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

Contrast this to the United States, where the average adult engages in less than ten minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a day, and physical activity peaks at age six.

I’m extremely active—doesn’t that mean I can eat more carbs? A: Yes, engaging in vigorous exercise allows you more leeway—see our Custom Carb Pyramid (page) for exact numbers. Most people are not very active, however, and even those who think they are aren’t compared to our ancestors.

We are becoming static and our bodies are neither built nor prepared for it.

Over and above any considerations of performance for sports, exercise is the stimulus that returns our bodies to the conditions for which they were designed.