Virtual Resistance Exercise

Virtual Resistance Exercise demo

Stretching, Virtual Resistance- and Then Strength! podcast

 

I try to keep you all updated as to what I learn along this paleo journey.  Sometimes, as in anything increased experience and research results in slight changes on the path.  This doesn’t mean the path itself is invalid; it simply means that constant attention reveals small changes may be desirable.  

For instance, now in the grocery checkout aisles (where at LAST I am no longer required to wear a stupid, ineffective mask!) I see the dumb women’s magazines touting ‘KETO DIET’!  instead of  Paleo, or Atkins, or Low Fat, or Vegan  Run Wild diets.  I think Paleo was rejected as a term, since most women think of themselves as Progressives.  But whatever: the term makes the most descriptive sense for the proper diet of HUMANS!

A ketogenic diet is fine, with NO carbs and LOTS of fat, and ample protein.  But it is so extreme, it is clinical, really.  If I was diabetic, or had epilepsy, I would certainly go that route!  But for most of us?  

Nope.  Paleo, or a total Carnivore diet fills the bill the best.  Including organ meats, which almost no one eats now, although our paleolithic ancestors not only included those meats, but positively prized them.  They ate nose-to-tail, and so should we!

If you do eat grains, you should seek out real sour dough breads and nut-based crackers- and keep them in small amounts only.  Your carbs should be kept quite low, which should be obvious since the deplorable state of modern health is defined by obesity- caused by HUGE consumption (by historical standards) of carbs and sugars!  

But, enough of that- this is meant to address exercise.  

For many years, my exercise life has consisted of long sorts of workouts, and then long rests.  1 and 1/2 hour workouts, two or three times per week, very intense.  Of course, I also had a very active, physical job and life outside of the gym.

Now, though, I have begun a different approach.  One that is not only less exhausting and actually kind of something to dread- but is actually quite pleasant, and more effective!  Hard to believe, but sometimes easier is better.

Every single day, unless it is unavoidable, I get up and do a stretching workout.  I do it in front of the television, and that is the only time I watch TV throughout the day.  So, I really look forward to it!  I watch news, and then switch to a movie via Amazon Prime or some such. (I have dropped Netflix- it has become the standard of progressive politics brain washing and political correctness.)  I suggest you drop it too!

I’ve talked of this before, but doing Virtual Resistance types of exercise, putting your musculature through a full range of motion with each limb.  See the demonstration above.

This type of workout, if you do it faithfully, is more than enough to keep you fit for your whole life!  Really.  I always start with that.

Then, I go to the floor, and stretch.  In every way that I can- yoga like, not like yoga, and simply pushing my body and spine to stay supple and flexible!  It’s really not complicated.  Experiment!

Sometimes I end up with straight legged situps and pushups in high numbers, and often with isometrics holds with either a strap or my Exergenie from the 1960’s!  (They still sell the Exergenie, but it is expensive now.  A nylon straps works almost as well…)

Then, having watched about an hour’s worth of a movie and business news, I head to the shower.  I’m not tired- just invigorated and informed and entertained!

My day begins then with breakfast (a paleo smoothie, with kefir, some vegetables, orange and grapefruit, berries and cranberries, and Vitamin D liquid, turmeric, ginger, kelp powder, and apple cider vinegar), and a couple of eggs and/or bacon.  I’m usually doing something outdoors most of the day, and then, after lunch in mid-afternoon, I do my strength mini-workout.  

I have gymnastic rings, and a power rack in my basement.  I go down, and do lots of pushups on the rings, and other gymnastic types of exercises, which I guarantee you will do more for your body in terms of aesthetics and total health and mobility than weights ever could!  And, the rings just cost about $30, and last a lifetime.

It took me a long time, but I finally learned that super-heavy weights are unnecessary, and actually do more harm than good!  And that LONG weight sessions are not needed, or desirable, at all.

20-30 minutes, tops, on the rings is enough.  And twice a week is plenty!  

That’s how simple it can be, for total health and fitness.

Do Virtual Resistance exercises, daily.  

Stretch as well, in front of the TV, early morning.

