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Years have failed to change us.

November 11, 2009

Years have failed to change us

 

Posted By JAMES GORDON

For decades, anthropologists, geneticists and evolutionary biologists have been piecing together a very detailed picture of how our Paleolithic ancestors lived more than 10,000 years ago. What may surprise you is the fact that we are genetically 99.9% identical to our "caveman cousins."

10,000 years ago, the typical activities for Paleolithic man (or woman) would have involved getting up with the sun, building fires and shelter, long forages for food, water and small game, tracking and killing large game, and running from the game that they failed to kill. Without the "miracle" of digital and electronic media, our primitive friends also spent a great deal of time passing on skills to their children, playing games of skill with peers, and resting. By all accounts, they were healthy, happy and suffered from none of our modern ailments. Absent a serious injury or being eaten by a predator (no emergency rooms), the average lifespan at that time rivalled our own today.

By contrasting the diets, lifestyles and health of hunter-gatherers to today's contemporary, westernized societies, we can learn a great deal about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Obviously, early man didn't have access to the local "Globo- Gym" to work on his biceps. Out of necessity, he needed to be able to lift very heavy objects, walk long distances, pull himself up onto objects, throw, jump, and sprint very quickly.

Your workout program should mirror this pattern. Keep your sessions as varied as possible. Pass on the "machines" and opt for free weights. If your gym doesn't teach functional lifts like the dead lift, squat, and clean, find one that does. Once or twice per week, run (or row, bike, swim, skip, etc.) very fast. These should be all-out efforts done in intervals. Workout sessions should be kept short but done at a high-intensity level.

On off days, keep active, but at a lower intensity level. Play sports, walk or bike with the family, or go for a hike. There is no need for an extended two-to three-hour treadmill/ bicep curl-athon. Routine is the enemy; change your workout times, exercises and environments constantly.

For nutrition, it's very simple. Eat a wide variety of lean protein, lots of vegetables, some fruit, seeds, nuts and oils for fat, very little starch (our ancestors ate no processed carbohydrates [bread, pasta] and were free of most of the ailments that plague modern society), and no sugar. Eat enough to maintain your energy levels, but not enough to support weight gain. Opt for food choices that were made by nature, not by a scientist.

Your body craves this type of activity and diet. We evolved over time as the perfect hunter-gatherer and are ideally suited to this lifestyle. By adopting a "primal" attitude toward health and fitness, you can let your body do what it was originally designed, by nature, to do.

James Gordon is from CrossFit Orillia. He can be reached at 327- 0920 or www.crossfitorillia.ca.