tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/exercice-1111/articlesExercice – The Conversation2022-03-17T11:42:00Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1791462022-03-17T11:42:00Z2022-03-17T11:42:00ZFour reasons why children need to be more active in school playgrounds, and what’s stopping them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452566/original/file-20220316-8425-108qs4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many children are not playing games outside at breaktimes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monkey Business/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>School breaktimes might be assumed to be the most active period in a child’s school day. The fanciful notion that when the school “bell” rings children flood the playground, running, jumping and actively playing with friends may be based on school stories and older people’s experiences. </p>
<p>While some children are physically active at breaktimes, for others there are a number of barriers preventing them from doing anything energetic, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2021.1928423">recent research</a> has highlighted. </p>
<p>There has also been a marked reduction in the amount of time outside provided by schools provided in the last <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Final-report-School-break-and-lunch-times-and-young-peoples-lives-A-follow-up-national-study.pdf">27 years</a>. The youngest primary school children now have an average of 45 minutes less breaktime per week, and secondary schoolchildren 65 minutes less, than in 1995. Exercise outside school hours has also declined.</p>
<p>It is essential that schools understand the benefits of these moments in the school day in encouraging every child to run, skip or play games outside, <a href="https://www.bps.org.uk/sites/bps.org.uk/files/News/News%20-%20Files/PP17%20Children%27s%20right%20to%20play.pdf">research shows</a>. </p>
<p>Here’s why:</p>
<h2>1. It’s important to start young</h2>
<p>Skills such as hopping, jumping and throwing combine with other skills such as cycling and scooting and act as a foundation to develop more complex skills such as serving in tennis, and tackling in football. School playgrounds should offer equipment, space and coaching for these basic activities so children are able to develop the skills needed to be active throughout life.</p>
<p>It’s important to do exercise from an early age. Physical activity levels have been found to decrease from as early as <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/52/15/1002.full.pdf">seven years of age</a> and continue declining throughout childhood. </p>
<p>Schools need to redesign playground spaces to include equipment that is appropriate for the ability of the children, and to encourage them to have a go. For example, providing two-wheel scooters to younger key stage one children (five-year-olds) without also providing the space needed or any coaching is counterproductive. Schools need to provide a range of equipment from scooters to bikes, balls and rackets that develop a range of basic movement skills (squatting, throwing, catching and cycling) and consider the resources needed such as staff training, and available space to increase children’s chances to do exercise or play games at breaktime. </p>
<h2>2. Making friends</h2>
<p>Within a school day, children say breaktimes are their favourite times to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03055698.2014.930337?casa_token=PQ3ZwHU3YhkAAAAA%3Agb3fB0d33y0mULgghOvIqwDVw8su9Nq0KQu5kFX8UqHG2PS_bzOnKzovFW7P04JFBjlx2VaHyBM">“catch up”</a> with their friends.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0261812#pone.0261812.ref021">strongest reason</a> children give for choosing activities and play spaces at breaktimes is “because my friends play here” and “this is where my friends are”. The desire for friendship is so strong that children will often give up on their preferred breaktime activity to take part in games their friends are playing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl in blue kicking football." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452572/original/file-20220316-7879-13o2xfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452572/original/file-20220316-7879-13o2xfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452572/original/file-20220316-7879-13o2xfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452572/original/file-20220316-7879-13o2xfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452572/original/file-20220316-7879-13o2xfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452572/original/file-20220316-7879-13o2xfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452572/original/file-20220316-7879-13o2xfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children who play games outside at breaktimes can do better at exams, research shows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fotokostic/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The desire for children to engage in social games (games requiring more than two people) will increase the quality of their friendships. Children will often take part in activities their friends do, despite initially demonstrating lower ability levels. This highlights the importance of friendship as a driver for developing skills and getting children to do more exercise. </p>
<h2>3. Improving mental health</h2>
<p><a href="https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2020-wave-1-follow-up">One in six children</a> between the ages of five and 16 years of age are identified as having a mental health disorder. An increase in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2005.tb01855.x?casa_token=Ltmu-5PrCp8AAAAA%3Ap0G9APZQ1GWSJI65dBU0HfxLBbASL4mA5bD-cBa-CCurLNweYOq65bSWIRhGFMttt5nGRhmY_8ua">physical activity</a> levels, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335519301779">time spent outdoors</a> is positively associated with reduced depression and anxiety, and increases in self-esteem.</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029218303315?casa_token=l2HnsmSGoecAAAAA:CkytT1XxLyiaP0dmcrw4Bwkm0K9tIaYTzIig3bslEVhKpnqYHZwxF_2QBQbELTRHqza7egYH">evidence suggests</a> playing games or sport leads to improvements in thinking and problem solving in young people. </p>
<p>Due to the strong positive associations between time spent outdoors with <a href="https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(14)00456-9/fulltext">physical activity levels, cardio-respiratory fitness</a> and flourishing <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335519301779">mental health</a>, it is essential that schools address both the reduction in breaktimes and the lack of wet weather play space.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/daily-exercise-can-boost-childrens-exam-grades-new-research-120443">Daily exercise can boost children's exam grades – new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Getting better results</h2>
<p>The pressure of hitting curriculum targets, and the management of poor behaviour are the main factors leading to reduced school breaktimes. However, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1440244017316419?casa_token=85GMQNdpII4AAAAA:ki2Hd45t0kjVwdsHYNN8mJvLbpCbpwMCHMaMTVbNLY6JngCwON7QBDsT8bhhh01L2kO0jCLQ">evidence suggests</a> this is counter intuitive, as an increase in physical activity can have beneficial effects on <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/21/1224">academic achievement</a>, largely as a result of improvements in memory, flexible thinking and <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/12/973.full">self control</a>. </p>
<p>Irrespective of exercise levels, children who interact more with other children rather than teachers, at breaktime also have better <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/088520069290099K">academic results</a>. So headteachers must rethink removing breaktimes as a punishment for <a href="https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/dont-deny-breaks-punish-pupils-say-psychologists">misbehaving children</a>. </p>
<p>While breaktimes are often perceived as unimportant by school teachers and <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Final-report-School-break-and-lunch-times-and-young-peoples-lives-A-follow-up-national-study.pdf">policy makers</a>, children disagree. They are important opportunities for children to develop essential social skills and to get more active. We should listen to children on this one.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Graham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Schools need to do more to make it possible for children to be more active in breaktimes – new research shows.Michael Graham, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, Teesside UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1356902020-04-06T13:17:24Z2020-04-06T13:17:24ZHow Mandela stayed fit: from his ‘matchbox’ Soweto home to a prison cell<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325705/original/file-20200406-74261-ru1dh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former South African President Nelson Mandela with former American world boxing champion Marvin Hagler. The undated photo was taken after Mandela's release.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Louise Gubb/GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The spread of the coronavirus has forced millions all over the world to retreat to base and abandon outdoor exercise and gym sessions. If they own a big house and garden, it’s manageable, but many live in shacks, cramped houses or tiny high-rise flats. How can they avoid going to seed during lockdown? Gavin Evans takes a look at how former boxer and South African liberation struggle icon <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/nelson-rolihlahla-mandela">Nelson Mandela</a> adapted while incarcerated in a tiny cell on Robben Island.</em></p>
<p>February 15, 1990: Nelson Mandela wakes as always at 5am and begins his hour-long exercise routine. The difference this time is that instead of a prison cell, his gym is the front room of his <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2008-07-17-matchbox-house-revolution-is-needed-for-soweto/">“matchbox” house</a> – so-called for its small size – at 8115 Vilakazi Street, Soweto. And soon he’ll be besieged by journalists, well-wishers, diplomats and family members.</p>
<p>I get to interview him a few hours later to ask about his plans. His answers are clear and concise and I’m too nervous to probe deeper. But towards the end I toss in a question about boxing, and his stern demeanour changes. He beams with delight and begins to chat about his favourite fighters and how he followed the sport in prison.</p>
<p>Mandela started boxing as a student at <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/university-fort-hare">Fort Hare University</a>, and then trained more seriously when studying, working and struggling in Johannesburg during the 1940s and 50s, although he didn’t fight competitively and was modest about his prowess. “I was never an outstanding boxer,” he said in his autobiography, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318431.Long_Walk_to_Freedom">Long Walk to Freedom</a>. “I was in the heavyweight division, and I had neither enough power to compensate for my lack of speed nor enough speed to make up for my lack of power.”</p>
