What is the Best Form of Exercise?
Exercise has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was in sports all throughout my childhood, have maintained a consistent fitness habit ever since, sometimes bordering on excessive, and have written about my thoughts and relationship with it multiple times (link, link, link).
Because it’s been a part of my life for so long, and I enjoy it, I rarely re-examine why I do it. I do it because it feels good, and I’ve been told it’s good for me. That’s generally enough. So it’s rare that I come across any information that makes me completely rethink exercise and my relationship with it.
Enter the book ‘Exercised’ by Daniel Lieberman. Lieberman is a paleoanthropologist at Harvard University and in this book, he attempts to tackle the human relationship with exercise. If you’ve ever struggled to get up to go to the gym, questioned the sanity of running marathons, or have even a marginal interest in how the human body responds to movement, this book is worth a read.
Lieberman notes that humans did not evolve to exercise as we know it. But that much is obvious. Our ancestors definitely did not have a reason to be taking zumba classes. But Lieberman goes further and postulates that humans evolved to do the least amount of movement possible while still ensuring survival. Read that again - we evolved to do the LEAST amount of movement possible.
Let’s break that down: for our ancestors, the least amount of movement they could do and still ensure survival, was far more than the average person gets today. They had to walk miles every day to search for food and had to do everything in their daily life completely manually. In our modern environment, technology has progressed to the point where most of us don’t have to expend much movement at all in order to survive, but the impulse to save energy for that survival is still there.
On the surface, modern exercise is not necessary for survival. Neither running in place on a treadmill nor lifting weights, will get me closer to food, water, or reproduction, so my instincts will resist. That is why it can feel so damn hard to make yourself exercise. You are literally designed to prevent yourself from expending extra energy.
Despite that impulse, the data for the benefits of regular exercise in the modern world is overwhelmingly positive. No matter where you look, movement seems to still be necessary to achieve our maximum well-being. Despite trendy ‘caveman’ workouts, the most natural movement for humans turns out to be endurance walking or running. Lieberman provides a great analysis of how our body’s evolution contributed to the way our torsos, legs, and hips work together to be optimized for walking on two legs. Additionally, our ability to sweat allows us to cool ourselves continuously while still moving - something most other animals can’t do.
Long-distance walking is probably the only form of exercise our ancestral lifestyles demanded. We would travel long distances to collect food, to track animals, and we would be carrying supplies and potentially children during those treks without modern backpacks or carts to take the load off.
This could explain why many people experience such good results in their fitness journeys when they commit to long-distance walking or running. Maybe that’s as close as we’ll truly get to a ‘caveman’ workout. Our ancestors weren’t concerned with building muscle, or aesthetics - only about survival - which always included walking.
But the information out there regarding exercise has taken on a life of its own. Walking can be boring. Without clear survival goals like our ancestors had, a whole slew of options has cropped up ready to take walking’s place. Is lifting weights best? Some people say running will ruin your knees? Is yoga or dance class enough? Lieberman is not too prescriptive here but does make sure to note the following - movement of any kind is better than none and a mix of aerobic movement (dancing, walking, running, swimming, etc.), resistance training (weights, pilates, etc.), and high intensity interval training (circuits) will most likely produce the best results over time.
Personally, I found this book fascinating. It was a revelation to read that humans most likely evolved to do as little movement as possible. That would explain why the fitness industry continues to churn out trends and why none of them have ever had widespread success in getting people to consistently exercise. Unfortunately Lieberman also did not find the ultimate kickstarter for a fitness habit. But there is power in this knowledge. Knowing that our bodies are built to conserve energy but also knowing that movement is important can help us be more intentional about how we choose to exercise. We know there will be resistance so finding the least unpleasant form of exercise is the best way forward - luckily we’ll always have walking.
At the end of a 9 mile hike. Walking in nature might be its best form.