Paleo & Functional Fitness

As a leader of Soldiers I am extremely dedicated to keeping myself physically fit. I'm always finding new ways to elevate it. I'm about a month into eating in accordance with the Paleo system (i.e. eating only organic lean meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and healthy fats and not eating processed foods, dairy, grains, legumes and sugar). All things that early man consumed before the agricultural revolution. I was wondering if anyone else here follows this dietary guideline? In a way, I think it's very Jedi-like to eat naturally. Perhaps it brings you closer to the living Force?

Also, I enjoy functional fitness and high intensity interval training (HIIT) over traditional weight lifting and cardio p
aradigms. Some would classify it as Crossfit. I find it to be very practical as the movements in the exercises are what one would typically perform in every-day tasks (i.e. running, jumping, swimming, lifting heavy from the ground and over head, etc.). Does anyone here prescribe to these training methodologies?

Does anyone have any helpful hints in eating Paleo or good resources for functional fitness and HIIT programs?

If anyone is interested in starting to eat Paleo or trying out functional fitness/HIIT programs I can help by providing some guidance and resources that I use.

I've "considered" doing the Paleo thing a few times...and have always tried to take proper fueling into training...i.e., what exactly to eat and when to eat it before/after workouts.

I am by no means an expert...but would like to see anything you got going on too...

The Marine Corps has a pretty solid HIIT program developed and I think free through one of their training command sites...

http://www.fitness.marines.mil/HITT_Programs/

Also...MTI has a ton of programming...mostly for purchase...but they are pretty solid and not tremendously expensive: http://mtntactical.com/

I think its super for the gut microbiota, which seems to be so important for health (though I avoid red meat and dairy, but I'm on a flexibility kick at the moment instead of muscle mass). I've read/seen/heard HITT shocks the system in a way akin to 'panic' which is a quick way to get a wider activation across different tissue types. I reckon functional fitness is great for healthy people used to exercise, but that isolation might be better for learning proper form and getting used to their body in the same way its good for targeting specific areas.

I heard that a lot of soldiers who live on pristine diets and strict physical training regimes really suffer, physically and mentally, when put into an austere (warlike?) environment with substandard meals, sleep, and opportunities to properly exercise and rehabilitate their bodies.


:whistle:

I dunno what was in luke's nutrition sticks on dagobah, but it was probably closer to this



than Paleo




I'm not *hardcore* anything as a rule, but it seems generally that less processed is better in most cases.

You're not likely to go *wrong* eating fresh garden grown veges, fruit, nuts, and real meat. (Real meat being roughly the same shape, colour and texture as it was when it was still walking around)

My physical training programme includes everything from classic Gym strength training, to triathlon training, yoga, HIIT - although that has as much to do with my tendency to get bored as it does with any belief that any given "system" has merits over any other.

SamThift,

The website that helped me get started is PaleoLeap: https://paleoleap.com

It provides a lot of good information in an easy to find format. Also, if you have a smart phone and would like to, download the Paleo.io app. It's very simple, you just type in the food you have a question about and it will tell you if it's Paleo or not plus some amplifying information. Here's also a very simple infographic (attached) for helping you ensure that you are eating in accordance with this lifestyle (I'm referring to it as such instead of diet) fromhttps://sealfit.com which I also use frequently for my workouts (though you have to pay $10 a month now whereas it used to be free). I've also found a really good youtube channel called Live Lean TV, found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwxklfO1LBHPdkcUkzY9duQ If you look beyond the overbearing and cliche host, the information and tips he provides are, as I believe, very beneficial.

I do like the USMC's HIIT program. I think they are the best of the branches when it comes to physical fitness regimes. The U.S. Army's PRT program is horrible, in my opinion.

I hope this helps. Caveat: I'm not a expert either, of course. However, I feel like this new lifestyle is helping me out a lot and I feel better.

Skystriker_86 wrote: I do like the USMC's HIIT program. I think they are the best of the branches when it comes to physical fitness regimes. The U.S. Army's PRT program is horrible, in my opinion.

There are reasons Marines are the best fighting force in the world...PT is one of them (Translation: Former Marine here...)

I got into GoRuck (google it) a few years ago...its a "social fitness" sort of community started by some Army Ranger (SF) types several years ago. They run ruck based events which have a "work capacity" fitness approach...akin to the functional fitness mindset, though a lot of the training plans through them are markedly different than CrossFit (<--CULT).

