Help convince me to make the switch page

[Jec]

I'm a long time lurker of this blog and forums, and just recently purchased the primal fitness book and am about half-way through. My problem is probably opposite of most as I'm not trying to lose weight or get in shape. I'm a male, 43 /5'9 with weight that is between 155/160 and still wear a 29-30 inch waist pants, the same as when I was 18. My build appears to be similiar to Marks. People think I'm 30 and are usually shocked to hear my age.
I've pretty much followed the same routine for 20 plus years since it works, but I'm burned out on it. I try to stay informed with health and fitness trends and found primal a couple of years ago.
While my routine is mostly based on conventional wisdom, all this primal/mark's daily apple information makes ALOT of sense to me, more than what I currently do. Just because I basically follow cw, Marks way sounds better to me and makes more sense so I don't want to seem like I'm promoting cw, I'm not. I just figure I have good genes.
My main fear is that by switching to primal I will lose what I have. I see other guys my age that have declined while, I have mainly at least stood still for the last 20 years. I know guys who have also hit the weights hard and probably roids, looked huge for a few years, tore something up and now cant' hardly walk and are now in bad shape.
Everytime I try sprinting and replace the jogging, I go back to my same old routine. I'll maybe sprint on Sat., take sunday off and just walk and by Monday, I'm back to my old routine.


I'd like to hear from others who were mostly in good shape from conventional wisdom, but switched to primal. I'd like to hear of what benefits and improvements were made. Just need a push to help me stick to it.

I'll list below my current routine if anyone is interested.
Thanks, in advance.





My routine is basically jogging 4 days a week for 30 minutes(Sat, Sun, and Tues., Wed.) Monday, Thurs. and Fri. are off days. MY jogging is mostly slow, but I do mix in intervals. I have certain points where when I get to them, I pick up the pace for so many yards to mostly a slow sprint. I do a set of 60 pushups on those days 3 times a day scattered out for a total of 180, or some days I will just do 1 all out set of pushups in 2 mins, usually totally around 120. And I usually do 3 sets of 20 chin ups. I also wear a pedometer and try to get 15,000 steps a day.
I really don't have to watch what I eat.(my wife hates me) For breakfast I eat 4 chocolate chip cookies. If I want slim up a little in the summer, I'll just cut down to 3 or 2 cookis. 3 cups of coffee, creamer only no sugar. Lunch is a handful of peanuts and an apple and a banna.......everyday. Supper is just whatever, nothing specific and sometimes its eating out. Not usually anything really healthy.
Maybe a beer once a month.
Great blood pressure, no health problems, never been on medication no need for viagra.

[jfreaksho]

If everything is perfect for you, why are you looking for something better? What are you looking for?

Honestly, there aren't that many people around here at your level physically. You'd probably have better luck finding people at that level on a pro-paleo bodybuilding or mma forum.

What is it, specifically, that you are worried about losing? Performance? Looks? What aspect of those? Mark's done a fair amount of posting of studies that support his principles, the fitness ones included. If you are concerned about something, would checking out the research convince you?


I think a lot of people have been surprised at how much difference this has made, and not in the obvious ways. There are a few threads about this on the Success Stories forum.

Finally, you don't know how you'll feel until you try it. You might have some visceral fat to lose, or some inflammation that you've had for so long you don't even notice it anymore. Do you ever crash in mid-morning? Mid-afternoon? None of us can tell you that over the internet. The thing to do is self-experimentation (like Tim Ferriss, if that's your thing) and figure out what works for you.

[OneDeltaTenTango]

Yeah, what jfreaksho said. Your fitness and physical condition sounds great. Your diet could be vastly improved. an old clunker might not care what kind of fuel you put into it. A ferrari sputters on poor quality fuel. Put in some high octane.

[Neckhammer]

Guess I can talk since this is pretty much me. Heck you even sound to have approximately the same build as me... 5'9" 160.

I'm bout 8 years your younger though. I've always been in good shape. Basically keeping your BF in good range and having a solid exercise regimen can hide or even reduce much of the detriments of a crap diet. But, in the long run I have a couple of relatives that developed autoimmune disorders in their late 40-50's. They were in great shape up till then too (especially my uncle...karate and the whole thing).

