Summary of the book "Move!" - By Caroline Williams

Key Concepts in this book:

1. Humans have chosen to follow in the footsteps of the sloth.
2. Humans were designed to move.
3. Walking is a great way to get your mind moving.
4. Exercise can also assist with life's emotional challenges.
5. Exercise more frequently, not more intensely, for best outcomes.
6. Early on, instil healthful behaviours in your children.

Who can benefit the most from this book:

• Aspiring exercisers who need some motivation to get moving.
• Workout junkies looking to make the most of their fitness routines.
• Anyone guilty of saying, “I’ll hit the gym . . . tomorrow”

What am I getting out of it? Learn how exercise can help your brain.

Hunter-gatherers travelled thousands of kilometres in quest of their next meal thousands of years ago. Food may now be found by just clicking a "Deliver Now" button. However, despite its benefits, technological advancement has had certain negative consequences for human health.

We've simply ceased moving as a species; in comparison to our Stone Age forefathers, we've become sloths. We spend about two-thirds of our lives sitting still. As a result, our minds are suffering.

This summary can help you overcome the pattern of idleness with practical fitness recommendations. They'll help you live a healthier – and happier – life by giving you the motivation to move.

• You'll learn why sitting is the new smoking.
• How our brains evolved to think best when we're moving.
• And the easy measures you can do to get your body and mind moving in this summary.

1. Humans have chosen to follow in the footsteps of the sloth.

Have you ever longed to be a sloth for a day? These tree-dwelling creatures are known for doing absolutely nothing, sleeping for up to 20 hours a day and remaining very still when awake.

Isn't it incredible? Humans, it turns out, don't need to be envious of sloths because we already live it.

Humans have reached new degrees of laziness as a species. In today's world, the average adult spends 70% of their time sitting or lying entirely still. Consider that for a moment. Only 24 years of your life would be spent relocating if you lived to be 80 years old. The remaining 56 years, or more than 20,000 days, would have been spent in bed or on the couch.

The main message is that humans have chosen the path of the sloth.

Neither does the trend toward laziness discriminate based on age. Children today spend up to half of their spare time sitting – and that's before school time is taken into account. On the other hand, elderly folks can spend up to 80% of their waking days without moving a muscle.

These figures are alarming - and they're just going to get worse. In reality, modern humans move about 30% less than their predecessors in the 1960s.

You might be wondering what prompted such a significant change in conduct. When you look around, the solution is obvious. Is there a smartphone, television, or computer in the vicinity? Our extremely slothlike state is largely due to those slick tiny devices.

Do you have a hankering for something to eat for dinner? Instead of hunting bison like our hunter-gatherer forefathers, you can order a burger and have it delivered to your door. Are you looking for a good time? Instead of travelling to an ancient amphitheatre, turn on the television. Do you have a strong desire for social interaction? Without leaving your house – or moving more than a finger – you may chat with folks from all around the world.

It's impossible to deny that technology has changed the world as we know it. Has the consequent change in human behaviour been beneficial?

As we'll see in the following concept, science suggests no.

2. Humans were designed to move.

Humans, unlike sloths, aren't built to sit still for long periods of time, and remaining still can have a variety of negative health repercussions.

Sedentary lifestyles have also been linked to lower IQs, more antisocial behaviour, shortened attention spans, memory loss, decreased creative thinking, and even a global epidemic of mental disease - with a special focus on anxiety and sadness.

Lack of activity also hastens age, making us look older than we are. Studies demonstrate that middle-aged persons who sit for more than two or three hours every day lose mental sharpness considerably more quickly than their more active counterparts, implying that as your body slows down, so does your brain.

Here's the main point: Humans were designed to move.

If you're a regular exerciser, you may believe you're already immune to these health problems. And if you're a gym rat, you might be swearing to finally use your gym membership. However, contrary to common opinion, going to the gym isn't the answer — at least not completely.

While a 30-minute workout is preferable to vegging on the couch, it isn't sufficient. Working exercise in short spurts, according to movement instructor Katy Bowman, is like taking pills to make up for a bad diet — it may help, but it won't make you completely healthy.

Reduce the amount of time you spend sitting stationary to improve your overall health. That means exercising constantly throughout the day, not only during high-intensity bursts. In other words, a single hour of CrossFit cannot compensate for eight hours in a cubicle.

