Golf is the perfect Paleo Sport!

Paleo Golf strikes quite the nerve!  They almost seem the the Ying and Yang- Paleo OR Golf!!


Nothing could be further from the truth!

I think the problem is that people who are drawn to Paleo eating/living are drawn from strength and fitness orientation.  Your typical Paleo "peep" has been a weightlifter for years, has experimented endlessly with diet, and finally found Nirvana in the Paleo Diet and lifestyle!


The lifestyle part seems rooted too much in...  weightlifting!  Not that there is anything wrong, per se, in weightlifting.  It's just that lifting weights, in and of itself, is NOT necessary for total health!


Wow!  Did I just commit Paleo heresy?  Maybe, but if I hear any more about the importance of "Olympic  Lifting" and "Powerlifting" rituals, I will laugh out loud!

Not that I am down on strength training- far from it!  


Training for strength is the "Holy Grail" of fitness, in my humble opinion.

But formal weight lifting, is in reality, just like marathon running, and synchronized swimming, a....

SPORT!!

Weight lifting is not the ideal- strength training is the ideal- this can be accomplished rather easily with "Visualized Resistance" training, where you self resist by imagining you are working against a heavy weight.  

No trauma- no injury- no nerve (via a heavy bar on your neck!) injury, just strength and body composition stimulus-- what a concept!

Running marathons is sport/recreation.  

Lifting weights is sport/recreation...

Eating "Paleo" and exercising with Visualized Resistance and body-weight exercise is PHYSICAL CULTURE in it's original meaning:  HEALTH!

It is so easy to get diverted down various "Rabbit Holes" of fitness and health- I mean, if you run longer and more, aren't you healthier??  And if you lift more weight and even MORE, aren't you healthier yet??

Well, no.  You just want to do enough to stimulate improvement: in body composition, overall strength and fitness, and HEALTH.  After that, you'd be better off working on your nutrition (which is WAY more important than exercise anyway!), and your GOLF GAME, which is kind of like "Western Meditation" in my book.

Most Paleo adherents work out too frequently, too hard, and TOO LONG!

It seems that ALL, virtually ALL exercise strategies fall into this camp:

Too much, too hard, and too long!  ( and without the idea of PLAYING/FUN!)

My advice?  

Work out intensely, and Virtually ( don't use weights- imagine the resistance, or use manual resistance (one arm resisting another on a curl, say).... and use body- weight exercise, aka sit-ups and push-ups and hindu squats...and isometrics!  

Do it briefly, and intensely, and frequently (this is key: with weights it needs to be infrequently- using natural methods of resistance if can (and should!) be almost daily!

AND THEN GO HIKE THROUGH THE WOODS, DANCE AROUND WITH YOUR KIDS, PLAY GUITAR AND SING WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS, OR PLAY A GAME OF GOLF!

Really, all of the above are excellent Paleo Health Strategies!

If you think about it, health and life are really simple:

Eat really well!  (Eliminate grains, industrial seed oils, and sugar- Eat grass fed beef, seafood, good fats, and fermented foods as well! )

Live really well! (Exercise hard, briefly, intensely, and without causing harm- "no chronic cardio or chronic weight training for sport") 

Get lots of SLEEP! (enough said- 8 hours minimum in total blackness!)

Lots of slow, social, movement oriented "sport" movement that mimics tribal interactions that our ancestors dealt with and enjoyed for millennia, aka GOLF!

The more I think about it... 

GOLF IS THE PERFECT PALEO SPORT!

J

Paleo Golf!

Actually, golfing is a wonderful, paleo-esque activity!  Really!

Think about it: long, leisurely hikes (like through the savannah), similar to tracking game...  lots of "slow-twitch" muscle fiber actions (chipping and putting), and just a few drives-(fast twitch power moves- like throwing a spear!)

A few interactions with hostile tribesmen (Judge Smails aka Ted Knight),

 and also a lot of interactions with characters such as Rodney Dangerfield (aka Al Czervik),

 and witch- doctor Ty Webb (Chevy Chase)... you get the idea!  Bushwood Country Club is a Paleo landscape!

Carl (Bill Murray) is a caveman, right on the country club scene!

And then, after a long, arduous (sort of) game of golf, you go to the clubhouse for  a big feast of prime rib or it's equivalent!

Talk about hunt-effort-reward!

So, why is there no mention of golf in Paleo discussions??

I think it is because Paleo/Primal folks are so strength training dominant.  Not that there is anything, per se wrong with that at all- training for strength is key in body composition and overall health, but there is also a huge role for the long, slow movement, punctuated by sudden bursts of high intensity effort that typified the lives of our primeval ancestors!  And, plaid pants and white belts aside:

Golf is IDEAL for this!!

I almost feel a bit like Martin Luther, saying this to the Catholic church hierarchy... but, it's true:

Golf is Paleo!!

There, I said it.  But, before you imagine me playing loud "Caddyshack" music from my golf bag, ala Rodney Dangerfield, and buying a plethora of "Naked Lady tee's", let me stress that I have some definite golf training ideas that Rodney, not to mention Judge Smails would not agree with!!  

(Carl might...)

OK, you have a normal golf "swing", right?  

Well, you also need a "left" golf swing (if you are right handed!)

The normal, "Transformetric" "Visualized resistance", Maxalding or "Dynamic tension"; whatever you call it-these exercises will dramatically increase your strength... and your overall golf game!!

Getting stronger, NATURALLY, will not only help your health, but will REVITALIZE your GOLF GAME!!

There is going to be a lot of that information in my "in-process" eBook :

Perfectly Paleo Exercise! 

This Book is coming SOON!

But for now, let me tell you one, invaluable golf tip:

Just swing from the other side!

Yup, if you are right-handed, practice swinging from the left side!

And, left-handed: do the reverse.  Right side swinging...

BUT, do it slowly, VISUALIZED, with resistance being generated from within, TENSING the muscles of the swing as you go!

Do it maybe 10 times, slowly...

Then, do it the right way, using your dominant (either right or left side depending), and also use the visualized resistance; making it hard, and flexing the working muscles intentionally.

This self resistance is going to build strength a lot, and doing it in reverse will balance out your development, and save your spine.  (The curse of golfers from swinging from one side forever!)

This exercise will only take you a few minutes per day...

But will turn you from a Judge Smails wannabe to..

A Ty Webb(Chevy Chase) golfing guru!!

Even Carl will be impressed!!