A Brief Review of PrimalCon page 2

[batty]

thank you SO MUCH for sharing, timothy! i am incredibly jealous. next year!

[iniQuity]

I knew Tim would come through with a review! Nice work man.

Could some of the attendees describe in a bit more detail some of the things you learned? I'm equally interested in just about everything described but I think barefooting and posture are the two that I need to work on some more. I think my posture might be shitty, my father who is my height has his rear view mirror much MUCH higher than mine, when I try to see through it I have to extend my spine and it doesn't really make sense to me how he can use it. All I can say is that I probably slouch more than I should, my old man is in his late 50s and straighter than me! I think he used to get hit upside the head when displaying improper posture though but since we didn't live together for a number of years he wasn't there to tough-love my back into not curving. I just noticed my posture now and I'm sloppy, my feet are hugging the back of the chair, my butt is on the rightmost side of the chair while my shoulder blades are resting in the center of the back support. I just can't seem to hold a proper posture for long times.

Details, now!

[Timothy]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone, I'm glad you liked the report! It may sound like hyperbole, but really it's not. PrimalCon was so amazing that I wanted to bring back a bit of the magic for you.

I did gloss over a couple of things. First of all, I am still sore! I left it all on the field, borrowed more from my liver and adrenals at a high rate of interest, and left that on the field as well. And that was my intention, so I got what I wanted, but man, I am still feeling it in just about every muscle group below my navel. However, walking the baby around the block last night, I had infernal energy. I think this afternoon I might venture a workout for the first time since Sunday morning.

Second, juggling a baby was not easy! We didn't take him to the events, just most of the meals, and we were ready to spirit him away at a moment's notice. We also made room for plenty of family time on the beach, around the hotel and at the fisherman's village -- turning down a chance to play frisbee with Mark was far more difficult than denying any carb craving, but I knew there would be tough choices. Although we had a bit of help from my own mom the first day, after that it was my wife making most of the noble sacrifices to look after him while I soaked up what I could of the program -- I still owe her big. And that first night was the dickens, let me tell you. My body wanted fourteen hours of sleep to cope with what I'd thrown at it. Just opening my eyes every 2-3 hours for a feeding was like peeling bandages off two infected wounds. After surviving the whole thing, my wife and I wanted to award each other the Spit-Up Medal of Honor for Extreme Parenting.

But it was all well worth it, and I wouldn't have had it otherwise. I'll let other attendees on the forum (are there any besides the ones I mentioned?) address iniQuity's question in detail, but I will say the book that Maya White showed us covers the subject of posture in great detail with plenty of illustrations and diagrams. My back-of-the-napkin summary: J-shaped spine, squeeze your glutes when you walk, but make it effortless and don't force it.

[PrimalChat]

Awesome recap! Too bad you couldn't have attended more, but for those of with kids, I totally understand and respect your commitment as a father/husband. Thanks for taking the time to review all your weekend for those of us who couldn't go!

[MalPaz]

oh my goodness... NEED TO GO in 2011... i will sign up and take off work now... this sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!! k...where was it located again?

[Daemonized]

Wow, great write up. Mark's report and the pictures from the convention looked awesome too. Man, I wish I could have been there too.

[Allbeef Patty]

Thanks again, Timothy!

iniQuity, I have had the Gokhale book for a few months now. I tried doing some of the things in there, but, much like working out, it would really help to have someone to coach me. Watching the video that Mark posted (Gokhale at a googlebooks seminar) helped tremendously. At least to get the shoulders up and back in the ratcheted position, or, as Crossfit's Kelly Starrett says, "shoulders up in the rack, thumbs facing forward, not each other."

I was talking with a neighbor a few weeks ago. He's in great shape, does yoga, etc., but he's been seeing a chiropractor for years about his back problems. I told him about the book, showed him what I'd learned in the video, and leant him the book. A few days later he thanked me and said that his troubles are almost gone. He is very familiar with working out, and has a lot of awareness of his body, so he absorbed what he'd read so far. I told him to finish the book, then help me out. I'm hoping that we can make further progress together.

I hope that maybe some attendees can fill in somethings that I may have left out. You know... like a coach.

[jtkeith]

Hi Timothy,

It was great meeting you and everyone else at the conference. Your writeup really captures the essence of the experience. There were several things that really stuck out for me:

First, absolutely every staff member and speaker involved with the event were fabulous. Nice, friendly, well organized, and easy to engage. This was a very welcoming environment and I can't believe how hard these guys - everyone - worked to make our experience a great one. I found inspiration and new information from start to finish. Just great.

Second, the people who attended were really awesome. Everyone I met had an interesting story and they were just easy to talk to. It was so fun to be around so many people with whom we shared values. I feel like I made some very strong personal connections and am looking forward to seeing people at the next primalcon, if not sooner.

Third, the conference seemed appropriate for all ages and all levels of fitness. I'm a bit older and perhaps a bit less fit than most, and I did well enough and had so much fun. Okay, so next time I'd like NOT to get quite so sunburned on the first day, but that was really my own doing!

At the end of the conference Mark asked us what we'd do differently and, truly, not much came to mind. It was that good. The only comment I heard was that there wasn't much (planned) downtime. By design they tried to pack in as much as they could for the weekend and I appreciated that "give them as much as possible" perspective. I took a nap during one of the lunch breaks and reclaimed a bit of energy that way. I sure did sleep well at night though

I'm still beaming from the weekend!

[Timothy]

Jtkeith, it was wonderful to meet you as well. You were the very first person I met, in fact!

I couldn't agree more about the professionalism of the staff. Aaron, Angelo, Bradford and Farhad were all very helpful and organized. Tyler and Connor were a serious inspiration and I regret not getting the chance to learn more about them. Next year, I hope!

[slesca]

Wow! I can't wait to go next year! It sounds like heaven.