Man is by nature made for movement. As a social-rational animal, he is not meant to live an angelic existence; his flourishing is embodied and, even more, it is familial.

Though we all know this intuitively, living a healthy life can be difficult in practice. Not only does personal experience tell us this, data suggests it: life expectancy in America is dropping. How is such a downward trend possible given the advances in medicine and technology? What humans have done since the dawn of time, and what they have stopped doing in the past fifty, Is to move on a daily, hourly basis.

To speak about the importance of movement for human flourishing and family life, we welcome to HeightsCast our athletic director, Mr. Dan Lively. Keeping an eye on the development of the whole young person, Dan discusses the problem of sedentarism, a lack of movement, which plagues many people's lives.

Rather than focusing on one-off exercise, Mr. Lively suggests we think about our overall relationship to movement. Living a healthy lifestyle involves more than checking a box; it involves developing habits of movement—low intensity, high volume, enjoyable movement that everyone can do for his whole life.

Chapters

2:00 Introduction: On Movement
2:45 What is movement?
6:20 The sedentary person
8:25 Keeping it personal
11:00 VO2 max and life-expectancy
19:00 Healthspan: Peter Attia and the art of longevity
23:10 Zone training and movement culture
25:55 Movement and the liberal arts
28:04 Building a culture
30:55 Movement vs. exercise
39:43 Step-counters
43:00 Movement in the winter

Recommended Resources

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia

Alan Couzens

Also on the Forum

Character Formation in Elite Athletics with Brad Soderberg

Systems for Athletic Success with Dan Lively

Movement as Foundation of Fitness