Often we come across claims as to what defined our past progenitor’s fitness >10,000 years ago. And of course, these are all unfounded conjectures based in comparison of what we know of fitness today, bone samples, and possibly referencing isolated tribes that have somehow skipped the assimilation of post industrialism. I myself often contemplate our ancestors, imagining what a day of hunting and gathering may have looked like…with presuppositional themes defined as unstructured & chaotic driven by movement and resourcing that was intermittent. Play & leisure was likely interspersed and proportional to caloric opulence, and all set upon a background of community integration and richness of social interaction and duty. I imagine in these sub-dunbarian numbers, the social contract that we today seem to be losing gravity with were critical to all aspects of life; there was limited dispersion of responsibility, and reputation was king. I surmise fitness was not trained, but lived. Hunting and gathering being a periodized cycle of activities that stimulated strength, endurance, balance, speed, flexibility, and power. From coordinated hunting expeditions with the group, slow and steady migration or gathering during times of bloom. Carrying heavy slabs of meat, sprinting after game, fighting other men or perhaps in wrestle play. Lives built upon sustainability activities that have since been transmogrified to grocery store foraging, socialization through streaming services, and corporate mild mannered hunting of conference calls and KPIs. Im not sure anyone would disagree with the corollary that our past relatives were very fit and capable.
Although, I’m doubtful that there was structured fitness in a highly variable and calorie unsure world (perhaps in very sophisticated and successful tribes), its likely safe to assume that successful men and women of that time were fit through activity and perhaps fitter because of the chaos and necessity of every calorie requiring higher input to attain. That being said, at Left Coast Caveman, we provide a nod of acknowledgment to the ways of the past with a practical understanding that our world today is structured much differently. In fact, today we have the ability to be heroic strong. Meaning, we have access to the highest quality nutrition, supplementation, knowledge of how to properly train the body (especially if you often peruse LCC content) and gyms that are olympic in caliber. Martial arts dojos that teach the finest techniques and even personal trainers who will carefully and in a structured way guide your pursuits. There is no excuse.
Due to the modern conveniences of our inherited lives, we have the ability to achieve super hero fitness. To have the body of a statue, strength of an ox, flexibility of a yogi, and the speed of a Roadrunner. Let’s consider that It may be be impossible and at the very least impractical to live the life of a hunter and gatherer. I believe a healthy appreciation to hunter and gatherer’s focus on the basics of survival can serve to sooth both body and mind, and even provide a north star to follow when injuries to muscle tissue and cortex arise, when adipose hides our truest form and autoimmune maladies attack and deform as not so subtle signals to mistreatment. Today we have the luxury to train and forge the form and capabilities of a hero. Perhaps it is now more than ever, the updated social contract holds us accountable to the responsibility of being trained, disciplined, and healthy. Not just for ourselves, but for our children, family, community, and country: for all humans.
Remember your fathers; you will be remembered also if done right.
