PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe podcast #71- Perfectly Paleo Exercise Equipment

PJSC #71   Perfectly Paleo Exercise Equipment

One of the great parts about exercising naturally, ala Perfectly Paleo Exercise, is that equipment is totally and completely optional!  In fact, the idea of traveling to a gym is the exact opposite of what I would want you to do.  Not that gyms are “bad”, per se, but I want you to put it into perspective:

1.Do you want to be a professional athlete?

2.Do you really want substantial muscle bulk?

Do you want to travel to a gym, change, exercise, and then travel back home- several times per week??  And pay for the privilege?

For 90% plus of us, the answer is NO to all of the above- we want to be fit, lean, and healthy!  And, ironically, exercise is only about 5-10% of the equation:

A good, solid paleo type of DIET, coupled with good sleep, is the other 90%!

So, the marketing illusions are out of the closet- no gym membership or fancy set of weights and weight machines, well tooled Olympic bars, and expensive coaching will do much at all for you, if you don’t first change your lifestyle.

The good news is, it’s easy!  Get a Vitamix, and make a green Paleo Smoothie each day; or if it’s only you, one every two or three days.  Space it out, and you’ve covered about 1/2 of your diet right there!  I have a link on my site, www.paleojay.com where you can link to Vitamix, and get one with no shipping cost!  The recipe for the smoothie is on that site as well.

 Paleo Smoothie Recipe

Then, add in a giant salad for lunch, and have grass fed beef or wild caught fish for supper, along with some rice or potato and veggies- you are done!

“But Jay” you ask, “Isn’t this whole podcast/blog supposed to be about exercise equipment??”

Yes, my friend, it is.  I just want to first explain what is most important, and then to proceed with the topic of exercise.

Exercise is crucial, if you want to look, feel, and perform really good for the rest of your life!

But I want you to understand that if you ignore proper diet, your efforts are pretty much wasted...

So, to get back to basics here:

In my ebook, Perfectly Paleo Exercise, I talk about visualized resistance exercise, where you self-resist in each exercise, using the muscle itself to supply resistance.
This is the benchmark; I believe the very best, safest, most convenient and natural way to exercise- no equipment, no travel- nothing!  Do this first!!

BUT, after you’ve gone through this basic routine, like I do daily, for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour at home, in front of the television in the early morning...

Add in some bodyweight exercises a couple of times per week and you will put the icing on the cake- YOU WILL GET REALLY STRONG, LEAN, AND POWERFUL!

Here is the equipment I recommend:

A set of gymnastic rings

Perfect Pushup device

Parallette bars

Ab wheel

Kettle bell

The gymnastic rings are fantastic!  If there is one piece of equipment I wish I’d always had, it




would be these- you can use them for pushups, flies, tricep extensions, rows, pullups and chinups, assisted chins, dips, assisted one-legged squats- I mean a set of rings, hung up in your basement or elsewhere, are quite cheap, and are so easy on your joints (and yet so demanding on your muscles!) that it makes for a really fast, efficient workout!   I honestly think that, if folks just set up set of rings in their house or garage, they could forego the expense of gyms, elaborate weight machines, and do much better for their bodies in the process!

Plus, you can get started into gymnastic moves, which are a lot of fun, and build balance, strength, and co-ordinated power all at once.

When I see someone squatting (which is fantastic- don’t get me wrong!), but squatting with a barbell on their back- I cringe!  Why?  The compression on the spine is awful, and the stress on the knees and lower back as well... and the results are awful as well-

A fat butt and hips, and wide thighs that rub together when you run?

Who wants that??

And it’s senseless- unless you can do multiple pistols, that is one legged squats for sets, why put weight on your back??

Just don’t do it!  I‘ve been there, and I know it for what it is- a bad prescription!

Do hindu squats, do pistol squats- or, if you can’t supported one-legged squats with your hands helping through the rings, or some other support. (Like a doorframe!)

#2 on my list is the Perfect Pushup device, of infomercial fame!  Really?  Yes, really!

Just get the heavy duty model- I wore out the basic model within a couple of months...

Not only does the Perfect Pushup ensure perfect form on your pushups, it also eliminates all of the stress on your elbows and shoulders through it’s twisting action.  It makes sure all of the stress and stimulation is right on your chest and arms- where you want it to be!!

In addition, the perfect pushup can double as a paralette bar, or p-bar: allowing you to do L-Sits right in your living room!  When you can do a few long L-Sits on your P-bars, you are doing A-ok fitness wise!!

I like to do the bulk of my perfect pushups in the living room, whilst watching TV!  The ebb and flow of the program keeps me “into it” and it’s like sprinting in sets!  I usually keep my feet up high on the couch, and do regular, wide, and then narrow grips-

Exhilarating!

Way, way, WAY better for your physique and fitness that the bench press, which is the BACK SQUAT FOR THE CHEST!    A real shoulder destroyer...

The Paralette bar, or P-bar, mentioned above:

I made my own P-bar, out of PVC- works great!  It is especially good for DEEP pushups, since your are elevated so high off of the floor.  If you want to work on a handstand, these are essential... a “planche” as well, although it will take you a while!

Whether or not you get a planche, (which is levering your legs out behind you whilst holding yourself on your straight arms on the p-bars), the p-bars allow you to work on straight arm strength.  This is the strength that is so crucial for the health of your shoulders and joints, that is virtually ignored by weightlifters, who only concentrate on the strength of their arms when bent; i.e. LIFTING.  Straight arm strength is crucial!

The Ab wheel!

The ab wheel is a wonderful way to work your...ABS!   Not only is it taxing, but it can really build your abs to the max, along with your lower back on the second half of the movement!  A win-win... much better than the strain of a barbell deadlift!!

They are very inexpensive, and wonderful tools to have around!  You can start with knees on the ground, and end up like this ...

The last is the kettle bell!  Again, I made my own, ala Tim Ferris...

I know, you think I hate weights, and I kind of do, but kettle bells are different- kettle bells don’t work in the way barbells do, that you have to:

Add as much weight as possible, as quickly as possible, and then continue- FOREVER!!

No, kettle bells can work the strongest man alive to death with a quite light weight!

And that’s a good thing!

Kettle bells are my “go to” for Barefoot Sprinting in Winter, since to do high rep sets with the kettlebells is very much akin to sprinting, but indoors, and working on the low back, abs, legs and butt much as sprinting does!

And so, there you go- my favorite exercise “gadgets”!

All are simple, very LOW TECH, but VASTLY SUPERIOR TO ANYTHING YOU WILL FIND, AT ANY PRICE, IN A GYM!

What we are talking here is natural exercise, that will develop you, man or woman, into a specimen of the physique that you would actually want.  Not bulky, not awkward, and not freakish-

Symmetrical, strong, graceful, balanced and pleasing!

Both to yourself, and those around you- the best possible YOU!

Isn’t this the idea that we should all get back to?

J