Description
The romanticized notion that humans are "born to run" has buoyed the so-called running boom of the past 50 years: well-intentioned fitness enthusiasts lacing up their cushioned shoes and plodding down roads and trails in pursuit of the runner's high, a trim physique, and the fountain of youth. Unfortunately, born to run is a big, fat ruse--a marketing gimmick and a gross misappropriation of evolutionary biology insights about our Homo sapiens genetic attributes for endurance. While any movement away from a sedentary-dominant lifestyle is laudable, the truth is that humans are actually born to walk, not run.
Mark Sisson, New York Times bestselling author, forefather of the ancestral health movement, entrepreneur founder of Primal Kitchen and Peluva footwear, and former 2:18 marathon runner, is officially proclaiming an end to the running boom. For the vast majority of enthusiasts, running--even slow-paced jogging--is far too physically, metabolically, and hormonally stressful to promote health, weight loss, or longevity. Alas, the elevated, heavily cushioned modern running shoe enables ill-adapted people to run with poor technique, increased impact trauma, and a truly embarrassing rate of chronic overuse injuries.
Born To Walk will help reshape fitness culture to reject flawed and dated "no pain, no gain" ideals, and replace them with a simple, accessible, sustainable program to increase general everyday movement, improve aerobic conditioning the right way, avoid the risks of injury and burnout associated with running, and promote a healthy, happy, energetic, long life-one step at a time. In Born To Walk you'll learn:
- How the "endurance runner hypothesis" of evolutionary biology is irrelevant to most modern citizens, whose genetic endurance gifts are buried under excess body fat, insufficient daily activity, weak musculature, and dysfunctional feet caused by a lifetime in shoes
- How the running boom was made possible by the invention of the heavily cushioned shoe. Without this, most people would be unable to run more than a short distance (especially on pavement) before succumbing to discomfort or injury
- How elevated, cushioned shoes actually increase impact trauma, enable poor technique, and are the driving cause of overuse injuries
- How to avoid the shocking 50 percent annual injury rate among regular runners by slowing down, improving foot functionality and implementing a correct midfoot landing technique
- How running does not help you lose excess body fat, and in fact can prompt genetic signaling for increased appetite, carb dependency, fat storage, and poor metabolic and hormonal health
- How running can promote a "skinny fat" physique: deficient strength and muscle mass, poor posture, and an accumulation of health-destructive abdominal fat-even if you run lots of weekly miles
- How an extreme devotion to endurance training can increase cardiovascular disease risk, compromise gut health, and suppress immune and hormonal function
- How the misplaced competitive intensity and struggle & suffer ethos of modern running culture can promote and unhealthy obsession and a high risk of burnout
- How marketing hype, distorted cultural values, and unsavory peer influences lure you into events like marathons and ultras that are inherently antithetical to health
- How aerobic conditioning at comfortable heart rates is the foundation of all fitness endeavors, and improves performance at all higher levels of intensity
- How to identify your ideal training pace using "fat max" heart rate-likely a brisk walk for most runners
- How the world's greatest endurance athletes train in a relatively less stressful, more sensible manner than the average novice, and how you can refine your approach to honor their protocols
- Why humans have a genetic imperative to walk extensively every day to support cognitive, immune, hormonal and mitochondrial function
- How walking can be a great catalyst for fat reduction by improving metabolic flexibility, regulating appetite and satiety hormones, and prompting an "under-the-radar" increase in metabolic rate
- How going barefoot or wearing minimalist shoes with flat, flexible soles and individual toe articulation can strengthen feet and reduce injury risk-and why you should walk in them, but not run
- How to implement an ancestral-inspired, broad-based functional fitness program, where your workouts are aligned with human genetic expectations for health.
This approach will get you fitter, leaner, and stronger than ever-without the pain, suffering, and sacrifice of the typical approach to endurance training.
Author: Mark Sisson, Brad Kearns
Publisher: Primal Blueprint Publishing
Published: 01/07/2025
Pages: 350
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN13: 9781736294413
ISBN10: 1736294415
BISAC Categories:
- Health & Fitness | Exercise | General
- Health & Fitness | Longevity
About the Author
Health and fitness expert Mark Sisson is the New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet, The Primal Blueprint, and founding father of the ancestral health movement. His blog, MarksDailyApple.com, and Primal Health Coach Institute have paved the way for primal enthusiasts to challenge conventional wisdom's diet and exercise principles and take personal responsibility for their health and well-being. Known as a market-disrupting, innovative entrepreneur, Mark's Primal Kitchen enterprise introduced healthy condiments to the marketplace for the first time. The brand grew quickly, was lauded for " changing the way the world eats," and was acquired by Kraft-Heinz in 2018. As one of the earliest proponents of barefoot-inspired living and the minimalist shoe movement, Mark proceeded to launch Peluva five-toe minimalist footwear company (with his son Kyle) in 2021, and is now busy " changing the way the world walks." Mark, 71, has a BA in biology from Williams College and is a former world-class endurance athlete, with a 2:18 marathon and a fourth-place finish in the Hawaii Ironman World Triathlon Championships to his credit. Mark lives in Miami Beach, Florida, where enjoys Ultimate Frisbee, standup paddling, fat-tire beach bike rides, and a walking-oriented lifestyle, Brad Kearns, 59, is a New York Times bestselling author, Guinness World Record setting Speedgolfer, #1 ranked USA Masters Track&Field age 55-59 high jumper in 2020, and former US national champion and #3 world-ranked professional triathlete. He has worked with Mark Sisson to promote the Primal Blueprint lifestyle with books, seminars, retreats, and online multimedia educational courses. In 2017, their book, The Keto Reset Diet, became New York Times bestseller, and briefly held the #1 ranked overall bestselling book position on Amazon. Brad hosts the B.rad podcast (2022 reached top-10 ranking in Apple Podcasts "Fitness" category), covering health, fitness, peak performance, personal growth, happiness, relationships and longevity, with humor and a little spice. Brad's promotes the ideal of pursuing peak performance with passion throughout life: a commitment to age gracefully, preserve passion and competitive intensity throughout life, and have fun along the way. In 2018, Brad broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest single hole of golf ever played (minimum hole length of 500 yards). Playing with a single club (3-wood) and sprinting full speed between shots, Brad played a 503-yard hole at Woodley Lakes (Van Nuys, CA) in 1 minute, 38 seconds, scoring a birdie four (Search YouTube For "Brad Kearns Speedgolf World Record"). Brad is 4-time top-20 finisher in the World Professional Speedgolf Championships, He placed third in the 2017 California Professional Speedgolf Championships, shooting 78 on a championship course in 47 minutes for his best Speedgolf score (adding together strokes and minutes) of 125. During his nine-year career as a triathlete, Brad was one of the world's top ranked professionals, amassing 30 wins worldwide on the pro circuit. Career highlights include a remarkable streak of seven victories in a row ('91-'92), a world duathlon series championship, two national triathlon championships, and a #3 world ranking in 1991. Brad is the last American professional male in to place in the top-5 in the ITU World Championships (1992) and still holds the Hawaii Ironman 24&under age division American record at 8:57 (1989). In 2020, at age 55, Brad reached #3 global and #1 USA Masters track rankings in the high jump. In 2022 at age 57, Brad jumped 5'1" (1.54m) to top the early-season USA list. In 2016 at the age of 51, Brad cleared a best of 5'4" (1.63m). At age 57, he ran 400 meters in 1:03. Brad hosts numerous online multimedia educational courses at his Brad Kearns website. His courses teach you to implement a winning morning exercise routine, engage in therapeutic cold exposure, and transform your diet, exercise, and life