http://tnne.ws/yl0s97
The link above takes you to a story from The Tennessean, the newspaper out of Nashville. For the most part, the story does what it set out to do: discuss “Paleo Exercise” with a mostly positive spin (obligatory disputing/dissenting/cautionary-opinion-that-most-readers-dismiss included). I take issue with some of the people interviewed:
Mark Sisson is, for the most part, fine- he believes what he believes and is probably healthier than 99% of the population. I don’t agree with every one of his opinions (there’s too much muddled research out there) and the plan he advocates is not functional for most people. I also don’t buy that the agricultural revolution ruined humanity. Overconsumption of grain-based (particularly processed) food is a modern problem, but that does not mean that eating any grains is bad for you. And considering the multitude of ways most unhealthy Americans can die (high blood pressure, heart attack, auto accident), I don’t think we can be alarmist about grains (there is not definitive study that links grain to cancer). That said, he is an authority. I really think his plan is for those who have reached a certain level of fitness and really want to commit to a total lifestyle change. It would also apparently help if you’re financially independent and live near a beach.
The trainers don’t say anything that’s incorrect, although the one comment about people taking the woods for exercise is what prompted me to post. There is no benefit to using a branch as monkey bars, for pullups, or for dips. That’s the single stupidest thing I have ever heard. In fact, I suggest that it is drastically inefficient compared to using a gym. Trees do not design themselves for our exercise and, thus, are demosntrably more likely to cause injury, either through breaking or through forcing us to “exercise” in awkward positions. There’s also the issue of being in the woods, among poison ivy, animals, etc. and away from the sight of the general public (how many runners are abducted in “secluded” spots, again?). I don’t have a problem with “functional exercise”, but it’s the exercise that provides the benefits, not the implements used. What possible gain can you hope to make by throwing a damn rock as opposed to a kettlebell? The rock you use changes constantly, so tracking your progress is impossible. Getting cut hands swinging from banches and throwing boulders and whatever else you’re doing to be “paleo” is not going to magically make you stronger. Carrying a boulder that weighs 90 pounds is the same as carrying a dumbbell that weighs 90 pounds.
If traipsing through the woods, putting yourself at higher likelihood for injury, and generally feeling like you’re alive 20,000 years ago makes you get up and move, then so be it. Just understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Most people just need to focus on moving, period, before they even worry about “efficiency” and maximizing their time.
I mentioned earlier that there isn’t a definite connection between grains and the myriad of health problems. One of my questions is that, if there is a connection, why have humans been living so long, even before the development of modern medicine? It seems far more likely that some people should avoid grains while others can enjoy them in appropriate amounts, as you would meat or anything else (you can find out if you should avoid grains: give them up for a couple weeks, see if you drastically drop weight, experience elevated energy levels, have a tumor disappear (that’s sarcasm), or what have you- cravings for them is not a sign that you “need” them, by the way).
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