I currently have an injury to my right knee / upper calf area. While out walking this morning I tried to run a few steps…it was a no go. This led me to thinking… All those who still think that we were born to run…please answer this question… There are injuries so bad that we can neither walk nor run, but there are injuries where running is out of the question, but walking is possible…but I have yet to encounter ( it may be the case, but I haven’t seen it) an injury where someone can run, but they can’t walk. Why is this if we were born to run? Surely if we were born to run, it would be the other way round? Evolution allows us to practice our basic movement pattern, even when others aren’t available to us. The truth is…walking is our default movement, not running. Every evolutionary advantage that we have, that enable us to run upright, is used in walking also. The truth is, we were born to walk, we ran when we had to…( which wasn’t often).
I currently have an injury to my right knee / upper calf area. While out walking this morning I tried to run a few steps…it was a no go. This led me to thinking… All those who still think that we were born to run…please answer this question… There are injuries so bad that we can neither walk nor run, but there are injuries where running is out of the question, but walking is possible…but I have yet to encounter ( it may be the case, but I haven’t seen it) an injury where someone can run, but they can’t walk. Why is this if we were born to run? Surely if we were born to run, it would be the other way round? Evolution allows us to practice our basic movement pattern, even when others aren’t available to us. The truth is…walking is our default movement, not running. Every evolutionary advantage that we have, that enable us to run upright, is used in walking also. The truth is, we were born to walk, we ran when we had to…( which wasn’t often).
I believe that we are very well adapted to run long distances. However I think the intended purpose of that was supposed to be for traveling long distances quickly on foot or in search of food, etc. in the days of our ancestors. Not necessarily training 100’s of miles per month for years on end (I mean, if you think about it, thousands of of years ago, we died at 40 basically). I still applaud the pursuit and do it myself, but training to run will always bring with it a barrage of injuries.
I believe that we are very well adapted to run long distances. However I think the intended purpose of that was supposed to be for traveling long distances quickly on foot or in search of food, etc. in the days of our ancestors. Not necessarily training 100’s of miles per month for years on end (I mean, if you think about it, thousands of of years ago, we died at 40 basically). I still applaud the pursuit and do it myself, but training to run will always bring with it a barrage of injuries.
I believe that we are very well adapted to run long distances. However I think the intended purpose of that was supposed to be for traveling long distances quickly on foot or in search of food, etc. in the days of our ancestors. Not necessarily training 100’s of miles per month for years on end (I mean, if you think about it, thousands of of years ago, we died at 40 basically). I still applaud the pursuit and do it myself, but training to run will always bring with it a barrage of injuries.
Okay…several things to dissect here…
1) The average pace of a persistence hunt has been recorded at about 6.4 kmh. That includes a bit of jogging, some faster running but an awful lot of walking, with some standing around to track, rest etc.
2) Even Lieberman the anthropologist who’s work gave rise to the born to run and barefoot movement of a few years ago, has backtracked slightly. Even he has stated, in his recent book “Exercised” that walking is our default movement. Furthermore he states that persistence hunters run infrequently ( perhaps once a week or less) and are walking and doing other movement at other times. He also states that they rest more than we realise.
He has also gone on record to state that if they were forced to do a marathon ( as they wouldn’t choose to do something so ludicrous) they would probably be in the four and a half to five hour finishing bracket, as their running is mainly done at an average nine minute mile pace…they don’t train for the activity.
He has even stated in his book that he sees the need for the necessity of modern running shoes over barefoot running, and acknowledges the injury potential of the activity.
3) Man has evolved into different body shapes and moved away from the typical African distance runner body shape. This shows that we had to adapt to different environments and why we developed different hunting strategies. The persistence running practice doesn’t work as well in dense woodland or hilly areas of colder climates.
I currently have an injury to my right knee / upper calf area. While out walking this morning I tried to run a few steps…it was a no go. This led me to thinking… All those who still think that we were born to run…please answer this question… There are injuries so bad that we can neither walk nor run, but there are injuries where running is out of the question, but walking is possible…but I have yet to encounter ( it may be the case, but I haven’t seen it) an injury where someone can run, but they can’t walk. Why is this if we were born to run? Surely if we were born to run, it would be the other way round? Evolution allows us to practice our basic movement pattern, even when others aren’t available to us. The truth is…walking is our default movement, not running. Every evolutionary advantage that we have, that enable us to run upright, is used in walking also. The truth is, we were born to walk, we ran when we had to…( which wasn’t often).