pjsc # 126 Forest Exercise

Hiking with poles.  Doesn’t sound too earth shaking, does it?  But, as you know if you are a regular visitor to www.paleojay.com or listener to either PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe or Paleo Quick Tip of the Day,  I pretty much go into my woods for a hike every afternoon.  Usually I take my “heavy hands” with me, meaning I pump small dumb bells in my arms as I go.  Believe me, if you have never tried this method of working out (which I combine with “forest bathing” by getting out into nature as I go) you really should!  It works your entire body, rather than just your legs, since as you pump your arms in curls, or side lateral raises you are engaging the upper half of your body at least as hard as the lower half.
I really like to mimic cross country skiing with the dumb bells (usually 8 lbs in each hand), swinging the weights from high to the back as if I was poling myself on my skis.  (It’s actually more taxing than skiing, and thus more productive exercise-wise).  I do duck walks with the weights to really hit the quads, and other moves that I have made up over time.  Try it!  If you can find the book Heavy Hands by Leonard Schwartz, get it- he pioneered this form of exercise back in the 1980’s, and he explains it eloquently.
But, back to hiking with poles!  I have a slight shoulder injury I sustained while cutting and moving wood, and so I have been substituting hiking with ski poles.  I really lean into the upper body, and so the upper body gets a fantastic workout as I walk, just as it does with the heavy hand weights. But it is easier on the shoulder joint right now for me with the poles.
Also, we have had snow the past couple of days (hurrah Wisconsin!), and my hilly land is quite slippery with a little snow- the poles keep you upright easily, and spread the load over four limbs (like a cat) rather than just two.
I was out this past summer in Montana, in the wonderful Glacier National Park.  I recommend you visit it at some point, it is spectacular!  Anyway, there are a number of employees of the park that monitor wildlife, and watch for forest fires.  They spend their days wandering the huge park, through the woods and up steep mountainsides.  They all hike with ski poles, and look to be very fit indeed!  They get the adjustable kind, that collapse really small when they want to get on the bus that takes them back down, or back up again.
I have poles like that, and they are handy as can be.  In fact, I don’t like to hike without them!
So there you go.  A simple little trick that will double your hiking ability instantly, and also double it’s effectiveness as exercise!  But above all, just get out into nature, however you enjoy it.  We are creatures of nature, even though we tend to forget it, and if we separate ourselves from the natural world we are pretty much locking ourselves into man-made cages.  Let yourself out on a daily basis, for at least a little while- your body and mind will thank you.

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #91 Green Exercise!

pqtd 91 Green Exercise!

This is another name for something that I’ve been recommending for a long time now- I called it Forest bathing; where a person would walk about in nature, in a forest as I do almost daily, or in any natural landscape, be it a beachfront, along the river, or just in a park.  It turns out that the University of Essex, in England, has been extensively studying the benefits of exercise in Nature for over 12 years!

They have lots of studies that they have done on the benefits of exercising in nature as opposed to in a gym setting, and the benefits are manyfold.  Primarily, mental benefits come from getting out in nature- just think about it, just as our paleolithic ancestors eating an ancestral, paleo type of diet, and we have evolved to do so as well- just as they slept long hours each and every night- so too did they spent ALL of their waking hours out in nature! 

It is something we have hard-wired into us.  We are creatures of nature,and are meant to be IN nature on a daily basis.  The best way to experience nature is by exercising outside, not just sitting in a chair, say, on a beach or in a lawn. 

I like to take a hike through my woods on pretty much a daily basis.  Barefoot is best, or now, when it is getting colder here in Wisconsin, I wear my Xero sandals, which are just a slim piece of rubber between my bare feet and the ground... later, when it’s even colder, I will wear my moccasins, which are just leather between my feet and the ground, allowing my toes, and every tiny muscle in my foot to balance and strengthen as I go. 

 

I think, beyond mental benefits such as alleviating stress and preventing depression and worry, such exercise has definite physical positives as well.  The hyper-oxygenated air in a forest or any plant covered terrain is wonderfully beneficial, as is the very sounds of nature: the rustling branches, the calls of birds and small animals, and the feel and crunch of pine needles and dry leaves underfoot.  Even the pollen from the trees is something that is good for us, since we have co-evolved with it since before time began!

In addition, by being outside, we use our eyes as our ancestors did, as they are meant to be used.  We look off towards the horizon, actively as we move, not at a screen right in front of our face, and we are engaged in, and actually a PART of nature!  This is something we need reinforced, in this day of artificial, sterile environments.

I sometimes, about once per week, sprint barefoot around my property, in short interval bursts.  This is great, and something I look forward to, usually on Sundays.

But for a daily Green exercise regimen?  Take a pair of small dumb bells, lately I’ve been using a pair of 7 pounders, one in each hand.  Then PUMP them as you walk!  This makes a leisurely walk, with plenty of time to observe nature as you go, into a demanding, total body workout.

Pump with high curls each step, or do side extensions for the deltoids as you go.  Stop periodically, and do a set of pushups on the dumb bells- it keeps your hands clean, and you can go lower on each rep!

You can even stand perfectly still, and do curls, or presses for awhile, and then resume walking- a great variation is to mimic the moves of cross country skiing with the bells making the arms work as hard as the legs.  Experiment!

Have fun with this!  It is demanding enough that it could be a stand alone exercise and mental health regimen.  Oh, it has a name, this dumb bell protocol- Heavyhands.  It was very popular in the 1980’s, and somehow has fallen out of the mainstream.  I guess it is just so cheap and easy, so doable by anyone, that no one figured out how to make money off of it!  (No expensive equipment, no pricey shoes or gym memberships)...

