Go the distance

Natural Health, June, 2005

What's the most natural form of exercise? According to research published recently in Nature, endurance running allowed early humans to outpace the competition when hunting and scavenging for food. Fossil evidence reveals a physique favoring distance running rather than sprinting, including well-developed Achilles tendons and powerful buttocks muscles.

Though no longer a do-or-die survival skill, running may still help us by combating heart disease. "Given its extraordinary influence in shaping the design of the human body, it seems reasonable to suggest that regular running is among the most beneficial of all natural behaviors," says study coauthor Dennis M. Bramble, Ph.D. Just wear properly fitting shoes and avoid surfaces that are too hard (concrete) or too soft (sand).