Introduction

Humans were made for activity, perhaps more so than any other animal. A dog can outrun us for a few minutes, moving at much higher speed. But after that? We can easily continue exercising for an hour, maybe two, maybe more—while they have to stop and pant.

It’s one of the reasons humans made it so far in evolution. We have more stamina than most animals, and an ability to stay active for longer, while keeping a relatively large body and brain size. In all possible ways, we were built to move around all day.

And our body rewards us for doing so. This, again, is easy to see through the lens of evolution. When a danger appears, who is more likely to survive? The one who can run away or the one who cannnot? And when a predator appears, who is more likely to survive? The one strong enough to fight back or the one who cannot?

It comes as no surprise, then, that exercise is extremely important to our health.

As stated in the overview,

If a pill existed that gave you all the same benefits as exercising, everybody in the world would swallow it without question.

If you don’t exercise, you are hampering your own potential. Lack of exercise leads to less focus, less energy, worse memory, worse control over yourself and your moods, more risk of (serious) illnesses, the list goes on.

Then why doesn’t everyone exercise? Why is this so hard for many people? Why is there an epidemic of obesity and “sitting” all over the world? And how do we solve it?

This guide tries to answer all these questions. As brief as possible, it gives you tools for getting enough exercise, while explaining the right ways to do it (and the very much wrong ways to avoid).

I feel qualified to write this, not because I am a medical expert, but because I have been chronically ill my whole life and have talked with a huge array of medical experts. Proper exercise is the only thing that kept me afloat all those years—and I wasn’t the only one.

No, exercise is not a magic bullet. There are illnesses that cannot be solved. Problems that require a surgery, or a specific medicine. When in doubt, always visit your local doctor. The most prominent example, of course, being my own chronic illness: I can control it with exercise, I can soften it, but I’ve never been able to “solve” it.

In fact, I encourage people to do a “6 month check up”. Every 6 months, visit your doctor and merely ask if they want to check if everything’s okay. This way, you prevent any issues for building over time, for years and years, until they are visible and you finally go to the doctor.

But if you apply the trifecta of health—eating healthy, exercising enough and sleeping well—you can avoid 99% of your health problems.

Let’s get started!