Benchmarks to move on page

[Anivair]

I sent this question into Rodd Wolf's podcast as well, but I'll ask it here because I want some opinions (and because he will get to it in 3 months if at all):

I'm a 33 year old male. There was a time in my life when I was in pretty good shape (swam a few miles a day, did martial arts and soccer, etc) but then came college and post-college sedentary jobs and got up to about 340 and was in terrible shape.

I found Paleo about 3-4 months ago and I'm feeling great. I now weight around 290 and I work out pretty regularly. that said, my workouts are very "primal blueprint" in that on most days I do 0-30 minutes of a crossfit machine (just sort of getting some movement in) and do about 2 days of heavy lifting and 1 day of sprints when i can.

In the long run, i'd like to get myself into the sort of shape where I can move my body without restriction: crossfit, mack into martial arts, maybe some acrobatics/gymnastics, Ultimate, etc.

So my question is: what is a good health related benchmark to know when i can move past "eat paleo, move a little, get in shape" and into "eat paleo, move a little more, and occasionally crush myself at the gym or bust myself at play". I'd love to just jump in, but i'm in hte sort of shape right now that resists having my ass above my head.

Anyone have any ideas on what a good starting point is for most moderate physical activity? What sort of benchmarks can i reach before I know I can start trying to get back into these things without making a fool of myself?

[Abu Reena]

1) I used to take krav maga with guys who were ultra fit and guys who were trying to lose weight. I had a lot more respect for the guys who were trying to lose weight, because they hung in there, puked and came back out, and made a real effort. Wasn't nearly as hard for those in great shape. You won't make a fool of yourself.

2) You do need to ease into it. Going from sedentary to rockin' is going to open a world of hurt on your muscles, bones, ligaments, and tendons. Last thing you want is a setback. So, consider how to ease into things.

One way is to work the PB Fitness program if you're into gymnastics, since as you scale up, your body will adjust to the bodyweight exercises, and he's got advanced versions. Then go to beastskills or gymnasticbody and go further. Or get a coach. Either way.

I don't know what kind of martial arts you do/did, but why not incorporate it once or twice a week now? Scale it to your difficulty. If it's too tough at first, talk to the instructor about how to ease into it.

I wouldn't set arbitrary benchmarks. You've dropped some weight, listen to your body, and keep at it.

[Funkadelic Flash]

I wouldn't set arbitrary benchmarks. You've dropped some weight, listen to your body, and keep at it.

+1

Play around a little bit. Baby steps. You'll know it when you're ready to increase your load.

[Anivair]

1) Wasn't nearly as hard for those in great shape. You won't make a fool of yourself.

I get that I won't make an actual fool of myself. I did TKD for years and I've done Hung Gar Kung Fu, kenpo, and a few other styles for good measure. I get that, but on the other hand, there's a certainly level of general fitness, i think, beyond which you're not really getting much out of the physical side of the training (not more than i would get at home doing stances and such). I occasionally break out some Wushu Warm Ups at home and thy are great, but I figured I'd see if anyone had a good metric on when they felt that they were ready to move onto something harder other than "giving it a shot" which I can certainly do, but it would be nice to know ahead of time how practical that was going to be so I could plan.

[arthurb999]

Being able to reach the middle level of the PB fitness and getting bodyfat around 20% should be a good target.

Start with hill sprints to aviod injury and teach you proper form.

[Abu Reena]

Being able to reach the middle level of the PB fitness and getting bodyfat around 20% should be a good target.

Start with hill sprints to aviod injury and teach you proper form.

+1 on the first as a good metric, phooey on the second. Bodyfat is no reason to wait. I've seen really fat people who were in great condition, and skinny people (low body fat, low muscle) who were in terrible condition.

[arthurb999]

Hey I was just giving some basic guidelines...20% nd is still pretty high

[Anivair]

Hey I was just giving some basic guidelines...20% nd is still pretty high

Heh. Still 5% lower than I am, but i'm working on it.

[Funkadelic Flash]

Robb got to your question today! I'm thoroughly surprised that he already hit it. Skip to 48:40 if you want to get to it directly.

[Anivair]

Robb got to your question today! I'm thoroughly surprised that he already hit it. Skip to 48:40 if you want to get to it directly.

I heard it on the drive into work. I feel paleo-famous!