A couple of times per week, do pushups, pull-ups and dips on the gymnastic rings you have hanging in your garage, basement, or on a local basketball hoop.  

You are now a paragon of fitness.  And it will actually be effortless, since it is your chosen lifestyle, not a form of punishment!  It is your fulfillment.

Why I don't "Lift Heavy Things" for exercise...

This is why I recommend my book, Perfectly Paleo Exercise!

Within its pages you will find bodyweight, self-resisted, and isometric types of exercise, along with sprinting and heavyhands and ski pole forest walking.  Plenty of stretching, too... the sort of exercise that suits you for a long, functional, and healthy life.  And gives you an aesthetic type of build, not the bulky, blocky form of a troglodyte.

Beware of heavy weight lifting- it does not build total health!

Protect and Fix your Joints on Paleo Quick tip of the day podcast

The older I get (and I turn 66 on Friday April 6, so I know what old is), the more I see protecting your joints as crucial.  Muscle can be built, even tendons and ligaments can be gradually strengthened, but the joints are in need of maintenance which they rarely get!  When we are young, we literally take our joints for granted, and beat them up exercising to build muscle, compete in sports, and otherwise propel our bodies around.  

This is all fine, but it points out the old adage that ‘youth is wasted on the young’.  If I was young again, I would do what I do now:  first thing upon rising in the morning, I put my ALL of my major joints through a brief warmup.  I do it right in the bathroom, so as not to disturb my wife.  (I am an early riser).  

I start with just stretching my arms upwards, as high as I can, one arm after another.  I rotate my head on my neck each way similarly.  Then, I put my hands on my hips, and rotate a few times in each direction for the hip joint.  4 to 5 reps, easily, just to get the synovial fluid going in the joints.  

Next I put my hands of my knees, and rotate them in each direction.  Then, I do the same for my elbow joints and wrist joints (I do them at the same time), elbow joints, shoulder and hips together, one quarter squats, and another easy twisting motion.  This whole thing takes maybe 2 or 3 minutes- I will post a video to show you how it’s done.  Easy to show, hard to describe.

The beauty of this is not only does it start your joints with an easy warmup, it also wakes you completely up from head to toe!  No more groggy mornings until you get your coffee.  

I used to lift heavy weights, and now realize that was a mistake- especially for the joints!  Lifting later at a really slow cadence (Superslow ala Ken Hutchins) was a huge improvement, but still too much, and unnecessary.  The weights were less, but still damaging to the joints.  

Now, and for well over a decade, I do bodyweight exercise along with isometrics and ‘virtual resistance’, which is putting the body through a self-resisted protocol of complete motion.  The resistance is self generated in this, and is the key to not only building and maintaining muscle, but also in rehabbing damaged joints from sports and weight lifting injuries.  It took me a little while, but now my joints are perfectly healthy, with all of my knee and shoulder joint injuries healed!  You can do this as well.

The other key thing I recommend doing daily is stretching, methodically.  It doesn’t have to be yoga, but gentle stretching is essential for your health!  You need to get on the floor, and I do it mid-way in my morning workout.  I don’t want to explain it in words, but again will include a video.  A picture is much easier to comprehend than a wordy description!

The final thing to remember is to not injure the joints!  Even in body weight exercise, you can do this- the pushup can be hard on the shoulder and elbow joints, also the wrists.  When I do my pushups, I usually either do them on the Perfect Pushup device (since it rotates, taking off the strain on the joints), or else on my gymnastic rings in the basement- the rings are the very best, joint-protective, and incredibly effective exercise tools around!  Cheap, very effective, infinitely scalable (you can make pushups really easy, or else really hard, or anywhere in between), and great for many other exercises, including pistol squats that do not hurt your knees one bit!

Then other thing to do is to clean up your diet!  Gluten especially will make you susceptible to autoimmune attacks, where your own body attacks your tissues and organs.  A common target is your joints, and you are then a sufferer of Rheumatoid Arthritis!  If you tend in this direction, also eliminate all nightshades from your diet as well as gluten.  Often, just as in type two diabetes, this disease can be reversed, just by changing your diet.  

