Running and Evolution

[Robert Allison]

Originally Posted by Troy Archie

The office, what's the office? It's all Wayne's World baby.

Garth Algar

[Robert Allison]

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

Were they all using the POSE Method? :-)

Nah... ChiRunning

[Motion MacIvor]

Mark one down for the skinny guys!
That was cool...
Sofa King cool!

[Steve Shafley]

Forencich's writings on running, the mosaic environment, and desert vs. jungle outlooks are worthwhile looking up.

[Robert Allison]

Originally Posted by Steve Shafley

Forencich's writings on running, the mosaic environment, and desert vs. jungle outlooks are worthwhile looking up.

Yeah, his stuff is good... I have both of his books.

Back issues of his newsletter can be found here

[Neal Winkler]

I wouldn't mind looking for some data comparing bone geometry of our ancestors with modern day athletes from different sports to see what sport best mimics ancestral patterns. When schools out for the summer I'm going to make that my project.

[R. Alan Hester]

Originally Posted by Neal Winkler

I wouldn't mind looking for some data comparing bone geometry of our ancestors with modern day athletes from different sports to see what sport best mimics ancestral patterns. When schools out for the summer I'm going to make that my project.

That is a good idea. I cannot wait to read the results. Please keep us posted.

Alan

[Robb Wolf]

A few things rattled in my head after watching that video.

Robert Lee lived with the Kung for years and noted how healthy they are but they are quite small. He noted that Kung who had left the village scene at an early age and made it to the city often grew taller than their relatives back home. Lee attributed this to the very harsh environment the Kung inhabit and how smaller builds require less total calories.

That spear throw, although close was scary accurate. Right above the shoulder straight in the lung and likely the heart. DAMN.

The implications for training to emulate the demands of our ancestors is interesting. Run in a variety of ways, under a variety of conditions. Throw things. Carry things.

[Dave Van Skike]

Originally Posted by Robert Allison

I'm not an evolutionary biologist, armchair or otherwise, but I do believe that fossil remains indicate that some of our ancestors were almost certainly more heavily muscled than our hunter friends in the video. So I am not sure what generalities, if any, we can take away from this video regarding size and body mass in hunter-gatherers from our past

I would expect as much variability in frame size in pre-paleo folks as there is in the current crop of hominids based on climate as much as anything.

My thinking was that muscles are calorically expensive, being big (fat or meaty) is rarely a positive when you are paying(hunting) your own food.

[Garrett Smith]

I agree with Dave. Being big is likely more beneficial when competing against members of the same species, not so much when hunting over long distances.

That was quite a spear throw.

As for the hand out while running, I think that's a part of their tracking mechanisms, something to help with consciously monitoring the wind or terrain, maybe?