With the advent of sedentary agriculture some 10,000 years ago, that same level of peak performance was no longer necessary. As our ancestors continued to devise more advanced means of acquiring food, physical activity declined. It wasn’t until the fourth century BCE, that the Greek physician Herodicus, recognized the importance of being physically active outside of a hunter-gatherer society. He practiced gymnastic medicine, a branch of Greek medicine that relied on vigorous exercise as a treatment. During that same time period, Hippocrates, who is often referred to as the Father of Modern Medicine, asserted, “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.” In the 12 century CE, the Jewish philosopher Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, a physician to the Sultan o

Beyond the physical health benefits, there are affective benefits associated with group games and activities