Short YouTube talk by Aaron Hartman, MD arguing that exercise — understood broadly as movement rather than formal gym routines — is a foundational element of functional medicine. He emphasizes that physical activity directs neural connections during development and throughout life, and recommends simply moving (learning activities, sports, daily movement) rather than relying solely on structured workouts.
Chapters
This is the foundation of functional medicine that people don't like talking about. It's exercise. In today's society, where most of us have sit down jobs, we sit in cars, we sit on couches, we don't really move that much anymore. And so we have gyms, we have these exercise routines. We focus so much on having an exercise routine that we've forgotten that gyms didn't exist before the 1950s. What exercise truly is, it's not what you think. You don't have to go to the gym, you don't have to do PX90 hit. Exercise actually is much simpler than that. When your brain develops when you're younger, physical activity actually directs neuron connection. If you ever seen a baby develop, they can't move. They kind of have reflexes through intention, through trying things, they actually create new connections and learn new things. You can still do this as you get older, to learn to play guitar, to learn to play badminton, pickleball, whatnot. But movement actually directs brain connection and connectivity. Physical activity is literally magic sauce for your health. But the question is, what kind of exercise? What I tell people is just a move.