Forget Cardio!

 

The truth is definitely in: the whole fiasco of Ken Cooper’s Aerobics mania is dead.  Along with the high fat diet is the worst,  and the even earlier notion of  ‘better living through chemistry’ which promoted the noxious idea that drugs could not only prolong our lives, but improve them.

Despite Elvis and all the other following celebrities who were convinced that those ‘god-like’ prescription drugs could only make their lives better- after all, hadn’t science invented all of technology like cars and airplanes and tv- shouldn’t our biology also be improved upon by science and technology?

Well, no.  As the whole Paleo Diet and lifestyle revolution showed us, basically we are unchanged since our paleolithic past, biologically.  Evolution is very, very slow, just as it is unforgiving of bad missteps.  (We are currently devolving intellectually in the Western world, sadly, because of bad ideas about immigration and multiculturalism, that are lowering our average IQ and diluting the obvious strengths of our culture.  But that is for another podcast.)

And so, by switching to a high-grain and vegetable, low fat and less animal based diet, we severely impacted our health and vigor to the negative!  Just as we did when we succumbed (as most do today) to the idea that more drugs and medication are better.  (They most definitely are not better.)

The NORM should be that a human being should be taking no drugs whatsoever, whatever the age.  Drugs, whether prescription or illegal, can only make our overall health worse, not better!  Our bodies are amazing things, and will inevitably thrive if we do certain evolutionary, and common sense time-honored things:

Live in harmony with the natural world.  Get out in the woods and fields, barefoot, and move in nature.  Breathe pollen and fresh air, drink pure water from springs and wells.  (Not chlorinated/fluoridated pool water as most cities provide).  Stretch and move your joints through a full range of motion daily.

And do strength types of training on a regular basis, not cardio/aerobics!

Since the Aerobics boom in the 70’s and beyond, we expected to see a fit, vibrant group of practitioners flourish all about us, inspiring us to emulate their wonderful health achievements!  Yet, despite them training for and running marathons, half-marathons, and many other iterations of long distance running, the results we see no are just destroyed hips, knees, feet, and backs from meaningless pounding and jarring.  

Also, the endless low intensity work just encouraged the body to shed vital muscle tissue, and even impacted the organs as the body interpreted the conditions of evolution to be such that getting rid of tissue at any cost was a necessity, now that the body was being pushed to carry itself for endless miles, day after day, without letup!  Also, calorie consuming was vital, since it took energy to endlessly run, so eating bad processed carbs and grains seemed to make sense to this aerobically abused body.

And so, people were encouraged to push their bodies like this, at a long, tortuous low-level exertion, day after day, forever.  I believe that this forced the body, over time, to succumb to cancer, since the immune system cannot function while being so endlessly insulted and taxed!  

And when these folks stopped running, because of endless injuries and immune diseases that also proliferated in their bodies because of this constant depletion of resources, without necessary rest and recuperation- why, they just got fat!

Depleted of muscle because of endless aerobic demands, these aerobicized bodies were now just damaged skinny-fat people, stiff and weak and not fit at all!

How sad.  All that hard work left them damaged, diseased, and less fit.

I admit, to some extent back in the 1970’s, I fell for this myself.  Along with bell bottoms, I ran down my country road for a few miles several times per week.  But somehow, instinctively I always knew that strength counted for more than endless mileage being racked up by the human body.  So, strength training took precedence.  

And, as it turns out, strength training is indeed paramount.  Especially as we age, muscle tissue is crucial not only for lifting and moving things (like our own body!), but also for maintaining our sense of balance, and preserving our overall health and sense of independence!  In addition, muscle burns calories, not when we are mindlessly and endlessly racking up mileage on the roadways and sidewalks, but when we are simply existing- sitting, sleeping, walking, and eating- our muscles are constantly burning calories.

And so, my takeaway is this: Do strength training daily, or nearly so.  Stretch daily as well, and confine your ‘aerobic/cardio’ to barefoot walks in the woods and yards and beaches, and bouncing on your rebounder, which simultaneously energizes and cleanses your lymph system while training your balance mechanisms.  

