How to Create a Diverse Movement Diet
With Katy Bowman, MS
Season 8, Episode 21 | August 6, 2024
Our bodies require a wide variety of daily movements to function at their best — and that means we need to make concerted efforts to move more, despite the mostly sedentary setups in many parts of our world. Katy Bowman, MS, shares her concept of the “Movement Diet” and how anyone can improve the health of their movement plan by being thoughtful about “movement calories,” “movement macronutrients,” and “movement micronutrients.”
Katy Bowman, MS, is a biomechanist, best-selling author, speaker, and a leader of the “movement movement,” which aims to change the way we move and think about our need for movement. She teaches movement globally and has written numerous books on the importance of a diverse movement diet, including Move Your DNA, Rethink Your Position, and her latest book, My Perfect Movement Plan, which was released in June 2024.
Katy was named one of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change,” and has been featured by national media like The New York Times and The TODAY Show and has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike, and Google, as well as a range of nonprofits and other communities, sharing her “move more, move better” message.
Her movement education company is called Nutritious Movement, and she is the host of the Move Your DNA podcast.
Even if we have a balanced movement plan that includes cardio, strength, and mobility, some parts of our body may still sedentary if our movements aren’t diverse enough. So, Bowman advises making sure daily movement is distributed top to bottom and addresses the whole body.
She recommends doing this by building a movement pyramid. Similar in concept to the food pyramid, the base is the type of movement you need the most of, with amounts of the other “movement nutrients” — though still important — lessening as you progress to the top.
This is the pyramid she recommends, in order from base to top. It is founded on research about hunter-gatherer populations, specifically the Hadzas in Tanzania, who are the most researched for health because their risk factors for cardiovascular disease are very low.
- Active rest positioning: Examples of this include when you’re standing up or squatting down as you hold up your own bodyweight, or when you’re sitting on the ground with crossed or outstretched legs and an active core.
- Walking: This includes any time you’re moving your body from point A to point B.
- Carrying: This is movement in which your arms, torso, and core are always dynamic and dealing with some sort of load.
- Making movements: These are the low-intensity, daily activities during which joints are moving, such as cooking, knitting, hanging laundry, or building a fire.
- Big body work: These are small, more intense, activities during which you’re not traveling anywhere but are engaged in repetitive movements. Examples include digging, stacking wood, or shoveling snow.
- Climbing and clamoring: This is when you’re using your arms and legs in similar ways, such as crawling, fixing something under the sink, or going up and down a ladder.
- Running: This is the action of moving fast on foot.
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Transcript: How to Create a Diverse Movement Diet
Season 8, Episode 21 | August 6, 2024
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The information in this podcast is intended to provide broad understanding and knowledge of healthcare topics. This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered complete and should not be used in place of advice from your physician or healthcare provider. We recommend you consult your physician or healthcare professional before beginning or altering your personal exercise, diet or supplementation program.