Outside of "What is a good diet? and what is a good physical training programme?"

It's important to know - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.

If you reach the point in your....lifestyle, where someone offers you a rum ball and you refuse to eat it because it might have non-paleo ingredients, or you turn down a swingers party because it conflicts with your spin class....


Then you may have very well have gone passed "a desire to treat your body well" and into "mental illness"

Looking after yourself and keeping yourself strong and capable is well and good - but there are no extra points for leaving a beautiful corpse.

I'm not targeting anyone in particular with this, moreso the marketing behind a lot of these things that turn into massive profit industries

(For example, if for some terrible reason you're at a BBQ and they choose to use vegetable oil and 40% meat sausages on white bread (I have no idea why they would, but it happens), then just relax and eat the food offered, you're not going to spontaneously combust - however, you may get beaten to death if you use the opportunity to soap box about the evils of processed meats, grains, and oils)

JamesSand wrote: Outside of "What is a good diet? and what is a good physical training programme?"

It's important to know - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.

If you reach the point in your....lifestyle, where someone offers you a rum ball and you refuse to eat it because it might have non-paleo ingredients, or you turn down a swingers party because it conflicts with your spin class....


Then you may have very well have gone passed "a desire to treat your body well" and into "mental illness"

Looking after yourself and keeping yourself strong and capable is well and good - but there are no extra points for leaving a beautiful corpse.

I'm not targeting anyone in particular with this, moreso the marketing behind a lot of these things that turn into massive profit industries

(For example, if for some terrible reason you're at a BBQ and they choose to use vegetable oil and 40% meat sausages on white bread (I have no idea why they would, but it happens), then just relax and eat the food offered, you're not going to spontaneously combust - however, you may get beaten to death if you use the opportunity to soap box about the evils of processed meats, grains, and oils)

I generally agree with this also. I have actually talked with dieticians and nutritionists who discourage paleo as a whole. I think the larger point behind fitness and healthy living in general is simply to take care of your body and thus prolong your life through good health...though we cannot prolong it indefinitely, regardless of how strict of a fitness/diet plan we follow.

Any extreme is unwise. Moderation all the way around tends to work best.

JamesSand wrote: (For example, if for some terrible reason you're at a BBQ and they choose to use vegetable oil and 40% meat sausages on white bread (I have no idea why they would, but it happens), then just relax and eat the food offered, you're not going to spontaneously combust - however, you may get beaten to death if you use the opportunity to soap box about the evils of processed meats, grains, and oils)

Haha, yea, but Ms Adder 'cannot' eat gluten else she gets messed up at the endocrine level. Which I guess is why I'm here to protect her from being beaten up or at least keep her off the soap box!!

I don't have much to say about paleo except that it seems like a legit concept. I haven't gotten involved with it directly so that's all I have to say... flowchart was cool.

Crossfit is notoriously dangerous and stupid. And cultish. Last I heard, you could become a certified CF coach with permission to open your own CF gym (aka "box") in like three days. There is NO WAY that a person can learn enough to responsibly train general populations in three days. Its simply not possible. This is probably the single biggest flaw and danger of CF.

CF is known to host events and to regularly do exercises that put their athletes in unnecessary danger. "Crossfit fails" has become a trend in and of itself on YT. Many of the fail videos have the same kind of fails youd see anywhere, but in addition to that, you often find people being encouraged to use way too much weight, and to do movements with dangerously bad form. Deadlifts and overhead presses can really EFF your back up if you do them wrong. Most pressing movements can wreck your shoulders if you do them wrong. Exercises have proper form and range of motion, and if you break the form then you rosk injury and if you cheat the ROM then you don't gte the benefits of the exercise.

CF is NOTORIOUS for bad form and cheat reps. Kipping pull ups are standard (which is fine if all youre doing is getting to the muscle-up positon) and now some are even kipping with dips! ROFL, WHY WOULD YOU CHEAT A DIP?!? Theres no point in doing dips if youre going to cheat them lol. For these reasons, crossfit is looked down upon by ALMOST everyone in the fitness world that doesn't do crossfit.

