Sublime

Many of us are looking for the ideal set of movements that will take our performance to the next level. But for our purposes, specializations are suspect. In moderation, they can advance our skill, but over time, specialized, repetitive movements take their toll on joints and tissues, even the nervous system. And before long, the result is injury.

Headley Court (a rehabilitation centre for injured members of the British Armed Forces)

The Centers for Disease Control reports that we are spending 75 cents of every health-care dollar on chronic conditions linked to sedentary behavior, like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.11 According to the National Institutes of Heath, back pain affects 8 of 10 people in their lifetime, and it is the leading cause of disability worldwide.12 I

Whether you move or not, your choice stimulates the cytoskeletons of all your cells in a way that signals “this behavior is what I do, so please adapt.” The current epidemic of osteoporosis—specifically loss in the wrists, ribs, spine, and head of the thigh bone—speaks volumes about how we move.

The renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie, profoundly deaf since age twelve, performs shoeless to allow her feet to feel the vibrations from the floor. The human body, she told The Globe and Mail, is “like a huge ear.”

The human animal now lives in a strange and unfamiliar world. Our bodies, sculpted by millions of years of evolution, are not just ancient. They are prehistorical. Our anatomy, physiology, and psychology are adapted to life in a wild, outdoor environment. At our core, we are hunters and gatherers, primed for life in natural habitat. But today we’re

There is no way to physically recover the specific bends and torques, no way to recreate one hundred weekly hours of cell-squashing in seven, and no technology, at this time, smart enough to override nature. Illness is typically looked at as physiology gone wrong. I assert here that in most cases, our physiology is responding exactly as it should t

The Swedish heavyweight bodybuilder Andreas Cahling, winner of the highly coveted Mr. Europe and Mr. Universe titles, is an exclusive frugivore. He eats neither meat nor dairy products, and not even grains or vegetables! Yet his body is every bit as strong and his health as robust as his carnivorous competitors, who consume many pounds of meat, doz