<p>What he relished about it was the rigour of training, a routine periodically broken by arrest and the demands of the “struggle”, but not often. He wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I unleashed my anger and frustration on a punchbag rather than taking it out on a comrade or even a policeman.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Refuge in exercise</h2>
<p>Mandela believed this routine was the key to both physical health and peace of mind.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Exercise dissipates tension, and tension is the enemy of serenity. I found that I worked better and thought more clearly when I was in good physical condition, and so training became one of the <a href="http://www.mindfulnext.org/mandela-on-peace-of-mind/">inflexible disciplines of my life</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325700/original/file-20200406-74206-1oblloc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325700/original/file-20200406-74206-1oblloc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325700/original/file-20200406-74206-1oblloc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325700/original/file-20200406-74206-1oblloc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325700/original/file-20200406-74206-1oblloc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325700/original/file-20200406-74206-1oblloc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325700/original/file-20200406-74206-1oblloc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nelson Mandela was a boxing enthusiast. The photo depicts him circa 1950.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Four mornings a week he’d set off for a run and three evenings a week he’d work out in a Soweto boxing gym – his way of losing himself “in something that was not the struggle”. He said he’d wake up the next morning feeling refreshed – “mentally and physically lighter” and “ready to take up the fight again”.</p>
<p>From 1960 Mandela led the underground campaign of the African National Congress’s military wing, <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/umkhonto-wesizwe-mk">umKhonto weSizwe</a>, moving around the country disguised as a chauffeur, with trips abroad to rally support, so his boxing training became sporadic. The “Black Pimpernel”, as he was dubbed, was arrested in 1962 – the result of a tip-off to the apartheid police from the CIA, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/15/cia-operative-nelson-mandela-1962-arrest">it has since emerged</a> – and spent the next 27-and-a-half years in jail, 18 of them on Robben Island.</p>
<h2>Life behind bars</h2>
<p>When Mandela arrived, a prison warder sneered: “This is the Island. This is where you will die.” </p>
<p>Part of the challenge was getting used to monotony. As he put it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Prison life is about routine: each day like the one before; each week like the one before it, so that the months and years blend into each other.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The daily routine of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23618727">Prisoner 46664</a> consisted of gruelling manual labour – working in a quarry to dig out limestone and using heavy hammers to smash rocks into gravel. This was draining but he decided not to use it as an excuse to abandon his exercise regime. From then on it started at 5am and was carried out in a damp 2.1m squared cell rather than a sweat-soaked Soweto boxing gym. “I attempted to follow my old boxing routine of doing roadwork and muscle-building,” he said. </p>
<p>He’d begin with running on the spot for 45 minutes, followed by 100 fingertip push-ups, 200 sit-ups, 50 deep knee-bends and calisthenic exercises learnt from his gym training (in those days, and even today, this would include star jumps and ‘burpees’ – where you start upright, move down into a squat position, kick your feet back, return to squat and stand up).</p>
<p>Mandela would do this Mondays to Thursdays, and then rest for three days. This continued even during his several spells in solitary confinement.</p>
<h2>Beating TB</h2>
<p>In 1988, aged 70, he contracted tuberculosis, exacerbated by the damp cell, and was admitted to hospital, coughing blood. He was moved to a prison warder’s house in <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/mandela-moved-victor-verster-prison">Victor Verster Prison</a> near Paarl and soon resumed a truncated version of his exercise programme, which now included laps of the prison swimming pool.</p>
<p>He was released from prison, along with other political prisoners, on 11 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1azBzDpmEU">February 1990</a>, nine days after the African National Congress and other liberation movements <a href="https://theconversation.com/fw-de-klerk-made-a-speech-30-years-ago-that-ended-apartheid-why-he-did-it-130803">were unbanned</a> by the apartheid government. He went on to become the first president of a democratic South Africa, <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/nelson-mandela-presidency-1994-1999">from 1994 to 1999</a>. </p>
<p>Inevitably as he reached his 80s, his exercise routine was moderated but never abandoned. He <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2013-12-05-nelson-mandela-dies/">died on 5 December 2013</a>, aged 95, of a respiratory infection.</p>
<p>Mandela believed a lifetime’s habit of exercise helped him to survive prison, ready for the challenges that lay ahead. “In prison, having an outlet for my frustrations was absolutely essential,” he said – words that might be taken to heart by those facing months of coronavirus-prompted lockdowns in cramped conditions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135690/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Evans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prison life is about routine: each day like the one before; each week like the one before it, so that the months and years blend into each other.Gavin Evans, Lecturer, Culture and Media department, Birkbeck, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/839542017-09-21T23:24:10Z2017-09-21T23:24:10ZExergames: good for play time, but should not replace physical education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186918/original/file-20170921-1117-8s50xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The "feeling" of hitting a well-timed tennis shot is lost in exergames.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More and more young Australians are playing video games during their <a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/should-kids-be-playing-video-games-a-look-at-the-latest-research/news-story/e7a0e881189e46f82dc8d0c4677f806c?sv=3e75a3f89e667e434c733e90792d524f">leisure time</a>. Fortunately, video game manufacturers have introduced “exergames” in an effort to make this typically sedentary activity more physically engaging. These “active” video game consoles, like the Nintendo Wii, offer gamers sporting experiences that mimic the real game or sport.</p>
<p>Health and physical education (HPE) <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00162.x/full">teachers have embraced</a> this technology in their classes to motivate children who show a lack of interest in traditional physical education activities. However, these exergames don’t provide the same skill development as traditional physical education.</p>
<h2>Research shows benefits are not the same for Exergames</h2>
<p>At the University of Tasmania, researchers in the <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/education/research/research-groups/lifetime-health-and-physical-activity/utawl-home">Active Work Laboratory</a> are <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17408989.2016.1176131">investigating exergames</a> and their contribution to skill development in children. More specifically, they have looked at how children develop the ability to process or prepare for complex movements that involve crossing the midline of the body. </p>
<p>The ability to cross the midline is important because it helps the right and left sides of our brains communicate. This link allows both sides of the body to move together more efficiently to perform a wide variety of everyday tasks such as reading, writing, crawling or riding a bike. These types of skills are often utilised in high-level sports like tennis, and should be taught during physical education. </p>
<p>In our previous <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17408989.2012.726983">research</a>, we showed that teaching children deliberate ball-bouncing strategies can improve how quickly they are able to process complex movements. To see if exergames could produce similar results, we randomly assigned boys and girls between the ages of seven and 12 to one of three groups: </p>
<ul>
<li>a Nintendo Wii tennis group that required children to perform midline-crossing movements across the body, </li>
<li>a Nintendo Wii bowling group that did not require midline crossing movements, </li>
<li>and a control group of seated children who only played a hand-held video game requiring no arm or leg movements.</li>
</ul>
<p>Children’s ability to process movements was measured before and after they participated in their training groups. Our results showed exergame training was not sufficient to produce the same improvements children gained from the ball-bouncing games. We concluded that teachers should be wary of replacing traditional physical education instruction with the use of exergames. </p>
<p>There are several possible reasons for these results.</p>
<h2>Exergames have a greater margin of error</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138824571100099X">Previous research</a> has found games involving actual movements require more focus and brain activity than the movements necessary for success during video gameplay. Exergames allow for a greater margin of error to be successful. This greater range might allow for a player to have slower processing speed and still win the game, but in a real ball- bouncing game, the same slower processing speeds would result in a failed catch. These real games require the player to organise several muscles to produce both gross and fine motor movements with precision to catch a ball. </p>
<p>Real gameplay, then, might “train” the brain to physically perform the movements better than virtual gameplay.</p>
<h2>Variability in feedback</h2>
<p>Feedback a player receives during gameplay, both virtual and real, has the potential to promote skill development. Exergames are designed to make this virtual feedback seem as real as possible through visual graphics, auditory prompts, and haptic feedback (such as vibrations made by handheld game controllers). </p>
