Evolutionary Mismatch
An evolutionary mismatch that is well known in today’s society is the tendencies of exercising. The traits that allowed for strong, healthy bodies was quite beneficial in environments that we not so heavily involved in technology. For example, with the development of cars and main form of exercise to be in gyms made the ability to exercise maladaptive in current human environments. In a more illustration sense it can be viewed as our ancestors would go everywhere they needed by foot, made all their necessities such as housing with the most simple tools, had work that demanded much more physical build, and more. Now humans have cars, bikes, complex tools and technology, office jobs that call for sitting most of the day. The human body only truly goes through proper exercise routines when it is voluntary. For our ancestors running, walking, lifting and more was a normal action that was a great deal of survival. In modern day technology is so advanced we can lives our lives in the most inactive way possible. As this may feel easier and better now, our build is not suited for this lifestyle and can be a curse in disguise.
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Human ancestors went through extensive processes to obtain food and often ran into famine due to low access to food. This relates to exercise because a large part of finding food was going out and hunting it for yourself and your family. In a video we watched clips on in lab class we see hunter gather males go on extensive journeys to find meat and food for family or community. It was even said they travel around 6 or more miles by foot to find just their meals. Along with the women, they would spend their time roaming about the habitat to find berries and other fruits for the
The need to exercise is more of a necessity today. People are enrolling into gyms, though they are unable to continue. Why? It’s because people want rapid results. They go after strength exercises (because biceps and abs are cool), but soon realize that they are unable to continue. What’s
Many people are spending their leisure times behind computers and tablets than they are being physically productive. Although, most of the new technologies have had many benefits to the advancements in the way in which we function efficiently in the world today; it also has contributed to the sedentary lifestyles for many adults and children. A world before technology, included children playing activities outside and adults engaging in these activities with their children. Technology should be limited to ensure that we are all getting an adequate amount of social interaction, that children are being properly educated and to help reduce the continuing growth of obesity in America.
In today’s day and age, we want everything now, not later but now. We humans, have tendency to make our lifestyles as easy as possible. Hence, we created cars, trains, video games, Internet, computer and so many other things that make our lives hundred times easier. However, this has come at a cost. In our technologically advanced world we are following a dangerous course, involving a gradually increasing caloric intake and a steady decline in physical activity. We humans used to farm and hunt in order to get food. However, we grew out of that and now we have the luxury of having food brought to us, at our doorsteps. We don’t waste any energy in obtaining food, and this has caused us to have a sedentary life. This is a huge risk factor for development of chronic diseases.
Can you imagine the hardest workout you have ever done, would you ever do that workout every day for 3-4 hours a day or even more? Well this is what people are willing to do just so that they can ¨fit in¨. Giving the 100 percent when exercising can produce great results, however over-exercising can open you up to injury and illness and sometimes even death. If you are putting in too many hours training too hard for sports or just to look ¨good, ¨ your body may begin to respond negatively. This is more common in our time because in our environment we want to be socially adapted to what society’s ¨perfect body image¨ is, so we try everything that possible in order to fit in. ¨There is nothing inherently distressing about being overweight, but, it is a physical characteristic considered unattractive in our society. It is the social stigma attached to being overweight that may increase psychological distress.¨ (Hayes-Ross, 387)
Many scientists in the past, such as Aristotle and Plato, believed that there were no changes in populations; however, other scientists, such as Darwin and Wallace, arose and argued that species inherit heritable traits from common ancestors and environmental forces drives out certain heritable traits that makes the species better suited to survive or be more “fit” for that environment. Therefore, species do change over a period of time and they were able to support their theory by showing that evolution does occur. There were four basic mechanisms of evolution in their theory: mutation, migration, genetic drift, and natural selection. Natural selection is the gradual process by which heritable traits that makes it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce increases, whereas there is a decline in those who do have those beneficial heritable traits (Natural Selection). For example, there is a decrease in rain which causes a drought in the finches’ environment. The seeds in the finches’ environment would not be soft enough for the smaller and weaker beak finches to break; therefore, they cannot compete with the larger and stronger beak finches for food. The larger and stronger beak finches has a heritable trait that helps them survive and reproduce better than others for that particular environment which makes them categorized under natural selection (Freeman, 2002).
