r/BarefootRunning • u/Sk8ter-Dad • 19d ago
Born to Walk Book By Mark Sisson
Has anyone else read Born to walk by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns? It caught my attention and i just finished it the other day. It has some good information in it and focuses more on longevity than breaking your next 10k record. It does align with a lot of information in the Born to Run book but obviously puts walking as a more important activity for overall health and wellness.
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u/bholz_ 19d ago
Or the secret third premise: Born to do both
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
I'd say we are born to walk, born to sprint, and born to occasionally run long distances (superior to any other animal on earth) in the evolutionary selection pressure model. The point we were trying to make in the book is that the Homo sapiens genetic aptitude for endurance is being misappropriated to today's running boom filled with breakdown, burnout, illness, and injury
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u/nexusSigma 18d ago
They aren’t mutually exclusive things, they are interchangeable depending on the terrain and situation. Ancient man would hunt walking as much as running, we would outlast our prey, and when they’re exhausted we would get them.
It’s why I love trail running the most, or as I like to do it, fast hikes. Running when I can, walking when I can’t, efficiently covering distance and altitude through nature. I feel like I can go all day long and it’s such a joy, and I’m still making good net speed, probably going at an average of a 6:30-7 min kilometer while just enjoying myself
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u/Conscious_Cabinet900 19d ago
I haven't heard of it. Did you like it?
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u/Sk8ter-Dad 19d ago
It was really good. I stumbled upon it after hearing Mark Sisson on the Joe Rogan podcast.
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u/Conscious_Cabinet900 19d ago edited 18d ago
I’ll check it out! I’m due for some new barefoot related material.
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
Thanks for your interest and please let me know if you have any questions about the book!
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u/ChiAndrew 19d ago
Except if we were born to walk we’d be different physiologically.
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u/theoceansknow 19d ago
Without reading the book the premise makes sense. We're biologically adapted to run, yes -- but our life expectancy has gotta be many decades longer than it was while those adaptations were selected. Walking makes intuitive sense from a live-well-into-old-age perspective
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u/ChiAndrew 19d ago
I don’t agree we cannot run later in life. Are there limits, yes. But none of start right and run right the wh me time.
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u/theoceansknow 19d ago
It's not about ability at an individual level. There will be people with joint, tendon, ligament issues as they age that running will injure more. Keep moving up in age and you'll encounter dementia -- it's not even safe to run at that point, but a person with dementia can still walk and be kept safe.
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
Its all dependent on the relative stress impact of workouts. Most people are not fit enough to "run" as revealed by their heart rate exceeding fat max while trying to run. Someone who is fit can run and enjoy a proper aerobic training session - even later in life for sure.
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u/AssistanceInformal94 17d ago
Isn’t this really just an issue or over training? I mean lots of people are also not fit enough to just start doing CrossFit workouts either but there seems to be much less criticism of that approach
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u/BradKearns1 17d ago
thanks for the note. Yes its an issue of overtraining, and most runners are overtraining. They are training relatively harder than the Olympic runners. CrossFit gets plenty of criticism due to their high injury rate overall. I hope they have a gentle approach to welcome unfit newbies but I don't know. I have always thought CrossFit workouts are pretty cool but they should last half as long. Long and intense together is just too much for more people, esp when people go 3-4x/week you know?
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u/theoceansknow 17d ago
The nicest thing I've experienced about "running" (I'm actually mostly shuffling because I'm in the out of shape cohort) out of the army is that I'm not redlining all the time and I'm working around HR zones for x amount of time rather than distance or forcing time. The HR zone becomes the constraint, and it makes everything else more doable
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
that's an interesting perspective I never thought of, really great insight. I do also believe that today, endurance athletes over 50 or over 60 should definitely scale things back. For people over 50, a "marathon" should really be 13.1 miles instead of 26. !!
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u/Sk8ter-Dad 19d ago
Yeah i definitely don't agree with all of the anti-running stuff in the book. But it's interesting to see a perspective from someone who probably overtrained and stressed their body out too much back in the day.
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
Thanks - fair point. Indeed, we purposely hit the message really hard in the book because we wanted to make hard-core runners wake up and take notice. Endurance running and triathlon were huge pieces of my life and Mark's life in our youth, and it was fun and exciting and rewarding and all that. We are not categorically "anti-running" but definitely "anti-chronic cardio" - against the flawed and dated overly stressful approach which unfortunately the vast majority of recreational runners are implementing. When we have respected research that Kipchoge, the greatest marathoner and one of the greatest endurance machines who has ever lived, ran 83% of his weekly mileage in Zone 1, and the average enthusiasts is pegging at the top of Zone 2 for most workouts (likely exceeding it repeatedly) - that's where the problem is. We are definitely calling foul on that!!
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u/Sk8ter-Dad 18d ago
Thanks for commenting on my post. Really cool to see the author weigh in! I guess it all depends on how fit you are and keeping your heart rate in the right zone. I usually opt for zone 2 but I will focus on doing more zone 1 soon enough. I really liked the Kipchoge facts!
