Paleo quick Tip of the Day #73 Walk Like a MAN! (or WOman)

pqtd 73 Walk like a Man! (or WOman)!

I don’t mean to be facetious, but here in Paleo Land, where all men are Conan, and all the women are Amazons, and of course all the children are not only above average but also birthed vaginally and loaded with good bacteria...

Walking is paramount!

Let’s say all of your health markers are PERFECT!  If you don’t WALK, it is all for naught... your body will gradually shut down, thinking you must be dead...

This is literally true- if your human body, the ultimate achievement of our entire evolution perceives that you are a blob; that you are just sitting motionless in a cubicle or at a desk (or in front of your TV or Xbox) with only your fingers and eyeballs moving- 

Your body knows you are DEAD- even if YOU DON’T!!

Movement is literally LIFE, in evolutionary terms.  Anything that is alive MOVES.  Stop moving, and your very SELF gives up on you- 

“Well” says your inner self, “ I guess we’re dead, or at least very near it.  We must be locked in a cave, with tons of really bad food, but we must be dying slowly... I might as well shut down, and let the next generation take over, since I am obviously kaput, done, killed and ended!”

It doesn’t matter if you are really enjoying yourself, eating pizza and watching TV at nights, and making big bucks driving around and in front of your computer selling gadgets and gizmos and then maybe working out on a treadmill for a 1/2 hour or so each day, followed by weights...

This is no life, and your body knows it- it knows you are DYING!

I watch animals, each and every day- birds, dogs, cats- and the one constant is constant movement! Not “training to failure” like weight training or Crossfit- not endless, chronic cardio as Mark Sisson calls it, going into the “Aerobic Zone” and keeping it there as long as possible to “burn calories”...

Just simple walking, pure and simple.  The most evolutionarily appropriate movement pattern for humans!  

Think about it: as infants, our primary goal is just to WALK!

We crawl, but as soon as we are able we get up, with assistance from walls and parents, but we get up AND WALK!

This is our PRIME DIRECTIVE- WALK!  All else is just frosting on the cake.

The true beauty of this is it’s simplicity- walking is really the be-all and end-all of exercise!  I started out many years ago with just WALKING.  Then, when I got to age 20 I started lifting weights.  In my 40’s, I gave up weights since I found them injurious, and went to Perfectly Paleo Exercise, which I deem to be Virtual Resistance (self resistance within the muscles) and bodyweight exercises.  

Having gained the integrity of my joints by abandoning heavy weights, I now continue the Virtual Resistance exercises and pushups, pullups, barefoot sprinting, and straight legged situps along with stretching on a daily basis- and I FEEL GREAT!!

I am now 63 years of age, and I plan to continue my daily regimen for my entire life.  But you know what?

The mainstay of my fitness protocol is really just WALKING.  I walk around the yard ( I have several acres) each day, barefoot; at least in the summer.  I always park (to the chagrin of whoever is with me) at the VERY BACK of any parking lot when I go shopping!

My father, Phil Bowers, has always done this himself- ever since I can recall, he parked at the back of any lot, and we all walked to the store!  

Other than this, and the fact that his favorite activities throughout his life were cutting, stacking and storing wood, gardening, and making music- the ultimate constant was constant MOVEMENT and walking!

I am going in July to visit my dad, to celebrate his 95th birthday.  Luckily, he still lives in my childhood home, with my Mom, Carolyn, and they’ll both walk out to greet me!