Episode 31: Why Exercise is Healthy and Rewarding (and what to do if it’s not your thing)

In this episode of BoneTalk, NOF Trustee Barbara Hannah Grufferman is joined by Dr. Daniel Lieberman, author of “Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding.” Dr. Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and a pioneering researcher on the evolution of human physical activity, tells the story of how humans never evolved to exercise – to do voluntary physical activity just for the sake of better health.

The concept of exercise is relatively new in the human story and if you’re not excited to exercise, it’s understandable. Throughout the course of history, physical labor was very much a part of everyday life, but modern conveniences have contributed to decreases in physical activity and we must now choose to exert energy for the sake of our health and well-being.

Dr. Daniel Lieberman is the Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences at Harvard University. He received degrees from Harvard and Cambridge and taught at Rutgers University and George Washington University before joining Harvard University as a Professor in 2001. Dr. Lieberman studies and teaches how and why the human body is the way it is, and how our evolutionary history affects health and disease. In his research he combines experimental biomechanics, anatomy, and physiology both in the lab and in the field (primarily Kenya and Mexico). He is best known for his work on the evolution of running and other kinds of physical activities such as walking and throwing, but is also well known for studying the evolution of the human head. Dr. Lieberman loves teaching and has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers, many in journals such as Nature, Science, and PNAS, as well as three popular books, The Evolution of the Human Head (2011), The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease (2013), and Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding (2020).

EPISODE RESOURCES:

•  Dr. Daniel Lieberman, Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences at Harvard University

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

• Exercise to Stay Healthy

• Barbara Hannah Grufferman, Author, Speaker, Healthy Aging Consultant and Bone Health Ambassador for the