The Natural Exercise of Humans

 

 

Please read the Natural Diet of Humans before reading this essay.

 

WALKING is the single most natural exercise of humans.  Jogging and sprinting are natural extensions of that, but walking is King.  If all you did was walk 3 to 5 miles a day at a comfortable pace, you would greatly benefit your health.

 

The natural exercise of humans is related to the fact that humans are tropical great apes which came down from the trees and went to the beach!  We are forest dwelling and beach dwelling animals.  It is also related to what sorts of play virtually all children do.  As a child the two most joy-filled activities I engaged in were TREE CLIMBING and SWIMMING.  A staple of every playground is the jungle gym, a climbing structure for kids.  Other forms of play as a child included RUNNING, JUMPING, THROWING spherical objects such as rocks and balls, CATCHING things and HITTING things (with a club such as a baseball with a bat).  These activities are not only fun to do, they build strength, speed and coordination which are useful for survival and combat in a harsh world.

 

 

 

To use tree climbing for the purposes of illustration, climbing builds muscle in the arms and legs by having the body weight supported and moved vertically by those appendages.  It stretches and compresses the midsection and works the abdominal muscles as you reach and retract.  It stretches the spine through partial traction when hanging by arms.  Tree climbing is great for the body (as long as you don’t fall and hurt yourself).

 

I think three of the best things we could do as a society to promote physical fitness is to promote WALKING 3 to 5 miles a day, make SALT WATER SWIMMING easily accessible and affordable for everyone and to make JUNGLE GYMS FOR ADULTS… some form of climbing frame designed to keep us strong and flexible late into our lives.

 

Because jungle gyms for adults are not widely available, I recommend body weight based strength training using suspension straps such as the Fit&ME Body Weight Trainer Suspension System or the TRX strap system.  I also recommend the Shamrock Triple Gym.  Combined with classic body weight exercises such as pull ups, push ups, dips, squats, jumps and abdominal crunches these strength training aids are a great way to go and will provide a low cost, naturalish alternative to tree climbing.  If you go with iron weights I suggest low to medium weight kettlebells.  Kettlbells can be used in a variety of ways which approximate natural body mechanics and build functional strength better than barbells or weight machines.  I recommend the wide handle kettlebells sold on Amazon.com by a company called TDS.

 

Just 5 or 10 minutes of strength training shortly before bed two to three days a week can produce big results.  The body grows and repairs itself while sleeping so a small amount of training right before bed tends to produce very good results.  I am not talking Mr. Universe professional bodybuilder results.  I am talking healthy, flexible, athletic results.  Be sure to eat plenty of protein and stay away from alcohol on days you train.  Metabolization of alcohol interferes with muscle growth.

 

 

 

In general humans should get a significant amount of exercise on a daily basis in the following quantities and ratios…

 

1. LARGE AMOUNTS OF LOW INTENSITY EXERCISE (such as WALKING) (hours a day)

 

2. MEDIUM AMOUNTS OF MEDIUM INTENSITY EXERCISE (such as JOGGING) (minutes a day)

 

3. SMALL AMOUNTS OF HIGH INTENSITY EXERCISE (such as SPRINTING) (seconds a day)

 

 

 

Whether natural or not, have FUN!

Make exercise play not work.