If I've said it once...

This past Saturday was our always-popular Parkour Meetup. Despite some questionable weather, it was well attended by great people and, as always, I had a great time.

In attendance was Laura, who blogs at Ancestralize Me. We ended up sitting down afterwards to discuss Paleo, Crossfit, life, etc. As you all might imagine, I had a thing or two to say. She was very polite and let me carry on at length. My faithful readers (<3) might be able to guess what my points were - Laura wrote an article about it, which you should read here.

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Yes, I have my issues with Crossfit and Paleo. I have bigger issues with the siren song of "gurus" and constantly think about how to break free. I think the most powerful thing anyone can do for their health has nothing to do with their particular diet choice or exercise regime: They need to get invested in their own journey. They need to have meaningful experiences. The diet and exercise bit will follow.

This is why, when asked for good reading/watching material relating to health and exercise, I don't give standard answers. Instead, I recommend Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Cosmos.

Everyone is different and there is no single health movement that will work for everyone. We need to appreciate that there is more to health than just diet and exercise. There are massively complex systems at work in all of our lives. Laura's biggest disagreement with me was when I said that I accepted the possibility that veganism could be the correct lifestyle choice for someone. She argued the biochemistry angle, which I absolutely agree with. But there's more to life than the biochemistry of your diet. Look at the whole system. Veganism sure seems to have helped create a dramatic improvement in Mike Tyson's life...

Don't worry folks, I'm still very much on the Paleo bandwagon. I just think we need to be less paternalistic in our blanket diagnoses. Laura countered my vegan argument by asking if I thought a sedentary life was optimal for anyone. I'm sure that person exists - probably not by choice. As I said to her, I don't think Steven Hawking should be trying Crossfit anytime soon. But the majority of the human species would benefit from eating real food, running around and lifting things.

I believe in the Ancestral/Paleo movement. I also believe that anything worth its salt can stand up to the heaviest scrutiny - indeed, it will become stronger in the process. I am constantly frustrated by people who blindly agree with everything coming out of the Paleo community. I think most of the thought-leaders in the Paleo community are super smart, well-meaning, balanced, and careful. I also think they are sometimes wrong... because they are human and we humans are constantly making mistakes.

Here's what it boils down to for me: be respectful, open, and adaptable. Seek common ground. Reject dogma. Ask questions. Dance more.

Out of the box thinking

I keep on meaning to take a break from the "sport of fitness" criticism, but they keep pushing out content that makes me wince.

Take this for example. It's a bunch of people doing Crossfit on the roof of a building. Okay, that's fine. I enjoy how they've tried to make Crossfit look interesting with all the rapid cutting, harsh lighting, etc. But, really, I don't have a problem with the production. (They did manage what are perhaps the most boring Gopro shots of all time though...)

My problem is stated in the first line of the video's description: "We want to show people that fitness is something that can be done anywhere, at any time."  Yeah... with the correct permits and a couple thousand dollars worth of Reebok Crossfit gear...

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I don't know about you, but if that's fitness then I can't afford it. If you are really interested in an anywhere, anytime, no excuses approach to HIIT, then check out Ross Training. And/or read Never Gymless. Then get to your favorite home improvement store and stock up. For the cost of one month at an average Crossfit box you can make yourself a formidable array of strength equipment.

Or forego equipment alltogether. Run, jump, and climb. Vault and balance. Dance. Do martial arts. Work on your pistol squats.

If you live near any kind of natural setting, go find some stones or some logs. Deadlift a big rock, set it aside, then spend the next 3 minutes on the ground checking out all the neat bugs that are living under that rock. Then put it back, select another rock, and repeat!

Look, I understand marketing. A key to opening those upper-middle class wallets is conferring a sense of authenticity. I guess I just prefer products/services that are actually authentic vs. relying on stunts and showmanship. Reebok is trying to generate buzz so they can sell stuff. They don't care about your health. They care about next quarter.

This is ultimately why I decided to turn away from standard MBA jobs after I graduated. The conversations with the career services people went something like this: "Oh, you like fitness? Well, you should try for a brand management position at Nike!" Okay, but Nike doesn't give a hoot about your fitness - they care about Nike's stock price.

I prefer to stay small and stay close to real people. It keeps me honest and keeps my incentives lined up. If I do a good job as a coach, people keep coming back. My end-of-year bonus comes from looking around at all the people I helped make better... and from the fact that I get to be outside for large portions of every day.

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At the end of the video, Reebok asks "Where will the sport of fitness arrive next?" Hey Reebok, how about Chapel Hill, NC? I'll save you some helicopter fuel: You don't need to bring any of your fancy stuff. Just meet me in Forest Theater and I'll show you what real "anywhere, any time" fitness is all about.

The smart body games

I first heard the term "smart body" in college when I was reading some article about MMA training. There are other names for this - stuff like "kinesthetic awareness," "well coordinated," or just plain and simple "athletic." But I always liked "smart body" since it sets up a great little comparison. Just like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares, a smart body is always strong, but a strong body isn't necessarily smart.

In my opinion, the hallmark of a smart body is well developed and - here's the key - efficient movement skills.

Read that last line again, because there's an interesting implication embedded in it. People with smart bodies are efficient, which means they look for ways to do LESS work to accomplish a task. Our modern fitness industry revolves around ways to get you to do MORE work. If you've been sedentary and are looking to get back into shape, then you absolutely need to do more work. But at a certain point, a paradigm shift needs to happen. You need to stop moving around because you have to burn X number of calories and start moving around because you love it. This means finding an activity you can love (probably not the treadmill) and you want to do for as long as possible. Efficient movement lets you play longer and harder.

So how to build a smarter body? Practice skill-based movements, the more the merrier. The fancy term we sometimes use is "complexity bias." Basically, the more complex the skill-set, the more benefit you get. A sprinter has a smarter body than a jogger, a running back has a smarter body than a sprinter, etc. You don't have to go high-intensity - Tai Chi and dancing will make your body incredibly smart. Just ask Pai Mei:

I saw Sean do this once. No, really.

Something I've noticed is that people with smart bodies are incredibly adaptable - they learn new things quickly. I think this is why most people who excel at Crossfit have had prior training in a skill-heavy discipline and why I always have an easy time of teaching non-parkour skills to traceurs.

"Okay," I hear you say, "I'm sold. Smart bodies FTW... now what?"  I have a few little games you can play in your house that require almost no equipment. Let's call them the Smart Body Games:

1. Stand up and sit down:  From a standing position, sit down on the floor. Then return to standing. Don't use your arms/hands and maintain good posture the whole time. For added challenge, add in rotations as you ascend/descend. Now try to do it with one leg and one arm. Play with different combinations of limbs.

2. "My arms!": Lie down on your back and pretend your arms are paralyzed. Maneuver yourself around the house using only your legs. Go around corners, try to get up onto couches/chairs, you can even try going down stairs (go feet first... trust me) Feel free to roll onto your stomach at any point, just don't use your arms to do so!

3. "My legs!": Same as above, but now your legs are paralyzed.

4. "Never say die!": Same as above, but now you've only got 1 limb. Good luck :)

5. "Do a barrel roll!": Travel only via rolling. This could be a PK style shoulder roll, back roll, baby style roll, anything you want. This one is especially fun to do with spouses/siblings/roommates/etc. Watch your head.

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Sets, reps, etc. aren't important. Remember, you're trying to make this as easy as possible - efficiency is king! I'm sure we all have versions of these types of games and I'd love to hear some of yours - comment away!