4.5 stars. Reminded me of the importance of exercise, and also reminded me that the treadmill or bike isn't necessarily the ultimate answer. Reminded me of Pollan's advice to eat real food, mostly plants. But Lieberman's thesis is more like "Be active. More is better, but any is good."

(+) I really enjoyed this book and it did motivate me to exercise more while listening to it! I appreciate that Lieberman recognizes that how much/what type of exercise is most beneficial is different for everyone and dependent upon many individual factors. It is always refreshing and believable when a scientist says we don't know exactly. Basically some exercise is better than none so do something active that you have fun doing!

(-) I have this issue with many books that touch on obesity. Often scientists point to the fact that obese patients die at greater numbers with heart attacks, diabetes, etc. and Lieberman does as well(although I appreciate he did dive into the concept of people who are within "normal" weights but have extremely high blood pressure, blood sugar levels, etc.). I have an issue with this type of analysis because, from reading some great books from self described fat women, it has been come clear to me that often doctors do not treat fat patients with the same respect and care they do skinny ones. I'd love to see some research on how this effects mortality rates - it stands to reason that if you feel not welcome at the doctor, you won't go as often OR if you do go to the doctor but are not listened to and everything is attributed to your weight, this is going to impact your health negatively. I'd really like to see research on if the higher mortality rates are due to the extra strain weight puts on your body OR due to the difference in healthcare. Realistically, it's probably a mixture of both but this issue is alot more nuanced then many people portray it to be.

I've found Lieberman's writing style very insightful and engaging since reading his first book, The Story of the Human Body. He offers countless studies to back up his claims and provides the perfect balance of science, storytelling, and humor.

The author tries to look back to the past (early humans and at even some present-day hunter gatherer societies) to determine why humans didnt evolve with the need to exercise. In fact it could be argued that early humans never exercised, so what is this need to start now? And yet, they avoided most of the age-related diseases that beset modern humans adjusting for other factors.

To sum it up nicely...
Make exercise necessary and fun. Do mostly cardio, but also some weights. Some is better than none. Keep it up as you age.

Finished!

Very engaging and surprisingly funny. I would love to have him as a professor. Filled with evolutionary biology, anthropology and interesting facts about how humans engage in physical activity.

Definitely worth a read, surprisingly readable and thought provoking for a science book on such a well known topic. It reminded me of "Why We Sleep", it will make you move more, even if it's just walking.
In short, it's in our nature to avoid moving, but it is massively important that we do it anyway for our overall health (mental, cardiovascular, etc.). Make sure to make exercise easily accessible to you, fun and frequent. He recommends to do mostly cardio, but also some strength training/weights.