<p>However, moving the exergame controller through space does not accurately replicate moving an actual object such as a tennis racket or bowling ball, because of differences like weight, grip and aerodynamics. Performing movements with actual sporting equipment also allows for greater variability in feedback. For example, the “feeling” of hitting a well-timed tennis shot versus a poorly-timed one. The decreased authentic feedback available during exergame play might contribute to less improvement in movement processing speeds. </p>
<h2>Exergames are “one-size-fits-all”</h2>
<p>Another important factor in skill development is the ability to tailor activities during training to the needs of the learner. Traditional physical education allows for increases in task difficulty as soon as a student is competent. </p>
<p>In contrast, exergame training requires repetitive movement skills and only allows for advancement once the present stage is completed. This code is hard-wired, and the time for each stage cannot be changed by teachers or students. This difference prevents the physical educator from providing training experiences tailored to each child’s skills or level.</p>
<p>The exergame environment is still a “one-size-fits-all” experience that lacks the individualisation abilities of traditional physical education.</p>
<h2>Exergames are better than nothing, but not better than real exercise</h2>
<p>While parents should encourage their children to play exergames instead of sedentary video games during leisure time, we do not recommend HPE teachers replace traditional physical education with exergames when motor skill improvement is the primary goal of the lessons.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83954/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Exergames should be used to replace sedentary video games, not traditional physical education.Vaughan Cruickshank, Course Co-ordinator – Health and Physical Education, Maths/Science, Faculty of Education, University of TasmaniaDean Cooley, Associate Professor Professional Experience, Federation University AustraliaScott Pedersen, Senior Lecturer, Motor Behaviour, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/781542017-06-28T12:49:14Z2017-06-28T12:49:14ZHow fitness trackers help motivate us to keep in shape<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176039/original/file-20170628-7347-1ebro6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.paimages.co.uk/image-details/2.5300151">PA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like many of the shiny new technologies that come out of California, the world embraced the fitbit wristband in a huge wave of enthusiasm when it was launched in 2012. But it wasn’t just a cool, must-have fad. The range of health and fitness trackers and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelarthur/2016/06/30/the-future-of-fashion-10-wearable-tech-brands-you-need-to-know/#7ebab08f4220">weareable tech</a> has since multiplied, reflecting the widespread desire to be physically active.</p>
<p>But while many of these technologies are expensive (fitbits can cost hundreds of pounds), the experiences of men who took part in <a href="http://dev.ffit.org.uk/">Football Fans in Training</a> (FFIT) – a weight loss and healthy living programme developed for men through coaches at top professional football clubs – suggests that even cheap and cheerful pedometers can be really useful in supporting people trying to get fit. We don’t all need an expensive fitbit.</p>
<p>There is <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673612610319">strong evidence</a> that being physically inactive poses a serious risk to our health. Besides myriad health benefits, being active has been shown to play a key role in <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/222S.long">long-term weight loss</a> and in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743507003027?via%3Dihub">positive mental health</a>. Given all these pluses, it’s really important that we understand how to support people across all walks of life to become more physically active.</p>
<p>Although some people find it hard to find and keep the motivation to change unhealthy habits, more and more <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/209526">studies</a> are demonstrating that using devices to monitor physical activity, such as basic pedometers that count every step we take, is an effective way for people to increase it.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176042/original/file-20170628-24675-7rpd28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176042/original/file-20170628-24675-7rpd28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176042/original/file-20170628-24675-7rpd28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176042/original/file-20170628-24675-7rpd28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176042/original/file-20170628-24675-7rpd28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176042/original/file-20170628-24675-7rpd28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176042/original/file-20170628-24675-7rpd28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wearable tech activity trackers are an easy way to monitor fitness progress.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While men are often portrayed as uninterested in their health, past <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/hea/32/1/57/">research has shown</a> that many enjoyed using pedometers to measure their progress. Wearing and checking even a simple pedometer can help us to take small steps towards big changes, especially as part of a fitness programme.</p>
<p>However, the ways in which self-monitoring tools (including wearable fitness trackers and smartphone apps) may help motivate longer-term increases in physical activity levels after fitness programmes have come to an end, are less well understood.</p>
<h2>Motivation: quality not quantity</h2>
<p>Being sufficiently motivated plays a pivotal role in whether people are able to increase and maintain their physical activity levels. But not all forms of motivation are equally powerful. According to a prominent theory in this area called <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2000_DeciRyan_PIWhatWhy.pdf">Self-Determination Theory</a>, three broad forms of motivation exist which vary in their quality.</p>
<p>When a person does something freely, willingly and with a positive attitude, it usually indicates higher motivational quality (autonomous motivation), whereas if a person does an activity mainly in response to others’ demands or pressures such as rewards, competition or comparison with others, this is indicative of lower motivational quality (controlled motivation). In contrast, a state of amotivation is when a person has no desire to take part in an activity at all. </p>
<p>Within this theory, greater motivation depends on three basic “needs”: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Autonomy is the need to feel a sense of ownership over your actions; competence is the need to feel adequately challenged and experience a sense of accomplishment; and relatedness is the need to feel connected to others and supported in your endeavours.</p>
<p>Both autonomous (higher) and controlling (lower) forms of motivation can prompt changes in our behaviour, but autonomous motivation is more enduring and beneficial in the longer term, particularly for <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/hea/33/11/1344/">physical activity</a> and <a href="https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-015-0323-6">weight loss</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-017-0505-z">a study we carried</a>, we interviewed 28 men who had completed the 12-week FFIT programme to find out about their experiences of using pedometers as motivational tools during the programme and also after it had ended.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176044/original/file-20170628-7294-f8rnvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176044/original/file-20170628-7294-f8rnvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176044/original/file-20170628-7294-f8rnvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176044/original/file-20170628-7294-f8rnvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176044/original/file-20170628-7294-f8rnvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176044/original/file-20170628-7294-f8rnvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176044/original/file-20170628-7294-f8rnvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The FFIT programme coaches men in developing their activity levels through professional football clubs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Positive changes</h2>
<p>The findings show how goal-setting and self-monitoring of progress using pedometers supported the development of high-quality (autonomous) motivation for physical activity, during and after taking part in the FFIT programme.</p>
<p>Some men who successfully made changes said they no longer used the pedometer as their new, more active lifestyles had become second nature and being active in their day-to-day lives had become part of their identity. Others still used their self-monitoring devices because they enjoyed keeping track of how active they were and it helped them sustain their increased activity levels.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176048/original/file-20170628-7347-1bqvnnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176048/original/file-20170628-7347-1bqvnnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176048/original/file-20170628-7347-1bqvnnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176048/original/file-20170628-7347-1bqvnnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176048/original/file-20170628-7347-1bqvnnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176048/original/file-20170628-7347-1bqvnnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176048/original/file-20170628-7347-1bqvnnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wearing a tracker lets people see their progress and boosts feelings of self-confidence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/watch-running-on-mans-hand-blurry-617864618">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One man described it as being a “big part of the daily motivation to do something”, even months after finishing the programme, while another said it enabled him to “see what you’re actually achieving” and so boosted his self-confidence.</p>
<p>However, for a small minority – men who had struggled to make or sustain improvements in their activity levels – the pedometer was experienced as “dispiriting” because it confirmed their lack of success. One man described the pedometer as being like a “governor” and said he felt “ruled” by the pedometer.</p>
<p>These men were unlikely to report using self-monitoring tools once the 12-week programme had ended. They were also less successful in losing weight during the programme and seemed more reliant on support from the coach and other group members to keep them motivated. </p>
