Because it makes sense for us to go back to our history and do exercises today.

This text was written by a TecMundo columnist; finally learn more.

A famous Harvard professor and researcher asks: Why is it something we never developed to make it healthy and rewarding?

In his work “Exercised,” Daniel E. Lieberman tells the story of how we evolved to act when necessary or rewarding. And that’s a vision we can consider to get off the couch and go to the gym (or other physical exercise).

For our ancestors, at the origin of the Sapiens species, about 200 to 350,000 years ago, moving was a matter of life and death: they either hunted or starved to death. It’s totally necessary.

But they also did physical activities (the related term), as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure above resting levels, for social reasons: dance and games, that is, for fun and pleasure. Sapiens did physical activity because it was necessary (survival) and/or rewarding (social). So why not take such an approach today to take action?

Physical exercise (an organized, systematic and repetitive type of physical activity aimed at improving physical fitness) is currently required. We no longer need to perform physical activities to survive.

We achieve almost everything with our thumbs on the cell phone, lying on the couch: food, supermarket products, pharmacy, transportation and even emotional relationships! It has a designated application for every such need.

However, our species’ well-being (physical inactivity and highly sedentary behavior) did not evolve in this way because we evolved with high physical demand and energy expenditure. These behaviors have serious negative health consequences. The truth is, we can live without physical activity in the short term. But this does not mean to live better or more.

Here is the exercise that medicalizes, commercializes and industrializes the movement. No wonder we pay a monthly amount to rent time in a field full of strange machines and gadgets. The most important point for the researcher is the treadmill: a huge and noisy machine that simulates walking. What would our ancestors think of this? Why do we walk “in place”?

In fact, these trends are necessary as our lifestyles no longer demand movement in the short term. But they rarely make exercise more fun. And herein lies the real problem: We do not enjoy exercise, and for many populations such as adolescents, where the worldwide prevalence of physical inactivity is 81%, it has been difficult to adapt it into their routines.

It’s probably unattractive for a teenager to consider moving to reduce their risk of death, that’s far. In the most recent research on physical activity levels, young people are the most critical population with less movement over the years.

In EEG research, avoiding sedentary behaviors (sitting on the couch) required a higher inhibitory response compared to avoiding physical activity. Translation: it’s really hard to get out of inertia. It has to be worth it for the brain.

According to Lieberman, if we are to effectively promote physical exercise, we must recognize that voluntary physical activity for health and wellness is an odd, fashionable, and optional behavior.

If the other (and main) way make exercise rewarding and a psychological view for this is interesting, because It goes beyond the aesthetic mind and broadens the horizon in the subjects we call the result.. We can start by going to the gym in search of better physical shape, but mental health results in faster results, which can motivate us in the process.

In the short term, we derived from the systemic effects of exercise on the body, improved psychological well-being, perceived competence, improved sleep, increased muscle strength, movement and exercise learning, and socialization.

Over the weeks, new results such as pleasure, improvement in body composition (increase in muscle mass – hypertrophy and decrease in fat mass – weight loss) can rejuvenate your workouts, as well as resultant improvement in self-confidence and self-confidence.

Motivate yourself daily to exercise for the simple fact of being distracted during this time. The distraction hypothesis of ruminative negative thoughts is one of the reasons why we improve our mood after training.

Looking from an anthropological evolutionary perspective allows us to understand that we did not evolve to exercise, but this is the most appropriate way to act today – an activity inherent in the evolution of our species.

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fabio dominski He holds a PhD in Human Movement Sciences and a degree in Physical Education from Santa Catarina State University (UDESC). He is a university professor and researcher at the Sport and Exercise Psychology Laboratory (LAPE/CEFID/UDESC). He is the author of Physical Exercise and Science – Facts and Myths and presents the Physical Exercise and Science program on UDESC Joinvile radio (91.9 FM); The show is also available as a podcast on Spotify.