Exercise can benefit an individual in many ways. Through research I have found several articles which have been written throughout the years that address these benefits. Some of these benefits are to prevent diseases, to improve stamina, to strengthen and tone, to enhance flexibility, to control weight, and to improve quality of life. All of these benefits will be address throughout this paper. However, even though exercise does benefits an individual, it does also depends on their circumstances. For example, exercise can be done to help with a pregnancy and after a pregnancy, to control diabetes, and to help the brain function for achievement in school.
Since the dawn of humanity, exercise has been crucial for physical survival. In recent times, however, exercise is losing its significance to human survival. Some would argue that it already has lost its significance, and as exercise becomes less important, people exercise less. According to fitness.gov, only 33% of adults receive the recommended amount of physical activity each week (citation). Clearly there is a problem. However, there is still a fraction of the population that exercises diligently. Why do these people stick with it? Exercise has countless advantages that are still extremely important to our lives. So even though the need of exercise may appear to be diminishing, the practical effects should be enough to encourage people
years ago, humans often had to fight and compete in order to obtain sources of nutrition which
Nowadays, some people are very busy with their daily activities; they work a lot or study all day long. When they get home, they are tired and lazy to go for a walk or join a gym. Other people think that is a waste of time because they cannot see the benefits of exercise in a short time. This results not only in
From the above graph, it is clear that the level of physical activity is different from one country to another. The level of physical activity also varies from individual to individual. Therefore, some factors affect the level of physical activity thus bringing such differences. Studies that have been conducted previously have come up with many factors that influence the level of physical activity among the people. What makes one engage in physical activity and what hinders one from getting involved in physical activity. In the general population, the first factor was a lack of awareness of the importance of physical activity.
Sedentary lifestyles have greatly contributed to obesity, and to the diseases affecting to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. It has been shown that physical inactivity reduces our strength, results in low energy levels, and causes obesity. It is therefore very essential to ensure we that lead a physically active life. Exercising regularly is the key to a healthy life. However, this is hampered by factors like lack of motivation, time and money.
People are too overwhelmed to think that it would benefit them. Even taking a jog would require too much of an effort. Because of society’s obligations, the worries of an average everyday routine bring them devastation. It becomes difficult to try to find time within their schedules to squeeze in a time to run. Adding exercise on their to-do list would result in more pressure while trying to reduce stress is the last priority on their mind. However, if they were able to manage their time and duties, making time to get involved in a cardio workout would not be a problem. They would be able to experience the true benefits of exercise and see how it could translate into reducing stress in their lives.
Exercise is an activity that requires physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2014). The general public know exercise is good for the body both mentally and physically, but may not know its importance. This essay is going to make known the advantages of exercise and the level of significance it has on the human body. Equally, it will suggest to what extent the state should ensure its citizens exercise frequently using 3 different case studies. The countries used will be the USA, UK and Nigeria. These 3 countries were chosen because Nigeria is a developing country and the USA and UK are developed. However the UK and USA are handling the importance of physical activity differently. Therefore, different scenarios are shown and a comparison can be made between the three countries on how far the government goes to ensure its people exercise regularly. Frequent exercise is necessary for good health and physical fitness. Several health risks can be reduced due to frequent exercise such as; heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes. It can make your overall appearance better, help slow down your aging process and also boost your confidence. Thus, the level of importance of regular physical activity is very important and government should play a role in ensuring its citizens exercise regularly however only to an extent.
There exists various lifestyles and behaviours, ranging from amount of nutrition intake, mental well-being, to the amount of physical activity engaged individually. Weighing the abundance of factors, this essay primarily aims to focus on the aspect of physical activity in relevance to how it possibly affects one's lifestyle. By cross-referencing to other lifestyles and behaviours, this essay will also demonstrate the importance of physical activity in possibly alleviating the issues raised pertaining to other lifestyles as well. Throughout this essay, there will be frequent references to the socio-ecological framework in examining the aforementioned factors.
Technology, which is developing rapidly on a daily basis, is aimed to ease people's lives by providing passive shortcuts, causing them to become lazy4. This action results in shortage of movement and exercise. Therefore, technology causes obesity indirectly5.