Paleo Quick Tip Of The Day

Send us a textWhen you talk about exercise in the usual paleo circles, ala crossfit etc., the mantra is to “lift heavy things!” The idea that you must lift heavy, meaning heavy weights on barbell back squats, deadlifts, and presses is a given. Well, I am here to say that it is not necessary, and never has been. It is not the weight lifted that is important, it is the muscular contraction intensity that counts! This can be achieved very well with isometrics, for example, without moving a muscle at all under weight, and so perfectly safely. For no matter what someone else tells you- lifting weights under heavy loads is extremely dangerous, and actually inevitably damaging to the joints, tendons and ligaments. For a testament from an expert, what does the now aged Arnold Schwarzenegger have to say about heavy back squats? “ I always have done each body part three times a week, with the idea being to train six days a week. But when you average it out it ends up being five days a week. You know, there are weeks wh

Send us a textInjury is inevitable, unfortunately. It is part of the human condition. If you train properly, using body weight, perfectly paleo types of exercise, you won’t become injured from that. UNLESS you overdo it, which can always happen. Overuse is the number one cause of injuries- just look at me! A few weeks back I posted about being injured from an overuse injury, painting a barn of a garage for just too many hours, and inflaming the bursa in my shoulder. I also did other jobs that overworked that same joint, and the result has been a few weeks of rehab. I used the occasion to research what worked and what didn’t, so here we go my paleo friends! First of all, remember that it is not the end of the world. If you work out each and every day as I do, (and as I recommend for all creatures that exist on this earth), it is really irksome to have one part of your body that just…hurts. But, you just work around it- you exercise other parts of your body, and only work the hurting part through a limited rang

Send us a textOne rather simple and easy method for both controlling your weight and also vastly increasing your health simultaneously is with fasting! Simply by limiting your eating window to a set amount of hours per day- say 6 am to 6 pm, you will eat less, without really consciously trying. If you then eliminate snacks, & go to just three meals in that allotted time span, that is another step forward! From there, you can gradually “up the ante” by further compressing that eating window. You can either eat from 8 am to 6 pm, for a 10 hr window, or skip breakfast, & only eat from 11am to 6pm, with a 7 hour window. You can do this gradually, & it seems very natural- not a hardship at all really. What really seems like a hardship to me is the conventional thought, which recommends 6 meals per day (constant grazing) with endless snacks- talk about unnatural! For the vast majority of our evolutionary past, being without food was the norm. It is what our bodies expect as a general rule, and it is wha

Send us a text000002EA 00000002 000063D2 00001EB9 00001039 00001778 00007E21 00007A33 00015BDB 00015BDB Another rather inflammatory podcast from PaleoJay! Guns are Paleo?! Yes, they are; let me explain. With all the national rhetoric about outlawing guns and the 2nd amendment, I have to violently disagree. Every time that guns are taken away, crime goes up dramatically. Look at Chicago, and actually any major city in the U.S.- they all have strict gun laws, and at the same time have out of control crime! So, the logic seems to be to make the gun laws even stricter, and then we will have even more out of control crime. If I was a criminal, it would be my fondest hope to disarm everyone who I might victimize. Easy pickings, what could be better? I would also want everyone to be physically very weak, and unable to defend themselves in any way. I’d want them all to be sickly, and so easy to rob or kill that I would hardly have to try. Let’s take the analogy further: if I was the federal government, and I wanted a

Send us a textWe all know what it’s like when all is going great- morning workout, great breakfast with a green paleo smoothie and coffee with coconut oil and cinnamon, cloves and chocolate powder- and then off to a productive day! Life can be wonderful… But, it can also be quite stressful, as we all know. I know personally, because I got injured! While not the end of the world, injuries can be very stressful, both mentally and physically. Just know that injuries are, periodically, a real part of leading an authentic, athletic life. Just sequestering yourself and perpetually “being careful” about your body is a fast track to the nursing home- our bodies expect, and need to be stressed, and to do hard things at the very edge of our abilities! In my case, I just overworked. This is the same as overtraining, which I have seen time and again- someone gets good results with strength training, and thinks “Hey- if I just do even more I’ll be awesome!” Well, then they wind up with black and blue bruises on their tric

