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

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.

Avsnitt(1158)

Tactics and Mindset Shifts for Making the Most of Life

Tactics and Mindset Shifts for Making the Most of Life

Note: This is a rebroadcast.Matthew Dicks wears a lot of hats. Among other things, he’s a storyteller, communications consultant, writer, and schoolteacher. In order to excel in his professional life,...

27 Maj 202455min

The Shadows Over Men's Hearts and How to Fight Them

The Shadows Over Men's Hearts and How to Fight Them

There are a lot of unspoken challenges and hidden battles that men face in modern society. They often manifest themselves in a uniquely male malaise where a man feels apathetic, frustrated, cynical, a...

22 Maj 202458min

Patton and the Bulge: Blood, Guts, and Prayer

Patton and the Bulge: Blood, Guts, and Prayer

General George S. Patton is known for his aggressive, action-oriented tactical brilliance.His character was also marked by a lesser-known but equally fundamental mystic piety.Those two qualities would...

20 Maj 202447min

Embracing the Strive State

Embracing the Strive State

We often think happiness will be found in the completion of a goal. We often think happiness will be found in ease and comfort. My guest says real joy is found in the journey rather than the destinati...

15 Maj 202447min

The Dude's Guide to Laundry: How to Save Time, Money, and Your Wardrobe

The Dude's Guide to Laundry: How to Save Time, Money, and Your Wardrobe

If you didn’t grow up doing your own laundry, once you headed out on your own, you probably just figured things out on the fly, hoped for the best, and have been doing things the same way ever since. ...

13 Maj 202448min

How to Get Better at Anything

How to Get Better at Anything

Life revolves around learning—in school, at our jobs, even in the things we do for fun. But we often don’t progress in any of these areas at the rate we’d like. Consequently, and unfortunately, we oft...

8 Maj 202446min

Of Strength and Soul — Exploring the Philosophy of Physical Fitness

Of Strength and Soul — Exploring the Philosophy of Physical Fitness

When you’re lifting weights, you might be thinking about setting a new PR or doing your curls for the girls.But throughout history, philosophers have thought about physical fitness on a deeper level a...

6 Maj 202457min

The No-BS Secrets of Success

The No-BS Secrets of Success

Jim VandeHei didn’t have an auspicious start in life. His high school guidance counselor told him he wasn’t cut out for college, and he went on to confirm her assessment, getting a 1.4 GPA at the Univ...

1 Maj 202446min

Populärt inom Utbildning

historiepodden-se
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
det-skaver
alska-oss
nu-blir-det-historia
not-fanny-anymore
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
allt-du-velat-veta
johannes-hansen-podcast
sektledare
rss-viktmedicinpodden
roda-vita-rosen
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
rss-foraldramotet-bring-lagercrantz
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
sa-in-i-sjalen
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
rss-beratta-alltid-det-har
rss-traningsklubben