<p>Our research shows that pedometers and other activity tracking devices are seen as really helpful motivational tools by men to support them in making long-term lifestyle changes and becoming more active, both during and after taking part in a weight loss and healthy living programme.</p>
<p>Identifying the men who were motivated most by external factors, such as comparing themselves with others, and the men who simply disliked using activity trackers, may help highlight those who need some extra support in discovering more valued and relevant reasons for keeping fit and active.</p>
<p>Enjoyment, an improved sense of well-being and even rediscovering aspects of our youth are all reasons that would motivate even the most reluctant among us to lace up our trainers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78154/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Craig Donnachie is based at the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, which receives core funding from the UK Medical Research Council and Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (CSO). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Kate Hunt is based at the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, which receives core funding from the UK Medical Research Council and Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (CSO).</span></em></p>Activity tracking devices are boosting people’s desire to make healthy lifestyle changes – and stick to themDr Craig Donnachie, Research Assistant, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of GlasgowKate Hunt, Associate Director of the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/733352017-03-07T17:09:08Z2017-03-07T17:09:08ZExercise changes the way our bodies work at a molecular level<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159768/original/image-20170307-14939-19d5d0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even regular walking can drastically change your health. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-walkingrunningexercise-park-444882142?src=bXF2i472T5sKnVxaEOH29Q-1-65">Zetar Infinity/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Exercise is good for you, this we know. It helps build muscle, burn fat and make us all into happier, healthier people. But long before you start looking the way you want, there are other hidden, more immediate, molecular and immunological changes taking place inside your cells. Changes which could be responsible for protecting us from heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes – and even <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(17)30099-2">stave off old age</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21818123/">cancer</a>.</p>
<p>You may think that “molecular” changes may not be that much of a big deal. Surely it is fat loss and muscle gain that are the best outcomes of exercise? Actually molecular changes affect the way genes and proteins are controlled inside cells. Genes can become more or less active, while proteins can be rapidly modified to function differently and carry out tasks such as moving glucose into cells more efficiently, or protect cells from harmful toxins.</p>
<p>Type 2 diabetes causes all kinds of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage, and may lead to limb amputation. The underlying cause is the development of a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17928988">heightened inflammatory state</a> in the body’s tissue and cells. This damages cells and can eventually lead to insulin resistance and, ultimately, type 2 diabetes. </p>
<p>The main risk factors for type 2 diabetes include obesity, a poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle. However, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4983283/">we have found</a> that even low intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, can increase the body’s insulin sensitivity. This means that people at risk of developing diabetes become less prone because they are able to metabolise glucose more efficiently. </p>
<p>In our study, we asked 20 sedentary people who were at risk of developing diabetes to walk briskly for 45 minutes, three times a week, for eight weeks. Although there was no change in their weight, blood pressure or cholesterol level, on average each participant lost a significant six centimetres from their waist circumference. And, more importantly, there was a reduction in their diabetic risk.</p>
<h2>Immune system benefits</h2>
<p>Interestingly, there were also exercise-induced changes in the participants’ monocytes – an important immune cell that circulates in the bloodstream. This led to a reduction in the body’s inflammatory state, one of the main risks for type 2 diabetes. </p>
<p>When our body is under attack from foreign invaders such as microbes, immune cells such as monocytes change into “microbe-eating” macrophages. Their main function is to fight infection in our tissues and lungs. There are two main types of macrophages, M1 and M2. M1 macrophages are associated with pro-inflammatory responses and are necessary for aggressively fighting off infections. However, in obese people who do not exercise, these cells become active even in the absence of infection. This can lead to an unwanted, heightened inflammatory condition which may “trigger” diabetes. </p>
<p>On the other hand, M2 macrophages play a role in “switching-off” inflammation and are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17515919/">instrumental in “damping-down”</a> the more aggressive M1s. So a healthy balance of M1 and M2 macrophages is crucial to maintain an optimal immune response for fighting infections – and it may help prevent the heightened inflammatory condition which comes from lack of exercise and obesity too.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159769/original/image-20170307-14951-97qv0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159769/original/image-20170307-14951-97qv0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159769/original/image-20170307-14951-97qv0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159769/original/image-20170307-14951-97qv0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159769/original/image-20170307-14951-97qv0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159769/original/image-20170307-14951-97qv0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159769/original/image-20170307-14951-97qv0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Macrophages fight off infectious microbes that infiltrate the body.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/macrophage-destroying-bacteria-3d-illustration-434566534?src=2O3pabWbUaQ9Yo39fICzBg-1-2">sciencepics/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Other studies have also shown that exercise has a beneficial impact on tissues’ immune cell function and can reduce unnecessary inflammation. Exercise training in obese individuals has been found to reduce the level of tissue inflammation specifically because there are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24120496/">less macrophage cells present</a> in fat tissue.</p>
<p>In addition, researchers have found a significant link between exercise and the balance of M1 and M2 macrophages. It has been shown that acute exercise in obese rats resulted in a shift from the “aggressive” M1 macrophages to the more “passive” M2 – and that this reduction in the inflammatory state correlated with an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512570/">improvement in insulin resistance</a>.</p>
<h2>Time to move</h2>
<p>There is no definitive answer as to how much and what intensity of exercise is necessary to protect us from diabetes. Though some researchers have shown that while higher-intensity exercise improves overall fitness, there is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28121184">little difference</a> between high and low-intensity exercise in improving insulin sensitivity.</p>
<p>However, a <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(17)30099-2">new study</a> has found that all forms of aerobic exercise – in particular high-intensity interval training such as cycling and running – can effectively stop ageing at the cellular level. The exercise caused cells to make more proteins for their energy-producing mitochondria and their protein-building ribosomes. Researchers also observed that these “molecular” changes occurring at the gene and protein levels happened very quickly after exercise and that the effects prevented damage to important proteins in the cells and improve the way in which insulin functions. </p>
<p>Although you might not see the changes you want immediately, even gentle exercise can make a big difference to the way the body’s cells behave. This means that exercise could have far-reaching health benefits for other inflammatory associated diseases and possibly protect us against ageing and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21818123/">cancer</a> too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73335/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Thomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Even gentle exercise can induce rapid molecular and immunological changes in your body.Andrew Thomas, Principal Lecturer, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/511862015-11-30T03:30:10Z2015-11-30T03:30:10ZFrom India, with love: cultural appropriation and 50 years of Light on Yoga<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103285/original/image-20151126-11977-opon6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Police commandos from India's northern state of Punjab take part in a laughter exercise during a yoga session.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ajay Verma/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fifty years ago, Indian guru <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/world/asia/bks-iyengar-who-helped-bring-yoga-to-west-dies-at-95.html?_r=0">BKS Iyengar</a> published an instruction guide to yoga that helped to make the practice a global sensation. Today, <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2536227">Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika</a> (1965) is regarded as the book that introduced the physical and spiritual practise of yoga to the West.</p>
