Fundamentals for Fitness and Wellness
Posted on September 11, 2013 by Kevin Davis, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Want to lose a little weight, work through anxiety and depression, or improve your fitness these fundamentals are a great start!
There are certain instinctive truths regardless of culture. These are our primal fundamentals. Things we cannot avoid if we want to thrive and have a natural healthy life (body). But they are also things that we inherently know, and often UN-learn over time in a modern society.
Watch a small child as they play; they will squat, run, jump, and pick things up in the most natural and safe/efficient way. Did they spend hours a week with a personal trainer for a few years learning this? No. They just haven’t UN-learned it yet!
On the other hand, over the past decade + that I have been training adults, they often take repeated lessons on proper movement patterns on even the simplest things and struggle to maintain form…why? Because most of us are not aware that although we live in a high tech modern world, we still have primal bodies that require plenty of activity/movement and real food to thrive. And that’s exactly what Kevin Davis Fitness is all about…you and I learning to let our primal selves THRIVE in this modern home of ours.
Watching baseball this afternoon, I saw a great example of how we are taught to NOT do what is natural and healthy for us. They replayed a shot from earlier in the season when the closing pitcher did 2 somersaults after striking out a batter for the win. Sadly, the manager/coaches were MAD about it…they made sure he knew that it was not OK. I would encourage you to move and play anytime your primal mind nudges you in that direction…no matter what the people around you think. Whether you want to lose a little weight, work through anxiety and depression, or just improve your fitness and wellness these fundamentals are a great place to start. Your mind and body will both be healthier for it!!
What are the Primal Fundamentals I am talking about?
1. Movements
Run, jump, throw, crawl, push, pull, walk, drag, twist, balance, posture, and reach
2. Lifestyle
Reduce stress, get plenty of sleep, relax, play often, and express yourself and your creativity.
3. Diet
Eat real traditional foods, nothing processed, lots of veggies, pasture raised meats, eggs, high fat (not processed) dairy, healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, coconut and animal,) some fruit.
Along with some intense bursts of strength training and generally need several hours each week of sustained work. This can be simply walking, biking, or swimming. It may also mean yard work, gardening, hiking or other physical lifestyle activities. I’m not talking about hopping on an elliptical machine for an hour a day, this should be fairly low intensity work that allows you to talk comfortably throughout. This low level work is beneficial in our quest to become a fat-burner because at that pace FAT is the primary energy source! The great thing about this part of our fitness requirement is that it is fun. Sports and hobbies you already enjoy may fulfill this need. My favorite activities are disc golf, cycling, and walking/hiking with my dogs.
If you look throughout history our ancestors have always had a more physically demanding lifestyle: walking to forage or climbing for food, hunting animals, and carrying wood for heat or water to drink. They did NOT typically spend much time sitting on a couch or at a desk! This has caused us to adapt to a much higher level of “exercise” than modern people typically get.
As a challenge for the coming week, let’s try to do 5 hours of walking or other sustained activity!
We will be digging deeper into each of these things here and on my website, and will give you some of the basics to get started, over the next few weeks. Have questions or need help with any of these Primal fundamentals? Please feel free to email me!
