Definitive Guide: The Primal Blueprint
What, Why, and Where to Start
Build the Healthiest Possible Body with the Primal Blueprint
I get emails every day from people who are changing their lives for the better by following the guidelines I outline on Mark’s Daily Apple. Many are looking for more of what the Primal Blueprint has to offer. That is to say, they want a comprehensive breakdown of the elements that make up the Blueprint—a Primal primer if you will.
In this extended article, you will find the basic building blocks needed to discover the Primal side of your life. What does this mean?
It means learning and understanding what it means to be human.
It means using this knowledge to help you make important lifestyle choices.
It means modeling your life after your ancestors in order to promote optimal health and wellness.
And, most importantly, it means taking control of your body and mind. It is my hope that you will use this information as a jumping-off point to build the healthiest possible body with the Primal Blueprint. Then share it with friends and loved ones who have yet to discover how they can use the Primal Blueprint to #LiveAwesome.
What Is the Primal Blueprint?
The Primal Blueprint is a set of simple instructions (the Blueprint) that allows you to control how your genes express themselves in order to build the strongest, healthiest body possible, taking clues from evolutionary biology (that’s the Primal part).
Sometimes we get so lost in the science of human biology we just can’t see the forest for the trees. We overlook the simplicity and ease with which we could all be achieving exceptional health and fitness.
Living in modern society is extremely complex. With daily mind-boggling achievements in science, technology, and medicine, it’s no wonder that we often look for complicated scientific solutions to problems that really only require simple answers. Of course, we should all be profoundly grateful for the advances that allow us to recover and heal from treatable infectious disease and trauma. Yet the fact remains that most of life is really much simpler than modern medicine and science would like to have you believe.
You can have a tremendous impact on how your genes express themselves, simply by providing your cells the right environments. All you need is a basic understanding of how your body works and a simple philosophical roadmap you can use to find answers to just about any questions of health and fitness—whether it involves personal choices and lifestyle adjustments, or whether medical intervention might be appropriate.
Primal Blueprint Origins
You may already have a pretty fair understanding of how the human genome evolved to exactly where it is today based on the environmental and behavioral factors that shaped our ancestors’ lives. Anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, paleontologists, geneticists, and others have worked for over 100 years to piece together a fairly detailed picture of all the elements that helped influence our development as a species.
Ironically though, when we examine all of the many environmental influences and behaviors that shaped our genome, we arrive at a very simple list of general things our early ancestors did to become what and who they were and which allowed them to pass 99.9% of those genes down to us. In essence, this list is the original “Primal Blueprint” since it provided the only set of behaviors they knew—the exact behaviors that enabled them to shape their bodies into healthy, robust, happy beings.
The 10 Primal Blueprint Laws
The goal of the modern Primal Blueprint is not to revert to the lifestyle of our Paleolithic ancestors—to eat, move, sleep, work, and socialize “like cavemen.” The modern Primal Blueprint asks how we can learn from our past to shape and mold our future. These are the rules of living 10,000 years ago, applied to today.
Together, these 10 Primal Laws cover the Primal diet, movement, and lifestyle practices that form the foundation of optimal health and longevity.
1. Eat lots of animals, insects, and plants.
Focus on quality sources of protein (all forms of meat, fowl, fish), colorful vegetables, some select fruits (mostly berries), and healthy fats (avocado and olive products, nuts, full-fat dairy if tolerated). Observe portion control (calorie distribution) week to week more than meal to meal.
Learn more about Primal Law #1.
2. Avoid poisonous things.
Avoid exposure to chemical toxins in your food (pesticides, herbicides, fungicides) and on your skin. But also try to avoid the hidden health disruptors in foods, like sugars, grains, processed foods, trans and hydrogenated fats, and mercury in certain fish.
Learn more about Primal Law #2.
3. Move around a lot (mostly at a slow pace).
Humans need to move. Walk as much as possible, every day. Build your aerobic capacity by doing some form of low-level aerobic activity 2 to 5 hours a week, whether it is walking (in an exercise context), hiking, easy bike riding, or swimming. Ideally, and when possible, find time to go barefoot or wear as little foot support as possible.
Read more about Primal Law #3.
