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A review by mmodo
Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding by Daniel E. Lieberman
3.0
Excerised goes over the increase in disease in humans as society became more industrialized and left its hunter gatherer roots. I found this book to be off-putting and interesting at the same time.
I really wanted to read more about the anthropology behind exercise and how physical activity is applied to daily life in non-industrialized areas. While this book does provide this, it spends more time going back to modern industrialized societies to show how our worlds are just so different that that is why people have more health problems in countries like the US and UK.
I found the book to attempt to enlighten the reader by using studies to show that correlation doesn't equal causation and give examples of how too much exercise and not enough exercise can be damaging. What I really came away with after reading nearly 500 pages was that modern science doesn't really know anything conclusive other than exercise is good for humans. I happened to already know this. The myths mentioned were not statements I have heard much about and found the answers to be obvious. I am by no means a health or exercise expert either.
I was really disappointed that the book spent a lot of time on modern running and exercise culture without really going into depth about the physiology of how indigenous people exercise or other methods of modern exercise, such as weightlifting. I would have liked there to be more information on the evolution of exercise through the industrial revolution as well as studies commenting on weight lifting and other forms of exercise instead of just running.
While I think the author was trying to give the reader the ability to think critically about these modern issues and how they still need more work and action by sedentary people, I found the message to be lost in study after study being thrown at the reader giving conflicting messages. I really felt that I ran a mental marathon while reading this book and the message was lost by how exhausted I was to go through 464 pages, when this really could have been 300 pages.
3/5
I really wanted to read more about the anthropology behind exercise and how physical activity is applied to daily life in non-industrialized areas. While this book does provide this, it spends more time going back to modern industrialized societies to show how our worlds are just so different that that is why people have more health problems in countries like the US and UK.
I found the book to attempt to enlighten the reader by using studies to show that correlation doesn't equal causation and give examples of how too much exercise and not enough exercise can be damaging. What I really came away with after reading nearly 500 pages was that modern science doesn't really know anything conclusive other than exercise is good for humans. I happened to already know this. The myths mentioned were not statements I have heard much about and found the answers to be obvious. I am by no means a health or exercise expert either.
I was really disappointed that the book spent a lot of time on modern running and exercise culture without really going into depth about the physiology of how indigenous people exercise or other methods of modern exercise, such as weightlifting. I would have liked there to be more information on the evolution of exercise through the industrial revolution as well as studies commenting on weight lifting and other forms of exercise instead of just running.
While I think the author was trying to give the reader the ability to think critically about these modern issues and how they still need more work and action by sedentary people, I found the message to be lost in study after study being thrown at the reader giving conflicting messages. I really felt that I ran a mental marathon while reading this book and the message was lost by how exhausted I was to go through 464 pages, when this really could have been 300 pages.
3/5