So there you have it:  save your joints, and move comfortably, strongly, and happily throughout your entire lifetime.  It just takes stretching, lubricating your joints each morning, and cleaning up your diet!  As a side benefit, you will also find yourself lean and feline, like a human cat, for the rest of your life.

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #66 Exercise Each Morning, Forever

pqtd 66  Exercise each morning, every morning

That sounds rather severe, but it really isn’t- think of it as a really slow, easy way to “clear the cobwebs” and slowly rev up the old bodily and mental machinery.  I don’t mean to say you should bounce up out of bed and charge away to sprint, do pull ups and pushups, and then jog for an hour, followed by stretching- not at all!

I want you to slowly awaken after a full 8 hours plus of restful sleep, in a totally blacked out room.  Take a series of deep, costal type breaths lying on your back in bed: inhale slowly, as deeply as you can, first expanding your diaphragm down by your belly, and then slowly filling up the upper portion of your lungs completely- then slowly exhale.  Do this 5-10 times, and you will be completely awake!  Go to the bathroom, and then you can go like me downstairs into the kitchen, where I start the water boiling for my coffee and tea, and do some quick warmup motions on each set of joints- elbow, neck, knees, back, shoulders- just easily rotating the joints to get the synovial fluid going, readying them for the day.  Just like a CAT.

Next, I take my first cup of coffee, laced with a teaspoon or so of coconut oil, and go to the gym... my living room!  Barefoot and with minimal clothing.  You can do similarly, but a room with a tv or computer is really nice- there you can do your morning workout with a Netflix show on!

Spread a yoga mat on the floor, and start your exercises- for my money, virtual resistance exercises are perfect to start- they completely revitalize the body as they refresh and strengthen it.  Go methodically throughout your entire musculature.  Then, go down to the mat and stretch! Finish with a back bridge if you can, and then go to your rebounder, and bounce on that for another 10 minutes.

The L-Sit

Only watch your Netflix favorite while you are exercising- this will make you eager for the next morning when you can pick up where you left off.  Trust me, once you’ve done this for awhile, you will find the perfect exercises for you, and you will relish this early morning routine.  As you progress, you can add in more exercises- for instance, twice per week I also do several hundred pushups in sets of 30-40 with different hand spacings, alternating with hindu pushups, hindu squats, and straight-legged situps.  But just twice per week maximum!

The daily routine, with the virtual resistance, self resisted exercise like curls with one limb resisting the other, the stretching and the rebounding can, and should, ideally be done daily- it is that gentle, and pleasant.  But don’t mistake- it is also very, very effective in strengthening every inch of your body, from your neck to your toes.

Done in this manner, daily exercise is restorative, nothing to dread but something to look forward to. And you will be setting yourself up from the start for what will inevitably be a happy and productive day!

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #63 Virtual Resistance exercise is the PERFECT core exercise!

pqtd 63  Do Virtual Resistance Exercise as the CORE of your workout!

This is a hard one to tackle via a podcast- HOW to describe how to do an type of exercise that we all should know, and do, on a daily basis...

But that no one knows how to do anymore???

It’s like how we eat in the present day-  most people nowadays live almost totally on processed foods, and fast foods- in other words, “fake” foods that come in a bag or a box, require none or minimal preparation, and contain calories but almost no nutrients!  We actually have forgotten how to prepare and cook our own food- this is a skill me must relearn to regain the health of our forebears, and escape the nightmare slide into diabesity, autism, autoimmune diseases, and pharmaceutical overkill for profit!

Simple things like making stock from beef bones or a chicken carcass, obtaining the nutrients from those bones which are crucial for our health- grilling meat and then eating it throughout our week, making our own soups and stews- real, healthy foods that build the health of our bodies in a huge and uber important way- foods that have been largely abandoned in modern, Government subsidized grain based diets that sabatoge our diets, destroy our health, and ensure that we are addicted to a diet that makes us very sick, and very fat, but does not kill us, as long as we take the many very expensive drugs that mask the symptoms of our many diseases, but do not effect any cure of the underlying cause.

