WARNING: May result in
rapid fat loss, major
health improvements and
extremely impressed relatives!
Our previous instructions for getting Primal pretty much fell exactly in line with the Ten Laws. Not too exciting, but they worked.
How about some unconventional methods? You may be stepping outside of your comfort zone a bit, but that’s a good thing. Though I’m a big proponent of baby steps, sometimes (and especially for certain personality types) a massive change is precisely what we need to make progress. Besides, there’s not a whole lot about us that’s conventional in the first place, so I figured it wouldn’t be too drastic a leap.
This may sound harebrained, but I’m going to go with it. While out for a customary evening neighborhood walk with the wife last week, I happened across an enormous rock hidden in some bushes. It appeared to be of ornamental ilk, but since it had been abandoned to the elements, I felt no guilt in heaving it up to my shoulders and continuing on my way. I made sure to use proper form, of course – setting the back, keeping the core tight, lifting with the hips – without any issue, but getting the damn thing back to the house was a feat. In fact, I felt no compulsion to hit the weights as previously planned; my trek back to camp, rock in tow, was sufficiently grueling and my entire body was exhausted. Throughout the walk, I was constantly shifting it around from shoulder to shoulder. Its weight was such that keeping it in a single position for the duration wasn’t possible, and I think the constant movements made it all the more dynamic.
Next time you’re out on a walk, keep your eyes peeled for heavy objects. Rocks, tree stumps, truck tires, whatever’s bulky and difficult to carry home. Make like Grok and carry it back to camp for a great Primal workout and a decidedly Primal activity. Even better, you’ll always have an unconventional (and totally free) piece of exercise equipment to use.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
For this month’s 30-day challenge, we realize that everyone is starting from a different place. As much as we learn from our hardcore Grokkers, we welcome Primal newcomers with open arms and eager ears. We want to know their stories, their challenges, and the strategies that finally make it work for them. Some of us are the type to jump in the deep end of the pool and figure it out when we get to the bottom. Others of us dip our toes, scan the ladder placements, and study the grade of floor depth. Different strokes, we say.
Even as we accept that our own Primal journey will be different from the next person’s, it can be a little awkward or discouraging to be the one feeling out the shallow end while others are doing flips and belly flops in the deep side of the pool. We thought a post on baby-stepping, breaking down the transition into small and very manageable steps, might come in handy for many of our readers – newcomers, renewers, or even old-timers who are coaching friends and family in a Primal direction. Kick back and get brainstorming for your next baby step!
Posted By: Worker Bee
You’ve read about it. Thought about it. You’ve watched Mark’s message calling all readers. You’ve even imagined yourself taking part in this month’s Challenge. You’ve toyed with it, considered it, but ultimately held back. For whatever reason you’re a straggler, a dawdler, maybe just slow to warm up, perhaps unsure, apprehensive – for whatever reason undecided, uncommitted.
Mind if we ask…why? What’s holding you back? When you imagine taking up the Challenge, what scenarios, what predicaments come to mind that ultimately convince you to sit this one out? What self-talk, if you don’t mind us asking, finally persuades you to forgo the investment in yourself? And, hey, can we get in on that conversation? Pardon us while we brazenly interject ourselves into that floating thought bubble above your head and put in our two cents.
Posted By: Worker Bee
So you’ve decided to join the challenge. You’ve created your own Primal Challenge Journal and have publicly stated your goals for the next month. Now what? First things first. You have to know the basics. If you’re new to the Primal Blueprint the following article will be like gold to you. Revisit it again and again until you’ve committed the concepts to memory. The graphs and charts are visual representations of the principles that are at the core of the Primal health philosophy and give you a taste of what it is in my new book, The Primal Blueprint.
You’ve defined the “what”. If your goal is to lose weight, build muscle, increase energy or just generally look and feel healthier these graphics explain the basics of the “how”.
What’ll It Be? The “Sweet Spot” or the “Danger Zone”?
Posted By: Mark Sisson
It’s probably the one thing that prevents people from fully buying into the Primal Blueprint. Almost anyone can agree with the basic tenets – eating more vegetables, choosing only clean, organic meats, and getting plenty of sleep and exercise is fairly acceptable to the mainstream notion of good nutrition. The concept of Grok and a lifestyle based on evolutionary biology can be a harder sell, but anyone who’s familiar with (and accepts) the basics of human evolution tends to agree (whether they follow through and adopt the lifestyle is another question), at least intellectually. But saturated fat? People have this weird conditioned response to the very phrase.
“But what about all that saturated fat? Aren’t you worried about clogging up your arteries?”
Posted By: Mark Sisson
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