Tag Archives: Caveman

Return to fitness, by moving like your ancestors: David Driscole

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David Driscole

What is fitness?

The Oxford English dictionary offers a couple of definitions (and people who do CrossFit will offer others):

  • an organism’s ability to survive (and reproduce) in a particular environment
  • the quality of being suitable to fulfil a particular role or task

Consider the ability to survive in a particular environment (I’ll be honest; I don’t want to tackle the reproductive side of things). We evolved as hunter gatherers, and now live in an environment (physical, political and social) where the link between food and movement no longer exists.

21st century man fills his dinner plate by acquiring money through employment (or student allowance), and then purchasing food. Acquiring money is for most people, sedentary (or much lower movement levels than our ancestors traded for food). Movement for survival (‘fitness’) in our modern environment is largely unnecessary.

  • Sedentary existence predisposes us to obesity, hypertension, the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and most types of cardiovascular disease.
  • Regular movement decreases the risks of developing all these diseases.

Our Paleolithic ancestors exerted themselves daily to secure their food, water, and protection.

You can improve your health through movement in these five areas: Live, Move, Exercise, Play + Rest

Live

At every opportunity choose a way to do live with movement rather than technology; cook your own meals, wash the dishes by hand, fire the cleaner and gardener and do the work yourself.

Move

Move as much as possible with active transport or in your day to day living. Accumulating 10 minute chunks of moderate intensity activity is enough to make a difference.

Exercise (which is where BPM Fitness comes in)

Every week, incorporate the following:

Aerobic and anaerobic movements.

Jog, run or swim; at least four days a week, for 45 minutes of more. Use interval training and sprinting to work the entire spectrum of your cardiovascular health. Either get your heart rate zones tested or use George’s recommendations.

Lift something heavy two to three times a week.

Karl’s top five exercises are a good place to start.

Incorporate some agility type movements a couple times a week.

Martial arts or yoga and Pilates are good ideas.

Play

Find some fun, enjoyable activities to do one or two times a week as a group. It could be indoor netball or soccer? Anything movement related in a team. Depending on the intensity, you could count it as one of your exercise sessions.

Rest

Remember to take some down time too. Either as active recovery, using foam rollers or just plain old R+R. Balance the work and play with rest.

As for the other definition of fitness; being suitable to fulfil a particular role or task, this is where we can really help. But first, you need a goal. If you know what you want, but aren’t sure how to get there, drop by and have a chat with us.

Return to health, by eating like your ancestors: David Driscole

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David Driscole

Have you been wondering why there is so much diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer occurring around the world? In part, it’s because we don’t honour our evolutionary design. We evolved to move; hunt and gather, and eat natural foods; animals, vegetables and fruit.

If you want to improve your health and not become a statistic, consider eating like your ancestor:

Eat lean beef, chicken, fish, seafood, and eggs

By adding a serving to each meal (size and width of the palm of your hand) will satisfy your appetite, and provide enough dietary protein you need to keep healthy. They will also provide enough fats to keep all your essentials ticking over.

Eat your vegetables

Do as your Grandma said – eat your greens. Two servings a meal (again, size and width of the palm of your hand) of non-starchy vegetables will provide a heap of the vitamins and fibre your body needs to operate. Add some starchy vegetables like kumara at one or two meals, to help keep your energy levels up.

Have some fruit from time to time

Fruits are highly seasonal, so eat them as such. The high sugar content makes them great to re-fuel your energy stores straight after exercise. If fruit is making up a big part of your diet (like 4+ servings a day), or you are trying to lose weight, consider pulling them back to one to two servings a day.

Do you really need grains, dairy and beans?

We stood 10000 years ago as we stand today. That is our digestive system, biology, and physical structure. Refined grains really only became a staple in our diet 200 years ago. Dairy consumption was a little older at 6500 years ago.  Beans (legumes) are also a relative newcomer to the diet, considering they need to be cooked before being (nice pun) eaten safely.

So, while many people can consume these foods with no obvious side effects, there is an evolutionary case that they don’t naturally belong at the dinner table.

If you’re interested in eating like your ancestors, try working them out of your diet for 30 days, and see how you look, feel and perform. Otherwise, come find me at the gym and we can chew the fat.

Still not convinced?

Just consider how New Zealanders ate and lived before Europeans arrived in Aotearoa, just 8 generations ago (241 years).  And then consider the health statistics (page 57) since Captain Cook arrived in 1769.

Quick note

These guidelines are for general health, not for specific health concerns or performance above and beyond what is ‘normal health’.