The claim seems to be that exercise adaptation includes shutting down other metabolic activity to keep energy use stable. And that this could explain some of th

The claim seems to be that exercise adaptation includes shutting down other metabolic activity to keep energy use stable. And that this could explain some of the beneficial effects of exercises because some of those activities that could be down regulated are things like inflammatory processes that are harmful if left over active. I think the article is poorly written. What it says can't be true for very high activity levels (eg, marathon training or something), but does seem possible for moderate activity increases like the extra steps people get out of casual fit bit use. It makes it really unclear what level of activity the Hazda it talks about are at, but sort of implies that it is in this moderate range. At one point it describes "moderately active" people as "the kind of folks who get some exercise during the week and make a point to take the stairs" so it seems like the activity level they are describing is not especially high.