caveman exercise: a *why and how* rundown
OK, I’ve just posted on how to exercise at home, using techniques I’ve learned from Origin of Energy’s Aaron and his team.
As a backgrounder, I’ve got Aaron to explain the philosophy behind the exercises he teaches. I love it…I’m absorbing myself in the information at the moment and meeting all kinds of people who live in this way, including a great Sydney wholistic dentist, ballet dancers, marathon runners and chefs (Martin Boetz who owns Longrain is a big fan).
- The movement is sometimes called Paleo living or Primitive living. The Bloodtype diet is one strand. CHEK training adheres to this thinking, too. I’m not a fan of very formalised “diets” and plans like these. Aaron isn’t either. Which is why I like his approach.
- The book or approach that many seem to recommend is Primal Body Primal Mind. You might want to check it out.
- And for an insight into Aaron’s work with footy player Anthony Minnocello’s recovery you might like to watch this:
Aaron explains “hunter + gatherer” exercise
The human body is the expression of the earth’s wild environment. Humans are the most evolved biological organism on the planet. Our whole body is a refined tool for effective hunting and gathering.
Unfortunately most of us don’t stimulate our bodies with the movement, nutrition & lifestyles that created us. As a result many of us have become physically weak, and an expression of sedentary lifestyles.
There is is an innate reason why we find physically healthy & fit individuals attractive. They are good providers & survivors of the natural environment. So to get back your birthright of health, fitness and a lean athletic physique here are some hunting & gathering exercises:
1. Interval shuttle sprints
We walked or sprinted, light jogging would have scared away what we wanted to eat. Uneven terrain & agile prey would not have let us sprint in one direction.
So try this: 10m interval shuttle. Both feet pass the line each time with one hand touching the ground.
2. Alternating Single arm Clean & Press
We would have to move loads quickly and efficiently. Loads would have rarely been even.
So try this: Maintain a neutral spine, reach down between the legs and lift the weight with your whole body, jump under the weight at its limbo point at shoulder height, then use the whole body to throw it over head.
3. Lunge-box step hop switch
Surfaces would have never been even.
So try this: lunge on alternate legs and hop to switch. Maintain an upright position.
4. Kipping Pull ups/ jump pull ups
We would have had to climb rocks and trees with our whole body.
So try this: The kipping pull up uses everything you have in the body to swing and flick yourself up.
(Perform these in a circuit 30:30 meaning 30 seconds of work followed by 30 seconds of rest inbetween)
I’ve been embracing the paleo/primal way of life as well, since starting to incorporate a weight regime into my fitness routine. The paleo diet is pretty much what I’ve been following the past year, & I find it interesting to see how other people are approaching this as well.
Mark’s Daily Apple – http://www.marksdailyapple.com – has been a great resource for paleo diet & exercise info.
Go Sarah! Great to see you on board with this
[Reply]
March 4th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
OK, need to check out Marks Daily Apple!
[Reply]
The exercises they do seem pretty much the same as CrossFit exercises, which I’ve been doing for a few months and has been better than any other form of exercise I’ve done.
Also as part of my CrossFit gym, we’ve also started a ‘Paleo’ diet challenge, which pretty much means eating foods that were available during the paleolithic era. Day four, and I’m loving it already!
Oh and I’ve also recently discovered ‘marks daily apple’, and agree with Natalie that it’s a great website for paleo lifestyle.
[Reply]
I agree with Jovana. As I was reading your blog I kept saying “Crossfit”. I have been crossfitting for almost 2 years now and love it. It is the hardest workout I have ever done and every day is something new.
Marks daily apple is great and you will get loads of tips from him. Also you may want to look into whole9life.com. These two have got it down to a science.
Love reading your blog Sarah, keep it up.
Fellow IIN student.
[Reply]
March 4th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Yep, Crossfit is very similar. THanks Sandra and Jovana!
[Reply]
Also a devotee of the Primal Blueprint. Marks Daily Apple is excellent and his writing is enjoyed every day. Found the PB easy to follow and do so every day! My life has been transformed!
[Reply]
haha, glad you agree Sandra, I’m not sure what the difference is between this and crossfit except for the name..But definitely way better than any conentional gym so I highly recommend it to everyone!
[Reply]
Forgive me for playing skeptic, but I’m always wary of trends. I’m just wondering what do we know about the physiology and general health of people in the paleolithic or hunter/gatherer era? How do we know they weren’t suffering back or knee complaints from hunting? Or dying from scurvy when there was a lack of berries/vegetation? Are we just assuming their bodies were in perfect working order? Was their health really any better than ours?
I just don’t understand why, when there are no medical records or reports stating that paleolithic man was the epitome of health, we should be trying to emulate that lifestyle for modern-day health.
I haven’t done a great deal of research into this yet, so if anyone has any answers to these questions, I’d love to hear them. I like to fully explore and research these things before jumping aboard.
[Reply]
Well Kate, if you truly look at the Paleo way of eating it basically comes down to eating a very clean diet which we all know is the healthiest way to go.
If you are eating a clean diet then you are probably eating very close to what the paleo diet is. The one difference is there are no grains whatsoever, legumes or dairy consumed.
I agree with your comment of how much do we know about the caveman. I had the same thoughts and still do, but having eaten this way since the end of Oct. and losing 28 lbs in the process, I think there is something to it. It has also given me tremendous energy and increased my speed, agility and strength in my Crossfit routine.