<p>While Iyengar – who died last year – might have been pleased by his ongoing impact, the past 50 years have also witnessed controversy about the globalisation of yoga. Recently, the University of Ottawa <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/23/university-yoga-class-canceled-because-of-oppression-cultural-genocide/">cancelled a free yoga class for the disabled</a>. Why? Because of concerns about “oppression, cultural genocide and diasporas due to colonialism and western supremacy”. This decision has sparked the latest round of debate on whether yoga in the West constitutes cultural appropriation. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103297/original/image-20151126-28261-18vrvav.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103297/original/image-20151126-28261-18vrvav.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103297/original/image-20151126-28261-18vrvav.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103297/original/image-20151126-28261-18vrvav.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103297/original/image-20151126-28261-18vrvav.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103297/original/image-20151126-28261-18vrvav.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103297/original/image-20151126-28261-18vrvav.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103297/original/image-20151126-28261-18vrvav.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">BKS Iyengar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marat Z/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>It’s true that yoga has a special relationship to India. While yoga is not a singular tradition, India is usually seen as the land of its birth. In recent years, the Indian government has made worldwide headlines with its nationalist promotion of yoga. </p>
<p>India now boasts a <a href="http://indianmedicine.nic.in/index.asp?lang=1">national yoga ministry</a> and has promoted an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/world/asia/india-modi-yoga.html?_r=0">International Day of Yoga</a>. It encourages yoga within schools. It includes yoga within its <a href="http://www.tkdl.res.in/tkdl/langdefault/common/Home.asp?GL=Eng">Traditional Knowledge Digital Library</a>. </p>
<p>But yoga has also long been a participatory culture with practitioners in many different places. For many people – including some Indians – it no longer connotes much other than the globalised wellness industry. Indeed, it’s quite possible that yoga’s success within global consumer culture has inspired much of this nationalist fervour. </p>
<p>Nationalism and globalisation have often gone hand in hand. For many 20th-century Indian promoters, spreading yoga beyond the nation was frequently an important nationalist project. </p>
<p>Late 19th-century advocates of yoga, such as <a href="http://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/swami-vivekananda.html">Swami Vivekananda</a>, thought that the practice could represent a distinctively Indian contribution to the world (Vivekananda also hoped that the world could pay). Yoga allowed many Indians to look powerful on a global stage, even and especially when India was not politically strong.</p>
<p>When Iyengar’s now classic Light on Yoga appeared for an international English-reading audience, it represented Indian cultural heritage in empowering rather than embattled ways. </p>
<p>Appearing in the mid-1960s, a period of dispirited national mood after India lost a border war to China, Light on Yoga projects confidence that India has much to share with the world. Despite its modest demeanour, the book exudes poise and openness, not fragility or anxiety, when it comes to spreading the practice worldwide. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103287/original/image-20151126-11957-1vg6l76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103287/original/image-20151126-11957-1vg6l76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103287/original/image-20151126-11957-1vg6l76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103287/original/image-20151126-11957-1vg6l76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103287/original/image-20151126-11957-1vg6l76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103287/original/image-20151126-11957-1vg6l76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103287/original/image-20151126-11957-1vg6l76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103287/original/image-20151126-11957-1vg6l76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women practice yoga during a performance on a glass bridge at the Shiniuzhai National Geo-park in Pingjiang county, Hunan province, China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">REUTERS/China Daily</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While we usually think of Light on Yoga as a set of physical instructions, it also offers cultural instructions about how to consider the practice. Iyengar’s manual brought together philosophical description, imaginative storytelling and scientific language. </p>
<p>The book created a very distinctive form that described each pose, or <em>asana</em>, through stories, philosophical teachings, physical instructions, medical effects, and photography. This form of writing located yoga within different ways of knowing the world. </p>
<p>By including these diverse ways of thinking about yoga, Light on Yoga valued the ability to speak in many ways to many people. Indeed, this diversity reflected something important about yoga itself. As the book famously declared:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a well cut diamond has many facets, each reflecting a different colour of light, so does the word yoga, each facet reflecting a different shade of meaning and revealing different aspects of the entire range of human endeavour to win inner peace and happiness.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103286/original/image-20151126-11980-1rhdzs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103286/original/image-20151126-11980-1rhdzs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103286/original/image-20151126-11980-1rhdzs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103286/original/image-20151126-11980-1rhdzs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103286/original/image-20151126-11980-1rhdzs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103286/original/image-20151126-11980-1rhdzs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103286/original/image-20151126-11980-1rhdzs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103286/original/image-20151126-11980-1rhdzs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People practise Metta Float Yoga at the adriatic cost in Meduli.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This concern for plurality shapes the modern ideas of Indianness that emerge in the text. Reading Light on Yoga, one can feel simultaneously connected to forms of devotional Srivaisnavism and to Darwinian theories of evolution. </p>
<p>The manual’s rhetoric resonates with the language of the <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/od/scripturesepics/a/upanishads.htm">Upanishads</a> – the central texts of Hinduism – as well as with the vocabulary of Western medical anatomy. Anticipating today’s hot question of whether yoga is religious, Light on Yoga suggests that yoga is not exactly a religion in itself: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[Instead, it is a] science of religions, the study of which will enable a sadhaka the better to appreciate his own faith.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Being “Indian” and being “Western” are not adversarial identities in Iyengar’s book. Instead, they are intimately intertwined. This approach, which suggests how yoga can support expansive forms of identity, is one of Light on Yoga’s key legacies. </p>
<p>Yoga was globalised by Indians, in dialogue with people from many parts of the world, long before the practice became a billion-dollar industry.</p>
<p>None of this is to say that we can’t productively ask questions about how power, inequality, and respect shape yoga in its travels around the world. I believe we should. But one of the important legacies of Light on Yoga is its cosmopolitanism. </p>
<p>If we’re going to defend yoga against desecration, let’s defend this generous openness to the world. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Shameem will be on hand for an Author Q&A between noon and 1pm AEDT on Tuesday, December 1, 2015. Post your questions in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shameem Black does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Does yoga in the West constitute cultural appropriation? We talk culture, pride and 50 years of Light on Yoga.Shameem Black, Fellow, Department of Gender, Media and Cultural Studies, School of Culture, History and Language, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/485592015-10-26T06:04:58Z2015-10-26T06:04:58ZExplainer: can you cure bad posture?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97919/original/image-20151009-9106-j8ncvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Practice makes perfect posture?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&searchterm=posture&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=135031094">www.shutterstock.om</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Posture is not a rigid concept. It represents something more fluid with considerable range for change. Despite this, it is often oversimplified, rightly or wrongly, as <a href="https://blog.bufferapp.com/6-powerful-psychological-effects-that-explain-how-humans-tick">being “good” or “bad”</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ndhealthfacts.org/wiki/Posture">Your posture</a> is affected by many aspects of your daily life, including physical and psychological factors. The former can include how you sit and for how long, how active you are, and if you are repeatably placing strain on your body. From a psychological perspective, how well you are dealing with stress, how balanced your work, social and family life is, and your overall level of self-esteem will all contribute to your posture. </p>
<p>It is widely accepted that psychological factors <a href="https://theconversation.com/emotions-affect-how-pain-feels-as-soldiers-know-only-too-well-25889">can drive and amplify</a> how we feel about our pain. Given that poor sustained posture can lead to physical pain, we can’t ignore it but when addressing postural issues we also need to consider the role of the mind. </p>
<h2>The physiological</h2>
<p>We will all remember being told by our parents, school teachers and many others not to slouch and to sit up straight. Instinctively, we knew there was some truth to this. Colleagues who work in the field of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1840024/">biomechanics</a> will hold this mantra close to their hearts, recognising that if we adopt poor posture – chin poked forward, holding our shoulders in a rounded position and being slouched in chair – for sustained periods, the overall effect will be that areas like our neck, shoulder region and backs will object and usually alert us by <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Backpain/Pages/back-pain-and-common-posture-mistakes.aspx">producing pain</a>. This pain comes from joint and soft tissue structures such as muscles and ligaments. They become overloaded and exposed to abnormal forces when they are held in positions they weren’t designed for.</p>
<p>There is no “perfect” posture, mainly due to the myriad variables associated with how we sit and stand, but generally speaking, people are not born with certain posture types. Over time, we develop a posture, depending on our lifestyle. However, some <a href="http://www.coreconcepts.com.sg/mcr/which-posture-type-are-you">are more common</a> than others. Office workers, for example, may be more susceptible to a “<a href="http://www.coreconcepts.com.sg/mcr/sway-back-no-more/">sway back posture</a>” due to bad sitting habits. Over time, these <a href="http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ari/2012/146063/">physical</a> factors can affect our overall posture and if left unchecked can contribute <a href="http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/en/article/190/">to neck and back pain</a>. </p>
