Yoga took off because it's a well-designed work out routine. There are many alternatives to it, but it's a system that effectively and efficiently achieves a be

Yoga took off because it's a well-designed work out routine. There are many alternatives to it, but it's a system that effectively and efficiently achieves a benefit. That benefit is helping support posture and enough strength/flexibility in daily life without high risk of injury. I don't even do yoga, but can appreciate it. There are alternative methods to achieving these results, but if you think "Try to do as much manual work as possible" is equivalent to exercise, you have never done manual work. Your post completely misses the point of efficiency - "anything will get you there" is not the correct approach to anything. Want to eat with chopsticks? Hold them the right way. Want to support your muscle mass and flexibility into old age? Do Yoga (or an established western Calisthenics routine, or lift weights), but IMPORTANTLY DON'T "just do manual labor".