Becoming more cavemanish...

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

It took me a while, but I decided I needed a day off for knee recovery…and that’s not exactly true. I’ve been spending considerable time working on ideas to change my fitness regimen to include more of the Back to Basics ideas of utilizing my own body weight and things I find outdoors to improve my overall conditioning. I’ve been reading more about Erwan Le Corre and his ‘natural movement’ training methods as well as the ‘paleo diet’ he promotes and follows as a way to combat fat storage (you can read more about his unusual training methods on his web site – MovNat). I’ve been working out religiously for well over a year and am not completely satisfied with the results. I’ve been consulting with nutrition expert, Bob Iafelice…he’s 52 and runs at about 4% body fat…on the diet and exercise topic…to come up with the plan that best fits my needs and situation. I forwarded him some information on both for his opinion…including the little excerpt below which, in a nutshell, is the core of the program:

1. Avoid foods that were unavailable before the advent of agriculture and animal husbandry (like dairy and grains). Instead consume mostly meat, fish, fruits, veggies, and nuts.


2. Exercise like early man. Perform short, intense bouts of whole-body exercises a few times a week: sprint, climb, swim, lift heavy things, wrestle, jump, and tumble. Most important, get dirty and have fun.


3. Focus on skills that have a real-world application. Instead of mindlessly working out, throw things, catch things, climb trees, jump from rock to rock, practice holding your breath, play with your dog, etc.


4. Stress your system. Skip a meal once a week or so. Try working out first thing in the morning without breakfast. Participate in something competitive, like a race or a game.

“So…what do you think of the ‘paleo’ diet thing?” I asked Bob. He paused and then said, “actually…I think it’s pretty solid. The important thing is to eat more foods that don’t induce an insulin reaction, which leads to fat storage of calories…and this diet accomplishes that. He blathered on with a lot of other stuff that, I’m sure, was interesting to other Nutritionist nerds…but I wasn’t following so well. “What I think you need to do is put some of that confusing stuff you just said to me into a simple guidelines kind of format so that plain, old folks like me could follow it without having an aneurism,” I suggested.

He agreed and when he does, I’ll post it and then make fun of him some more. I took a hike in the Metropark to search for more rocks and logs to lift, carry and throw during workouts. I climbed one particularly steep hill from the cabins, but found my knee to be quite sore by the time I reached the top. I did some more push-ups when I reached the top anyway…figuring it wouldn’t bother the knee any. I also found a nice log up there that I could squat under and hoist to my shoulders from where I commenced doing shoulder presses. I got nice and dirty…another important ingredient of LeCorre’s training and something for which the little boy in my has never lost interest.

Holly made us a perfect ‘paleo’ meal…a soup with vegetables, chucks of some kind of beef, kidney beans, and some noodle things. I suppose the noodle things wouldn’t fit exactly, but everything else was good…and I love it.

Hike duration: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 80 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 400.