My favorite book is The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha. This book is essentially a detailed summary of many of life’s simple pleasures from fixing electronics by smacking them to peeling an orange in one shot. Whenever I need a pick me up, I flip to a random page in the book and inevitably am reminded of all the little things that I take for granted and the many reasons that I should smile.
Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler’s keynote talk at the Virtual 45th Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics reminded me of The Book of Awesome. Her talk emphasized many ways that humans have become awesome through the process of evolution. Often, I take these truths for granted, so hearing them in her keynote was inspiring. Here are a few of the major takeaways from her talk:
1. Humans have evolved to be endurance load carriers.
Humans, especially women, are incredible at carrying large loads for long durations of time. The female ability to carry large loads is especially demonstrated during pregnancy, which is incredible when you think about it! Humans carry loads better than ponies do. Humans carrying a load of 18% bodyweight would increase our cost of transport anywhere between 5-12%, but ponies would experience an 18% increase in cost. Our ability to carry loads can be attributed to improvements in anatomy, sizes and shapes of bones, and thermoregulation. Women in particular, because of our broad pelvis and smaller size, are incredible at carrying large loads.
As a student, I lug textbooks, notebooks, and my laptop across campus to and from classes over quite a long distance. Although it doesn’t always feel like it when I’m carrying a heavy backpack, I am actually carrying the extra load efficiently. However, Dr. Wall-Scheffler explained that humans are very sensitive to small changes in cost so that is why it feels much harder.
I know that humans have always had to carry loads long distances, whether that be children, food, water, or other supplies necessary for survival. I have always taken this for granted, but Dr. Wall-Scheffler’s talk made me really stop and think about it. And to put it simply, this is one way that humans are AWESOME!
2. Human gait patterns adapt to the situation and are influenced by culture
Dr. Wall-Scheffler’s research showed that humans take on different gait patterns when they are walking alone versus walking with a friend, a child, or a significant other. This suggests that how we move is not only dependent on our biomechanics, but also on our environment and culture. In one study, Dr. Wall-Scheffler compared walking speeds of individuals in Seattle, Washington, USA to those in Mukono, Uganda. She found that when walking alone Americans tend to walk slower than Ugandans. But when walking in groups, especially with children, Americans walked faster than Ugandans. To me, this highlights the importance of diversity! As a young researcher studying gait, I find it super exciting that gait biomechanics may teach us about an individual’s cultural and personal attitudes as well as their biomechanics and physiology. Differences like these between individuals are what make us uniquely human and what make us AWESOME!
3. “Women and mothers win medals and break records!”
As I watched the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the summer of 2021, I couldn’t help but be amazed by all that these athletes, especially the women, could do. From the United States, Allyson Felix competed in her fifth straight Olympics not even three years after nearly dying while giving birth and won her 11th medal! She is now the most decorated U.S. Olympic track and field star ever! And from the Philippines, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz won the first gold medal for her country.
In her talk, Dr. Wall-Scheffler mentioned many of these amazing women and their incredible feats of athleticism, stressing not only how amazing these women are, but how amazing all women are. Humans would not have evolved into who we are today as a species without women. Therefore, when designing our research studies, it is important that women not be left out! To understand evolution, we must understand the physiology and biomechanics of women because women are AWESOME!
If you want to check out Dr. Wall-Scheffler’s whole talk at ASB 2021 you can watch here:
I want to thank the IWB and National Biomechanics Day for sponsoring the fellowship that provided my registration for the American Society of Biomechanics 2021 conference. This fellowship provided me the opportunity to attend the conference and be inspired by so many incredible women and allies in biomechanics, including Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler.
About the Author:
Kayla is a PhD candidate in the Mechanical Engineering Department’s Neuromuscular Biomechanics Lab at the University of Delaware. Her doctoral work focuses on understanding and predicting how individuals post-stroke will respond to novel rehabilitation methods, such as an adaptive treadmill. Outside of research Kayla is a Program Specialist for The Perry Initiative and plays the flute in the Newark Community Band.