Basically if you understand the premise and decide not to eat in congruence with what will promote health then that is your decision. At least you are informed. So stay informed then make the decision on how proactive you wanna be. For me it was a no brainer. Cut the crap, eat well....and yes it did enhance my performance a bit. I'm not superman though and I was already doing the 20 chins and 60-80 pushup sorta thing before I started.

But, I'm doing it for health and wellness.... not some far off goal of immortality or having super powers Those physical markers of good BP and everything are nice, but really most tests your MD is running is only sensitive enough to detect disease once it has already developed and been around a while. I'm more concerned with true prevention.

[Jec]

Well, like Mark says in his book about when he ran marathons but wasn't really having fun.
Some days I look foreward to running but more and more I don't. But unlike Mark who was to the point of negative returns, I feel like I'm still getting benefits, but not so much enjoyment anymore. It would be easier to ditch the whole routine if I didn't see any results, but its hard to quit something thats working, even though it isn't quite as much fun anymore.

[mrhtower]

I've only read the OP but my thoughts:

Jogging "mostly slow" 30 minutes, 4 times a week is not "chronic cardio". Adding those intervals that you do makes it an incredibly effective workout. Your body is continually stressed for 30 minutes, with peaks of short intense stress, 4 times a week. Great. Your body adapts to that stress and there are your results.

If you want to do a total 180 and switch up your workout drastically, you might think of focusing more on strength building, while continuing to walk. Or perhaps a little more strength training and a little less jogging.

If you want to do more like a 900 (think tony hawk) google the term '3 day split RPT' and click the first link. Do that. (Or the workouts offered for beginner/novice lifters to prepare for a 3 day split RPT).
It is a detailed, meticulous approach to diet and exercise to build strength (and muscle-don't worry about being musclebound, it doesn't happen to normal people) AND losing fat. I am currently doing something very close to the workout above.
I feel healthier than ever. And I have done quite a lot of differently styled workouts....

You're doing it right with the pushups and chinups. These movements incorporate so many muscles, many large, and incorporate you moving your full body and it's weight through space. If the 3 day split RPT is too Governator for you why not incorporate some body-weight/weighted squats, squat jumps, etc.
Also do burpees.

[sbhikes]

Maybe I can answer this.

I have always used cardio for fitness. I hike on the weekends, which is where I test myself. During the week I would walk briskly, jog and/or ride my bike to work (9 miles one way).

These days I do a strength building barbell program (Starting Strength) 2x a week and sprint 1x a week. I take a comfortable, non-sweaty walk during lunch when I'm not doing the lifting or sprints.

Weekend hikes feel just as easy or easier than they've ever felt. I'm usually pretty exhausted and sore from the lifting but my cardio is still good, I can keep up, I don't feel like the effort is any worse. A couple weekends ago we loaded a lot of extra water and hiked up a steep firebreak to the top of a mountain to spend the night. Then we did trail work all afternoon and the next morning. I felt stronger than I have ever felt before. I had better stamina, I could do more trail work, even in the hot sun, without getting tired. We're going to do it again and spend 2 nights up there and I'm thinking what the heck, I think I can haul several gallons of water (in addition to my backpacking gear) up that steep firebreak no problem.

[not on the rug]

a paleo/primal diet is not innately a diet to lose weight. it is a way to eat healthy and to eliminate the toxins that you eat. i'm a little bigger than you are 5'10", 170-175 (depending on the season) and when i first switched to a paleo/primal diet 3 years ago, i lost about 5-7lbs of fat. but that also coincided with the change in season from winter to spring to summer and because of my increased biking and hiking and walking with my dogs, i usually lose that much anyway.

it may take you a couple weeks to figure out your intake exactly, and your weight and energy levels may fluctuate. remember too, that a paleo/primal diet isn't a low carb diet either. i'm super active and lift and box regularly and i eat tons of fruit, potatoes, sweet potatoes and white rice, along side of my meat, veggies, and fat. i trield the low carb thing for a year and found it didn't work for me. so you will have to experiment. you may see changes in your body and in your energy levels. but there are some good people on the forum who can help you through the sticking points, and if you use a little common sense, you'll figure it out. good luck

[sbhikes]

This article might help convince you.
T NATION | Conditioning is a Sham

If you get stronger doing stuff like squats and deadlifts, each foot-fall when you are running becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of your absolute strength. Each foot-fall should become easier and easier. The running as a whole should become easier. And you won't have to do nearly as much of it to be good at it.