I read an excerpt from an NPR interview with Lieberman earlier this year. He specifically said that humans evolved to conserve energy and sit as much as possible. "Ok," I thought, "here's a book about exercise that may be worth reading." I requested it from my library before it was even available, so I got it as soon as it hit the shelves.

It's a hefty book to get through in 2 weeks, and took me back to my graduate school days. But it was worth it.

What is this book not? It's not a self-help book. It's not a book that promises to get you fit, or even give you an exercise routine. It's a scholarly book that delves into the literature on what exercise does and does not do for your body. It's dense, but not dry or boring (as long as you're willing to read academic-level stuff.)

I get tired of reading magazines articles with outdated exercise recommendations. I get tired of reading about "X steps to a fit bod" and the like. There's nothing of this in this book. Instead, there are ~80 pages of citations backing up everything that Lieberman says. I dig citations. I love this.

Lieberman consolidates research on exercise - health studies, anthropological studies, etc. - into one spot and puts it into context. For instance, "fit but fat" is true only in comparison to "sedentary and fat;" they're not healthier than average fit/active people. Also of note: people whose exercise consisted of weight lifting and building muscle do not fare better on biomarkers of health than people whose exercise is cardio; in fact, their health outlook was about the same as average/sedentary adults. I seldom read anything like this, because this kind of nuance isn't trendy and doesn't sell.

Each chapter is devoted to critiquing a piece of "common knowledge" on exercise and its relation to health. As I read, all I could think was about how much I need to get moving to maintain or improve my health, in each aspect.

The final chapter flows differently from the previous chapters, but it is perhaps what average readers are looking for: broadly, what kind of exercise to do to combat specific, common health conditions or concerns. It's not an exercise program or plan, to be sure, but it points you in the right direction. All exercise is important, but cardio and movement is best for just about everything listed, except for combatting osteoporosis (which definitely needs weight training).

I'm not alone in having put on a few pounds over the past year, but the biggest thing I took away from this book is that we have to keep moving. It reminded me that the time I felt healthiest in my life was when I would walk for an hour a day, usually with friends. This book has highlighted to me the importance of exercise to maintaining health, particularly as we age. Over the last 20 years, I've seen loved ones grow weaker or infirm, lacking even the stamina to walk down the street. I've always told myself that I would never become this way, and to some extent, we don't have to be.

This was the book I needed to read in order to motivate myself to get moving again, not just to lose the pesky pandemic pounds, but to become the middle-aged and older adult that I want to be.