And that is because the cure is very simple- eat real foods, mostly prepared at home, and do real exercise!!

Not joint destroying exercise like heavy weight training, or prescriptions for overtraining like P-90X or Crossfit or any of all of those overkill protocols- and no jogging/running for endless miles that only destroy your joints and muscle tissue, and produce massive amounts of cortisol, the stress hormone, that will actually encourage your body to store fat at the same time it is destroying muscle...

No- you want simple, classic, timeless, Perfectly Paleo Exercise, especially in the form of virtual resistance exercise!
But, unless you are from before the 1970’s, you know nothing of Charles Atlas and his “dynamic tension”, and even if you are from the 1970’s and past you probably never heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger “posing” for contest prep, or of Bruce Lee and his katas and isometric holds.

All of these were expressions of the most ancient, effective, and powerful methods of training ever discovered- Virtual Resistance Training!

This is a good modern terminology for this ultimate exercise, that requires NO equipment, can be done anywhere at any time, and builds muscle and strength without any wear and tear on the joints and tendons whatsoever-

It actually builds tendon strength as it also strengthens muscle tissue, avoiding injury from the get-go!

And so- how do you do it?  I will refer you to my site- www.paleojay.com  

I have several short videos of how to do these exercises there for you.  You can also get my ebook Perfectly Paleo Exercise with similar videos and links.  The most comprehensive example of how to do virtual resistance is at http://transformetrics.com/exercises 

John Peterson and Wendy Pett do a great job demonstrating the basics of virtual resistance training!

I know- it almost seems too simple and easy...

And it is simple- but not easy- generating the resistance yourself is every bit as taxing and difficult as lifting weights, and takes a LOT of mental concentration that weights do not as much- but the results are actually superior, and will build a far more symmetrical or beautiful type of lean, defined physique than will weights, that build a bulky, or blocky type of look, with a fat butt and bulging abdomen.  And virtual resistance will also NOT build a “skinny-fat” body, as will endless aerobics or long distance running.

Virtual Resistance exercise will build a natural, balanced, pleasing and symmetrical physique that is like that represented in ancient Greek statues-

a physique that is strong in real world terms of strength!  A body that has tendons that can throw, lift, twist, bend and squat- a body ready for action, NOT for the lifting platform, the posing dias, or any other artificial event...

BUT A BODY BUILT FOR REAL LIFE!

Now scroll down to the next entry, and see some demonstrations of Virtual Resistance Exercise to get the idea... and then incororate them into your daily routine!!


Check out this episode!

A basic tutorial on Visualized Resistance! It is so simple, yet hard to describe...

Here it is- just do likewise, and profit!


To give you more understanding, here is Wendie Pett doing Virtual Resistance Exercise:

So simple, so effective!  Just wanted you all to see how it is done.

One more so you "get it"!

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!

PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe Podcast #82- YOU are your OWN DOCTOR!!

PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe podcast #82- YOU are you OWN Doctor!

It’s true- YOU are your own doctor- your own healer! Especially in today’s world, with the internet, there is absolutely no excuse for YOU not be in total touch with your own health challenges.

You have the internet waiting and ready to answer questions about your health problems-  you have podcasts like PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe, Paleo Quick Tip of the Day, and many others as well to answer your questions, give you insights as to the how and why of the ancestral lifestyle- Blogs like www.paleojay.com, www.mark’sdailyapple.com, robbwolf.com, www.livinlavidalowcarb.com, thepaleodiet.com, and many others- take advantage of these!

Podcasts are ideal, because you can do other things

My new garden gate- made while listening to podcasts!

 while you learn and are entertained all at once- things like driving could be a time sink; but, fill them with podcasts of value, and you are going to the university while you drive!  Same with mowing, washing dishes, chores- it makes it fun and very, very profitable for your health at the same time!  My favorite app for podcasts is Downcast- the free Podcast app from Apple is fine, and so is Stitcher.  Hey- give me a recommendation on iTunes or Stitcher, and it will really help other people to find me, and let me help them, like I am hopefully helping YOU.  Paleo is starting to take over on the health front, and rightfully so, because it is the real deal- it works- not just for a month, or a year, or five years- FOR A LIFETIME IT WORKS!

