Katy offers an aging reframe: in middle age, you are not “over the hill”—you are actually at the bottom of a valley, and staying strong and healthy means choosing to go uphill on purpose. Katy and Jeannette unpack the difference between chronological age and biological aging, why modern life may be speeding up the aging process, and how movement and exercise positively influence the cellular “hallmarks of aging.” They explore why exercise needs to increase with age (even when life gets busier and energy feels lower), and how reframing discomfort can make consistency possible—so you can extend not just your lifespan, but your healthspan, too.
Katy also speaks with Pack Matthews of Ikaria Design (creator of the Soul Seat) about “active sitting” and why our rest positions matter as we age. Pack shares his personal origin story—using floor-sitting and dynamic postures to counter arthritis. They also preview the upcoming Soul Seat Mini for the smaller people in your life and explore its role in dynamic classrooms.
00:06:00 — Chronological age vs biological aging & lifespan vs healthspan
00:08:35 — What may be accelerating aging: obesity, diet, sedentary behavior, stress
00:12:00 — How “biological age” is measured + hallmarks of aging
00:18:00 — Why exercise must increase with age: choosing uphill (progressive overload)
00:36:00 — Listener question: handedness across humans, animals, and even plants
00:47:00 — Interview: Pack Matthews (Ikaria Design) on the Soul Seat + active sitting
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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!