Ancestral Health Symposium. Plus, I like LA again.

I have returned from an extremely incredible trip out to Los Angeles for the Ancestral Health Symposium. First thing's first - sorry this post is so "late."  I'll tell you what, for a bunch of people who are ostensibly into hunter-gatherer lifestyles, the crowd at the Symposium (twitter tag #ahs11) sure do love their gadgets and blogs. I have never seen so many blog posts go up so quickly. Didn't all of you have a queue of work to do when you got home? I know I did...

Here's a super list of blog posts compliled by Richard Nikoley...

...I'll try to save you a lot of reading and aggregate the common salient points:

1) Everyone at AHS was hot. Really really hot. Super sexy. All of them. Most especially, apparently, Denise Minger. I think all the guys in the audience have made some claim for her affection and I'll probably lose my primal credentials if I don't do the same. So, yeah. Back off guys - Denise is mine.* Rawr.

The dinosaur is Clif Harski. I'm clearly Kong. Denise is probably off in the jungle hunting vegans...

*Denise, if you're reading this, I'm sorry. You know how it is. If you're ever passing through Chapel Hill I will make you a nice dinner and engage you in polite conversation... but I'd appreciate if you'd tell everyone I did something super manly, like wrestle dinosaurs, to earn your affection.

2) The talks were both sweet and awesome. All presenters I saw did a really nice job. While I share Frank's desire to have a greater range next year, there was enough variety to make things interesting. I thought Robb Wolf gave a really entertaining presentation. I was also really happy to hear some serious discussion of mental health issues, most notably by Emily Deans.  Of course, the subject was also brought up by Frank and Erwan, both of whose presentations were fantastic. My favorite speaker? Dr. BG talking about poop. Gut flora is really important folks.

3) Taubes and Guyenet, like, totally got in a fight. I wasn't there to witness as I was listening to the aforementioned lecture on poop. Taubes disagreed with Guyenet, they argued about samples & data, and twitter exploded. I guess I don't see what the big deal is. The bigger positive story here is that nearly everyone was in agreement that too much dogma is deadly. Just like I've been saying.

4) Next year's should be longer.  I agree.  Make it three days and spread the same number of lectures over two-and-a-half days, leaving a half day for a massive trip to the beach. Hot paleo people + bathing suits. I mean, am I right or am I right?

***

So, the Symposium was great. But that was only half the trip for me. Most of you know that I lived in Los Angeles for nearly 10 years. My last visit out there left me with a sour taste in my mouth, but this time was nothing but awesome. I got to see some dear old friends, made a few new ones, and was reminded of the fact that LA can in fact be a pretty neat place (if you rent a car). Here's a list of highlights:

1) Daft Punk re-entry: You know how you can sync Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz? I've found another one. When the pilot comes on to announce the initial descent into LA, start playing Daft Punk's Tron Legacy soundtrack. Then look out the window. Trust me, it totally works.

2) UCLA is movement Heaven: My favorite part of the whole conference was jumping around UCLA with old pal Clif Harski (looking as enormous as ever) and new pals Justin Dorian and James Dang. The whole campus is an obstacle goldmine and I wish I had a few months to explore all the possibilities. By the way, I was out practicing a jump-roll combo when Mark Sisson walked by and complimented my moves. It was the best thing that's ever happened to me.

3) LA has good movies: I got a chance to see Attack the Block which might be the most fun I've had at the movies in a few years. Tough South London street kids vs. giant alien gorillas. Yes, you read that correctly. If you can get the chance, definitely check it out. The soundtrack is pretty incredible too.

4) There's nothing quite like old friends: As much as I was looking forward to the conference, I was REALLY looking forward to catching up with some of my oldest friends. I got to see a whole bunch of them - extra thanks to Brendan and Matt for hosting me all weekend. We are made of others and I cannot overstate the importance of having incredible friends. I am very lucky to have the best of the best.

A great trip. Thanks to everyone who made it happen.

Endurance magazine! plus a video!

Super duper awesome news: Fifth Ape is the cover story in this month's issue of Endurance Magazine! Check it out:

A huge thanks to Joe Nuss for the article and to Jessi Blakely for the photos. I really think they turned out great.

You can see a fancy digital version of the issue on Endurance's website or just read the text version.

I am especially grateful to have had the opportunity to discuss what I see as one of the biggest issues in health & fitness: personal responsibility and a deeper reliance on internal factors vs. external factors. I will consider myself a success if I can get just one point across to people: You are responsible for you. Your shoes, equipment, diet, supplements, blogs, clothing, etc. don't make you an athlete. You make yourself an athlete. Expecting results simply because you signed up for a class and your payment cleared is a mistake -  one we make all too often. Growth doesn't happen to you - you have to make it happen. Ultimately, our ability to integrate - with our environment, with each other, and within ourselves must begin with a willingness to engage.

Well... the rational adult coach part of me is glad to have the opportunity to discuss that. The kid part of me is over the moon at being on a magazine cover. How neat is that??!? This is totally gonna go right to my head folks. Next up: Time.  Person of the Year. I'm so ready.

I vented a little of my post-cover-girl exuberance by going out for a run. My runs are a little different than most people's so I figured I'd take you all along this time (watch it full screen in HD!):

The whole video was filmed in just over an hour with limited stops. Each obstacle was only attempted once (with the exception of the jump at 3:00 which I practiced twice... my first time landing it with two feet!) I'm pretty happy with the results - what do all of you think?