You are on the cusp of a revolution my friend.  Doesn’t it feel great to be a Paleo Pioneer??  A role model for your friends and family?  Well, if you are “going Paleo”- YOU ARE!

You are also, as I said above: Your own Doctor!

If you go to a medical doctor, realize that he is just a hired consultant; nothing more.  DOCTOR doesn’t even MEAN healer- it means teacher.

And modern medical Doctors can only teach you about disease- and they can only treat the symptoms, not the causes of most modern degenerative diseases that are destroying our health in the modern world- and they can only treat these symptoms with drugs, drugs that are LOADED with bad side-effects- side effects that are often worse than the disease itself.

So, take charge.  Be your own doctor!  How?  Well, grasshopper:

Eat an ancestral diet.  Eliminate grains- they have very little nutrition anyway; especially whole grains!  Whole grains, of wheat, brown rice, wild rice, are loaded with anti-nutrients, i.e. POISONS designed to keep mammals like US from eating them.  They are also by and large purely sugar in terms of our glycemic response and triggering an insulin surge- avoid them.

Eat grass fed meat, pastured dairy- especially fatty dairy like cream, butter, full fat Greek yogurt, kefir.

LOTS of seafood like sardines, wild caught salmon and other fish as well, shrimp, oysters and anchovies.

TONS of veggies!  This is the hardest part- our ancestors basically chewed on vegetables ALL DAY LONG whenever they could- the varieties available in the past were small and tough, but our ancestors knew their importance in health and survival.  The best way to get them into your diet in abundance in the modern world is to VITAMIX them into a smoothie each and every day!  Easy, effective, convenient, and the very healthiest thing you can do for you and your family, bar none- get a Vitamix!  Make Paleo Smoothies!

Get a Vitamix with Free Shipping! ANY Vitamix!

And, this may surprise you, but eat WHITE RICE, white potato (NO SKIN!), and sweet potatoes... originally most Paleo gurus were ultra-low carb, and anti-potato, but nowadays the consensus for most is that including 15-30% of these SAFE STARCHES into your diet is not only not bad, but very beneficial to your health!  This is still far less carbs, and WAY safer carbs than are consumed on the SAD diet; but these safe starches also keep down fungus in your system which is encouraged by either a very LOW or a very HIGH carb diet.  Also, resistant starches that you do not digest yourself when you consume them, like reheated rice and white potato feed your gut microbes instead, which is VERY beneficial to your health indeed- our gut microbes do incredible things in terms of regulating our mood, sleep, and overall health and digestion.

One more tip is to eat LESS OFTEN.  Try to fast, or not eat for about 16 hours or so most days- this allows for autophagy, which is a term for “routine maintenance” of your body, by your body!

If you are constantly digesting, your poor body can’t take care of “little things” like killing cancer cells, consuming damaged mitochondria, and otherwise doing housekeeping of your bodies cells to keep them healthy and vital!  A short break from eating, which is natural, and what our bodies expect and have been made to take advantage of is one of the most healthy, and life-extending things we can do...

So, skip either breakfast like most paleo people do; or supper, like me!

I like to have a BIG Paleo breakfast, with eggs, and salsa, and a big Paleo Smoothie, and pastured bacon and/or sausage most mornings...

A big, giant salad topped with meat or seafood, or heated pastured beef or pork or shrimp and veggies atop some reheated white rice for lunch, and then ANOTHER big Paleo Smoothie late afternoon- and then I’m DONE!
Stuffed and happy- ready to be busy, or relax, read, or play music, or whatever I want with friends and family til an early bedtime...

OR, on days off I often take the standard Intermittant fasting approach and Skip Breakfast; having coffee with a little coconut oil in it, topped with whipped cream, cinnamon and cloves (usually while I exercise in the living room in front of the TV doing Perfectly Paleo Exercise), and don’t eat until maybe 11 or 12:00... either way works, and really frees up time to do productive things rather than just EATING!  It’s kind of like autophagy for your life as well as for your body- by not digesting, your body gets a break, and by not having to prepare, eat, and clean up YOU get a break!
Win Win!

