What You Can (Really) Learn About Exercise from Your Human Ancestors
The Art of Manliness10 Maalis 2021

What You Can (Really) Learn About Exercise from Your Human Ancestors

We all know how indisputably good exercise is for you. Yet a lot of folks still find it a struggle to engage in much physical activity. To understand the reason that this conflict and tension exists and how to overcome it, it helps to understand the lives of our human ancestors. Though, not the way the popular culture understands them, but the way someone who's actually studied them understands them.

My guest is such an expert guide. His name is Daniel Lieberman, and he's a Harvard professor of human evolutionary biology and the author of Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding. Today on the show, Daniel shares what we can really learn from our ancestors as to our modern relationship with exercise, while debunking some of the popular myths about our hunter-gatherer history. We begin by talking about how very recent, and actually quite weird, the whole concept of exercise is. We then discuss the fact that our ancestors were not the natural super athletes we typically imagine, what their state of physicality was really like, and how understanding their lifestyle can help us understand the competing interests going on in our own minds and bodies that can leave us feeling ambivalent about getting up and moving around. We then discuss if, as it's been said, "sitting is the new smoking," and the less and more healthy ways to sit. Daniel unpacks whether we're evolved for running, how our ancestors' strength compares to our own, and whether or not exercise helps us lose weight. We end our conversation with how this background on the past can help us in the present, by showing us the two factors that are critical in helping us moderns make exercise a habit.

Get the show notes aom.is/exercised.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jaksot(1159)

The Secrets of Public Speaking From History's Greatest Orators

The Secrets of Public Speaking From History's Greatest Orators

Despite the fact that public speaking remains an important and relevant skill in our modern age -- you never know when you'll need to give a toast at a wedding, pitch an idea at work, or champion a pr...

7 Huhti 202139min

Social Psychology Won't Save Us

Social Psychology Won't Save Us

When it comes to proposed solutions to life's problems, whether on an individual or societal scale, the four most commonly used words these days are "According to a study . . . " This phrase is used b...

5 Huhti 202140min

Forging Mental Strength Through Physical Strength

Forging Mental Strength Through Physical Strength

Editor’s Note: This is a re-broadcast. This episode originally aired in June 2018. When you start a fitness program, you tend to spend most of your time thinking about the physical part — what moveme...

31 Maalis 202140min

Theodore Roosevelt, The Last Romantic

Theodore Roosevelt, The Last Romantic

Romanticism, not in terms of courtship and bouquets of roses, but as a philosophical approach to life which blossomed in the 19th century, embodies many tenets, including a nostalgia for the past, a h...

29 Maalis 202156min

Sisu, the Finnish Art of Strength

Sisu, the Finnish Art of Strength

In Finland, "sisu" is a concept that, while it can't be strictly translated into English, roughly corresponds to a combination of bravery, resilience, grit, and determination. My guest today will help...

24 Maalis 202135min

The Fascinating Secrets of Your Voice

The Fascinating Secrets of Your Voice

Unless you're a complete recluse, you probably use your voice many times a day, whether talking to your spouse, chatting with co-workers, or singing along to music in the car. Yet, you've probably nev...

22 Maalis 202157min

Why Is It So Hard to Admit You Were Wrong?

Why Is It So Hard to Admit You Were Wrong?

Personal responsibility, the ability to own up to one's mistakes, is a foundational element of character. It's also the only way we can grow and get better. But as anyone with any experience being hum...

17 Maalis 202143min

The Two Halves of the Warrior's Life

The Two Halves of the Warrior's Life

The Roman army hires a former legionnaire to hunt down a courier and intercept a letter he is carrying from the apostle Paul. But when this mercenary overtakes the courier, something happens that neit...

15 Maalis 202140min

Suosittua kategoriassa Koulutus

rss-murhan-anatomia
voi-hyvin-meditaatiot-2
psykopodiaa-podcast
rss-narsisti
rss-liian-kuuma-peruna
adhd-podi
rss-rahamania
rss-niinku-asia-on
puhutaan-koiraa
kesken
psykologia
rss-valo-minussa-2
rss-tietoinen-yhteys-podcast-2
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-psykalab
leikitaanko-laakaria
rss-lasnaolon-hetkia-mindfulness-tutuksi
rss-vapaudu-voimaasi
rss-hereilla
rss-rentotapaus