And remember this, too- if you strength train properly, it is more aerobic than running.  While it builds muscle, it also works your cardio system, and does not destroy your body in any way.

So there you have it.  Do Perfectly Paleo Exercise!  And avoid drugs of all kinds, while eating a paleo diet that is animal based, with adjuncts from plants kept at a minimum.  Oh- and get out in nature every day, and avoid big cities, pollution, and our ever-growing criminal populations.  (You will need a gun for that, also.)

That’s it, you are now a modern, enlightened Paleo person who will carve out a future for healthy people on our planet.  You and your family- I thank you!

Bribe Yourself to Exercise podcast on Paleo Quick Tip of the Day

Perfectly Paleo Exercsie

I know for a fact that most people will make any excuse not to exercise.  Not just occasionally… but consistently!  There is just something about hard, physical work that makes us consider any excuse to avoid it.

No two ways about it: exercise, if done properly, is really hard.  Really, Really hard!  

That is how it is designed to be.  Only by (briefly) pushing our bodies to the limit, and maybe a little bit beyond-can we hope to adapt to actually increase our strength and physical abilities!  It is a hormetic response to stress, and is the only way to increase our physical strength and resiliance.  

Just as hard study is necessary to increase our knowledge base, so too are hard workouts to increase our physical base.  And, there is no immediate payback after each workout!  This makes it hard to continue, especially as we get older, and no longer compete in childhood sports where we achieve recognition and immediate feedback.

I’m now 66, and I exercise every single day, (at least when I can).  How do I motivate myself, since there is no one there to “whip me into shape”, no ‘coach’ that I rely on??  Why do I walk donwstairs into my living room every single morning of my life, (early because I have to do something else), and willingly push my body to its limits???

Because I bribe myself!  

Television nowadays is incredibly addictive.  For many, many years I went without TV altogether, since reception in my rural location was almost non-existant.  

But finally- cable TV, and then Netflix and Amazon Prime became available, even here in the middle of ‘flyover country’; (i.e. Heaven).  All at once, all of the movies, and tv shows I hadn’t seen for decades were available to me- and without commercials!

I would watch shows in the evening, but it soon occured to me that this cut into what was my treasured reading time.  I decided to relegate my television viewing, especially my fun, leisure, Netflix and Amazon type watching to the mornings only!

This was exactly what I needed, and I believe what you need too!  

When you awaken, ( I always do limbering exercises in the bathroom upstairs before I even go down), just immediately make your coffee, and then fire up your TV!  (Because that is what you have bribed yourself with)!

Take your coffee mug into the living room, start your program of choice (which you haven’t seen since the last exercise session, and you are dying to continue), and start watching! (And exercising!)

Virtual exercise (ala Perfectly Paleo Exercise) is ideal, as are pushups, straight-legged situps, isometrics and self-resisted exercises.  Stretching on the floor is also desirable, so make sure you have a yoga mat tucked away in the room.  

Just do it, every single morning!  You will look forward to it, trust me- TV is that addictive- as is the addictiveness of endless physical self-improvement.  I really, really enjoy pushing myself each and every morning, as I am immersed in watching an action-packed video- 

And I know that you will too!!

Once you tie watching your favorite movies, and other programs to also exercising at the same time- well, it like taking a bad addiction, and making it productive and wonderful!!  

Really- start your positive addiction.  Couple TV watching with Exercise!  Watch your health and physique dramatically improve. 

And the funny thing is that: once you start this habit of exercise, you will want to do it more- heavy hand walking in the afternoon, pushups in the basement on gymnastic rings, pullups in the garage- your body becomes what it is meant to be, that of a strong, vital, uncaged animal!  

And, you watch enough TV to satisfy you, while leaving your evenings free for self-improvement of your mind, along with family interaction.  A true, WIN WIN!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #54 Exercise is in your MIND- Virtually!

