If today's popular belief on running is based on our quest to stay fit, ward of sickness and be active with our work, historic studies show that the nature of running was borne out of hunting for food a predators or chasing carcasses for food. There's a nice read I've chanced recently about the evolution of human running. Runtheplanet's article on the origins of running and how it shaped human beings as they indicate that the activity became instrumental in shaping the anatomical features of humans and their quest for survival. this was based on the conclusion of a study by University of Utah biologist Dennis Bramble and Harvard University anthropologist Daniel Lieberman. In short, the "natural selection" of humans able to run for long distance favored them to live longer.
Another point taken are the anatomical features that help humans run effectively, from the skull features that help prevent overheating during running to the proper stance and proportional limbs appropriate for running.
And as the study by Bramble and Lieberman concludes: "Today, endurance running is primarily a form of exercise and recreation, but its roots may be as ancient as the origin of the human genus, and its demands a major contributing factor to the human body form".
I guess you would imagine how fit people were at that time, since their survival solely depend on running. Read on the article for more details.
No comments:
Post a Comment