4 Stars // I was (literally) moved by it

This book is a comprehensive exploration of the science behind human physical activity and an anthropological view of how and why humans ‘exercised’, or rather ‘were active’ in the past. Lieberman, a professor of biological sciences at Harvard University, draws on his extensive research and knowledge to provide a detailed analysis of how and why humans exercise, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of different types of physical activity.

Given it’s length of over 400 pages, ‘Exercised’ is a pretty comprehensive work-up, that goes really in-depth into the history of activity and tries to find patterns in hunter-gatherer tribes that in turn let us draw conclusions as to what kind of and how much activity is intrinsically natural to humans. At times it thereby feels a little bit ‘Sapiens’-ish in its tone and approach, which made for a compelling read overall, but the book can’t quite hide the fact that it should have had the fan trimmed off (excuse the pun) around the edges. Especially by the end it shows its length, as Lieberman becomes a little bit repetitive and fairly vague in his conclusions, as the science is still inconclusive in and of itself.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time with this and therefor highlighted a fair amount of passages, Thanks to some substantial take-aways and interesting studies Lieberman cites. The book actually motivated me to be more conscious in the ways I move throughout the day, or don’t move for that matter, and it’s for sure one of the better non-fiction books out there.