Ok, I am getting off my soap box now.
[Reply]
March 4th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Hi Sandra, thanks for your reply. I totally agree a clean diet is a great way to ensure optimum health. I eat organically and avoid processed foods and am happy with the results.
I guess my problem with the paleo diet is that encourages avoidance of grains and legumes – saying that these weren’t part of the caveman’s orginal diet when in fact archeological findings have proven otherwise.
I’m also wary of anything that looks to the past and says times were better and simpler, when various scientific streams suggest the paleo lifestyle was characterised by hunger and violence. Not sure I really want to emulate that.
Anyway, I’m not condemning paleo exercise or diet, I’m just asking questions in order to decide for myself what I agree with or not.
[Reply]
March 4th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
There are actually other reasons grains are condemned, lectins for one – marksdailyapple has some great articles on this. I know personally my auto-immune disease has never been better since I cut out grains, so I know for me this works – however I would suggest everyone try this for themselves, and do their own experimentation, as we are all different!
Also, he has some very sensible articles on how it can be dangerous to romanticize the caveman era. No plumbing, no hot water and constantly being chased by beasties who wish to eat you? No thanks!! The point is more that humans have made nutrition and keeping fit so damn complicated in modern times. We count calories, stuff ourselves with plastic garbage and preservative-laden food, kill ourselves in gyms and obsess over every little bite we put in our mouths, and for what? It obviously isnt working. We have the highest rate of obesity on record, and rising diabetes, heart disease, etc.
If you look at the animal kingdom, they do it simply. Eat when they are hungry. Move just enough to keep optimally fit. You never see an obese lion, or a chimp with osteoporosis, or a fish who needs painkillers just to get up in the morning or sleeping pills to get to sleep. The argument that won me over to the Paleo/ Primal side is – what if it could be this easy for people? Put good fuel in the body, do a few exercises that strengthen not weaken the body and immune system, and balance your hormones all at the same time.
This is only my opinion of course, I’m not a qualified nutritionist, so I think mark’s site is a much better explanation of the science behind it. Also, the idea that processed food is garbage is just common sense. I think of it not so much as a fad, but what we would naturally do if you removed all the other fads we humans follow!
[Reply]
March 4th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Thanks for that info Mia, this helps me to understand the romanticism of the paleo era – I just wasn’t getting my head around that. I’ll head over to Mark’s site and keep exploring and asking questions.
You would have to admit though, processing of foods is booming and people simply eat the majority of the time out of convenience.
Any new discovery for ones self should always be proceeded with caution until fully understood I think, but if the Paleo encourages getting back to basics with exercise and food, then can’t be a bad thing right?
For anyone who wants to investigate further, you should check out Weston A Price. Makes interesting reading.
[Reply]
March 4th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
You’re right Gary, processed foods are everywhere, and it’s not good. Anything that encourages the moderate and balanced consumption of “actual” food ie fruit, vegetables etc as well as exercise is definitely not a bad thing.
I just question why paleo people are being held up as examples of great health when we actually know very little about their health, aside from the fact their lifespan was half our current expected lifespan.
I agree with Weston A Price that we need to be wary of our sugar intake, but his science was dubious at best. His theory on root canal therapy leaking toxins into the body has since been disproved so I won’t be following much of his advice.
[Reply]
March 4th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
I like the overall Weston A Price approach. With ALL these “theories” we have to take the salient points and ruminate on them for ourselves, and remember that newer science will always be tweaking what we think we know. This is a good thing. I don’t think it’s a reason to dismiss the central premises outright. WAP’s theories are quite extensive and I think there’s a lot to take from it…IMO xx
[Reply]
There is also another great blog called Three New Leaves. Some of it is about travel and minimalism as well, but the author Matt has written a lot about how Paleo/ Primal helped him turn his fitness around. And give him 6-pack abs and lose a whole heap of weight. Cant argue with that. It’s a good place to start for beginners who are still wrapping their heads around the concept.
[Reply]
Have to say, I’m definitely inspired now to try having a go at exercise in a different way, as for my diet, I figure it out as I go…trying to keep things simple and see how I respond…but this post and the links will make me delve into some of the research I started doing into the paleo diet…
What I do like about the hunter/gatherer approach is learning about wild food and plants and how you can use them…
Love, Jules
[Reply]
I love all the input from everyone, because everyone has valid and true points and that is how we all learn.
Here at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, we are taught about bio individuality which basically means everyone is different and everyone will respond differently to all kinds of food. It is all trial and error and by trying it out one will figure it out.
Just remember – clean eating and GOOD exercise!!
[Reply]
[...] MINX Sarah Wilson | How to Exercise at Home: A Video | Aaron from Origin of Energy demonstrates some of his ‘hunting & gathering [...]
[...] Some of you asked some questions via twitter on key points of the paleo diet. I thought I’d spell things out a little, because they’re themes that I’ve touched on a lot on this blog. My sugar quitting philosophy is similar, ditto my exercise approach. [...]
[...] These guys live and breath their philosophies and have inspired me in so many ways with my health as I’ve posted before. Alana shares her beauty faves, all of which you can buy at the Origin of Energy in [...]
[...] a ‘why and how’ rundown of the “caveman-ish” style of weights that I do and here’s how to exercise at home, [...]