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Definition
Activity that requires physical effort, frequently associated to the maintenance or improvement of health and fitness
Introduction
Demanding physically activities have always been part of hominid life. In a hunter-gatherer context, frequent physical activity was required for survival (Lieberman 2015b). The ability to run long distances escaping from predators or hunting preys, caring food or occasionally babies, for example, could be considered a crucial form of physical activity for humans. Hence, adaptations such as bipedalism and efficient heat exchange mechanisms were essential for human evolution.
Adaptations to Exercise: Heat Exchange and Bipedalism
Physical activity generates heat, and excessive heat may represent a risk to the organism’s health and survival. Adaptations that enable efficient heat release and exchange, such as sweating, nasal and brain cooling, and bipedal posture, were essential to human survival...
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Biermann, M.C., Zanette, L.R.S. (2018). Exercise. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2776-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2776-1
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