Everyone is looking for the next big secret to getting fit and changing their body for the better. Perhaps the knowledge they already have simply doesn’t suit their goals!
For me personally, everything really changed when I went Primal, focusing on burning more ketones instead of glucose - by cutting out all sugar, and opting for only complex carbs, to minimise insulin. This approach (introduced to me via Mark Sisson in the Primal Blueprint) changed the whole game – it made things easier, more convenient with far superior results.
But most noticeable for me, as a fitness and health fanatic, it changed the laws!
Mark Sisson – Living Primally at Almost 60
The do’s and do not’s of fitness and health are things we pride ourselves in knowing to make life easier when trying to tread the path of better health & fitness. But now they’re different, and some of the big ones have made a big 180 degree turn, so below are a few unconventional rules that apply to anyone following a superior and primal approach to their fitness.
Skip Meals
You’ve heard to mantra – eat six times a day and don’t skip meals. While I still go by the 6 meals a day guideline, often if I’m not hungry I won’t eat. The fact is that once you’ve become keto-adpated from eating primally your body can go without that constant grazing, and it’s much easier due to absence of cravings.
If anything you should be aiming to skip meals by fasting regularly.
When people hear about fasting they think it’ll slow their metabolism. This just isn’t true, if anything you get a little fat burning boost form the caloric deficit, it boosts growth hormone and testosterone and helps your body adapt to going without food occassionally.
Fasting is handy for those times when you’re stuck at a place with no healthy food choices – just fast! If you’ve eaten a little too much fasting can also be a way to level things out a bit afterwards – it’s an awesome & useful tool.
Eat Fat! You won’t look like this I promise…
Eat lots of Fat!
Low fat eating is such an out dated way of thinking that has done nothing but increase consumption of what we should really be avoiding – sugar! It’s true that when most people eat fat it is stored as fat, because of the insulin spike caused from sugar that carries the fat to your cells. Curb your carbs and this won’t happen.
Truth is healthy fats are essential to for absorbing fat soluble vitamins, and a good balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6 (1:1) will decrease your risk of heart disease dramatically. So find healthy sources of fat in the way of eggs yolks, nuts, and many other natural foods. Try getting your hands on some fish oil tablets to really boost your Omega 3′s.
Train Less
People have the attitude that more is better, but if you train properly less is more in most cases.
When you train too heavily you end up just running yourself into the ground. You don’t get fitter, your metabolism crashes and you actually accelerate the aging process. Do only 2 or 3 high intensity sessions a week and just keep moderately active the rest of the time.
Remember, to also keep the length of these sessions down. If you’re training at a high intensity, any more than 35 minutes is severely too much. Try aiming for 20 – 30 minutes max. This way you’ll finish up your workout before over-training when growth hormone and testosterone levels will be at their peak (as they begin to drop after 30 minutes or so).
Lift Weights Less Often
So many people out there are hitting the gym 5 or more times a week. It’s just not necessary – doing a couple of full body lifting sessions as little as twice a week is really all you need to maintain or even grow a bit of muscle. Once again, intensity is the key – make the workouts got for 25 – 35 minutes for optimum hormonal response (as mentioned in the previous point).
While lifting, focus on compound movements try to perform more body weight movements than pure weight lifting movements. Body weight movements may not build huge amounts of muscle the way weightlifting does, but it will give much more practical strength, and work your entire body more completely.
Do squats, pull ups (or chin ups) and push ups as often as possible. If you require more weight, try wearing a Weighted vest
Don’t disregard weight training altogether, just focus more on using your whole body!
Tone it down a little
Minimise Endurance training
Ever seen those olympic endurance runners? They’re skinny guys with not much muscle mass. Take a look at the sprinters and they’re powerful looking, ripped with a solid foundation of explosive muscle. Endurance training/running triggers your body to start dropping muscle or anything metabolically active to make energy use for efficient. Unless you’re training for a specific endurance event, go for shorter higher intense workouts like sprints that actually promote muscle growth.
Sprints are probably the most productive form of physical fitness training you can perform!
Don’t always push yourself
With the exception of weightlifting and sprints 2 or 3 times a week – you shouldn’t be going too hard with cardio. It’s all the rage to put everything in to every session, but realistically you’re just running yourself into the ground (just like mentioned before – yet again!).
Instead of doing heaps of moderate intensity cardio, try going for a walk or light bicycle ride a few times a week – you shouldn’t be short of breath performing these exercises. Light cardio is a powerful fat burner. When you go hard in training you burn primarily carbs for fuel (whether it be dietary or stored muscle glycogen) – so confine those times to your sprints or weight lifting.
Low intensity movement safely chips away at body fat & preserves muscle whilst helping to improve the health of your heart. You can do them as often as you like!
If you want to know more unconventional fitness tips that actually work, you may want to consider studying up on the Primal Lifestyle!
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