really liked this book. Lieberman keeps his discussion pretty tight and does a good job of being empathetic on a divisive topic . As someone who probably lacks empathy for those who do not prioritise exercise, I think it was important for me to see the other side of the coin. more
Хочеться охарактеризувати цю книгу, як найкориснішу з прочитаних. Певен, що буду застосовувати отримані з неї знання. Дуже інформативна, ґрунтовна, але при цьому й цікава подача. Дізнався купу нового та важливого. Скорегував безліч хибних «знань». more
Відчуваючи останнім часом брак мотивації до бігу я пішов на крайні заходи і прочитав книгу Деніела Лібермана "Фізична (не)активність. Що насправді робить нас здоровими. ". Деніел Ліберман працює професором кафедри біології людини в Гарвардському університеті і багато років досліджує вплив еволюції на фізичну активність, зокрема ходьбу та біг. Читати цю книгу (як і будь-яку іншу), зовсім не обов'язково, адже ми всі самі прекрасно усвідомлюємо, наскільки фізична активність важлива для нашого здоров'я, профілактики різноманітних хвороб та тривалості життя. more
i read this book bc an excerpt online was interesting and it WAS interesting but being a harvard anthropologist def makes you a sociopath because i was just like *frysquint* the whole time waiting for his self assured smuggery to tilt into full on bigoted essentialism. going to harvard makes you a sociopath. more
“Humans were meant to move. "Excellent book. This is one of the best non fiction books l read. Don't expect easy read though. This book has some serious biochemistry, immunology, biology. more
"The U. S. government recommends I engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week and weight train at least twice a week. Epidemiologists have calculated that this level of activity will reduce my risk of dying prematurely by 50 percent and lower my chances of getting heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and certain cancers by roughly 30 to 50 percent. "You can't buy the kind of benefits that regular exercise can provide for your healthspan, your lifespan, your mental health, and your health in general. more
“We won’t succeed solely by medicalizing and commodifying exercise; instead, we should treat exercise the way we treat education by making it fun, social, emotionally worthier, and something that we are willing to commit ourselves to do. ”. more
Did we evolve to exercise, as in voluntarily do goal-less physical activity. No. Did we evolve to be a physically active primate. Yes. Although these appear to be contradictory statements, they’re not. more
I finally managed to finish this book after many months of on and off readings. It became one of the books that I will keep coming back to read the chapters and also the referenced articles. As an almost graduate doctor, I know that the best treatment for diseases is to prevent them. Lately we hear more of preventive & functional medicine and I hope to see more of my colleagues focusing on these topics. We all always hear the importance of exercise but we became habituated to the advice. more
read this while (mostly) lying down on my couch . the modern condition. more
Easily one of the most well-researched and extensive books written on exercise, its evolutionary aspects and very accurately, the physiological effects of exercise. Huge fan of Lieberman now. more
This is by far the most comprehensive story about physical activity and its role in the human body. He spends the first portions of the book outlining what exercise is and training us to adopt an anthropological mindset (new to me) when we evaluate headlines and fads. Once there we get the full-fledged analysis of why exercise is so good and what’s been PROVEN to be the best for overall health and to prevent a lot of prevalent conditions. If you are a regular exerciser, you may not glean too much new information for yourself but may get more backing when questioned about your sanity by NARPs. If you are a non-athletic regular person, you would benefit significantly from reading about why being a crazy exerciser may actually be worthwhile. more
Human movements, Throughout evolution and history, from simply walking, to running, dancing, play and much more, till the advent of exercise. After watching many videos for the paleoanthropologist Dr Daniel Lieberman, I'm familiar with his premises and general ideas. But the book contains more than what I imagined finding when I started reading it. An excellent book from a world-leading authority in the field. more