“Every man is the builder of a temple called his body.” – Henry David Thoreau
As a frequent Forum, with Michael Krasny listener, I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional Ancestral Wellness literacy expressed in this recent show (Are Humans Meant for Monogamy?) by guest Christopher Ryan, psychologist and co-author of “Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality“. Ancestral Wellness acuity of this level is rarely encountered in the mainstream. Even mentions of vegetarianism in this show come with the caveat of “know your biological underpinnings and, if you still opt for a vegetarian diet, do so with this knowledge and take the necessary precautions”. In this way, Ryan compares monogamy with vegetarianism — no moral judgements, just sound precautions if you chose to operate outside of your genetic hard-wiring. Know thyself, then adjust accordingly so as to support your goals and wishes.
Hmmmm; where have you heard that before? 😉
Now this idea is as easy to parody as Paleo itself; however, Ryan isn’t advocating wanton hedonism, but rather, a need to know your genomic hard-wiring, and the hows-and-whys behind that hard-wiring’s development over our species’ existence.
Social networks and the innate human search for “spiritual meaning” (note: as opposed to religion), in my mind, are the missing — or at least, as yet unexplored — “third and forth rails” of the Ancestral Wellness movement. Knowing who we are, in terms of diet and exercise, in an evolutionary sense, forms the base upon which those of us within this movement craft a healthier, happier and fitter lifestyle. What’s missing, of course, is the societal and spiritual element. Living within the societal structures of our current, modern dictates is as much an anathema to our well-being as subsisting on a Standard American Diet, or negating the positive implications of movement/exercise in our lives. Neglecting our hard-wired need for “meaning” is just as corrosive.
Christopher Ryan suggests that the current economic situation may in fact drive some forward-thinking people to begin to form nascent “clans” (my word, not his), with both shared responsibility and shared fruits-of-labor. As necessity is the mother of invention — or in this case, re-discovery — this can only be viewed in a positive light vis-a-vis hunter-gatherer clans and their propensity toward egalitarianism. It will be interesting to see how governments deal with this scenario.
Ten-thousand-plus years of severe social conditioning, of course, won’t be scrubbed away in a mere generation or two. But as with all cutting-edge ideas, there will always be forward-thinking, early adopters. It is, in my mind at least, inevitable that the first “new clans” will emerge from this already egalitarian/libertarian minded Ancestral Wellness “sub-culture”; a sub-culture, by the way, that I am proud to be a member and vehement promoter of.
And hell, let’s go ahead and throw shamanism into the mix of ideas that were squelched/repressed/shamed a result of leaving behind the egalitarian, hunter-gatherer lifestyle as well. Few non-fiction books have rocked my world the way Graham Hancock’s awesome work, Supernatural, has. Totally mind-expanding, to say the least, in the way that Peter McWilliams’ work, Ain’t Nobody’s Business if You Do, skewed my political views (much further) toward practical libertarianism, way back in the day. Ditto for Peter McAllister’s Manthropology, in shaping my notions of the average Joe’s physical ability and work capacity.
Food, fitness, societal underpinnings and spirituality, taken together and as viewed form an evolutionary prospective, round-out the Ancestral Wellness model.
The return of the clan and the clan shaman are, in my estimation, are a much-anticipated inevitability. Sign me up for both.
A Weekend Fun and Frolic — on the field, in the parking lot and in the gym
Saturday: speed work –
(1) sprints: 6-seconds, self-timed, all-out and with full-recovery between reps. Autoregulated by distance, in that when I failed to attain max distance two times in a row, I pulled the plug. I think I ended-up getting about 10 efforts in, though I wasn’t trying to keep count. “Full recovery” equated to about two minutes between reps.
(2) dual-leg speed hop; 10 seconds for max distance. Same autoregulation idea as above. Again, roughly 10 attempts before reaching drop-off.
(3) dual-leg hop — tractor tire course. 8 tires dispersed randomly, but spaced so that I could hop in, out and between each tire so as to complete the course. Done fast as possible, but with no “double hops” or misses. 6 rounds, full recovery between rounds.
What’s the difference between speed and speed repeat (or speed endurance) work? Check out this article from Elite Fitness: What speed training really means. I can explain it no better than this. Nice work, Jon.
Sunday: sprint repeat (endurance) work –
Prowler pushes, farmers walks, all manner of sandbag clean & press, snatch variations and other such manifestations of tourture — just a friggin’ free-for-all throwdown with Skyler Tanner and PFX12’s mastermind Kevin Cottrell. Not a damn bit of it was quantifiable, although I was close to hurling at one point, so I guess that would qualify the session as “pretty intense” Chalk another one up for the axis-side of the old power-law curve 😉
And let me just say this: you can’t take these two friggin’ animals anywhere — just look at what the hell they did to my prowler during this workout…
Check out that right rear skid. What you can’t see is that the left rear skid is bent, too. Does this mean that the Paleo/HIIT crowd is tougher on equipment than those West Side powerlifting behemoths? Hmmmmm…… 🙂
…meanwhile, the ol’ prowler is in ICU. Damn, just after I got my bike off of the same such life support. Meh…
In the news…
This is either a boon for health, longevity, and the quality of life — or a major score for the pharmaceutical industry. Check out this story, from Big Think — The Man Who Was “Cured” of HIV. Now this certainly can work out to be the essence of Ancestral Wellness — combining the best of modern technology, with an underpinning of smart & solid Physical Culture. Without that solid underpinning, however, what science is creating is a class of customers beholden to the pharmaceutical industry not just for 75 years, but for 150 years. Cha-ching!
Eat the rich, my friends…or rather, let the rich eat themselves.
In health,
Keith
Theory to Practice 