Podcast #1,021: You Were Born to Run

Researchers have claimed for decades that our remarkable human endurance is a result of the hunting habits of our ancestors. These practices produced physiological adaptations which make us well-suited to running.

This theory has never been without its critics.

My guest explains that a recent study has addressed these long-standing critics and added evidence that we were indeed born to run.

Alex Hutchinson, a journalist covering the science of fitness and endurance, discusses the criticisms and the new research that counters them. We discuss the importance of running to people in the past. We also talk about how it is cultural, spiritual and primal. And we ask why we still run, despite not being hunting for food. We also discuss the fact that even though we're born to run, it doesn't necessarily mean we'll enjoy it all of time. And how to start running if your innate desire isn't to.

Podcast Resources

Alex's previous appearances on the AoM podcast:>Episode #382: How to Lift More, Run Faster, and Endure LongerEpisode #538: Research-Backed Answers to All Your Fitness FAQs"Why You (Yes, You) Were Born to Run" by Alex Hutchinson"Ethnography and Ethnohistory Support the Efficiency of Hunting Through Endurance Running in Humans"Indian Running: Native American History and Tradition by Peter NabokovThe Hunting Hypothesis by Robert Ardrey"The Energetic Paradox of Human Running and Hominid Evolution" -- 1984 paper by David CarrierWhy We Run by Bernd HeinrichAoM Podcast #691: What You Can (Really) Learn About Exercise from Your Human Ancestors With Daniel LiebermanBorn to Run by Christopher McDougall"Reexamining the Mythology of the Tarahumara Runners" by Alex HutchinsonTo the Limit: The Meaning of Endurance from Mexico to the Himalayas by Michael Crawley

Connect with Alex Hutchinson

Alex's WebsiteAlex at Outside

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