Our desire to be comfortable debilitates us.
For many aspects of life modern life – finding food, shelter, work – moving is not required. Unlike our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
We have built ourselves a world that minimises our effort and our movement and have become (voluntarily) caged animals far from our natural habitat. Our bodies were not designed for this environment so adapt as best they can. Muscles shorten, joints are mis-aligned and some movements, such as squatting, become impossible.
However, our ‘imprisonment’ is voluntary, and our ailments are a consequence of our behaviour choices: we can choose to escape the confines of our gilded cages and experience the wide variety of movements of the outside world. Just as our bodies need a wide range of nutritious food, so we also need the right quantity of variety of movement to thrive.
Bowman’s explanation of this modern problem is easy to read and persuasive, yet it is backed up by biomechanics and anatomy. She offers a large number of ‘releases’ (stretches) to reverse some of the bad adaptations our bodies have made and a step-by-step process to recover our lost movement capabilities. Considered a guru by the ‘paleo’ movement that aims to return to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, nonetheless, this book will make you think again about how you move and how you can improve.
Author | Katy Bowman |
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Pages | 264 |
Published | 2015 |
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