4. Lift heavy things.
Your muscles, joints, and skeletal system are designed for pushing, pulling, hoisting, tugging, climbing, and carrying. Spend 30 to 45 minutes, two or three times a week, lifting heavy things. That could mean free weights, resistance bands, sandbags, kettlebells, body weight, machines at the gym—anything that requires you to move weight around. Focus on movements that involve the entire body and in wider ranges of motion, not just on isolating body parts.
Read more about Primal Law #4.
5. Run really fast every once in a while.
Do some form of intense anaerobic sprint bursts occasionally. This could be as simple as six or eight short sprints up a hill, on the grass, or at the beach, or repeated intense sessions on a stationary bike or other gym equipment.
Read more about Primal Law #5.
6. Get lots of sleep.
Our lives are so hectic and full of things to do after the sun goes down that it’s often difficult to get enough sleep. Yet sleep is one of the most important factors in maintaining good health, vibrant energy, and a strong immune system. Prioritize getting the ZZZs you need.
Read more about Primal Law #6.
7. Play.
Spend some time each week—each day, if possible—involved in active play. In addition to allowing you to apply your fitness outside the gym, play lets you flex your creativity and helps dissipate some of the negative effects of the chronic stress hormones you’ve been accumulating through the week.
Read more about Primal Law #7.
8. Get some sunlight every day.
Contrary to the conventional wisdom dispensed by dermatologists (who suggest you shun the sun), the Primal Blueprint insists that you get some direct sunlight every day. Certainly not so much that you come close to burning, but definitely enough to prompt your body to make the all-important vitamin D and to support the mood-lifting benefits.
Read more about Primal Law #8.
9. Avoid stupid mistakes.
Eliminate self-destructive behaviors. These concepts are self-evident to most people (wear seat belts, don’t smoke or do drugs, don’t dive into shallow water), yet so many of us live our lives oblivious to impending danger. Develop a keen sense of awareness of your surroundings.
Read more about Primal Law #9.
10. Use your mind.
Exercise your brain daily, as our ancestors did. Be inventive, creative, and aware. If your work is not stimulating (or even if it is), find time to read, write, play an instrument, and interact socially.
Read more about Primal Law #10.
That’s it. That’s the full, albeit general, list of behaviors that shaped our current genome. (Okay, I left out the reproduction part because that kind of goes without saying.) This is just an overview, of course, and there is additional nuance when it comes to implementation. It’s up to each of you to craft your unique expression of the Primal lifestyle. The information on this blog and in The Primal Blueprint book is designed to help you do just that.
Why Follow the Primal Blueprint?
If there’s any doubt on your part about whether or not we should emulate our ancestors’ behavior (but in the context of a modern world), let’s at least agree that we are looking to achieve some very similar benefits. Certainly, we all want to be:
Healthy - Ideally, we’d never want to be sick. We’d want to be in the best possible health all of the time.
Energetic - We’d want to have lots of energy to do all the fun things life has to offer and not feel like we are dragging at any point during the day.
Happy - No one wants to be depressed or miserable. It’s no way to go through life. We want a reason to get out of bed every day and take on all the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Lean - We’d want to be in a metabolically balanced state where we burn off our excess or stored fat, where we find a point at which we have enough fat to be healthy, but we rarely (or never) store any more additional fat.
Strong - We’d want muscles that serve us well, allowing us to move, play, and stay balanced.
Bright - We’d want full access to our mental faculties, to be alert, creative, focused when appropriate, and able to recall all our great memories.
Productive - We’d certainly want to feel as if we are contributing to ourselves, our family and society.
We know from evolutionary biology that our ancestors exemplified all the above healthy traits. Those may or may not have been their stated goals, but those attributes certainly allowed them to survive the rigors of a hostile environment and be in a position to pass their traits along to the next generation, and finally, to us.
Now, understanding that everything we do, eat, think, and breathe can affect our 10,000-year-old genes, you can see what you need to do to #LiveAwesome in the modern world.
For more information about the three core pillars of the Primal Blueprint and the 10 Primal Laws, check out my posts on Primal Diet, Primal Movement, and Primal Lifestyle. Then when you’re ready to start implementing some of these changes in your own life (and I hope that’s now!), read more about How to Succeed with the Primal Blueprint.
***Mark’s Daily Apple is still under construction. My team and I are actively working to repost the archives. Check back regularly to see what’s here, find posts that are new to you, and revisit old favorites!***
* This blog reflects my personal views and opinions and isn’t intended as medical advice, but I hope it will be informative and inspiring as you pursue a healthy, fulfilling life.