Bestselling author, speaker, and a leader of the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman, M.S. is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. Her ten books, including the groundbreaking Move Your DNA, have been translated into more than 16 languages worldwide.

From couch potatoes to professional athletes, new parents to seniors, readers love Katy's humorous, passionate, and above all science-based guide to restoring your body through natural movement. Her solution is build a life around subtle and constant movement, as we have for the past two million years. Episode Overview:0:00:01 Welcome to the Move Your DNA podcast0:00:26 Introduction: Focus on Foot Injuries0:03:05 Injury as an Adjustment Period in Life Stages0:10:35 Injury during a sprinting race on the sand0:20:10 Aging and Decreased Cardiovascular Capability0:24:12 The Importance of Maintaining Joyful Movement Amidst Injury0:29:14 Embracing the Valleys: Optimizing for Surviving, Not Just Thriving0:32:19 Finding Alternatives: Adapting to Injury and Changing Gait0:37:43 Embracing Change and Moving Forward0:39:53 The Framework for Troubleshooting Injuries Modernity with all its conveniences – pillows and mattresses, soft chairs, flat floors, computers, grocery stores,indoor living, and shoes and some of its inconveniences: i.e., constant noise – is affecting our health and changing our bodies in ways we do not even realize. The way we have set up our environment means that some of our cells literally never move or experience a "load", which has a health effect similar to never getting a needed vitamin. Our bodies "evolve" to adjust to the changes in our environment, but more often than not the adjustment is detrimental to our health. For example, when we do lots of reading and computer work, and do not spend enough time looking at distant horizons, naturally causes our eyes to adjust to the circumstances by becoming nearsighted. The solution as presented in this book is to move our bodies in the way they used to move when are species lived closer to nature. The idea sort of implies that our bodies are "designed" to operate in a certain way and when we operate closer to the design we feel and function better. A militantly primitivist book chiding us for the absolute state of the place, with the place being our bodies.In Part One, Katy outlines the modern movement challenges we face. She also details some of the finer biomechanical details of why and how we need to move. Katy draws a sharp distinction between exercise and movement, and emphasizes the need to think outside the exercise paradigm and increase the spectrum of movements we do an a day-to-day basis. In her words: One of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change” and an America Walks “Woman of the Walking Movement,” Bowman has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities, sharing her “move more, move more body parts, move more for what you need” message. Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington State, where she lives with her family. Now that you're all terrified because you're ruining your body, the second half of the book is a practical guide to fixing bad habits. Bowman gives us specific movements and releases to start regaining mobility and strength. Mostly though, it's just a matter of changing your daily habits to incorporate more natural movement. The exercises given are good. A handful of them are difficult to understand in the book, but these I just looked up on YouTube and found loads more information. She also points out the irony in that even those who are diligent exercisers are usually still sedentary for the majority of the time, and that the exercises most of us do for health are just more inputs that cause us to adapt to restricted ranges of motion instead of ones that promote greater ranges of motion and thus why many extremely fit people suffer from poor overall health. She also discusses the psychology of how if you are participating in movement as part of you daily life versus as a compartmentalized chore or activity, the greater an impact it will have on your overall health.

The first half of the book explains basic biomechanics and cell function, relating to a "movement environment." The biggest idea is that we aren't moving anywhere near enough, or properly. All exercise as we do it is movement, but not all movement is exercise.

Episode Overview:0:00:01 Introduction and mention of previous New York Times features0:03:31 Recap of a previous podcast episode on grip strength0:06:18 Concerns about grip strength from a professional perspective0:08:26 Therapeutic Interventions for Children0:10:40 Play-Doh for Increasing Intrinsic Hand Strength0:13:20 Thera Putty as a Therapy Tool for Adults0:16:04 Importance of Hand Strength in Everyday Life0:24:05 Creating Playgrounds with Obstacle Courses for Kids0:27:04 Importance of diversity in hand use and overuse injuries.0:29:30 The technicality of different hand grips and their importance.0:30:39 Nourishing the Hands and Feet0:32:08 Wondering about the absence of someone in the bathroom0:34:30 Exploring the use of Therapuddy for hand strengthening0:36:54 Multiple approaches to hand training and arm strength development0:39:05 Assessing daily hand movements and seeking inspiration from others0:41:09 Grip Translates to All Finger and Hand Movement0:42:10 The Importance of Grip Strength in Daily Tasks0:44:16 Decline in Strength and Its Impact on Therapy Norms0:45:40 Lowering the Norms: A Frightening Shift in Fitness0:48:51 The Transcendence of Movement: Beyond Individual Body Parts0:49:41 A Salute to an Amazing Friendship Am I going to immediately stop using my pillow and start sleeping on the floor? Probably not. Will I start using my husband's Squatty Potty? Maybe. Am I going to stop wearing a bra? Tempting! (You'll know what I mean after you read this book.)

As I read, I found myself stopping to do the exercises she presented. I expect to use it more than I've used most exercise books because it is about total health instead of just specific exercises. A new expanded edition of the bestselling Move Your DNA. Now with an exercise glossary and three-level exercise program! Bestselling Move Your DNA has shaken up the health and fitness world with this message: there is more to movement than exercise. I completed this book via audio, which I would highly recommend so you can be moving while listening to a book about movement. She'll even give you mileage marks as you go. Tip: Listen all the way to the end, she includes outtakes.**I do love my unga bunga bullshit, and sweet Katy legitimizes it more than the paleo zealots and coffee bulletproofers could ever hope to, because she is a Load Scientist. While I'm sure a contributing factor is her rejection of bras in favor of "the natural strengthening of our tissues", in this context I refer to her biomechanics degree, and her obsessive study of the long term effects of repeated movement under weight to parts of our bodies, as we all as the whole damn body. While I won't be making any sort of drastic changes to my habits as soon as I get home, this book was definitely full of helpful and practical information and tips that anyone can begin to implement in their daily life such as stretches, posture, and exercises. I've been trying to be more aware of my movements and what my body is telling me, and I feel more prepared after this info.

Many of the ailments we face today relate to how little we move and how stiff our bodies are when we do move. Body issues are often more accurately symptoms of "movement malnutrition." In the Epilogue, Katy sums up what she hopes this book accomplishes for her readers: to plant seeds for further movement exploration and a renewed assessment of our own presuppositions. Katy says it best: Why a physical therapist or personal trainer is coaching you in alignment or "good form" we're adapting most to our daily positioning!

The Move Your DNA Podcast*

contains a three-level movement program to help those of all strengths and fitness levels transition to a movement-rich lifestyle I consider(ed) myself to be a very healthy person. I exercise tons, and eat good, whole foods. Unfortunately I am exercising wrong, and so are you. Exercising, walking, standing, sitting, sleeping... The human body evolved to a tremendous amount of certain movements―like walking, squatting, hanging, and carrying―loads our bodies still require to work well, even though they're mostly gone from our "convenience-centric" culture.