What's the first step to stopping the cycle of sloth? Putting one foot in front of the other, figuratively speaking. This may seem obvious, but according to a recent survey, only 17% of individuals go walking for the sake of walking - and that includes dog walkers, who don't have much of a choice.

Are you ready to discover the many advantages of walking? In the next concept, you'll be in the shoes of one of history's most brilliant thinkers, doing exactly that. Let's get this party started!

3. Walking is a great way to get your mind moving.

In more ways than one, Charles Darwin needed to get moving.

The young biologist was striving to turn his field notes into a fully developed theory of evolution five years after returning from his now-famous Beagle trips. Darwin moved to a tranquil region of the English countryside since thinking was much easier said than done in the hustle and bustle of London life.

He began taking daily walks through rolling meadows and dense woodland on an outdoor loop he fondly referred to as his "thinking path" when he was there.

And, sure enough, the theory of evolution will shortly emerge from there.

The main idea is that walking gets your mind moving.

Darwin wasn't the only one who walked to exercise his cerebral muscles. Many great thinkers and inventors, from Friedrich Nietzsche and Virginia Woolf to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, have done the same way.

What does walking have to do with thinking, you might wonder? Let's take a deeper look at Darwin's hypothesis – as it pertains to humans – to answer that issue.

Prior to the hunter-gatherer era, our forefathers took only 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day on average, similar to what we do now. However, unlike modern people, their minds did not suffer while their bodies sat still because their physiology was designed for such low activity levels.

Then the climate began to shift, and our physiology followed suit. Humans were forced to walk far and wide in quest of food after being thrust into a cooler, scarcer climate. These hunter-gatherers had to continuously come up with new and inventive strategies to fend off predators and scavenge nonpoisonous plants while on the move. Moving and thinking were inextricably linked. Biological anthropologist David Raichlen sees us as "cognitively engaged endurance athletes" at this time.

We've progressed from hunting and gathering to a world of fast food and cubicles. What's the bad news? Humans are still biologically designed to think and move simultaneously. Our bodies decide to conserve energy by reducing brain capacity when we're sitting still, and it's only when we commence moving that our minds resume full functionality.

So, the next time you're stuck in a rut, follow in Charles Darwin's footsteps. Find your own way of thinking and go for a stroll many times a day — your brain (and body) will reward you.

4. Exercise can also assist with life's emotional challenges.

Have you ever been advised that it's time to "move on"? The fact that the word "move" appears so heavily in this phrase is no coincidence. In reality, exercise may be a big mood booster, allowing you to break free from many mental ruts.

Experiments show that physically going forward can promote optimistic thinking while also instilling an emotional feeling of progress. You've mentally moved away from the past and into the future with each step.

As a result, exercise can be particularly beneficial for people who are prone to depressed rumination. They may find themselves psychologically progressing past the issues that are dominating their attention as they move forward via physical space.

The main point to take away from this is this: Exercise can also assist with life's emotional challenges.

Marcus Scotney, the author's boyhood classmate, struggled with severe depression throughout his adolescence. Then he realized that "racing toward the hills, over them, and down the other side" may help him feel better.

Marcus is now a professional marathon runner who achieved a course record in one of Europe's most difficult races while also entirely transforming his mental health.

Fortunately, you don't have to be a marathon runner like Marcus to benefit from the movement's mood-boosting effects. Endorphins begin working their magic in the brain after just 20 minutes of brisk walking, alleviating tension and making you happier. Changing your walking style can also help you feel better. Straightening up and putting a spring in one's stride has been shown to assist foster positive thinking in persons who are prone to slouching.

Don't worry if cardio isn't your thing. Strength training exercises, such as weight lifting or martial arts, can also help to alleviate depression. Overall, research shows that people who engage in more physical activity have more control over their life and are happy as a result.

When you're in a bad mood, it's tempting to burrow up under a blanket and watch Netflix. Marcus's example, on the other hand, shows that you should be doing the exact opposite. Get up and move the next time you're feeling low - and don't look back.

5. Exercise more frequently, not more intensely, for best outcomes.

Many people are frightened by the notion of regular exercise. However, increasing your physical and mental health does not need you to run up mountains or revert to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Let's go to five places around the world for proof: Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California.

