Freakonomics Radio
The Zero-Minute Workout
There is strong evidence that exercise is wildly beneficial. There is even stronger evidence that most people hate to exercise. So if a pill could mimic the effects of working out, why wouldn’t we want to take it?
We all know that exercise is good for us. We also know that most people don’t get nearly enough. Thirty-four percent of U.S. adults are “physically inactive”; another 20% are “insufficiently active.” And, not surprisingly, almost 40% of U.S. adults are classified as obese. To be reductive: many of us eat too much and exercise too little.
The cost of physical inactivity is massive — not just in illness and death but in dollars, too: researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Emory University say the U.S. spends around $117 billion a year on health care due to inadequate physical activity. And those are just the direct costs from treating cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and so on. It doesn’t even include things like loss of productivity.
A lot of smart people have spent a lot of time and effort trying to get people to exercise more. Mostly, they’ve failed. On this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio: what happens next?
