INTERVIEW: KATY BOWMAN

full spectrum of movement nutrition necessary for human function. Some of the signals of a poor movement diet could be diseases like osteoporosis, bad knee or backs, frequent headaches, pelvic floor problems, or digestive issues. The chances are people are either lacking movement nutrition entirely, or they are eating a ton of movement oranges; meaning they use the same types of exercise moves over and over again and have never reached for the movement equivalent of a kale salad. We need as much variety in our movement diet as we do in our food.” One of the reasons this is happening is because of the societal move to outsource everyday movements. Deciding to hire a gardener, or a cleaner – frequently to free us up for more desk-based work – might be a conscious decision, but many of our outsourcing movement decisions are made unconsciously. Bowman cites electronic car keys

as an example. “To avoid moving around a car to unlock it, or avoid turning our wrists, we have accepted plastic (future landfill) and a battery,” she says. “Making these car keys has required other humans, elsewhere in the world, to labour, extract resources from the earth and sometimes even wage war. Without us even realising it, sedentarism is linked to consumerism, materialism, colonialism and destruction of the planet. In order to move less, we are expecting someone else to move for us.” “Apples are another example. By coring and slicing apples for my nineyear-old son, I have unwittingly been contributing to another negative trend. In 2014, Americans ate 511 million sliced apples, which is driving the food industry to focus on pre-sliced, treated and packaged apples, which are more expensive, less healthy, not natural, and have negative repercussions for the environment in terms of

the packaging and the fuel used to manufacture the packaging. My son has been told to start working his jaw.”

ProceSSeD MoVeMent Obesity and inactivity are the biggest health crises of our time, which could put the NHS out of business. Exercise professionals believe they have the answer and the gym industry is chomping at the bit to partner the NHS in helping people to be more active and lose weight. However, Bowman believes that exercise for the sake of exercise and repetitive movements in a gym aren’t sufficient to maintain a healthy body. She says that this is the movement equivalent of processed food. “Our response to all this lack of movement indoors is to eat fewer calories and boost the intensity of our one hour of exercise,” Bowman says. “But we should be focusing instead on creating a movement-rich life.

Animal Flow founder Mick Fitch teaches varied movements

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