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Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding by Daniel E. Lieberman
holodoxa's review against another edition
4.0
Daniel E. Lieberman's Exercised is an accessible tour of the basic findings of exercise science from an evolutionary/paleoanthropological perspective. Lieberman's central claim is that exercise, as in intentional physical activity for the purposes of maintaining health and fitness, is a weird and very recent phenomenon in annals of human history. Ergo, exercise is not something humans are particularly adapted for - though Lieberman means this more in the psychological than physical sense as he explains in great detail how the body evolved to move and perform physically. Thus, Exercised is a work of exercise apologetics; maybe the first of its kind, given that most works advocating exercise/fitness are rife with aggressive admonishments against sloth and gluttony.
Although I think the framing of the work is overdetermined (the distinction between human beings evolved for physical activity but not exercise is somewhat contrived), I found the content informative and engaging. As a fitness-enthusiast and scientist, most of the conclusions and recommendations were completely familiar to me (well supported and justified by explications of the scientific literature), but the evolutionary perspective is quite interesting and contextualizes why exercise is beneficial in our evolutionarily mismatched modern society.
The book is a little overlong with some unnecessary repetition (though the extensive citations and notes are appreciated). Additionally, a deeper exploration of the literature of exercise science and related topics, including high performance/extreme athletics, would have enriched the work. Sometimes Lieberman's tangents about human nature or structuring incentive structures to match evolved proclivities are the most interesting and provocative aspects of the book. Some of Exercised felt like a retelling of parts of Lieberman's prior book (The Story of the Human Body), which I think is the superior work. Overall, Exercise is worth picking up whether you are a proponent or critic of exercise.
*Received this book for free through NetGalley
Although I think the framing of the work is overdetermined (the distinction between human beings evolved for physical activity but not exercise is somewhat contrived), I found the content informative and engaging. As a fitness-enthusiast and scientist, most of the conclusions and recommendations were completely familiar to me (well supported and justified by explications of the scientific literature), but the evolutionary perspective is quite interesting and contextualizes why exercise is beneficial in our evolutionarily mismatched modern society.
The book is a little overlong with some unnecessary repetition (though the extensive citations and notes are appreciated). Additionally, a deeper exploration of the literature of exercise science and related topics, including high performance/extreme athletics, would have enriched the work. Sometimes Lieberman's tangents about human nature or structuring incentive structures to match evolved proclivities are the most interesting and provocative aspects of the book. Some of Exercised felt like a retelling of parts of Lieberman's prior book (The Story of the Human Body), which I think is the superior work. Overall, Exercise is worth picking up whether you are a proponent or critic of exercise.
*Received this book for free through NetGalley