Jack LaLanne is an inspiration and an incredibly functional athlete. So, why not learn from the best? 

I've written about my style of training before as it applies to clients from all walks of life. Even though these clients may have varied goals, my main focus is always to achieve homeostasis within one's self to develop a strong gait, powerful reactions, and improved functionality.

These goals are effectively achieved from a program I developed as a result of my extensive studies, lecture material from Paul Chek and Art DeVany's evolutionary fitness, just to name a few. I believe that training for functionality leads to reduced stress and strain, a fitter and healthier body, and a physique that more closely resembles that of primitive man (strong, quick, and lean). 

There are six physical factors (biomotor abilities) that athletes must possess, the exact order of importance varying from sport to sport.

• Strength
  
• Power
  
• Balance
  
• Agility
  
• Flexibility
  
• Endurance

How many of these were necessary for Primal Man? Is Bodybuilding really the best way to train for each modality today?

Primal Man certainly needed strength for the purpose of building shelter, protecting himself/herself and family from neighbors who did not agree about property lines, or who wanted their food! But what kind of strength was it? Not the kind that is developed on knee extension, leg press and hamstring curl machines! These machine-based exercises don’t help improve functional squat strength and I doubt such exercises would do squat in an environment that was as athletic as a good football or soccer game!

Power, the ability to apply force quickly, would definitely have been more of an asset to Primal Man than possessing bulky muscle build using slow and super-slow tempo training. Just consider that you would have had to feed all those cells during periods when food was scare; certainly there were no muscle-building shakes to keep you going. To put it bluntly, if you couldn’t throw a spear or a rock with serious intent, or run like hell when necessary, you may well have smelled cat breath, and I’m not talking domestic cat here!

Balance and agility were no doubt high on the prerequisite list for Primal Man. Running through the brush, hopping rocks across streams and down mountainsides was risky business when you consider that a broken leg could have very well been fatal; sounds like rugby, not bodybuilding!

Flexibility would have been developed proportional to the working environment; if you lived in the mountains your flexibility would certainly have been greater by necessity than those who lived in the plains. Although I doubt Pebbles and Bam Bam held regular stretching sessions, today we have evolved to the point of realizing the prophylactic value of stretching...
 
...Endurance was also very likely related to Primal Man’s dominant activities. If you were an inland Aboriginal who trekked for miles to obtain a specific plant, grub or water, you would no doubt have developed a strong endurance base. Alternatively, if food was plentiful but moved quickly (think rabbit), you were probably very cunning and had a high anaerobic capacity. Pure speed was not the entire issue, as I have never met a sprinter who could outrun an animal you would eat in the wild; well, I take that back - Ben Johnson outran a race horse a few years ago, but I don’t think he ate it!

An interesting fact with regard to energy systems is that, by necessity of survival, Primal Man developed the energy system most dominant in his daily activities. This is important when applied to athletes today. 

Art DeVany has a sensible approach that anyone (with a goal) can follow.

And on exercise: “First, everybody over-trains. Don’t do it. Don’t trudge away on a treadmill, count sets or repetitions, or work out according to a top-down Soviet model. You will hate it and it does not produce results. You must let it happen. You must have a playful, intermittent form of exercise. And you must exercise. The benefits are profound… Make it fun, intense according to your own fitness and goals, and brief. The goal of an exercise session is to promote growth-hormone release, to build muscle, and to elevate insulin sensitivity. Brevity and intensity are keys. Intensity means a little burn in the muscle, not heaving and straining. Brevity means you do not release stress hormones. So, you are favorably altering your hormone profile.” Superman's grandad, it turns out, gets by on no more than 45 minutes in the gym and only when he feels like it.

Functional training is short, sweet, and the best way to achieve your goal.

Happiness is also result of health and, as Paul Chek puts it, "Wellness is defined as “a state in which a human being functions at an optimal level of integration between the elements of body, mind and spirit. The well individual is one who is happy, healthy and whole and who perceives his/her live as one with meaning and purpose.”"

Take your first baby steps toward wellness and call me today.