<h2>The psychological</h2>
<p>This of course is very much a physiological interpretation but equally important and common in people who complain of problems is how a person responds to psychological factors. “<a href="http://www.beinghuman.org/article/embodied-emotion">Embodied emotional theory</a>” looks at how emotional cues are expressed by the body. These can happen without someone knowing or acknowledging underlying psychological issues. Examples might be when someone unknowingly holds themselves with the shoulders raised or hunched with the chin poking forwards when stressed, or a particularly tall person who stoops in order to make themselves the same as those around them, because they dislike being tall. </p>
<p>It is also likely to be accompanied by something called the “<a href="http://www.psych-it.com.au/Psychlopedia/article.asp?id=195">self-validation theory</a>”. This is when the postures we adopt <a href="http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/10/16/poor-posture-can-affect-mood-energy/46112.html">actually affect how we feel emotionally</a>, so standing tall with shoulders back is a confident posture and subsequently can make us feel and appear more confident. Both theories allow us to communicate how we are feeling to others in our body language, whether this is conscious or subconscious. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97922/original/image-20151009-9113-x5oygf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97922/original/image-20151009-9113-x5oygf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97922/original/image-20151009-9113-x5oygf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97922/original/image-20151009-9113-x5oygf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97922/original/image-20151009-9113-x5oygf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97922/original/image-20151009-9113-x5oygf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97922/original/image-20151009-9113-x5oygf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Standing tall allows the vertebrae to unravel and release pressure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&searchterm=standing%20tall&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=93940687">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Curing posture</h2>
<p>So can you cure bad posture? There are <a href="http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/america-asks-13/12-back-pain-tips">many sources</a> that give advice with regard to posture, but we must be mindful as to whether it is the immediate symptoms we seek to cure (back pain, for example) or an underlying reason. </p>
<p>My time in clinical practice has shown me that most people want the immediate symptom of pain managed and often will not even realise there is an underlying cause. This lack of insight into what might be driving their posture change often makes it difficult to advise on. Even if they are aware of other factors, people often still struggle to discuss the emotional aspects of their condition. </p>
<p>Of course it would be ideal to address both, but the realist in me knows that the way we treat our bodies is often far from ideal. I would therefore suggest that perhaps rather than thinking about cure, it is better to create awareness and some degree of work hardening. </p>
<p>If someone is subconsciously adopting a posture, making them aware of it means they can take ownership of it and learn to regularly move out of that posture to prevent excessive strain. If someone is required to adopt a new posture due to a new skill or job where pain or discomfort is a feature, maintaining awareness and repeatedly correcting it can ease discomfort.</p>
<p>It’s important to also understand that posture is a continuum that is part of the <a href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004015.htm">ageing process</a>. The theory is that when we are younger we can <a href="http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Keeping%20Fit%20for%20Learning/stress.html">absorb more stress</a> and force on our joints and tissues. For most of us the reality is that as we age we don’t tolerate this as well because of other age-related changes happening to our tissues and consequently take <a href="http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-06-07/health/fl-posture-aging-indicator-20130607_1_good-posture-poor-posture-anne-green-memory">longer to recover</a>. </p>
<p>In all instances I would always recommend educating yourself on how to improve troublesome posture. Simple changes to your daily life, including positioning, lifting technique, exercise tolerance, stress management and work-life balance are all starting points. </p>
<p>It is also about considering both the physiological and psychological stressors. Failure to do this will inevitably lead to repeated episodes, a deepening perception of pain and a delayed recovery. And if particularly troublesome, it may be necessary to seek appropriate advice from a qualified healthcare professional.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Flynn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We often think of posture as a physical thing – but our minds play a crucial part too.Jonathan Flynn, Programme Leader - Physiotherapy, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/414042015-05-11T11:40:08Z2015-05-11T11:40:08ZCan short bouts of light exercise really make you healthier?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81221/original/image-20150511-19531-wculjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Short, intense exercise promotes good health and short, intense stares.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A growing body of advice suggests doing small amounts of moderate exercise can make a significant difference to your health. <a href="http://cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/early/2015/04/29/CJN.08410814.abstract">Academic research</a> is being turned into headlines such as: <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/spending-two-minutes-hour-walking-5612959">“Spending two minutes an hour walking instead of sitting can help you live longer”</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3064131/Can-t-bothered-exercise-Just-WALK-Doctor-reveals-simple-tricks-undo-damage-sitting-day.html">“Can’t be bothered to exercise? Just WALK”</a>. But how strong is the evidence for promoting accumulated short bouts of exercise and can it ever replace longer or more strenuous activity?</p>
<p>When we talk about performing this kind of exercise, what we really mean is trying to reduce the amount of time spent being sedentary. There is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20577058">strong correlational evidence</a> showing that a large amount of time spent sitting increases the risk of several diseases – and, consequently, early death. And the excess risk appears to be present even if you are exercising regularly.</p>
<p>The proposed implication of these studies is that too much sitting is distinct from too little exercise. Breaking up prolonged sitting with short accumulated bouts of exercise may be sufficient to reduce the risk of disease, but this type of evidence can never definitively prove that one necessarily causes the other. </p>
<p>There is as yet no research showing that an intervention that regularly breaks up prolonged sitting with short bouts (two to three minutes an hour) of light-to-moderate physical activity will reduce the risk of disease (or early death) in the long term. And we certainly can’t yet say this type of intervention would compensate for a chronic lack of structured exercise. </p>
<p>What we do have is a number of shorter intervention studies (one to seven days) that show breaking up prolonged sitting can help manage several risk factors known to be important for disease prevention. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22374636">The most consistent finding</a> is that breaking up prolonged sitting leads to a reduction in blood glucose and insulin concentrations in response to a meal. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24875670">One study</a> also reported improvements in blood pressure regulation. Importantly, short periods of standing <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24704421">do not appear</a> to be sufficient – rather the accumulated short bouts of physical activity are of key importance. </p>
<p>Perhaps the strongest evidence comes from studies that have replaced light-to-moderate physical activity with sedentary time. For example, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20044474">one study</a> examined the effect of reducing the average number of steps taken from 10,000 a day to 1,500 a day in a group of healthy men. After just two weeks there were large reductions in aerobic fitness and lean muscle tissue, increases in body fat and increases in blood glucose and insulin concentrations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80980/original/image-20150508-22782-13gjizk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80980/original/image-20150508-22782-13gjizk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80980/original/image-20150508-22782-13gjizk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80980/original/image-20150508-22782-13gjizk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80980/original/image-20150508-22782-13gjizk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80980/original/image-20150508-22782-13gjizk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80980/original/image-20150508-22782-13gjizk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the last few years, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24552392">many studies</a> have looked at the effects of very short bouts of high-intensity exercise, also known as high-intensity interval training (HIT). The research has shown that HIT can provide the same – if not superior – health benefits compared with conventional high-volume aerobic exercise programmes, but in a fraction of the time. The main driver for the promotion of HIT is the finding that a lack of time is a major barrier to exercise participation. </p>
<p>What’s the caveat? Well the majority of HIT protocols are extremely intense and that’s likely to put people off. Due to the rest periods the total time commitment also tends to be between 20-30 minutes/session, which is not really different from <a href="http://acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/news-releases/2011/08/01/acsm-issues-new-recommendations-on-quantity-and-quality-of-exercise">current guidelines</a> on moderate exercise.</p>
