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)

How to Deal With the Worry of Waiting

How to Deal With the Worry of Waiting

If you've ever waited, and perhaps are now currently waiting, to hear whether or not you've tested positive for a disease, passed medical boards, or got the job you interviewed for, you know that this...

3 Apr 202340min

The Naturalist’s Art of Animal Encounters

The Naturalist’s Art of Animal Encounters

Whether you see some deer, have a fox cross your path, or spot a moose, there’s something disportionately delightful about encountering wildlife. Even seeing something pedestrian like a possum feels r...

29 Mars 202346min

The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in a World That Won’t Stop Talking

The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in a World That Won’t Stop Talking

We live in a chatter-filled world. People will talk your ear off when you see them in person and everyone is constantly sharing their thoughts online. But my guest would say that all this chatter may ...

27 Mars 202353min

A Kantian Guide to Life

A Kantian Guide to Life

If you've had some contact with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, there's a good chance you found it abstract, heady, and hard to understand. But my guest would say that it's full of rich, usable insig...

22 Mars 202352min

Finally Follow Through

Finally Follow Through

You get really excited about an idea to start an exercise program, or become a better partner, or get organized. And then you do . . . nothing. Absolutely nothing.It's said that the road to Hell is pa...

20 Mars 202347min

Bat Bombs, Truth Serums, and the Masterminds of WWII Secret Warfare

Bat Bombs, Truth Serums, and the Masterminds of WWII Secret Warfare

Many a man has been impressed by the ingenuity of secret agent operations, and intrigued by the subterfuge, gadgets, and disguises required to pull them off. Much of what we think about when we think ...

15 Mars 202345min

Anxiety Is a Habit — Here's How to Break It

Anxiety Is a Habit — Here's How to Break It

You may think of anxiety as a reaction, a feeling, or a disorder. My guest today says that perhaps the best way to think about anxiety, especially if you want to treat it effectively, is as a habit.Hi...

13 Mars 202337min

The Fitness Supplements That Actually Work

The Fitness Supplements That Actually Work

In your journey towards becoming stronger, fitter, and healthier, there often comes a point where you wonder if taking some supplements will help your progress along. But what fitness supplements are ...

8 Mars 202343min

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
sektledare
allt-du-velat-veta
johannes-hansen-podcast
rss-viktmedicinpodden
roda-vita-rosen
rss-foraldramotet-bring-lagercrantz
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
sa-in-i-sjalen
rss-beratta-alltid-det-har
rss-basta-livet