Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding

by Daniel E. Lieberman

Long periods of vigorous exercise stimulate mood-enhancing chemicals in the brain including opioids, endorphins, and, best of all, endocannabinoids (like the active compound in marijuana). The result is a runner’s or dancer’s high.

Desperation makes for lucrative business opportunities.

Just about everyone knows what countless studies confirm: regular physical activity slows the aging process and helps prolong life.

“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.”

Exercise staves off and sometimes reverses the accumulation of excess fat, especially belly fat, a chief cause of inflammation and other problems.

In a nutshell, persistent physical inactivity along with smoking and excess body fat are the biggest three factors that influence the likelihood and duration of the major illnesses that kill most people who live in industrial, westernized contexts.

Medical science has made impressive strides to keep us alive and kicking as we age, but practically speaking, the best advice for staying healthy as we age hasn’t changed in centuries: don’t smoke, avoid obesity, eat and drink sensibly, and of course stay physically active.

“exercise is done against one’s wishes and maintained only because the alternative is worse.”

I suspect millions of non-exercisers would succeed in making exercise a greater priority if they found it more enjoyable, but for them exercise is often emotionally unrewarding and physically unpleasant.

First and foremost, let’s stop pretending exercise is necessarily fun, especially for habitual non-exercisers. If that describes you, start by choosing types of exercise you either enjoy the most or dislike the least.26 Just as important, figure out how to distract your mind while you exercise with other things you find fun.

Young people need to move. Because our thrifty physiologies evolved to build capacity in response to demand, sufficient physical activity during the first decades of life is indispensable for developing a healthy body.

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