This is a guest post from Tracy Barksdale co-founder of True Nature Training. Tracy will be presenting at The Primal Blueprint Transformation Seminar and True Nature Training in Austin and Houston, Texas this coming May 4th and 5th.
My job is essentially to get people to have fun. I am a MovNat Natural Movement Certified Trainer and Parkour coach at True Nature Training who uses play and unconventional programming to get people active without realizing they are getting a workout. It’s so common to get stuck in our fitness routines. Push ups, pull ups, squats, and sprints are all obvious choices for a primal fitness program, but when we get bored or hit a plateau it can help to widen your repertoire to introduce new things. In many cases, this great “new thing” is actually very old. Natural movement is a movement philosophy with a set of principles defined and popularized by Erwan Le Corre, founder of MovNat, and based on natural human movements that we have evolved doing. Our ancestors had to crawl, climb, run, jump and more just to survive. Yet with our modern luxuries, we often don’t find ourselves needing to do these things as often. It’s not uncommon to hear someone proclaim with a hint of pride that they have not climbed a tree since they were kids, like it’s a sign of being a mature adult. Natural movements are not just for kids or those who are already active. Natural movement belongs to every human being, and it’s your duty to maintain proficiency in these practical movements because you never know when you may need to use them. Here are some movements that can benefit anyone regardless of age or fitness level.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
It’d be nice if regular activity was woven into our daily lives so that we could stay lean, strong, and fit without really thinking about it, but that’s not the world most of us live in. We have to set aside time to move our bodies. But, as I always say, this doesn’t mean we have to exercise atop a conveyor belt with a TV in front of it doing everything we can to forget that we’re even exercising in the first place. It doesn’t mean the workouts have to take an hour to complete. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need a gym to get in some good activity. That’s why I started writing the Workouts of the Week, a compendium of fun, effective, varied workouts for you to try. Readers still visit the archives to shake up their routines, so be sure to check them out if you’re in the market.
Today, I add ten additional fast but effective workouts to the list.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
When you’re facing 26.2 miles of hard open road with nothing but a pair of Nikes and your own determination to see you through, you get a little attached to the outcome. In fact, the outcome – the finish line, the win, the PR – sustains you. It drives you. Without the promise of relief it holds, you wouldn’t be here, doing this, running this ridiculous number of consecutive miles. You certainly aren’t going to be savoring each and every step. You won’t be basking in the glory of the toil and immense physical effort as they transpire. You will be anything but present, in the moment; you will be attempting, with all of your mental faculties, to transport yourself to the finish line so that you can finally end the misery of the moment.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
Some weeks ago after the Power of Ritual post, I had to laugh when SophieE and desert tomte shared their idea for creating our own Primal holiday. Needless to say, the musing has got the better of me. (I’ve been dipping into the egg nog one too many times, you’re wondering.) Sure, the MDA community is scattered around the globe, and our holiday schedules are likely filled. No matter. Today, I’m letting all reason and purpose fly by the wayside. Sisson’s gone nuts, you might say. Maybe so. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard that. I respond to the charge with those immortal, wise words, “Why ask why?” So, I’m taking SophieE and desert tomte at their word today and devoting today’s post to a virtual Primal bash – with everything befitting a Primal fete as well as a New Year’s celebration. The staff and I are in. Are you?
Posted By: Mark Sisson
Humans enjoy being entertained. We like watching funny, engrossing, exciting shows, movies, and plays. We love good tunes. And we enjoy watching a great stand-up comedian at work, the kind that makes your abs sore from laughter. But why? Well, it boils down to our need for sensation. Simply put, we need to laugh, cry, tense up from excitement, experience emotional highs and lows, and we enjoy the activation of our adrenal systems – whether it’s due to something happening to us in real life or to an imaginary character on a screen somewhere – because we have the equipment necessary to experience all those things, and we need to use it. Feeling sensations, emotions, excitement, then, is a prerequisite for being a healthy, happy human. An ancestral expectation.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
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