Proper Form and Running

[Korean Version: 인간의 바른 움직임 그리고 달리기]

© Pxhere

Is there such a thing as a proper form? This is a question that has recently been running on my mind as a lifelong consumer of the fitness industry. The insight into how people should move and exercise depends on each person.

‘Is exercising always good?’
‘Then how and how much should one exercise?’

These are the penetrating questions in the fitness industry that become fitness products or marketing claims themselves. The problem, however, is there exist many people who twist the facts for financial gain. In actuality, it is hard to distinguish what a proper exercise/form is unless you are an educated professional. Under such circumstances, what I am trying to propose is not to find the right answer to these questions, but for us to cultivate the wisdom to filter out the wrong ones. To gain such wisdom, we must understand the evolution of the human body and the inauguration of the upright-walking that served as a milestone in our evolution.

Human Evolution © Pixabay

For thousands of years, the evolution of the human body was necessitated by hunting. For survival, the human body developed into the most optimized form. Unlike some four-legged animals that can only hold an upright posture when needed, the inauguration of the upright walking in humans affected its development in many ways. For one, it freed up the hands to easily utilize tools and the increase in travelling distance allowed for civilization to spread.

But most importantly, the upright posture allowed the human body to face gravity head-on. Opening up the chest and straightening up the spine allowed for many changes in muscles and joint groups. Fundamentally, upright-walking destabilizes balance: the human body now had to hold up its weight with two legs from a higher center of gravity. To maintain balance, the body perpetually reorganizes its muscles and joints.

© Pxhere

But unfortunately, the human body did not adapt to the contemporary era of dynamic changes. Compared to the past, with the abundant supply of food and our ability to easily access it negated our necessity to move — we arguably spend a lot of our time sitting. Such inactivity in our everyday life is a step backwards in our evolution. We are ultimately experiencing a progression in technology while digressing biologically. Surrounded by machines and tools, we hardly use our muscles anymore while our range of motions have decreased. Because our bodies adapt to optimizing for the parts that we use the most in our everyday lives, this leads to unbalanced development calling for injuries, pain, and surgeries across the whole body.

Form follows function
– Louis H. Sullivan

Function is followed by form. Proper function is fundamental. If not affected by biological defects, all human bodies share similar structure. This means that there exists an ideal manual for moving and shaping the human body. And anything that goes outside this ideal functioning of the human body will distort and change the human body.

© Pxhere

Humans need ‘running’ that is fundamental to their underlying bodily structure
A proper movement/form is undergirded by a sense of being natural. If you look at the human history of evolution, the most fundamental, natural movement to the human body is running. In fact, we are the only animals to ever run with two legs. Some archaeologists propose that running is the reason why humans were able to properly establish their upright posture. The straightened-up spine, high-output legs and glutes, and durable calves are some of the features that optimizes the human body for running.

When there exists a deluge of products and fitness programs, if you pursue a specialized method without the proper understanding of the human body, you would only be a gullible consumer. The first thing you should do is to stabilize your body and to reset it by finding a sustainable exercise/form that works naturally for you. The human body is complicated. The fitness industry is one where many professionals from law, medicine, and health have diverging opinions. We must cultivate our own understanding of our bodies, our form, and our exercises to properly filter out the wrong information. Running requires no learning curve. It is a fundamental bodily exercise that anyone can get involved in to experience a positive change. You can only see what you know. And you can only feel what you experience.

References

1. 남세희. (2015). 바른 몸이 아름답다. 중앙북스.
2. 남세희., 최영민. (2014). 강한 것이 아름답다. 중앙북스.
3. Michael Hopkin. (2004). Distance running ‘shaped human evolution’. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/news/2004/041115/full/news041115-9.html
4. 최영민. (2013). 불량헬스. 롤링다이스.
5. University of Utah. (2004). How running made us human: Endurance running let us evolve to look they way we do. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041123163757.htm