I’ll say it again, I have often enough- exercise is all about the MIND, not the exercise equipment!  The more high tech, the fancier the weight lifting apparatus; generally the less it facilitates the all important mind-muscle connection.
This last is the most important thing to achieve in developing your body!  Notice, I do not say how to lift the most weight- this is irrelevant.  What we want to do, if you think about it, is to move your body in a manner that develops you and your body to the ultimate degree possible.  NOT just “how much you can lift”, all of which is determined largely by your joint and tendon attachments, and your various limb lengths relative to your torso…

What you want is to develop your own body (and mind!) to the best, natural, strong, fit and flexible, athletic and symmetrical physique you can attain- the best possible YOU!

Lifting heavy weights will not do this- you will be led to progressive and irreversible injury, with ruined joints, weak ligaments and tendons, and lifelong pain!

Running long distances won’t do it- you will have ruined joints, low muscle mass, and a “skinny fat” body that at first can only run, but after a while, can’t even do that!

Crossfit, Olympic lifting, long distance running- they all are, long term, dead ends.

I think conventional bodybuilding is also a dead end of pain, given that nowadays heavy weights are a given, but I recently heard an interview of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Tim Ferriss that was like a tonic to me.  Arnold said that he eventually realized that, when he trained best, it was like a meditation.  He flexed his biceps, and completely connected with his mind, flexing just by imagining lifting a weight- the weight was superfluous!  By flexing, whatever muscle group he chose, and really imagining it, and making it as hard as he wanted, the stress on the muscle was ideal, and it would grow!

Virtual Resistance in action!  

This is virtual resistance training, and the best first step in building your body.  Next, add in self resistance training, where one limb opposes another by pressing against it, and now you develop your tendon and ligament strength along with your muscle strength- this is key to develop raw strength and power along with the ability to sustain it without injury.

If you use heavy barbells, for instance, to build bulky, blocky muscles- these muscles will quickly outstrip the strength of their “connectors” in the tendons and ligaments, and you are setting yourself up to have your rotator cuff, and your knee joints to rupture and tear. This is no joke!  Besides you winding up with heavy, saggy pecs from heavy bench presses (not a very masculine image, is it?) and a protruding abdomen and fat butt from heavy squats- you can also look forward to injured joints and torn tendons and ligaments from a misbalance between tendon and muscle relative strength.

There IS an easier, and better way!

Perfectly Paleo Exercise.  I mean natural, virtual resistance exercise (ala Arnold), followed by self resisted exercise, and then body weight exercise and simple stretching, all done in your living room or in your basement or garage.  Add in a once per week session using a pull up bar and/or gymnastic rings, and you will build the perfect, lifelong, functional and completely healthy and natural physique that is each of our birthrights!

And all without any injuries, expenses, commuting, or just plain PAIN that comes from things like Crossfit or other Big Gym Box experiences.  Do it yourself, at home, with your tribe, in your own cave or meadow.  It’s really not complicated, just like real health is not complicated- we don’t need medicines, we don’t need surgeries, we don’t need endless drugs and procedures!!

We need good, real, God made foods like grass fed meat and dairy- real organic veggies and fruits, real fatted calf fats like- the fatted calf!  Pastured dairy! Organ meats! A “tribe” to connect with- a belief in something greater than ourselves, OR ANY ONE GOVERNMENT!  Land to work- a garden- a space to get our hands dirty and do REAL WORK!  Not sitting in a cubicle, or driving around to meetings, or talking on the phone conferences… real work.

Our evolutionary heritage demands all of the above.  There is no escape, no one else can do it for you.  It’s simple, and it’s all do-able IN YOUR MIND.

Check out this episode!

Perfectly Paleo Exercise eBook is available NOW on Amazon!

Here is the cover!  Wow- dynamite cover!!  Parisian Paleo Artiste "le-Jaymo" painting your future health with a natural dietary palette...

As of now, the eBook is only available on Amazon, via the Kindle app.  Using the Kindle app, or, if you have one, the Kindle itself, is a seamless way to view the book!

You can use the app on your iPhone, your iPad, your Android tablet- whatever!  It's a free download, just go to:

All devices free Kindle app download!

Anyway, my Paleo Quick Start Exercise friends: if you want to view this book in all of its paleolithic glory, you have only to go to this link:

Perfectly Paleo Exercise

I hope you enjoy it!  Paleo DIET has been done to death- Paleo exercise, natural Exercise has been given short shrift...

Up until NOW!


J