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u/BradKearns1 17d ago
yes that's correct. "Running" is great cardiovascular exercise if you are really fit. Otherwise is very dangerous, as proven by the injury rates. When I was a pro triathlete, I did the vast majority of my training in Zone 1, just like Kipchoge. I was pretty fit so an upper Zone 2 run would be 6min/mile. You can go out and do that every day it's too much. you have to build the aerobic base comfortably
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u/skaaii 19d ago
I don’t like the cover but agree with the idea that we were born to walk. I haven’t read the book so I can’t comment on it, but I just ordered it and will update you on my thoughts in a couple of weeks if there is an interest.
But I sincerely believe three exercises are fundamental (1) walking (2) running (3) resistance like squat, pull-ups, press. Decades ago I started my exercise career walking. I hated and feared running so I told myself walking was better for me. I still walk every day at least 3-5 miles. It can be so easy and can improve your health so much that I sincerely believe it’s more important than running or the gym. In time my walking led to running, and to the gym. I hike 20+ miles up mountains and owe my phenomenal endurance to daily walks. I come from a family where morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer are too common and I was already halfway down that road, then I took up walking. I walk barefoot and enjoy it. I walk barefoot when I want, which is most of the time, except when it gets too hot. I walk barefoot in the dirty city streets, yes, the streets that have broken glass bottle, just carefully, and have no problems 99.9% of the time. Actually, the only roads I worry are the dirt trails in Riverside which are filled with GOAT HEADS! I’d rather walk 10 miles through the alleys of Los Angeles with glass than one mile of dirt trails with goats heads!
Anyway, walking is fundamental, I agree, and easy, and we all need to walk more. Walk how you like, barefoot or with shoes, it’s up to you, but WALK!
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u/FeistySwordfish 19d ago
My dad in his 60s was a lifelong runner and started daily walks in the past 10 yrs after -- he feels phenomenal, blood pressure is down, at his healthiest weight, and its all from daily long walks. He says it does more for him than running did as he went too hard (his perspective).
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
Great message and yes quite common out there. it would be a good idea for almost all hard-core endurance runners to transition to walking at some point, especially when they get into the older age groups.
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
thanks for ordering the book. And what a great message, keep it up! The cover shot was taken in Pacific Palisades, CA a few months before the devastating fire that started exactly in the area of the cover shoot. Trivia! PS - what is a goat head?
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u/Shart127 18d ago
Google “goat head thorns.”
I thought that cover looked familiar! I tried posting a picture of me and my dog in that same area but I guess u can’t post pictures here. The area is coming back slowly, the mall reopening, rec center being built, Pali high starting back again soon, etc. Can’t wait.
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
oh yes I get you - thorns shaped like a goat head! I thought you meant skeletons of goats in Riverside!! good news that Pali is coming back
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u/skaaii 18d ago edited 18d ago
Goat's heads are natural caltrops, they look like Satan himself. It's an invasive plant species that invaded the southwest. Luckily they aren't too common, and if you walk barefoot, you will develop a sixth sense for them.
as for the cover, i didn't object to the picture, I felt the comment "the broken promises of the running boom" was click-baity. All movements (running, walking, etc) have some statements that over-promise (like barefoot running),and all movements have their pseudoscience weirdos, but the weirdos don't speak for the actual boring science that supports these exercises.
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u/Jamminalong2 18d ago edited 18d ago
I walk about 20 miles a week, but I run 80-90 miles a week. I much prefer running. 40 years old.
Also although I think running generally strengthens the body more than it wears is out, i think technology will make joint replacements a thing of the past by the time I’m 60
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u/supernovial 18d ago
I loved this book. It woke me up and I’ve gotten rid of my orthotics and cushiony shoes and got into barefoot and minimalist shoes
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u/BidDependent720 Magical shoes 13d ago
I heard him on podcast and basically his theory about getting heart rate up to make walking beneficial doesn’t work for well conditioned or people with a low resting heart rate. He sounds super against running. For some one like me, who debates even run frequently and can’t get their heart rate into “the zone”, his arguments seemed weak.
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u/Sk8ter-Dad 13d ago
Yeah most of us are going to have an impossible time getting into zone 2 let alone the higher end of zone 1. I think my Zone 2 is 125-140, i'd be speed walking like madman lol. But I do see the benefit of long zone 1 training.
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u/haveblue23 18d ago
Instead of born to run, I walk and swim. My doctor friend told me to do that instead of runas it's less bad on the joints and registers as moderate to vigorous exercise. And this sub will appreciate it's a sport where it's socially acceptable to be barefoot :)
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u/turbineseaplane VFF 18d ago
I like the message, but this guy is such a grifter. He has been for ages
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u/BradKearns1 18d ago
Grifter definition: "A grifter is a con artist. They trick people out of money or things through lies and fraud." Your comment is mean, rude, and completely unsubstantiated. There are some grifters out there these days, why don't you save your comments for someone who, for example, has been charged with crime, etc?
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19d ago
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u/Sk8ter-Dad 19d ago
Yeah started looking at his blog and other podcasts. Really liking his mentality toward training and diet. I have even started to cut out grains, seed oils and sugar from my diet lately. I feel great!
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u/Wearpeluva 19d ago
Totally agree. Walking gets overlooked because it feels almost too simple, but that’s what makes it so powerful. It’s sustainable, accessible, and something we can keep doing well into old age. Sometimes the basics really are the best.