5k – have I got the right body shape?

Seventh cervical vertebra.
Image via Wikipedia

A: Yes!

99.9% of the human race have the right body shape for running. Evolution has made us that way. Our modern lifestyles might well have made many of us weigh to much but underneath it all we are bred to run.

There is much evidence for this. Here are some unusual points.

1. Watch a pig run. Watch a dog run. They are both mammals but the pig can’t do it very well. Look at the dog’s head it is motionless as the body powers forwards unlike the pig’s head that is all over the place. If you haven’t got a dog or a pig to hand try to imagine what I am saying with the Blur Parklife album cover in mind (the greyhounds racing!). They have a “nuchal ligament” to keep the head in place…and so do we. We are born to run.

2. I’m writing this on a hot day and have to confess to being a bit sweaty! The dog (as per point 1) has got a bit of a problem. He can’t sweat, he pants. Antelope are the same they can’t pant. Even now the Kalahari bushmen will hunt antelope by amazingly running after them for 5 or more miles. Eventually the antelope becomes exhausted from overheating and stops…dinner. Now from an evolutionary point of view what’s easier: risking fighting some animal or just chasing it for 5 miles and then killing it when it won’t fight back or run away. Evolved to run!

See, no excuses!

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