Grok On Knowing There`s More To It Than Food

So far I`ve been writing about the food aspect of health and well being. While it is extremely important, it`s not the end-all be-all factor in being healthy. There are also other important lifestyle factors included in our quest for optimal health. Let`s discuss these a bit within the next few 'Wizzles/Wizzliesbeginning with exercise. 

Everyone knows that exercise is good for us, and like all good things there is discussion and controversy over the best way to do it. 

There are men and women logging a zillion miles on a treadmill, men and women struggling to get their allotted free weights to the desired position to work the desired muscle group, and men and women bicycling from one end of the earth to another....all trying to achieve the same thing. The exercises I mentioned can be dissected and branched out into all kinds of different forms of what some people see as torture, and others view as enjoyment. The Primal Blueprint, created by Mark Sisson, has another approach. He calls it Primal Blueprint Fitness, or PBF for short.

PBF is effective, simple (in terms of understanding the exercises), and to the point. According to Mark, it should be very basic, as it was way back when; just like our diet.

To build his fitness plan, he asked himself a few questions. 

1. Which movement(s) have humans been doing for millions of years?
2. Which movement(s) is the body designed to perform?

Since our body is made up of dozens of muscles, ligaments, joints, and bones, all performing separate functions but acting as a whole, which movements use the most body parts at once? Humans have been squatting, horizontal pressing, vertical pressing, climbing, and using our torsos to resist pushing and pulling for a very, very, long time.

We have sprinted for millions of years, and we have walked very long distances at a slow pace for millions of years as well. 

Being that it`s the 21st century and we have chairs, we don`t squat much anymore. We really don`t climb much once we reach adulthood, and many kids never enjoy the art of climbing. Pushing heavy things overhead, along with pulling heavy things are usually avoided as well.

The Primal Blueprint Fitness program is designed around those four moves. The push-up, pull-up, squat, and plank are what Mark calls the 'Four Essential Movements'. What`s extra cool is that you really don`t need to buy anything to do them. You can do them at home with modifications, at a park, or at a gym if you belong to one and don`t want to let your membership go. I had a great monthly gym fee that I didn`t want to forfeit so I kept it and did some of my working out there. You can add weights to the workouts if you like, but they`re designed for you to use just your own bodyweight. 

The PBF plan has three major components which are outlined in the table below:

(Click to enlarge)

Resistance training is the cornerstone to fitness. Stronger people live longer, handle hard times better, and just all around enjoy life more than weaker people. All it takes is two to three 'Lift Heavy Things' routines of seven to sixty minutes a week, employing the 'Four Essential Movements'. I know that`s a wide range; it`s all up to how much time you have, how much of a beginner you are to working out, and endurance among other things. The important part; just do it. 

Sprinting is the best bang for your buck when it comes to cardiovascular training. It promotes the release of a growth hormone, promotes fat burning, and builds long, lean muscles. It`s an exercise that only lasts ten to fifteen minutes and you only do it once a week! I think that`s great news! Sure beats the chronic cardio and endless hours on the treadmill every day.

Slow movement is another foundation of fitness. Walking, hiking, slow cycling; these aren`t about burning calories, they`re about maintaining movement and the ability to move. Three to five hours a week; that`s all it takes.

The things I mentioned total about four to six hours a week. That`s not much of a sacrifice is it? Hard to believe it works, but it does. You do not have to spend hours each day sweating, moaning and groaning to achieve fitness. If you like to, that`s good too, but know that you don`t have to.