Send us a textYes, my friend, White Willow Bark is really the only drug that I can wholeheartedly recommend! It has really no side effects, is very effective, and can be used without reservation. It works for headache, muscle or joint pain- almost anything really, that most folks have been resorting to aspirin, ibuprofen, and tylenol for. (Along with more potent drugs with more damaging side effects!) The good news is this: white willow bark is very, very effective, has virtually no side effects, and is inexpensive. Let us compare white willow bark to Tylenol, the supposedly safe aspirin substitute: “acetaminophen [Tylenol] poisoning now accounts for at least 42% of U.S. acute liver failure cases seen at tertiary-care centers [large hospitals] and one third of the deaths.” Isn’t that awful? How about the old standby, aspirin? “No conventionally used prophylactic Aspirin™ regimen seems free of the risk of peptic ulcer complications,” said the British Medical Journal. Aspirin always made me sick to my stomach!

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Send us a textI know this sounds a little weird- why and how do you make yourself into a Diesel?  Well, what I mean by diesel is rock solid, powerful, healthy, and vital!  Sound better?   The reason I bring this up, is that almost everyone is indoctrinated into the “germ theory”, which is that advocated by Louis Pasteur so long ago.  The germ theory stated that- it only we could eliminate germs, protect ourselves at all costs from all pathogens and “bad guys” in the environment, then we’d be OK!   And so, we started pasteurizing all of our dairy, our pickles and other fermented foods, and cooked and processed every food we came into contact with to death.    “Voila!” as Louis would say- “Now, ve vill be healthy and happy forevermore- viva la France!!”    Or some such thing.  This theory won out, over the terrain theory of contemporary Frenchman Claude Bernard, who asserted that germs and pathogens sought out diseased tissue, and then invaded there- healthy, disease free bodily tissues could easily resist thes

Send us a textSometimes we lose sight of reality, and go down blind alleys in pursuit of health and fitness.  The Olympic Games springs to mind, as they are on right now.  As do professional sports of all kinds- they are a form of specialization, and the public idolizes sports heroes as archetypes of fitness and health!   Nothing could be further from the truth.  Specializing in any sport, to the point where you are competitive on a world wide, or even a national level, will compromise and damage your health to a huge degree!  Did you know that NFL players build their health in the off season, and then destroy their bodies and health over the playing season, by playing their sport?  Oh, and the average lifespan of a professional football player?  Mid 50’s.    Hey, I would already be dead!  Now, I know there is a lot of money and glory involved in being a pro football player, but my point is that health and fitness are not a part of it.  The point is, if you specialize in a particular sport, be it running, swi

Send us a textLike in many things, we have all been brainwashed over the past few decades, brainwashed into   1. Eating a low fat, high carb, high grain and sugar based diet 2. Signing off on our precious health to medical clinics and doctors   These two things will do more harm to your health than good, and are symptomatic of the evil that has been done to our society.   I hope you know by now, from listening to this podcast and others about Paleo and Ancestral health, that a low fat, grain and sugar based diet is slow suicide.  This way of eating, coupled with an idea that more movement and activity and less calories will somehow save you from modern diseases, is delusional.  You need real foods: God made foods- fats, pastured meats and dairy, seafood like sardines, and tons of vegetables with a few fruits thrown in will build your health from the inside out!   Keep it up, and you won’t need medical doctors and clinics, and actually, as in days of old, you should avoid them like the plague whenever you can.

