Exercised

The book tells the story of how we never evolved to exercise - to do voluntary physical activity for the sake of health. Using his own research and experiences throughout the world, the author recounts how and why humans evolved to walk, run, dig, and do other necessary and rewarding physical activities while avoiding needless exertion. Drawing on insights from biology and anthropology, the author suggests how we can make exercise more enjoyable, rather that shaming and blaming people for avoiding it

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. “Strikes a perfect balance of scholarship, wit, and enthusiasm.” —Bill Bryson, New York Times best-selling author of The Body • If we are born to walk and run, why do most of us take it easy whenever possible? • Does running ruin your knees? • Should we do weights, cardio, or high-intensity training? • Is sitting really the new smoking? • Can you lose weight by walking? • And how do we make sense of the conflicting, anxiety-inducing information about rest, physical activity, and exercise with which we are bombarded? In this myth-busting book, Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and a pioneering researcher on the evolution of human physical activity, tells the story of how we never evolved to exercise—to do voluntary physical activity for the sake of health. Using his own research and experiences throughout the world, Lieberman recounts without jargon how and why humans evolved to walk, run, dig, and do other necessary and rewarding physical activities while avoiding needless exertion. Exercised is entertaining and enlightening but also constructive. As our increasingly sedentary lifestyles have contributed to skyrocketing rates of obesity and diseases such as diabetes, Lieberman audaciously argues that to become more active we need to do more than medicalize and commodify exercise. Drawing on insights from evolutionary biology and anthropology, Lieberman suggests how we can make exercise more enjoyable, rather than shaming and blaming people for avoiding it. He also tackles the question of whether you can exercise too much, even as he explains why exercise can reduce our vulnerability to the diseases mostly likely to make us sick and kill us.

A natural history of exercise seeking to answer a fundamental question: were you born to run or rest? Follows the evolutionary story of human physical activity and inactivity and considers how anthropological and evolutionary approaches can help us exercise better in the modern world

In industrialized nations, our sedentary lifestyles have contributed to skyrocketing rates of obesity and diseases like diabetes. A key remedy, we are told, is exercise - voluntary physical activity for the sake of health. However, most of us struggle to stay fit, and our attitudes to exercise are plagued by misconceptions, finger-pointing and anxiety. But, as Daniel Lieberman shows in Exercised the first book of its kind by a leading scientific expert, we never evolved to exercise. We are hardwired for moderate exertion throughout each day, not triathlons or treadmills. Drawing on over a decade of high-level scientific research and eye-opening insights from evolutionary biology and anthropology, Lieberman explains precisely how exercise can promote health; debunks persistent myths about sitting, speed, strength and endurance; and points the way towards more enjoyable and physically active living in the modern world.

WINNER OF THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Electrifying” (People) • “Masterly” (The Guardian) • “Dramatic and memorable” (The New Yorker) • “Magic” (TIME) • “Ingenious” (The Financial Times) • "A gonzo literary performance” (Entertainment Weekly) • “Rare and splendid” (The Boston Globe) • “Remarkable” (USA Today) • “Delicious” (The New York Times) • “Book groups, meet your next selection" (NPR) In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. When within this striving “Brotherhood of the Arts,” two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall headlong into love, their passion does not go unnoticed—or untoyed with—by anyone, especially not by their charismatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley. The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school’s walls—until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. What the reader believes to have happened to David and Sarah and their friends is not entirely true—though it’s not false, either. It takes until the book’s stunning coda for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place—revealing truths that will resonate long after the final sentence. As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi's Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.

This book provides Seniors and people who are aging into their mature years, with some very effective, scientifically based exercise techniques and combines them into a workout routine, which can be performed at home, or in an assisted living facility. This exercise book for aging men and women has a well-rounded workout, which will increase strength in all major muscle groups...FAST. This book provides Seniors and people who are aging into their mature years, with some very effective, scientifically based exercise techniques and combines them into a workout routine, which can be performed at home, or in an assisted living facility. Having spent a quarter-century studying and applying strength techniques to Athletes, recreational enthusiasts and military personnel, I explain the fastest methods, known to man, to regain and develop strength in certain muscle groups. Members of the U. S. Navy SEALS and other elite members of the Armed Forces currently use modified versions of some of these exercises, when deployed, due to their limited access to exercise equipment. I designed this routine specifically for Seniors, not only for its effectiveness but also for the same reason of possible, limited access to exercise equipment. This book provides Seniors with some very effective, scientifically based exercise techniques and combines them into a workout routine, which can be performed at home, or in an assisted living facility. This exercise book for the aging has a well-rounded workout that will increase strength throughout all of your major muscle groups...FAST. Seniors are "aging-in-place" now more than ever before and with the routine in this book, they can now strengthen all of the major muscle groups in the body, get daily exercise and noticeable improvements from this routine without having to purchase any exercise or fitness equipment. This is one the most effective exercise books for the aging because it condenses certain revolutionary training principles into a book, for seniors and aging individuals and allows them to use these exercise methods in the privacy of their own home. Exercise is even more important for aging seniors due to the loss of muscle mass, decreasing bone density and other physical limitations among many of them. "Aging gracefully" includes a daily plan of some type of exercise activity, eating healthy meals and following a low-stress lifestyle. It is said that people who follow these principles live a more-fulfilled life and aging seniors are no exception to this rule. Exercise has been proven to lower stress, increase muscle tissue, fight depression, obesity and a host of other health problems. Regular exercise is crucial to improve the quality of life among today's aging seniors. Seniors now have the knowledge and "tools" to perform a full-body workout at home, which is zero impact and minimizes the risk of injury by emphasizing slow and controlled exercise movements.

This rigorous and easy-to-follow program helps keep the brain sharp and stimulated.

A hands-on workbook with exercises that strengthen your creativity. How to train your ability to make connections others don't.