Lifestyle: EXERCISE Flashcards
History of Exercise
HC society - nomadic lifestyle **(followed food supply)
lots of **walking, running, swimming **
- primarily lower-body exercise
- but really uses whole body
*
- but really uses whole body
Biologists have established that the only thing humans can physically do better than any animal is?
long distance running
HGs can run all day with few breaks
tradition of running goes back 100s of thousands of years
**Olympics - **long-d runners from poor countries win gold & beat Western runners bc African countries have tradition of long-d running going back to HG society
Modern society has only added 1 exercise that is healthy
cycling
In early societies, main form of exercise?
- HG society
- Agricultural society
work
HG society
- men = hunting
- women = gathering
Agricultural Society
- farming for men
- farm house for women
How did Industrial society change exercise?
machines do most hard labor
- mechanized most work
20th Century - Exercise
saw **bureaucratization **of work
- more office jobs
- included **computerization **of work
- more jobs sitting at desks typing at computer
- since work doesnt provide exercise, have to invent exercise as **special separate activity ***
inevitably, overall levels of physical activity declined
Statistics of Exercise in Canada
Problem of not getting enough exercise – getting worse with each generation
3 in 5 CDN children not getting enough exercise for optimal body development
Stats of Exercise in USA
2005 study found 1 in 3 US teens flunked treadmill fitness test (out of shape)
Change in exercise is not just in work but also in ?
culture
Change in Exercise in Culture
Modern Capitalist society doesn’t encourage us to see everyday activities as exercise
- can get exercise from walking/stairs but often take elevators/escalators/vehicles
- think of them as nuisance rather than opportunities for exercise
Capitalist Culture encourages us to think of exercise as only activities that make profit
- gym → encouraged to use expensive equipment
- sports → buying expensive equipment (ex. hockey)
Problem with Modern Capitalist culture’s view of exercise
many ppl cant afford these forms of exercise
- also most modern forms of exercise focus on upper-body
Problem with Lower-body Exercise
if you’re overweight & out of shape, upper body exercises are last thing you should do
- puts strain on heart
→ typical Western high-E upper body exercises = recipe for heart attack (bowflex is literally suicide machine)
- a workout when already in shape not to get in shape
In recent years, ppl have begun to realize lower-body exercises are better for you
- Evidence?
growing popularity of treadmills & stationary bikes in gyms
- some have live internet cam feed so you can pretend you’re somewhere else (motivation)
HG has invented perfect diet, exercise & ?
Exercise Aid
Exercise Aid invented by HGs
at least 30,000 years ago → Dogs
- domesticated wolves to help with hunting
- dog should be walked 30-60 mins per day
- exactly what humans need too
Brief historical model shows different societies have different typical patterns of diet & exercise
→ given rise to different typical ___ ?
somatotypes
Different typical somatotypes of different societies
Earliest Ancestors (HGs)→ lean, muscular mesomorphs
Agricultural society → introduced class inequality
- aristocracy remained mesomorphs
- peasants turned into thin, unhealthy ectomorphs
Industrial Society → changed
-
Early (18/19/early 20thC) → improved nutrition levels
- led to improved weight/health - increased Life Exp. & avg height
-
Late (late 20 C) → after rise of FF industry in 50s
- more overweight, unhealthy endomorphs
Grown used to idea that life expectancy keeps increasing but thanks to obesity, may have already turned corner (hit peak)
in US → present generation expected to live shorter than parents (for 1st time in over 200 years)
Question of Sociologists about cause of obesity
Blame poor individual choices/lifestyle or FF industry for creating ‘perfect consumer’ (sugar addict)?
- Inevitable consequence of following diet designed to addict consumers to sugar/starch fat
Obesity is becoming predominant characteristic of Western bodies
Irony of Capitalism
On one hand, created professional athletes that have fastest/strongest/fittest body of any society
At same time, avg Western body is becoming least fit body in history
- problem only getting worse
Fast Food ADs
bombard us constantly telling us to buy processed food
- generally show ppl going to ridic lengths to obtain food
- although behavior is deliberate caricature, its not hunger its addiction
→ FF industry = multi-billion dollar drug industry
→ Consumers = addicts & victims
Capitalism is only society that puts ppl in prison for long periods of time
- also creates new kinds of prisons
→ through media - prison for mind
→FF industry - made prison out of bodies
- surrounded healthy human body with layers of fat
- compared to old Chinese practice of foot-binding
To free our minds & bodies from these prisons created by Capitalist society?
Karl Marx said to free our minds, must become class-conscious
Dieticians like Dr. Robert Atkins said to free bodies, must become carb-conscious
- these 2 are as closely connected as individual lifestyle is connected to society we live in