The kipping dip aka the crossfit dip (lol)


All that being said, there are some very impressive athletes in CF, no doubt about that. And there several people in the CF community who are incredibly knowledgeable and competent. I think its probably ok, or even great, to do crossfit if youre already an experienced lifter and you know how to tell someone to stfu when they try to push you into doing something stupid. If that is you then CF will be a fantastic world for you to enter into. If that doesn't describe you, I would feel better referring you to the local Zumba or Pilates class than to CF. The aerobics and yoga videos at Wal-Mart or even that old guy doing Tai Chi at the park on Saturdays are probably better options for long term health than CF lol.

Here is Jeff Cavalier on pros and cons of CrossFit (if youre looking for a program and can afford to pay for one, check out Jeff's credentials and look into AthleanX)


https://athleanx.com/about-jeff-cavaliere

The term "functional" is being thrown around a lot. The original "Functional Patterns" movement was a specific fitness philosophy and protocol that was founded by a guy named Naudi Aguilar. And fyi, they pretty much blast relentlessly on how stupid crossfit is lol. Ironically, Functional Patterns is known to be just as cultish as CF, though it doesn't have the same reputation for being dangerous (as far as I know).

I have a friend who did FP for a short time and was very impressed. He didn't have the money to keep up with it, but he says for those who can afford it, its a great program.

Heres their website
http://www.functionalpatterns.com/

their youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/functionalpatterns

And here is a critique/challenge by Bret Contreras made in 2015 (I don't know the current state of this exchange because I don't care, lol, but I like to present all sides when I can, and if you do care, this will get you started)
https://bretcontreras.com/challenging-naudi-aguilar-of-functional-patterns-to-a-debate/

There is a trend of "functional exercises" thats sprung up lately and I don't know much about them. Theyre probably good but I cant say. Right now my personal focus is on weights. "PowerBuilding" lol which is basically just trying to integrate muscle building and strength training as effectively as possible.

HIIT is basically a protocol of elevating the heart rate to maybe 85% or more (preferably more) of its maximum output capacity for a predetermined amount of time, then having as short of a rest period as possible in order to recover from that output, and then doing it again. AWESOME. You can apply that protocol to almost any exercise, and if you want to be FIT, that's the way to go. If you want to lose weight, HIIT is better than steady-state cardio. If you want to increase your potential for cardio vascular output, HIIT is better than steady state cardio. If you want to either lose weight or increase cardio output WHILE PRESERVING LEAN MUSCLE MASS, HIIT is better than steady state cardio. Basically, steady state cardio is better than HIIT only for people who aren't yet in good enough shape to do HIIT, or for people who just like to run long ass distances for a long ass time. Which there are plenty of people who do, and that's cool.

HIIT taxes the CNS if you do it correctly, so you need to be sure to rest at least 2 (probably 3) days between HIIT workouts, at least while youre a beginner. Once you've done it for a while you can decide for yourself how much rest you need.

QUICKTIP: The signs of overtraining are 1: immune system breakdown, which means you get colds and flues and snotty noses and the like, 2: insomnia, 3: loss of appetite, and 4: loss or reduction of sex drive. Quick self reference tests would be check for loss of grip strength, or loss of explosiveness in jumping exercises. Both indicate CNS fatigue, which is what overtraining means. The general counter to overtraining is oversleeping.

When I got started with HIIT, I used a jump rope. At first, all I could do was a slow and steady pace for 2 minutes. Eventually, I did 3 minute rounds, and the last 10 seconds were 100% max intensity using high steps (or double unders, once I learned them). Eventually I could up that intensity to the last 20 seconds. Eventually I could add a minute to the rounds (4 minute rounds). Eventually I jump for four minutes and could go HIIT for the last 15 seconds of every minute, and recover while jumping "normal" pace.
At some point during this time I started running, and eventually I was able to integrate all-out sprints into my runs. I didn't run far, maybe two miles or just a little more, but I got to the point where I could do my run with 5-10 sprints interspersed within it. Hardly a special forces operator or an Olympic medalist, but if you can run non stop for two miles, and sprint your arse off for 30-60 seconds, five to ten times during that run, your fitness level is plenty good enough for sex, self defense, or a night at the dance club.

Again, I think that the most important thing about HIIT is that you can apply it to almost any workout. Swimming or aerobics or jumping jacks, or even some weightlifting (some say that heavy squats are HIIT no matter how slow they look lol).

Theres also some decent HIIT vids on youtube, if you care to look.

And heres a link to some books on various fitness topics (including one on functional strength). If nothing else, it might give you some fresh ideas.

https://www.americansportandfitness.com/collections/texts-and-manuals