It would be hard to debate that human’s of today are busier and with less free time than at any other point in history. Although the alleged intent of “modern conveniences” was to make our lives more efficient while increasing leisure time, these ubiquitous items of necessity may have done precisely the opposite. Automobiles made it possible to live in suburbs and commute in gridlock for hours in the masochistic rituals of rush hours. Personal computers, smart phones, and internet have made work available everywhere, while reseting expectations of an always “on” corporate culture of being available for work outside the 9-5, including weekends & vacations. Although these are just a couple industry changing technologies of the last century, there are many more that are eroding personal time while increasing the profit margins and GDP of the micro to macro economies all in the name of progress.
Every day the earth takes 24 hours to rotate around, and after you subtract sleep (8 hours), work (8 hours), commute (2 hours), there remaining is a paltry 6 hours, and lets face it, most people do not just work 8 hours a day. That 6 hours decays with rapidly, often with personal fitness being casualty (as evidenced by the epidemic of obesity).
Considering that increases in productivity often accompanies increases in stressors, we make the case that physical modalities are needed at increased intervals and saturation to keep the human machine firing on all cylinders reliably, for the long haul, while keeping subsidiary parts lubricated and moving efficiently. We may not always be able to resist the increasing degrees of busyness our lives transition to by the inexorable technological singularity or poor planning, but within our power is the ability to use savvy strategies and win the small battles with intent of escaping this war altogether.
MAKE THE WORLD YOUR GYM
Schedules and work can get disrupted; but the excuse of not having time to get physical training in is almost always ingenuous (if we are brutally honest with ourselves). Acknowledging the chaos of life, there are strategies that can be leveraged to be proactive in ensuring the human body is physically challenged often and consistently. Consider the function of meal-prep: preparation ensuring a fueling strategy that keeps good feeding decisions in line, we’ve coined the term Fitness-prep: ensuring at any time and virtually anywhere you have at your disposal a myriad of fitness modalities that can be deployed at a moments notice.
FITNESS-PREP
Left Coast Caveman attempts to reframe modern world views to align with our best guess of the ancestral line. We believe that in the absence of modern gyms, weights, and machines, the past peoples likely engaged in regular play: climbed trees, jumped, ran, and participated in games that likely engaged our abilities to move, throw and strategize (enter modern day sports). Our idea of fitness prep synergizes modern mobile and minimalist fitness equipment (all of which are back packable) against a background of the outdoors; with the combination of these being a health and wellness force multiplier.
The below list will assist you in the Fitness-Prep: a way of ensuring that wherever your busy lives takes you, you can pull over and pull out a gym that can over time literally change your body and mind.
ASSAULT PACK / BUTT PACK
Any back pack works, but I recommend the rugged durability of military grade assault packs. These generally come in various sizes, with a camelback hydration component, and a cordura grade material that will keep its holding integrity for years. On every mission I’ve been on, be it short or long, you can bet that I had an assault pack at the ready for any contingency. Although nowadays it may not be filled with ammo, rations, and medical supplies, the payload is none-the-less lethal from a killing the gains perspective. Fanny packs (AKA butt packs) are also quite handy for an everyday carry / essentials payload.
FITNESS BANDS
Compact, versatile, and with multiple levels of resistance, elastic bands can be used by themselves or attached to trees, benches, or children’s community play structures. Scalable to desired difficulty, while providing the benefit of accommodated resistance (it gets harder at end range). Training power with bands or combining with the kettle bell can also provide innovative novelty when equipment is at minimalist mode.
JUMP ROPE (WIRE)
Jump ropes continue to be the conditioning tool of choice of boxers and cross fit athletes alike. The ability to jack your heart rate above zone three in under 5 minutes while providing quality full body warm up, This simple wire and handles provides unparalleled utility. I recommend using the wire options (opposed to classic rope) as you can develop a faster cadence and the sound is cool.
KETTLE BELL OR LCC STONE
The amount of full body strength endurance & power exercises that can be accomplished with a 20lb kettlebell or fitness rock is astounding. Considering the packability and utility of this fine tool, this is a must have for any fitness prep kit. The 20-25lb kettlebell / STONE also provides a solid pack for warmups from the car to park, to actual weighted bodyweight warm ups, to supercharging your 10,000 daily steps.
TRX
The TRX consists of adjustable straps attached to handles with a D-ring end making this piece of equipment usable at minimal with a tree branch or playground overhead bar (even a door attachment for hotel rooms!). Using gravity, bodyweight, and through an exhaustive list of exercises, this gym in a bag does it all. Founded by a service member and a combat favorite amongst ground troops, the TRX is essential for outside of gym fitness operations.
TABATA APP
It has been long proven that the Tabata protocol is one of the most effective training procedures for maximizing anaerobic and aerobic adaptation. Using a Tabata app via your phone provides convenient torture anywhere you can do a burpee, air squat, or sprawl jump. Any tool or bodyweight exercise can be used in Tabata format. Highly encouraged and simple in design.
Armed with 1 or all of the above tools, you can turn the world into your gym. Be it at lunch break, during your kids baseball practice, or simply in your driveway; there is no excuse for not getting a workout in. Similar to how meal prep keeps you from being unprepared and making bad decisions, fitness prep keeps you in the pocket despite any chaos that may keep you from your regularly scheduled forums for training. Training out in nature with body weight or any tool for that matter will always be a force multiplier when in combination with dirt, rocks, trees, and sunlight. This power of nature will not only vanquish the boredom of rote training, but will also work your body against elements inspiring adaptions comparable to our proto-ancestors. Be aware that you may in the process of re-wilding, inspire a movement. Your activities that are outside of the norm, heard by others, will pique the curiosity of parents with children (sometimes the kids will even join a workout) or NPC park goers to get motivated and break outside the matrix to find oneself through the gentle nudging of progressive misery called fitness.