Send us a textI am an old adopter of the Superslow exercise protocol, as advanced years ago by Ken Hutchins.  This was a 10 seconds up on an exercise (or positive motion), and 5 seconds down (negative).  Of course, this was in my olden days of training with weights, back in the early 1980’s…  I did make rather amazing progress using this protocol, but the bad effects of training with heavy weights were still apparent- I had blocky, chunky kinds of muscle, with a big butt from heavy squats and deadlifts, a chronically sore back from overloading the bar for those heavy squats, and a protruding gut, again from the squats and deadlifts.  In addition, my shoulders were in pretty constant inflammation from heavy bench pressing, as were my elbows.   I switched to body weight exercise, which I term Perfectly Paleo Exercise, and rejuvenated myself in my 50’s.  I do high rep pushups, which actually put the shoulders through a full, natural range of motion, unlike the bench press.  I do virtual resistance, as I have des

Send us a textI have had a very, very busy few days, and thus need to apologize to you, my paleolithic friend, for not getting my weekly PQTD podcast done in time! Usually, it’s every Wednesday. But, here it is at last, and better late than never, aye? Firstly, my excuses: I have been off to our families’ vacation log cabin, deep in the woods of Wisconsin. A truly unique and lovely place, rustic, cool, and peaceful. My brother, who at 63 is one year my junior, has bought the house and land just next door- his land adjoins that of the family cabin land, and this is perfect! We had met there to do work on his land, which included cutting tons of brush, dead trees, weed trees needing removal, mowing and trimming, and more. We spent one solid day doing all of this, and getting both properties into good order, at least so far as the land goes. (If you have never done it, it is amazing how much physical work in involved in keeping up even a rather small parcel of wooded or country land!! Trees are always falling, b

Send us a textBoy, will I ruffle some feathers with this one!  Well, that’s fine: I have never been either politically correct, or a moderate “flip-flopper” like so many…   I watched the Democratic Party Convention for awhile last night, and it was… horrendous.  There was NO American flag, but a Syrian one and rainbow flags all in evidence.  It turns out that the Dems have abandoned actual working people, and have become a party of privileged elites, with  welfare and illegal immigrant votes to prop it all up.  I waited and waited to hear what Bernie Sanders would say, since he had been conned by Hillary and the rest of the elite, ruling democrats to believe that he and his supporters had a chance at getting the presidential nomination.  I waited, and all the rest of us waited, and waited… the elite Dems purposely waited until about 11 PM central time to put him on, and so I, and all the rest of Paleo People (not to mention the stoned Bernie supporters and all people who actually had to go to work the next da

Send us a textOne of the biggest deterrents to someone actually doing the exercise that their body is crying out for is this: they think they need to join a gym (expensive and intimidating to the uninitiated), and then of course they have to find the time to get there.  Driving over, getting into your special workout clothes, waiting in lines to use fancy machines or heavy weights on supports and on benches covered with the previous users sweat… and music you may hate is often blaring at you, and lines of folks peddle away on bicycle trainers, going nowhere, watching TV…   Doesn’t sound too appealing, does it?  And so, unsurprisingly, most people simply give it all up, and say “I just walk!” when the subject of exercise comes up.  While walking is fine, most people just walk really fast for exercise (this is silly and unproductive- walking is not meant to be rushed!), and then drive the rest of the time when they are not on their 1/2 hour really fast, dorky looking walk through the mall or the neighborhood.  

Send us a textWestern medicine today, although wonderful in crisis situations of acute trauma, is woefully bad when it comes to managing actual health, and in preventing disease!  In going regularly to an MD and getting numerous screenings and tests, you are doing nothing that will actually preserve your health- you will just be tested with numerous expensive procedures that tell very little about your actual health and wellness.  You will also undoubtedly be prescribed numerous prescription drugs, like statins, antidepressants, and high blood pressure medications whether they are really called for or not.   You need to become your own health care provider, in fact- your own doctor!  No one knows the real state of your health better than you yourself, and only you can develop the habits of good, paleo-type of daily nutrition, the stress relief of regular exercise and the rejuvenation of a good nightly sleep.  Those three things: proper ancestral diet, regular ancestral body weight types of exercise, and a goo