Oh- it also doesn’t take long at all!  15 minutes is plenty; trust me, it’s very taxing, but since all the “work” is spread around all of your limbs (PanAerobics), it seems easier.

So go ahead.  Go green!  Even if you’re NOT a Packer’s fan!

Another GREEN item!

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #17 Throw out your Scale, and then Go Forest Bathing!

The  first thing I’d like you to do today, after listening to this podcast is to…

THROW OUT YOUR SCALE!

Forest Bathing!

The ridiculous notion of measuring how much gravity we displace, on any given day, is just that- ridiculous!  It shows NOTHING!

Like our BMI- there is nothing about how much muscle to fat ratio there is; it is just how much weight we displace on this earth… signifying ….
NOTHING!  Modern medicine, and modern life in general thrives on measuring, and quantifying numbers.  Unfortunately, most of these numbers don’t mean anything, but they are looked at very gravely, and the practitioner folds his or her hands and says:  “Oh- very interesting!”

One of the most worthless indicators of your health is… YOUR BODY WEIGHT!

There, I’ve said it!  If your goal is to be “as thin as possible”, you are very, very confused, and brainwashed by the media and the medical establishment…

What you REALLY want is to be as healthy as possible!

DUH!!

Really, how did we ever get away from this vital, common sense, obvious conclusion??

Well, my theory is that we have fallen for fake “Scientism”, rather than true SCIENCE, as was advocated by the ancient Greeks.  Scientism is what has predominated for the past 50 years or so, and it is fake, 1830’s or so era “science”, that leans on common knowledge, and repeats it, without question, and without following the real scientific method, which assumes you need to TEST the theory, rather than just ASSUME it is true!

In REAL SCIENCE, we would TEST the idea that body weight has any relation to overall health… but, in our current, medically sanctioned  view, it is a GIVEN, just like the notion that FAT IS BAD.

These are medieval notions, in both cases- They are only true, because…

THEY ARE SAID TO BE TRUE!

Throw away your scale, and concentrate on how you FEEL, your overall HEALTH, and photos of your physique for an unbiased view of yourself!

The more muscle you build, through Perfectly Paleo Exericize, utilizing body weight and virtual and self resisted exercise- the BETTER!

And, the more WEIGHT you gain from this, the BETTER!

Muscle is metabolic currency- it will keep you healthy better than any other asset you could gain.

And so, my friends, throw out your scale?  As Robb Wolf says famously:
“Give it to your worst enemy!”

Let THEM suffer.

And after you’ve done that, go out and…

FOREST BATHE!

Never heard of that?

As I understand, it is a BIG trend in Japan.  And, as I know, it is a  HUGE trend in rural Wisconsin- particularly in the PaleoJay community!!

Probably one of my favorite things in LIFE is “forest bathing” in my backyard!   I have several acres here in Southwestern Wisconsin, and what I LOVE to do is just… (you guessed it)- FOREST BATHE!

What does this even mean?

It means I just relish nature- I go out, and walk around on my property, enjoying the birdsong; the pollen in the air, the oxygenation all around me, the trees, and the grounding of my bare feet with the earth!

AND THIS TIME SPENT IN NATURE, EVEN IT IS JUST 15 MINUTES, IS MORE IMPORTANT TO MY HEALTH, BOTH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN MY LIFE!

Sorry for the Capital letters in the show notes, but I feel really strongly about this.

I have gone so far, that I have even built a small structure, a TINY PUB, that resides way back in my woodlands…

TINY PUB!

It’s a retreat, a hide-away, and even a JUKE JOINT, given my musical leanings- and, above all, it is a BLAST!

This evening, I spent several hours down there, playing guitar, then reading, and finally just gazing out the opened doors of the PUB as we call it, since it is Irish-themed.. With my faithful CAT by my side!

This evening did more for my overall health than a TON of lab work could possibly have done!  I FEEL WONDERFUL!!

Go thou, and do likewise!
J
www.paleojay.com

Check out this episode!

Forest Bathing- a Paleo Practice!

One of the best, most common-sense yet vastly underdone things we can do for ourselves in this modern age is to... go back to our roots- back to nature!  This has become a a wellness strategy in Japan,"Shinrin-yoku" with people scheduling time in forests for their health; I think it is a natural for the Paleo lifestyle, and is loaded with "Paleolithic benefits":

In a forest, we are immersed in the environment in which our ancestors lived continually; we are uniquely suited for such a landscape.  We are symbiotic with trees and other plant life- they give off pure oxygen, which is our life-force, and we give them back carbon dioxide... perfect- a "win-win"!  


The essential oils and the plethora of plant chemicals that wash over us in our natural forest land are something we have lived with, and are attuned to, and that our bodies expect and need.  Concrete, urban environments are a relatively very recent invention; just like eating grains and quantities of sugar, how we live nowadays is not natural to us.  We need Nature!  We mainly live in a man made world, but we really need God's world, at least for part of our time.

So incorporate some forest bathing into your life!  Steal away for a little "immersion into our Natural state" each day if possible.  Either ambling along down a forest path, or sitting quietly with grass underfoot beneath a friendly tree, your health, your psyche, and your very self will be rejuvenated and enriched.

A Fall walk in the woods

My wife took a walk yesterday and returned with a bonus........wildflowers!