Move Your DNA with Katy Bowman

Dynamic Aging Retreat Oct 3-5 2025

This Episode's Show Notes
Join Our Newsletter: Movement Colored Glasses

In this episode, Katy Bowman and Jeannette Loram dive into the fascinating relationship between blood sugar, diet, and movement. They unpack how the body regulates blood sugar, what happens when this process breaks down in Type I and Type II diabetes, and why different kinds of activity play such a big role in prevention and management.

Katy and Jeannette explain how contracting muscles can pull glucose directly into working cells during exercise—a powerful but site-specific effect—and how long-term training reshapes muscle to take up glucose more efficiently.

They also compare the blood sugar benefits of endurance exercise, resistance training, HIIT, stretching, and even light daily movement. Along the way, they highlight two key scenarios: insulin resistance linked to excess weight and inflammation, versus insulin resistance driven by low muscle mass in people with normal weight. For the latter, they stress why resistance training—or “big body work”—is especially essential.

CHAPTERS 
0:06:00 - Definitions 
0:16:00 - The Dynamic Collective 
0:17:00 - You Can’t Exercise Off Diabetes 
0:20:00 - Muscle is the Key Tissue (and the Liver)
0:36:30 - Stretching & Light Activity 
0:47:00 - Exercise Modality for Blood Sugar Regulation
0:54:25 - Listener Question on Lupus brought to you by Peluva 
1:09:09 - Blood Sugar Spikes During Exercise

BOOKS & RESEARCH PAPERS

My Perfect Movement Plan by Katy Bowman
I know I should Exercise, But... by Diana Hill & Katy Bowman
Exercise and GLUT4 by Flores-Opazo et al (2020) 
Mechanisms of endurance and resistance exercise in type 2 diabetes by Zhao et al (2025) 
Sedentary behaviour as a mediator of type 2 diabetes by Hamilton et al (2015) 
Impact of reduced sitting time or increasing sit-to-stand transitions on blood pressure and glucose regulation in Postmenopausal women by Hartman et al (2025) 
The impact of standing desks on cardiometabolic and vascular health by Bodker et al (2021) 

MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR WONDERFUL SPONSORS:

Sweet Skins, organic hemp and cotton clothing that is stylish, flexible and designed to move with you, take 20% off with code Movement20
Peluva, Five-toe minimalist sports shoes ideal for walking and higher impact activities. Take 15% off with code NUTRITIOUSMOVEMENT
Ikaria Design, creators of the Soul Seat®, a height adjustable chair that allows you to sit in diverse shapes including cross-legged, take 10% of new inventory with code DNA10
Venn Design, beautiful floor cushions and ball seats that keep you moving at home or at the office
Earth Runners, minimalist sandals that mimic being truly barefoot through their grounding technology, take 10% off with code DNA10
Smart Playrooms, design and products to keep you and your kids engaged and active at home, take 10% off monkey bars, rock wall panels and holds with code DNA10

Creators and Guests

Host
Jeannette Loram
Biologist, Yoga & Movement Teacher, Nutritious Movement® RES-CPT, Restore Your Core® Teacher
Host
Katy Bowman
Bestselling author, speaker, and a leader in the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement.

What is Move Your DNA with Katy Bowman?

Although the world is becoming mostly sedentary, our bodies still require a wide variety of daily movements in order to work well. Many of us struggle to get regular exercise, but even that can fall short of nourishing the body from head to toe. How can we move more—a lot more—when we have sore, stiff parts and overly busy lifestyles?

Join Katy Bowman M.S., biomechanist, author, and movement educator as she combines big-picture lessons on biomechanics, kinesiology, physiology, and natural human movement with simple and practical solutions and exercises to get all your body parts moving better. Katy’s lighthearted and funny approach helps us all put the movement back in our lives, and the joy back in our movement!