Planche

I had some more thoughts about the planche. Of all the gymnastic exercises I utilise, most can be rationalised from a paleo perspective - they are of a climbing nature such as muscle ups and levers, or they are rooted in 'play' such as handstands. Even exotic gymnastic exercises are 'bastardised' versions of basic movements.

But then it occurred to me that the planche may well be seen as one of THE most fundamental exercises.

With babies you are recommended to put an infant on its front for a period of time as soon as it can hold its head up. (You can see where this idea is going). As the child develops it then progresses to sitting up unsupported at around 7 months and then eventually to kneeling, then pulling up to standing (assisted) and then to crawling.

You can see that several of these stages involve arm, shoulder and back strength similar to those targeted by a planche. Such strength in an 'all fours' position is evident in most if not all land based mammals.

So maybe the planche is actually pre-paleo. Maybe the gains we can get from it are rooted in our evolutionary past on all fours. I would love for someone to look further in to this idea.

Enough of my ramblings. ;)

Weekend Routine

Saturday
We spent yesterday doing a light family workout. It barely got above freezing all day and so we headed out to the local woods which afforded a bit of shelter from the wind.

I love walking through the woods at any time of the year. I have spent a few summers working out under the trees with my gymnastic rings hanging from the branches.

Flash was encouraged to walk but I ended up carrying her in the papoose on the hilly sections. Captain Kid was happy to run around and took to pressing a few fallen logs and walking along felled trees.

You shouldn't underestimate the benefits of such workouts. Everything from housework and gardening to family walks count towards health. Variety is key.

Sunday
This afternoon Captain Kid was getting cabin fever, so after some chores we headed out for our regular Sunday session. Training with CK does slow things down a bit but it makes training a laugh.

I have begun to focus a bit more on finger strength for my climbing which, with the extra focus on gymnastics (a goal for this year), will hopefully result with a fruitful summer on the rock!

Warm Up (5 minutes of the usual joint rotations and swings)
Main (20+ mins)
1) Sprint (10s)
2) Ring Routine
3) Deadhang (45s, back 3)
4) Ring Splits (5rep:5s, 4rep:10s, 3rep:15s, 3rep:15s)
5) Deadhang (45s, front 3)

Kill Carry (extended circuit with NO weight vest)

I went through the exercises 1-5 four times. The deadhangs are static exercises for climbing involving three fingers at a time. I wrapped things up with a KC that took about 10 minutes.

Here Be Dragons

Early cartographers would adorn their maps with the phrase 'Here Be Dragons' whenever the boundaries of the known world was reached. I feel that some paleo-types may be of a similarly fearful nature.

I follow the paleo model of nutrition and fitness, I am wary of straying too far from this model as it has served me well for several years now, but I am also aware of what Skrabanek calls the 'utopian romanticism' practiced by 'Greens' - a movement under which I believe we could file many if not most individuals who follow a primal pattern of fitness.

In Healthism, Skrabanek notes that "A return to nature is a recurrent dream of those who cannot cope with the complexities of life...who wish to regress to an infantile stage and to bury their faces between the welcoming breasts of Mother Nature. Some may romp naked in the woods...while those more philosophically minded conjure up utopian vistas of the holistic harmony of Man and Universe."

This is an apt and sobering reminder for those who follow a paleo model - that they maintain an evidence-base for their paleo-oriented beliefs. I want to make sure that my exercise and nutritional patterns are at worst non-detrimental to my health and so continually try to record, measure and adjust my current model as appropriate.

I have long been a fan of bodyweight exercises and see more and more potential in fundamental gymnastic exercises. Gymnasts train with basic movements and holds that can involve contractions throughout the whole body. Planches, Body Levers, Muscle Ups and HSPUs are simply fantastic kit-free exercises. Add a sprint on to the end and you have a complete workout right there!

Although I cannot see a paleo driver to planch or to perform an HSPU there is no reason to avoid them, such is their potential for strength development.

I am determined to put a bit more effort in to my gymnastics this year. I still see room for Kill Carrying and Medicine Ball Throws (and I could never be without sprinting), I still want 'paleo baseline strength', but we can clearly gain from movements that would be curious to anyone in a loincloth!

Friday Gymnastics

I put together another quick routine for today (in and out the gym in about 30 mins). It focused on flexibility and basic strength:

Warm Up (5 mins)
Main
1) Planche (1min total)
2) Back Bridge (1min total)

3) Cuts (30s per side)
4) Body Levers (1min total)

The gym was packed out with serial dieters enduring the annual ritual of reaffirming the feedback that 'eat less, do more' really does not work.

The good points of today's workout is that I managed 7 seconds of tuck planche. I have NEVER been able to do this before so this was a real surprise and boost. The remainder of the planches were shorter (3 seconds) and I padded the minute duration with some frog planches (straight armed). The body lever involved a straddle - which is another first.

