Most animals capable of running continue to do so almost their entire lives. Why not us?

Gentleman wrote:

Consider this.... wrote:

But I think most animals generally LIKE to run, and naturally run with "good form". Have you ever watched a horse run and think, "what weird/crappy form that horse runs with". That being said, some animals, like chihuahuas, have inefficient running form, but that is as an entire breed. We, however, are all over the place with regard to how well we run, and most adult and many juvenile humans don't enjoy doing it.

The only sensible way to think of an animal's running form is in rthe context of that animal's body. As such, I believe that your statement is not only nonsensical but very obviously wrong.

Many people with great bodies run awkwardly.

Consider this.... wrote:

Gentleman wrote:

The only sensible way to think of an animal's running form is in rthe context of that animal's body. As such, I believe that your statement is not only nonsensical but very obviously wrong.

Many people with great bodies run awkwardly.

Note that the bolded text was in relation to "some animals, like chihuahuas"

Note further that, while someone's form may strike you as awkward, you have zero capacity to determine if in fact it is efficient for their body. Zero.

Agreed. I didn't express that correctly regarding the Chihuahuas. They run efficiently for the bodies they have. My point is that for the most part, other animals run very much alike in comparison to others of their own breed.

Consider this.... wrote:

Consider that.... wrote:

Earth. How about you?

Now do you have some kind of logical counter-argument to make? Or are you completely devoid of facts and logic?

Sure I do. You've never seen an adult animal run except when their immediate survival is dependent on it? A squirrel, for example? My dogs and cat run around all the time.

Domesticated animals don't count for obvious reasons.

Squirrels do NOT run unless necessary.

Squirrels run around chasing each other all the time. It looks a heck of a lot more like playfulness than attempted murder. To the best of my knowledge, squirrels don't go around trying to kill each other.

But your point may be true for many species, I suppose. They still do not stop running, as running for survival purposes is a routine part of their every day lives. This is a very good reason why us humans do not continue to run routinely, however.

Consider this.... wrote:

Are we just lazy or is it not in our nature?

I've got to question the premise in your thread title. How do you know that they continue to run for their entire lives? In order to know that, you'd have to know the age of the various animals you see, and you'd have to be generalizing, in that case, from a population of aged animals of various species.

Or else you'd have to have research on aging individual animals within broader animal populations.

If you've got either of these things, please share. Otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, you're just looking at Animal Planet, watching a herd of springboks, and daydreaming your (thread-title) premise.

Please evidence your premise. Where did you come up with your evidence that animals capable of running continue to do so almost their entire lives?

If you're interested in answering the question with the help of actual research, here's an article entitled "Conditioning the Older Horse" that explores some of the relevant issues.

Just making an assumption, which is a no-no, I know, but I thought it would make for an interesting discussion.

When they stop running they either can no longer feed themselves or get away from predators.

They may not live to advanced old age but those herds of herbivores with predators in pursuit are all ages and there is no "walker" category on the Serengeti.

Conditioning an older horse has no bearing on whether horses continue to run or not as they get older.

We're not talking about competing but rather the mere act of breaking into a run for a decent length of time.

You're missing my point. For all we know, there ARE no "older" animals in those herds, because the older animals--for all we know--may have been the first ones to be picked off, precisely because they're slow runners or non-runners.

If we're talking about dogs: well, we've all seen older dogs that can barely hobble and certainly can't run.

So the answer to the OP is NOT that older animals continue to run whereas older humans don't. The answer is that older animals, for the most part, don't exist in the wild (unless they're both huge and unappealing as prey: hippos and elephants) because they've been eaten. Natural selection has thinned them out. But in the case of humans, we live our lives for the most part in environments where we've sidestepped that part of the natural selection process. We aren't daily pursued by predators. So those humans who survive into old age don't do so by virtue of the fact that they run. Running doesn't save them. But running DOES save many animals from predators--and when they age, and slow, they get picked off.

Hey, I'm 76 and have been distance running since age 14, on every kind of surface--tracks, roads, hills, often on the Appalachian trail--for about an hour a day six days a week and I've actually been improving a bit in recent years. Definitely makes me feel youthful.

Consider this.... wrote:

I think that's true of many people who didn't incorporate running throughout their lives, but if done consistently, on good surfaces, in moderation, and with good form, running can extend a youthful existence.

Animals are minimalist runners that's why.

They can actually age animals without having their birth witnessed. Wild animals still run WAY past the years where humans typically fizzle out and grind to a halt.

Wild animals reach old age even if they don't last long past that.

You can't make $ off running until you break 3:40 in the 1500m. Everybody else has to sit on their ass at a corporate job they hate. Then those worker bees get fat, then stop running.

Consider this.... wrote:

Are we just lazy or is it not in our nature?

B/c animals live short brutal lives. When they start to age or get sick or weak, they get eaten by a predator. Not so with us - we live till organ failure, cancer, etc.

hopeinsf wrote:

You can't make $ off running until you break 3:40 in the 1500m. Everybody else has to sit on their ass at a corporate job they hate. Then those worker bees get fat, then stop running.

You can add about 25 seconds to that 1500m time if you are a woman. Not sure if women work 11% less to get paid the same or more than men in a corporate job.

Gentleman wrote:

Consider this.... wrote:

Many people with great bodies run awkwardly.

Note that the bolded text was in relation to "some animals, like chihuahuas"

Note further that, while someone's form may strike you as awkward, you have zero capacity to determine if in fact it is efficient for their body. Zero.

Efficient means good use of energy to forward motion. Emily Infield does not have an efficient form. Maybe she has a muscle imbalance, maybe her joints are in the wrong place, but in an absolute terms I have plenty of capacity to say she does not have an efficient form.

ggilder wrote:

Hey, I'm 76 and have been distance running since age 14, on every kind of surface--tracks, roads, hills, often on the Appalachian trail--for about an hour a day six days a week and I've actually been improving a bit in recent years. Definitely makes me feel youthful.

Consider this.... wrote:

I think that's true of many people who didn't incorporate running throughout their lives, but if done consistently, on good surfaces, in moderation, and with good form, running can extend a youthful existence.

Outliers are my inspiration! At 58, I find myself wondering how long I can keep the feet willing and able. The heart and muscles are just fine with it; I rarely get muscle soreness, once I'm in shape. But the tendons and ligaments. Oy.