These locations, scattered over the map, may not appear to have anything in common. However, if you look at their numbers closely, you'll see a striking pattern. Each destination has ten times the average number of people who live to be 100 years old. Furthermore, residents of these longevity hotspots are less likely to suffer from dementia and mental health difficulties than the general population.

Despite this, these groups rarely exercise — at least not in the traditional sense. You might wonder what they do instead. The solution is straightforward: they garden, forage, and go for walks. They spend as much time as possible outside, as their genes dictate. In other words, they perform the functions for which the human body was designed.

The essential takeaway here is to exercise more frequently rather than more intensely for the best effects.

These citizens get significant benefits by moving throughout the day. According to studies, putting weight on your bones – whether through walking, jogging, or jumping for joy – stimulates the release of a crucial protein called osteocalcin, which boosts memory and can "future-proof the brain for old age."

Regular exercise has also been shown to lessen the risk of dementia by 28% over a lifetime. This suggests that reducing sitting time by 25% could avoid over one million new Alzheimer's diagnoses around the world.

Fortunately, you can combat the sloth's way of life from anywhere in the world, not only these longevity hotspots.

Throughout the day, attempt to get up and exercise every 20 to 30 minutes as a general rule. If that sounds intimidating, keep in mind that "exercise" does not necessarily imply running a marathon. Instead, having a nice stretching session or using a standing desk throughout the workday can help. It could also mean going for a walk or turning on the radio and dancing to your favourite music.

Making time for movement in your life is neither a luxury nor a self-indulgent indulgence. It's a requirement for living a healthy and happy life.

6. Early on, instil healthful behaviours in your children.

Of course, no single person can stop the sloth cycle for the entire species. To promote global human health, we must act collaboratively and adopt what the author refers to as a movement manifesto.

What's the first step? From a young age, encourage frequent mobility. "It's simpler to build strong children than mend broken men," remarked Frederick Douglass, a nineteenth-century American social reformer. Healthy habits should be fostered in children from an early age, establishing the groundwork for a lifetime of physical activity.

The main idea is to instil good habits in children as early as possible.

To begin, consider the location where youngsters spend the majority of their time: school. Many schools throughout the world have stopped prioritizing physical education, shortening or even eliminating physical education sessions in order to make more time for academics. This, on the other hand, is entirely counterintuitive. We now know that mobility is essential for keen creative thinking; when our bodies stop moving, our brains slow down.

Fortunately, some trailblazing educators have made it their duty to spread the movement philosophy. Take, for example, Elaine Wyllie, a primary school teacher from Scotland. She discovered in 2012 that sedentary habits were harming the physical and mental health of her students, so she took action. She made students leave their desks once a day for 15 minutes to jog or sprint laps in the schoolyard, which she dubbed "the Daily Mile."

The Daily Mile has grown to include 11,000 schools and more than two million students. Researchers analyzed 5,000 Daily Mile participants in 2020 to see how much mobility they got throughout the school day. What were the outcomes? Children who completed the Daily Mile on a regular basis performed better on cognitive and well-being tests than their less active peers.

Another encouraging example is Finland, which has some of the finest academic success in the world. After each 45-minute lecture, Finnish students are given a 15-minute recess during which they are encouraged to be physically active — and their brains reward them for it.

Early exercise promotion can have significant benefits, such as raising global IQs, reducing stress, boosting memory, and even slowing the ageing process. Maintaining good exercise habits is one of the most important skills we can teach our children, and it deserves to be included in the curriculum on a permanent basis.

The fundamental message in this summary is that our bodies are designed to move. Even the simplest workouts can improve brain health by engaging creative muscles, increasing memory, and generally making us happier people. Keep in mind that in the world of workouts, the intensity does not always win. A single gym session may get your heart racing, but consistent movement throughout the day is what will maintain you in peak mental and physical condition.

Advice that can be implemented:

Recruit a workout buddy.

Humans are social beings, and exercising in a group setting – whether through dance, tai chi, or a group Pilates session – can be beneficial to your mental health. Group exercise can help you not just stay motivated when you're feeling down, but it can also help you overcome feelings of loneliness by fostering a strong sense of community. Signing up for a partner sport has the extra benefit of introducing you to new people, so grab a friend and start going!