Biomechanist Katy Bowman talks to biologist Jeannette Loram about her recent multi-day hike across England. Katy, with her sister Mary, walked from east coast to west coast along the length of Hadrian’s Wall.

Katy and Jeannette talk about Katy’s physical preparation for the walk; the (four pairs!) of shoes Katy selected and when she used them; the changing terrain and gait patterns she adopted and how she felt over the course of the trip. Finally Katy shares her physical and philosophical insights after many days of walking.

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For more info about the event in Boulder Colorado, go to https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/live-events/

Biomechanist Katy Bowman and biologist Jeannette Loram talk about coughing.

Katy and Jeannette discuss coughing as a life-saving movement; both in the immediate, to prevent choking, and also in the longer term for adequate clearance of the lungs and the health of our airways. They discuss the anatomy and mechanics of a cough, explaining how the mobility, strength and coordination of our core muscles affects the strength of our cough.

They discuss postural presentations such as hyperkyphosis and anterior pelvic tilt that can lead to a weaker cough. They also talk about the liabilities of a cough, including abdominal strain, urinary incontinence, rib damage and back pain.

They discuss how coughing, like giving birth, is not a movement that we want to practice: ‘use it or lose it’ does not apply in this case! Instead we want to make sure that tension or weakness in our torso is not limiting our ability to cough when we need to. Katy offers a suite of mobility and strength exercises to prepare your coughing apparatus as we head into flu and cold season.

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For more info about the event in Boulder Colorado, go to https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/live-events/

Biomechanist Katy Bowman and biologist Jeannette Loram discuss gait and question whether there is a ‘right’ way to walk.

They explain the mechanics of walking gait, outlining the phases and shapes that each leg and foot should move through during the gait cycle. They propose that an ‘abnormal’ gait would be one that is missing one of these phases or shapes. They also suggest a framework for assessing walking based on efficiency, symmetry and balance. They talk about gait deficits such as shuffling and waddling and what is missing in those gait patterns while acknowledging that we are all individuals and not all gait variation is abnormal or needs to be corrected.

Katy suggests we can only get to the heart of this question by considering human movement ecology; particularly the volume we walk, the shoes we walk in and, for most modern humans, the lack of a requirement to walk long distances efficiently. They discuss this in relation to human hunter-gatherers as well as other animals.

Finally, they answer a couple of listener questions on the rather unusual gait seen in racewalking.