Endurance Running is a Bad Idea For Most People!: 40 Mind-Blowing Assertions From Born To Walk

In this show, I share 40 mind-blowing assertions to recalibrate modern fitness philosophy, inspired by content in the book Born to Walk, written by me and Mark Sisson.

Walking is universally health-boosting, delivers excellent aerobic conditioning, stabilizes energy, mood, and appetite, and carries near zero overuse injury risk. In contrast, endurance running—even at a comfortable pace—is too physically stressful for the vast majority of participants, promotes breakdown, burnout, and chronic injury, and is most likely bad for your health when done in the typical modern manner.

You’ll hear why walking is a genetic expectation for health, why most endurance exercise should be conducted at or below your fat max heart rate, and how chronic cardio promotes stress hormone overproduction, suppressed immune function, and visceral fat storage. I also explain why elevated cushioned shoes enable poor running technique, drive injuries, and why recreational endurance running has only been possible in modern times because of them.

Key points from this episode:

• Walking is universally health-boosting and delivers excellent aerobic conditioning with minimal risk
• Running is too strenuous and stressful for most participants; walking should be the baseline
• Fat max heart rate (180 minus age) is the true measure for energizing, fat-burning cardio
• Chronic cardio promotes overuse injury, stress hormone overproduction, suppressed immunity, and visceral fat
• Elevated cushioned shoes enable poor running technique and are the driver of chronic injury rates
• The most celebrated endurance events (marathon, Ironman) are antithetical to health and fueled by marketing hype
• Humans never ran for recreation until the modern running boom; ancestral movement was built on walking, strength, sprints, and play

Learn more at BornToWalkBook.com, where you can also download the free PDF resource with all 40 assertions and more tools for building lifelong health.

 

TIMESTAMPS:

For the vast majority of participants, running, even at a comfortable pace, is too physically stressful. [00:50]

The vast majority of your training should be at a medium or perhaps brisk walk if you're really fit, with a minimal amount of anything faster because it elevates the heart rate too high and it's too strenuous. [04:34]

Fat max heart rate represents the intensity at which you burn the maximum number of fat calories per minute. [06:27]

If you cannot proceed faster than 14 minutes per mile while you're at your fat max heart rate, you should be walking, not running. [08:32]

Maintaining muscle mass strength needs to be added to your bicycling, jogging, stiar climbing. Those simply aren't enough. [13:44]

It's not about the calories burned, it's about the movement. [16:50]

Running is catabolic. It breaks your body down and requires recovery while walking is anabolic, which means it sends the genetic signaling for efficient metabolic immune cognitive and endocrine function [24:54]

Running on elevated shoes enables poor running technique. [30:25]

When you're running barefoot, impact forces are similar whether the surface is hard or soft. [35:15]

Chronic cardio can suppress immune function, promote chronic inflammation, compromise gut health and damage mitochondria. [37:50]

The monotony of repetitive impact trauma and mental and physical suffering associated with steady state cardio can easily breed an obsessive addictive mentality. [43:08]

Don't overdo the search for that endorphin rush. [46:12]

Any homo sapiens genetic gifts for endurance are buried today under excess body fat, insufficient daily baseline activity, weak musculature and dysfunctional feet caused by a lifetime in shoes [53:50]

Recreational runnung is a new thing. It has come about only by elevated cushioned shoes. [59:56]

 

LINKS:

• Brad Kearns.com
• BradNutrition.com
• B.rad Superdrink – Hydrates 28% Faster than Water—Creatine-Charged Hydration for Next-Level Power, Focus, and Recovery
• B.rad Whey Protein Superfuel - The Best Protein on The Planet!
• Brad’s Shopping Page
• BornToWalkBook.com
• B.rad Podcast – All Episodes
• Peluva Five-Toe Minimalist Shoes