<p>But there might be a solution. More <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22124524">recent studies</a> have shown that much shorter HIT protocols (for example, two bursts of 20 seconds within a 10-minute session) may still provide important health benefits. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23734250">One study</a> observed similar increases in cardiovascular fitness after three weekly sessions of either four four-minute sprints or a single four-minute sprint at 90% of maximum heart rate. Perhaps, in some instances, more pain does not equal more gain. </p>
<p>There are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577906/">lots of forms</a> of physical activity that may be important for health. Where should you place your bets? The simple conclusion is we need to move more and move more often – and try to do a structured higher-intensity activity (insert your most enjoyable/manageable here) on three or more days of the week. How we convince more people to do this is more difficult to answer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41404/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Metcalfe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Newspaper headlines may suggest regular short walks can help you live longer but the reality is more complex.Richard Metcalfe, Lecturer in Exercise and Health, Ulster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/323132014-10-31T09:44:21Z2014-10-31T09:44:21ZHow low can marathon times go?<p>This fall <a href="http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/28/dennis-kimetto-berlin-marathon-world-record/">Dennis Kimetto</a> set a new world record in the marathon, clocking 2:02:57 at Berlin. He is the first man to run those 26.2 miles in under 2:03 and his time sparked speculation about when the two-hour barrier for the marathon might fall. Just how fast can a human being run in an endurance race like this?</p>
<h2>The marathon’s start</h2>
<p>The marathon is based on the legend of <a href="http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/prologue.cfm">Philippides</a>, a messenger who, the story goes, ran about 25 miles from the battlefield at Marathon to Athens in 490 BC. He announced a great Greek victory over the Persians and then promptly died. No word on his official time.</p>
<p>Cut ahead to 1896 and the inaugural modern Olympic games, held in Greece. The marathon as a race was cooked up as a run from Marathon to Athens. The distance increased by a little over a mile to the current 26.2 miles (42.2 km) at the London Olympics to accommodate a start at Windsor Castle, and that distance was adopted as the standard in the early 1920s.</p>
<h2>Things got faster fast!</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression">progression of the men’s record times</a> breaks into three distinct eras.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62891/original/6qyn43v3-1414425227.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62891/original/6qyn43v3-1414425227.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62891/original/6qyn43v3-1414425227.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62891/original/6qyn43v3-1414425227.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62891/original/6qyn43v3-1414425227.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62891/original/6qyn43v3-1414425227.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62891/original/6qyn43v3-1414425227.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62891/original/6qyn43v3-1414425227.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Men’s World Record Marathon Times.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first lasts from 1908 until the middle 1950s. Over this time the runners started training progressively harder.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62899/original/c4mzzwq2-1414428263.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62899/original/c4mzzwq2-1414428263.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62899/original/c4mzzwq2-1414428263.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62899/original/c4mzzwq2-1414428263.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62899/original/c4mzzwq2-1414428263.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62899/original/c4mzzwq2-1414428263.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62899/original/c4mzzwq2-1414428263.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62899/original/c4mzzwq2-1414428263.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Abebe Bikila winning the 1960 Olympic marathon – barefoot.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the 1950s, top competitors were running 100 miles or more per week; most were from the developed world. In 1960, <a href="http://www.olympic.org/abebe-bikila">Abebe Bikila</a> from Ethiopia won the marathon at the Rome Olympics. His victory was the start of the globalization of the marathon in general and the ultimate East African dominance in distance running we see today. </p>
<p>The record then stagnated until the early 1980s. That’s when the professional era really took off and big races with big prize money became well-established.</p>
<h2>What does it take to go fast?</h2>
<p>Physiology research reveals three basic determinants of who runs fast. First, an elite marathoner must be able to consume large amounts of oxygen during maximum exercise, about 20-25 times the resting value. That is <a href="http://jp.physoc.org/content/586/1/35.full">twice the capacity</a> of an untrained healthy young male. A runner must have a big, strong heart that can pump blood to the muscles which use the oxygen.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63251/original/7z38h8wv-1414631394.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63251/original/7z38h8wv-1414631394.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63251/original/7z38h8wv-1414631394.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63251/original/7z38h8wv-1414631394.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63251/original/7z38h8wv-1414631394.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63251/original/7z38h8wv-1414631394.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63251/original/7z38h8wv-1414631394.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63251/original/7z38h8wv-1414631394.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Measuring a runner’s oxygen capacity in the lab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Johnson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, he must be able to sustain about 80% of his maximum heart rate – usually about 160 beats per minute – for several hours without a buildup of lactic acid in his muscles. At the same time, he doesn’t want to deplete his body’s stores of sugar and hit the wall.</p>
<p>Third, he must be mechanically efficient at turning energy into power. Physiologists talk about <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15233599">running economy</a>. A top marathoner must be able to run fast without consuming too much oxygen; this efficiency is due in part to how well a runner uses the muscles and tendons in his legs as biological springs that store energy with each foot strike. </p>
<p>All these same factors apply to the shes as well the hes, but on average elite women can consume only about 90% as much oxygen as men at maximum. Women have more body fat and their blood contains less of the oxygen-carrying protein hemoglobin. Essentially they have smaller engines that generate proportionally a bit less horsepower. This explains why the world records for women in distance running are about <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20881885">10-12% slower</a> than men. </p>
<p>At the moment, East African runners seem to always wind up atop the podium. Their physiological numbers aren’t the best ever measured in the lab. But to their advantage, they tend to be of smaller stature, have been physically active from childhood, live at high altitude, and train incredibly hard.</p>
<h2>How fast is possible?</h2>
<p>Back in 1991, I created a <a href="http://jap.physiology.org/content/jap/70/2/683.full.pdf">model of marathon performance</a>. When I asked what would happen if the same athlete had optimal values for the three key variables associated with distance running success, the estimated time was just under 1:58:00.</p>
<p>I <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20689089">revisited</a> the model in 2011 with my colleagues Alejandro Lucia and Jonatan Ruiz and concluded that if current trends continued, 2 hours would fall sometime between 2025 and the late 2030s. What seemed inconceivable in 1991 is getting closer by the year. Starting in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression">2007 with Haile Gebrselassie’s</a> 2:04:26, the record has been broken five times, and fallen almost 90 seconds, suggesting our projections are on track. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63061/original/kqhzqnbv-1414525743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63061/original/kqhzqnbv-1414525743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63061/original/kqhzqnbv-1414525743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63061/original/kqhzqnbv-1414525743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63061/original/kqhzqnbv-1414525743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63061/original/kqhzqnbv-1414525743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63061/original/kqhzqnbv-1414525743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63061/original/kqhzqnbv-1414525743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More and more marathoners, more chances for new records.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-123388867.html">Runners image by ostill via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Not so fast?</h2>
<p>Many elite runners have marathon bests about 4.6 or 4.7 times their fastest 10k times – a marathon being about 4.2 times longer than a 10k. Using this rule of thumb the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10,000_metres_world_record_progression">current world record for the 10k</a> of 26:17:53 works out to a predicted marathon time somewhere between just under 2:01 and about 2:03:25. Similar values emerge using various <a href="http://www.hillrunner.com/calculators/raceconversion.php">race conversion calculators</a> and point tables. This suggests the current marathon world record has room for improvement. </p>
<p>Of course, going from just under 2:03 to just under 2:00 would be an improvement of 2.5% and such big jumps in distance running records have not happened since the middle 1960s. When assessed in the lab, elite runners then had just about the same data as elite runners do now. It’s not the case that we’re seeing runners who are drastically better equipped than their predecessors. But there are a few things that could help these elite runners go just that much faster….</p>
<h2>2:02 or bust!</h2>