So, that is how to build up your bodies TERRAIN- your natural health, so that your own immune system can keep you healthy, and disease free!

A healthy terrain, or body, means that you won’t need a doctor, or anyone else, to restore your health, since you are doing it yourself, naturally, like humans have done for thousands and thousands of years, successfully!  It’s all about good, nutritious, healthy God made food, LOTS of sleep, lots of God made vegetables and rice and potatoes, lots of animal protein and collagen and fats as provided for us by God (remember the Fatted Calf!)-

And staying active, and flexible, and strong, and vital and lean by doing our Perfectly Paleo Exercises on a daily basis, pleasurably and naturally, whilst sipping our coffee or green or white tea, loaded with anti-oxidants, and enjoying the early morning air in our lungs while we watch a great Netflix movie- reveling in the fact that we have a healthy TERRAIN- we are very, very healthy indeed, and have no need of a symptoms treating MD at all...

Since we have become our own doctor!

PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe #77- Be a Physical Culturist! Forget Crossfit, Bodybuilding, Powerlifting, and Olympic lifting!!

PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe #77- Be a Physical Culturist!

Asian Squat!

Back around 100 years ago and more, to be interested in health and strength and physique and just the ability to do physical things was called “physical culture”.  And so it remained for many, many years- and the bottom line was always, since the ancient Greeks, the cultivation of health in it’s most extreme form!  Since the late 1960’s, this ancient ideal has been… degraded and split to the point of extremes.  Today’s world has as it’s latest fad Crossfit.

The idea was to reverse the split of physical culture into powerlifting, bodybuilding, and Olympic lifting and go back to ultimate fitness; I.e. What sounds like… physical culture!

But it surely has NOT turned out that way!

For one, there is FAR too much emphasis on the use of weights- not machines, but still WEIGHTS in a huge way!  Crossfit has turned into a huge competition- lift more, lift heavier, lift faster- with no end ever in sight!  And have fun doing it!!

This way lies madness…  it is a sure prescription for injury, overtraining and illness, and, again, extreme injury!  It’s expensive, cult-like, and seems to be elitist as well.  I say- JUST DO IT YOURSELF!   Do Perfectly Paleo Exercise- bodyweight exercise, self-resisted, ON YOU OWN, and especially Virtually Resisted Exercises ala Bruce Lee, where the BODY ITSELF generates its own resistance, cat-like, within the muscle itself.  You compete against YOURSELF only, and enjoy the

movements, like a cat stretching on a ledge in a mantra of cat stretches and virtual cat strength movements… then, you rest and socialize with your cat-tribe, eat paleo types of foods for HUMANS that replicate the foods of our ancestors, like grass fed meats and lots of veggies, and then sleep a LOT- this way lies sanity and health and a very high level of fitness that lasts a LIFETIME, not just through the next competition and then you are injured and sick and drained, and your extreme level of fitness is… gone, and you give up, and become fat and sick…

Like the founder of Crossfit himself:

Charles Glassman- founder of Crossfit!!

I don’t mean to point fingers, but you can tell a LOT about someone who “walks the walk” and someone who obviously is all TALK.

And then, there is bodybuilding, the once noble provide of physical culture through the mid 1960’s, when heroic figures like Steve Reeves, and Frank Zane walked the earth:

Steve Reeves

Frank Zane

Actually, Frank Zane STILL walks the earth!

In his 70's!

Powerlifting and Olympic Lifting?  These have been co-opted into the Cross Fit universe, and perverted still more into “speed challenges”- really, both, but especially O-lifting are extreme ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN!

Olympic Lifting

Just the load on the spine of a heavy barbell makes me wince, knowing what that is doing to the discs in your spine, even without the trauma of the moving weights making it WORSE.

Powerlifting

Really, in words from one who has done all of this, in my younger years- at least the powerlifting, and the bodybuilding, don’t do it!  The O-lifting is almost NEVER done, anyway, by anyone over the age of 50- it seems EVERYONE has too much common sense for that, even former O-lifters!

