December 4, 2008 / by srhernan / Make A Comment / Filed under Fitness & Training
Theory to Practice has an excellent post on evolutionary/primal/ancestral fitness. I’ve copied and summarized the key points below, but be sure to check out the whole write up.
Intake
Carbohydrate sources:
- Plants
- Roots and tubers
- Berries
- Fruits
- Nuts (could be considered a fat source as well)
Protein and fat sources:
- Wild animals of all sorts (including muscle tissue, fat, organs, brain and marrow)
- Fowl
- Insects
- Fish and seafood
- Eggs
Output
An exercise session should be constructed such that it is consistent with the following dictates:
- It should be intense, though of short duration
- The chosen movements should be functional in nature
- The individual components of the workout (as well as the workout itself, when considered in total) should be constantly variable
- Workout intensity and workout frequency should act as inverse variables
- Above all, try to learn to listen to the fractal rhythms of your body and adjust the four prior-mentioned points accordingly
- There should be periods of low-intensity “play” interspersed throughout the more intense exercise outings. This can consist of virtually anything you enjoy that involves fresh air and bodily movement. Walking, for example. Light tennis. Softball.
December 2, 2008 / by srhernan / Make A Comment / Filed under Fitness & Training
I’m going to let you in on a cruel fact of nature. As a human animal, your worth is largely dependent upon your ability to hunt, kill, and drag home (i.e. keep) whatever it is that you’ve hunted and killed. “Back in the day,” this was quite a literal experience. In order to flourish as a species, early humans had to accomplish two basic things:
1. Actively harvest scarce resources from their immediate environment
2. Preserve and utilize these scarce resources as best as possible in the immediate moment
There were no “dinner reservations” or “wine pairing” involved with the process. And human beings that couldn’t perform these basic steps…well, let’s just say that their genetic line became “phased out” pretty quickly.
Fortunately, we happen to live in an exceptionally rare period of time where we are awash in comfort and luxury. The advent of agriculture and the cultivation of consistent food sources allowed for more stationary living arrangements. These in turn led to denser human populations that no longer had to contend with issues of scarcity. And with all this extra “play time” on their hands, our ancestors redirected their energies towards more forward-thinking endeavors such as art, science, politics, commerce, and religion.
So how is any of this “caveman stuff” relevant to us in our modern and enlightened society? That answer’s easy:
Just simply remove all the comfort, luxury, and abundance of your current sanitized existence, and you will quickly become a hunter, a killer, and a hoarder of scarce resources.
If you don’t believe me, just look at what’s going on in some of the less “civilized” parts of the world.
Remember: we’re all savages at our core – but some of us are just lucky enough to have more “play time” on our hands.
