Episode 63: Dismantling Long and Lean Part 2 image
S4 E63 · Movement Logic: Strong Opinions, Loosely Held
Episode 63: Dismantling Long and Lean Part 2
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1 month ago

Welcome to Season 4 and Episode 63 of the Movement Logic podcast! This is part 2 of a much requested series titled Dismantling Long & Lean. In part 2, Laurel and Sarah discuss the phrase "long and lean" from a science-based, as well as sociological and racial perspective. They cover whether or not you can actually make anyone’s body “longer” and/or “leaner” through formats like Pilates and barre. Additionally, they unpack the harm that appealing to this narrowly, aesthetically-idealized body shape has on students and teachers. 

You will learn:

  • Common code words used to show preference for thinness in exercise.
  • Is there a way to make limbs or muscles longer?
  • How do we change the shape of muscles?
  • Can we make muscles tone without making them bulky?
  • How hypertrophy   works and whether or not Pilates or barre are particularly effective for building muscle.
  • What does it mean to be bulky versus lean?
  • The constrained energy model for metabolism and how it explains why exercise is a poor tool for weight loss and why it’s more complex than calories in and calories out.
  • How human metabolism is a product of evolution, not engineering and more like a business on a budget rather than a car that runs on fuel.
  • How the science of metabolism explains why exercise is so important for long term health and longevity.
  • Whether building muscle makes you burn more calories at rest.
  • That fast and slow metabolism doesn’t mean what people think it does.
  • Whether or not you can burn fat specifically from “problem areas” on your body.
  • How the transatlantic slave trade and the rise of Protestantism influenced the way we think about fatness and thinness.
  • How fatphobia and a preference for thinness has been used to craft and reinforce racial, sexual, and socioeconomic hierarchies over the centuries.
  • Why “long and lean” is to the 1990s and 2000s as “white and nordic” was to the 1800s and 1900s.
  • Why using "long and lean" as a marketing ploy does harm to the teaching profession of Pilates and barre. 

And more!

Sign up here to get on the Wait List for our next Bone Density Course in October 2024!

Reference links:

Episode 60: Dismantling Long & Lean Pt. 1

Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories

Episode 43: Nutrition Facts vs. Fiction with Dr. Ben House, PhD

Fearing the Black Body

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