I like being a generalist and gymnastics gives you 'general strength' (albeit BRUTAL strength). I intend to focus a bit more on gymnastics this year thus erring from true paleo. I will maintain a paleo element.

First Gymastic Routine of 2009

Although I did some activity over Christmas I did no stretching and little to work through my full range of motion. Tuesday presented an opportunity to address any stiffness resulting!

Warm Up (5 mins)
Main
1) Chair Sits (1 min)
2) Handstand (1 min; not completely freestanding)

3) Kneel Backs (1 min)
4) Planch (20s)
5) Cuts (1min each side)
6) Lever (20s)

Exercises one and two were one mini cycle and exercises 3-6 a second mini-cycle. I completed four sets of the first mini-cycle (alternating between each exercise) and then three sets of the second mini-cycle.

The whole routine took about 35 mins.

First Day Back

I picked up training again on Sunday. (Christmas still has not truly finished for me as I have some Christmas cake left - but the tinned chocolates complete with hydrogenated fats have gone). I never had a complete rest over the festive period. There was a boxing day swim and several visits to local parks in Dublin in which I would be running and climbing with my kids.

Now, however, I need to refocus. The break from formal training has allowed a few 'niggles' to heal. As always with my training, after a break I get back to working out with some sprinting.

Sunday night featured my usual workout:

Warm Up (5 mins)
Main (mini circuit of about 15 minutes)
1) Sprint (8s, 9s, 10s, 11s)
2) Basic Ring Routine
3) Ring Splits (5:5s, 4:10s, 3:15s, 2:20s)
4) Fingerboard (Basic laddering)

After four cycles through this sequence, I went out for an extended 'Kill Carry' with my weight vest and punch bag. The extended walk took my 11 minutes which was pretty slow. However, I felt good and the whole workout took around 30 minutes.

The more I use Kill Carrys the more I like them. It is heavy functional work at its best. I try to keep the loads at a level at which I can still put some speed together if needed. I am looking to use less weight (get rid of the weight vest), and try some intermittent sprints with the just the punchbag.

British Government Come Oh So Close....

My god, the paleo movement is finally getting its message through as you can see in this BBC article! You should watch the video at the bottom of the page or follow this link to Sky.

Well, OK, they do muff up the paleo model and conclude with 'an eat less do more' subtext, but the fact that the 'Change 4 Life' campaign begins with acknowledgement of our paleo roots (complete with imagery of us hunting and being hunted by FAST animals and performing and climbing), gives me some hope. They also show real food (the type that grows on trees and the type which runs around).

It all sounds most promising, but things take a turn for the worst when we realise who is behind this campaign. The most worrying issue for me is contained in the following sentence:

• Tesco, Kellogg's and Unilever are among the companies who will be promoting the "eat well, move more, live longer" message in the "Change4Life" strategy.

If that doesn't scare you then Sky news report,

• "Cadbury, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, Kraft, Mars, Nestle and PepsiCo are all taking part alongside major supermarkets Asda, Tesco and The Co-operative Group."

As usual I think I would disagree with each of these companies about what constitutes 'eating well' and also on what 'movements' you should be doing more of.

Whatever THEY think, I would gladly pit my personal 'vital statistics' and athletic prowess against ANY of the senior managers of these companies! I would also guess that at least 50% of their senior board are overweight with poor body composition.

The 'Change 4 Life' website itself is a a fundamental dogs-dinner of advice, and we are not talking a wild-dog either. Cutting fat, calorie restriction (termed 'me size meals'), and advice to 'do more', provide a distinctly non-paleo conclusion to events.

Sadly this whole campaign is doomed to failure as with ALL previous governmental campaigns targeted at obesity. They have simply reheated the corpse of calorie and fat restriction.

The Guardian quotes the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson who explicitly states this:

• "The core of the problem is simple - we eat too much and we do too little exercise"

Perhaps the most annoying thing about this whole campaign is that the cost is £75m. Now if this message is the same as that featured in all previous campaigns, why do they think it will suddenly work now?

I don't mind mistakes. I do get angered by repeated mistakes. I get more annoyed by expensive, repeated mistakes. What makes me truly mad is expensive, repeated mistakes that I have to pay for. If that was not enough, I have since realised I can get pushed to DEFCON One by expensive, repeated mistakes that I have to pay for in times of economic crisis.

Having a vegetarian and vegan past, I often get criticised for 'always changing my diet' (I have changed my diet three times in over 30 years). But this change has been on the back of personal experimentation and formal research.

The former has provided me with feedback and the latter has been a source of education and ultimately, confirmation of my own experience. When the facts change, I change with them.

Our government and Alan Johnson in particular could do with doing the same.