Olympic lifting!

So, even though your local Crossfit Fad Box recommends you “take it up”… DON’T!

Don’t run long distances!  Don’t Lift Heavy Weights!  Don’t Bench Press, Back Squat, or Deadlift!  If you want to be lean, fit and healthy for the REST OF YOUR LIFE, it is simple, needs little or no equipment, and will not take hours per day, and you never need to leave home!!  REALLY!!

Bodybuilding!!

Again: do Perfectly Paleo Exercise, as described in my eBook of the same name.  Check out Transformetrics.com and do the virtual exercises as shown there- very self explanatory! You provide the resistance within your own muscles, just like an animal would!

Perfect Pushup devices!

Do pushups, straight-legged sit-ups, hindu or just plain air-squats in high reps, sprint for brief “wind sprints” of 50 yards or so in sets of maybe 5-8 for ONE time per week, add in some self-resisted exercise: limb against limb training with one arm resisting against the other for curls, presses, extensions for the shoulders…

Do Virtual resistance LEG CURLS and EXTENSIONS!  ASIAN SQUATS- JUST HOLD THEM!!

You don’t need other people, or coaches to do any of this- people have been doing them with great results for thousands of years!!  You can add in small improvements like kettle bells for the swing exercise which is vastly better for you than the deadlift- and the perfect pushup device, that ensures perfect form and also protects your hands, wrist and elbows from trauma during the pushup, but the bottom line is some simple knowledge and experience, along with your own body and the information you need to properly exercise and nourish it.

Nothing more!

The Asian Squat!

90% of the battle of health and physical culture is really DIET, and lifestyle!  Really.

Eat a Paleo type of diet, of which I speak of here, bi-weekly, and at paleojay.com constantly, and on the Paleoquicktipoftheday.blogspot.com every Wednesday.  That is most of the equation!

The Exercise part is not expensive, or at least it SHOULDN’T BE!

There are lots of Crossfit marketers, Bodybuilding marketers, and Powerlifting and  even Olympic lifting proselytizers out there- but, the truth is, you don’t really need or want any of it!

If you are just a normal real person who wants to be slim, fit, strong and healthy; and I mean REALLY  strong fit and healthy as in the upper 1% for your age group-

Bruce Lee DOING Virtual Resistance Exercise!!  ALL YOU NEED!!  Man or woman!

Perfectly Paleo Exercise is ALL YOU NEED!  Not only that, but you will be so much better off by getting away from all that negative, nonsense, cultish CRAP!!

Strong words, but I believe they need to be said!  This is a crazy age, where even regular medicine has gotten “off the rails”, and DRUGS seem to be everyone’s answer to everything.

Prescription drugs and surgery are the M.D.’S answer to everything…

Steroid and other drugs, along with endless overtraining are the Physical Trainer’s answer to everything…

My answer to everything?

Be a Physical Culturist.  Do it all yourself, at home.  Eat right, eat Paleo!  Sleep a lot, at least 8 hours per night.  Have a “tribe” you connect with- at home, at church, in your neighborhood.
Raise animals, vegetables, and pets!  Work physically, challenge yourself mentally, and play when you can with your tribe and pets!  Get lots of sun, and drink a Paleo Green Smoothie EVERY DAY!!!

PaleoJay with his homemade Kettlebell

That’s it, my friend!  That way lies happiness, extreme lifelong fitness, mental equilibrium, and total wellness.  Easy-Peasy!

J

Paleo Quick Tips #4 up!

Yes, friends: the weekly podcast of your own PaleoJay is now up on iTunes, awaiting your listening pleasure!  Paleojay on iTunes  is the easy way to listen- hey, whilst you are there, how about giving me a review?  It would be very much appreciated...

Also, in the podcast I talk about the perils of GMO's, or Genetically Modified Organisms- here is a website that goes into the subject in depth- responsibletechnology.org

Well worth exploring this very important subject, and growing problem!  Our health is at stake in a big way here- what is being done is taking bad foods like soy, corn, canola oil, and sugar beets and making them far, far worse!  

Check it out!

J