Primal Team Sports page

[maclrc]

Hi All,

I mentioned the upcoming rugby season in another thread on Coke Zero over on the nutrition boards and one response suggested that I should give up rugby as it was unhealthy. Whether the poster was being 100% serious or not, it got me thinking about many sports and how/if they fitted in with a Primal lifestyle.

My thoughts on rugby, given that is where this started, are:

Pros:

Incorporates short sprints with heavy lifts (tackles, rucks and mauls, etc.)
Usually played on soft ground (reduced impact damage when running)
Reasonable duration (two 40min halves) i.e. not too long

Cons:

Impact damage from contact
Duration - still long enough that you are doing a large amount of CV work

What are peoples' thoughts on rugby and other (team) sports, can they be ranked in terms of Primal compatibility?

[primalrob]

i think team sports are great. rugby may be a little rough for my taste, but really, what could more primal than a group of people playing a game together?
i wouldn't worry too much about the length of a game and cardio. as long as your having fun and not going to exhaustion you're fine. i really like soccer and ultimate...and those are basically all running, pausing shortly and running...but i would never consider that chronic cardio. i consider it playing.

[Winterbike]

I loved rugby, but after 3 years and 3 concussions I decided a lifetime free of injuries was worth more than 2-3 more seasons, no matter how fun it would have been. Plus, seeing the guys who were still playing at 35-40 years old convinced me I needed to find a new sport. They were all tough as nails, but they also had busted knees, ankles, necks and shoulders. As a (maybe) future physed teacher, it's something I can do without.

Other than that, team sports once in a while are great. What's better than a game of soccer/frisbee/baseball/dodgeball/volleyball on a hot summer day with a bunch of friends?

[IcarianVX]

If it's something that you enjoy (obviously) and you aren't trying to rehab an injury I say go for it.

I play lacrosse (and would love to play rugby as well) and it consists of some of the same Pros, albeit with not as many heavy lifts and it's 4, 15 min quarters. I am employed as a shutdown defense-man because I hit very hard and can bring down an entire lane (usually the center) if they need me to. It requires sudden bursts of speed, agility and coordination.

Both primalrob and Winterbike make valid points, it's more akin to playing rather than chronic cardio but you do have to think about the impact of the hits.

[Abu Reena]

Primal sports were incredibly injury causing. Look at lacrosse (the original, not the sissified college version (I'm kidding, I played it in college). Deaths were common as were broken bones. Life is rough, they played rough. So go for it.

That said, at a certain point, one looks at pain and realizes that perhaps a blown shoulder isn't worth it any more. After I blew out my shoulder and had a complete RC repair, I decided not to go back to martial arts, discretion being the better part of valor. At 40, I don't heal the way i used to.

But as long as the pain/enjoyment quotient still tilts towards enjoyment, go for it.

[Karma]

I like ultimate frisbee and orienteering. Both are quite primal in their movements. Frisbee for the sprinting and orienteering for the long slow trekking.