Send us a textWhat the heck?  What do I mean by telling you to “get down on the floor?!”   Just that- you cannot be flexible and fit, with your mobility intact, unless you get down on the floor (or ground) each day, to stretch, to sit, and to just exist!   We are not meant to exist in the sitting position, with occasional standing and walking only- we are meant, in fact we are designed through long evolution to be able to negotiate multiple terrains, and to do so without shoes, without eyeglasses, and without chairs.  The old adage to “use it or lose it” never rang more true in history.   I have seen many older people, and by far the majority lose the majority of their flexibility, mobility, and balance by their 50’s- and from there on out, it goes down at an alarming degree, until they are ultimately almost bed-bound.  Many are confined to walkers, and can only get out of their chairs by using “lift chairs” that electrically lift them into a standing position with no muscular activity of their own!   The key

Send us a textThis may sound kind of strange, but truly- WHERE you live is crucially important! To your health, to your psyche, and to the health and wellness of your entire family. It really is that important. Nowadays, if you live in a big city, you are virtually guaranteed that your air is polluted, you are unsafe from criminal predators, and you are isolated from the fields and forests, the prairies and savannas that we are evolved to live within. You are instantly non-paleo! You might fix your diet, many big city folks do, eating lots of leafy greens, full fat pastured dairy and meats, real oils made from coconut and olive and no horrid vegetable oils like canola or soy… You might work out ata-out curtains that eliminate the constant artificial light that disturbs your circadian rhythms… Congratulations! You are doing as well as you can, within that unnatural, unpaleo environment! But, it’s a “good-better-best” scenario- you are merely “good”. You are still subject to a terrible crime epidemic that has t

Send us a textI know- this seems like a small, inconsequential thing- going barefoot??  What is the big deal with that? Well, like most things Paleo or ancestral, the big deal is that we just stopped doing basic things!  And have for a long time! Most non-Paleo folks never, ever make bone broth- taking bones to slow cook in water to make broth, and extract all the nutrients… (and incidentally collagen, and everything else that we haven’t even identified yet that heals our leaky guts, gives us vital, focused nutrition, and, incidentally, doesn’t waste food!)  Bone broth also helps with digestion, helps our skin, hair and nails, and helps to prevent osteoarthritis, among other benefits.  The point here is that making bone broth used to be just “common sense”.  As was going barefoot- just common sense! Now, if you don’t know it, most podiatrists, or “foot doctors”, recommend never going barefoot.  They say it is damaging, and will lead to foot pain- we need that elevated heel, and ample cushioning, or our feet w

Send us a textI am convinced that modern Americans’ being obsessed with speed, the need to get things done and accomplished as fast as possible is out of control!  Virtually all of us have too much going on, all the time.  We say we don’t have time eat right, don’t have time to exercise, don’t even have time to do our jobs properly, with full concentration.  And this is in spite of rushing through our days, from dawn to dusk- commuting to work as fast as we can, not sleeping enough (because we have lots to do the night before!), no time to prepare healthy meals, and so on and on it goes.  No time to meditate, no time to feel grateful for what we have, no time for play, NO TIME! This is self-delusion.  If your employer is forcing you to rush needlessly, your results will suffer, and your company will eventually fail, or at least do poorly.  Find another job.  Do it slowly, deliberately, or else just take your time, explain yourself, and take the heat.  You are in the right, know that at least! Medical Doctors

Send us a textLast Wednesday we talked about Paleo Basics 1, which is just to give up gluten, mainly in the form of wheat!  I hope you have done it this past week, and that you already notice a difference.  The positive effects come on quite quickly, and continue the longer you maintain a gluten free lifestyle.  Weight loss, an ending to a “bloated feeling” and a distended stomach are usually the first to happen.  In my case, years ago I got migraine headaches.  They were awful, they started in my late 40’s, and they got progressively worse and more frequent.  Then, when I gave up wheat, the disappeared completely.  It wasn’t a gradual thing, they just stopped, and I have never had a headache since, of any kind!  Of course, that alone was worth it, but there have been many additional positive effects: much better skin, clear and no dryness, much more definition both of face and body, shinier hair; the list goes on and on.  All from just giving up one thing- wheat. Now, as phase two of Paleo living, I’m asking