<p>I expect to see a marathon time under 2:02 soon and when we do, that’s when the fun will begin. To get there faster and maybe even to 2:01, I suggest three things:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>A prize money scheme that would motivate the best runners to all show up at the same race, hit fast intermediate times and work together for as long as possible. For example, separate pools of money could be split by all athletes under specific times at the half marathon, 30k, 35k, and 40k marks. Marathons are not golf and the top professionals can only do 1 or 2 races per year so they have to look for big paydays when they can get them.</p></li>
<li><p>Develop a flat 5-8km loop with a <a href="http://biomech.media.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/04/Energetics-and-mechanics-of-human-running-on-surfaces-of-different-stiffnesses.pdf">fast surface</a> and have an elites-only race.</p></li>
<li><p>Run the race on a <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/races/whats-the-optimal-temperature-for-marathons">cool day</a> at dusk. There is anecdotal evidence that people run a bit faster in the afternoon or evening than in the morning.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>There’s likely an <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/content/211/24/3836.full">absolute minimum time</a> in which a human being can run a marathon – but we haven’t seen it yet!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32313/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Joyner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This fall Dennis Kimetto set a new world record in the marathon, clocking 2:02:57 at Berlin. He is the first man to run those 26.2 miles in under 2:03 and his time sparked speculation about when the two-hour…Michael Joyner, Professor of Anesthesiology, Mayo ClinicLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/103352012-12-20T19:43:23Z2012-12-20T19:43:23ZIs modern transport making war on the human body?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18501/original/zfnh3j3r-1355110260.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Almost 1.3 million people die each year on the world’s roads, making road accidents the ninth leading cause of death globally.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joe Castro</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We demand and expect our transport systems to to get us where we want, when we want to be there, and as fast as possible. We are, however, human beings with human bodies. And as with any other built system, we have to ask whether our fast and efficient modes of travel are necessarily always good for us. </p>
<p>Some of the indications are not good. As the <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/road_safety_20110506/en/index.html">World Health Organisation (WHO)</a> reported, almost 1.3 million people die each year on the world’s roads. Road accidents are the ninth leading cause of death globally and the leading killer of young people aged 15 to 29 years. Annually, road crashes also cause between 20 million and 50 million non-fatal injuries.</p>
<p>Trends have been downward, fortunately. But this toll is the rough equivalent of French battle deaths during the entire <a href="http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html">First World War</a> being lost every year and equals all battle injuries during that war.</p>
<p>Automobiles in particular also emit numerous chemicals, including carbon monoxide, benzene, formaldehyde, and tiny suspended particles called “particulate matter”. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/exhaust_emissions.shtml">Health effects of such emissions</a> include lung disease, cancer and especially respiratory diseases such as asthma, which hit children and the elderly particularly hard.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18499/original/9gnbtfsj-1355109999.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18499/original/9gnbtfsj-1355109999.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18499/original/9gnbtfsj-1355109999.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18499/original/9gnbtfsj-1355109999.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18499/original/9gnbtfsj-1355109999.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18499/original/9gnbtfsj-1355109999.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18499/original/9gnbtfsj-1355109999.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cars emit chemicals which cause lung disease, cancer and respiratory illnesses such as asthma.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Simone Ramella</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One estimate is that air pollution, to which auto emissions are a major contributor, leads to 24,000 premature deaths in the United Kingdom alone every year. </p>
<p>Australia has cleaner air than the UK, meaning we’re less affected by this problem. <a href="http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/centres/che/pubs/wp94.pdf">A 1999 study</a> estimated carcinogens from auto emissions cost ten to 18 lives per year (not including particulates, whose effects could not be determined). Still, this is not a trivial number for those ten to 18 individuals. And <a href="http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/%7E/media/ProgramsandProjects/PlanningHealthyEnvironments/Attachments/vhtransch2.ashx">other estimates</a> of Australian health emission impacts are far higher than this conservative estimate.</p>
<p>Transport modes have more subtle effects on the human body as well. <a href="http://www.thepep.org/en/publications/THE.trends.en.pdf">Prolonged exposure to transport noise</a>, whether from traffic, airports or other modes such as trains, has been shown to affect cardiovascular health, sleep, and to reduce performance in concentration and analytical skills, especially in children. </p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2006-140/pdfs/2006-140.pdf">vibrations created by vehicles</a> have real, if diffuse and complex, effects on human beings, including the potential for long-term muscle damage and psychological and cognitive impairment. Some impacts are especially hard on operators of particular types of vehicles, especially motorcycle, bus and truck drivers, where there is often sustained long-term exposure to vehicle vibrations.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18500/original/bdrs3gfy-1355110054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18500/original/bdrs3gfy-1355110054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18500/original/bdrs3gfy-1355110054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18500/original/bdrs3gfy-1355110054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18500/original/bdrs3gfy-1355110054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18500/original/bdrs3gfy-1355110054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/18500/original/bdrs3gfy-1355110054.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Using active transportation lowers cardiovascular and other health risks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Design for Health</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In terms of broader behavioural effects, it is now recognised that the way people travel affects the amount of physical activity they undertake. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncceh.ca/sites/default/files/Active_Transportation_in_Urban_Areas_June_2010.pdf">One literature review</a> notes that cardiovascular and other health risks are lower among groups who use active transportation (such as walking and cycling and, to a lesser degree, mass transit). In particular, people who commute to work by car are less healthy than those who commute by healthier modes. </p>
<p>The review notes predictions that premature deaths in London could decrease by 528 per million people annually by 2030 if more people realised the health benefits of increased use of active transportation. </p>
<p>Of course, transport professionals are by no means unaware of these physical effects. The well-established field of <a href="http://www.ibtta.org/files/PDFs/Rousseau.pdf">human factors research</a> studies the way in which human beings affect and are affected by the design of transport infrastructure, vehicles, and operations such as signage. And there is substantial knowledge of the broader effects of <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-chapter5.pdf">transport on the environment</a> and earth ecosystems in which human beings and all other species live.</p>
<p>For all the human health impacts of the modern transport system, there are obviously substantial benefits in the form of greater economic productivity, vastly increased spatial access and mobility, and even health gains, such as increased ability to get preventive and other medical care. </p>
<p>All technology imposes health risks of some sort. So a purely negative focus on these is unhelpful. Nonetheless, it’s useful to ask whether our transport technologies, policies and investments are good for us. If not, we need to adjust and redesign our transport accordingly. </p>
<p>Positive changes, many of which are currently underway, include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>An greater focus on redesigning congested urban spaces to encourage walking and social interaction and to lower automobile use and speeds. This could achieve many health and safety outcomes simultaneously. </p></li>
<li><p>[Traffic calming](http://www.trafficcalming.net/](http://www.trafficcalming.net/) – a range of techniques ranging from speed humps to pedestrian malls which create attractive active transport environments. </p></li>
<li><p>Road pricing and increasing parking fees, or eliminating parking altogether to encourage public transport use and walking. </p></li>
<li><p>The expansion of <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/themes/best-in-travel-2013/cities-with-bike-sharing-schemes/">bike-share schemes</a>, where public bicycles can be rented and dropped off from multiple locations. </p></li>
<li><p>Further safety improvements to automobile safety design for new car models. </p></li>
<li><p>Prioritising action on “<a href="http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/Road-safety/Black-spots.aspx">black spots</a>” on roads and highway “<a href="http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/951.htm">geometrics</a>”, which includes improving lines of sight at intersections and around curves.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These reforms need not involve costly or radical overhaul. Road safety used to be a neglected policy and manufacturing aspect; small but significant changes there have saved millions of lives. A broader incorporation of the human body into transport design and planning could save millions more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/10335/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I have no actual or potential conflicts on interest.</span></em></p>We demand and expect our transport systems to to get us where we want, when we want to be there, and as fast as possible. We are, however, human beings with human bodies. And as with any other built system…Cameron Gordon, Associate Professor of Economics, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.