The good, the bad and the ugly on human evolution and our quality of life.

I've seen a lot in the last 10 years as a personal trainer, an exercise science scholar and a professional athlete, from the money-back-guarantee fitness regimes through to the miracle cure nutritional methods. I will be the first to put my hand up and say that I have been guilty of dabbling in some of these abhorrent practices (50% out of curiosity; 50% in responding to my human instinct for a ‘quick fix’) with a mixture of results. The purpose of the topic of this week’s blog is to make apparent the spins and roundabouts humanity constantly encounter when it comes to bettering our quality of life.

That’s progress. 

Human technology has been progressing exponentially ever since the industrial revolution.  We have seen advances in pharmaceuticals, medicinal practises, and proliferation of food stocks through improved farming practices, computer technologies and much much more.  Some of these advances can be attributed to the overall greater good of humanity when it comes to increasing life expectancy, advancement in surgery techniques and technologies and many other progressions seen in medicine. However we seem to be a product of our own magnificence and have lost the very way it is to be human.

The ever increasing influence of economics in our health industry has clouded the way we are supposed to be eating, training and supplementing when it comes to optimising our fitness and overall health benefits. The overwhelming evidence of obesity and metabolic related diseases is rife in our modern society; in Australia alone 65% of all adults and 54% of all children are experiencing theses diseases at this very moment. It evident now that antibiotics (the very foundation of the way humans fight infection and arguably the most significant health related discovery of our generation) is now at threat of becoming null in void due to the constant over prescription in the last 20-30 years.  

Previously mentioned, economics is a huge motivator when it comes to the education we receive, because when there is money to be made certain persuasions are enforced which influence popular opinion, and not always for the better.  Enter the low fat high sugar era and the obsession with the reduction of cholesterol for heart related illnesses; we will touch on this later.

If there is such a thing as being a result of ‘over-enhancement’ you will see it in our fitness industry where endurance based exercise is still the basis of 70-80% of all methods when combating overweight and obesity issues. It is apparent in the way we dress, modern footwear, complete with high cushioning soles designed for peak performance seen in modern day runners, have been attributed to weakening our feet and therefore increasing risks of injuries from ankles, knee, hips and feet themselves.

So where does that leave us? I believe the best way to go forward is to go back to where we came from and look at the way we were intended to eat, move and function. However I don’t say this with complete disregard of modern medicinal innovation, I am advocating a combination of both minimalistic views and contemporary progression.

In regards to nutrition we (humans) have developed over thousands of years on a diet of good wholesome organically grown, unprocessed, unmanufactured food, ‘caveman’ eating so to speak.  However I do not agree entirely with the concept of going caveman as our ancestors didn’t necessarily achieve all of the important nutritional requirements that we have identified today, due to inaccessibility for geographical reasons. So I prefer the notion that if it doesn’t rot, don’t eat it.  With this concept green cruciferous vegetables, organically fed and grown protein sources (different meats, fish, steak, chicken, turkey etc) coupled with dark berries are the mainstays of optimal nutritional integrity for all human functions. There is more to this nutrition saga then simply that but that goes a long way to explaining the essentials (I will explain this in later blogs).

Now for exercise, the advancement of ergonomic technologies has made us more and more inactive, increasing the sedentary lifestyle of the male and female. Coupled with this, the indoctrination of aerobic activity as the only way to combat fat loss also plays a major contributing factor to the obesity epidemic.

Functional strength training, NOT long aerobic activity, is the key to increased physical enhancement. The perception of muscle clad body builders as the only people who participate in such training is completely false and borderline unintelligible. To achieve what most competition body builders achieve takes a lifetime of training whilst using all of the tricks and techniques of the trade from anabolic illegal aids to various training methods (if  doing a couple of weights workouts increased muscle that proficiently we would all be Adonis’s).  Moving on, the involvement of multi joint exercises invoke imperative hormonal responses essential in adding muscle mass which alternatively decrease fat mass, increases strength, metabolism and numerous other benefits essential in regaining the way man and women are supposed to move pre industrial revolution.

Major footwear companies are even adapting minimalistic footwear with the introduction of individual nodes employed on the soles of shoes mimicking the bare feet movement without actually being barefoot and exposing feet to the outside dangers in the environment.  Nike have the ‘frees’ range, new balance have their versions, as do asics etc.  Reebok flex is a brand I am familiar with which also employs this technology to which I can personally endorse from my own experience with them.

So its spins and roundabouts just like retro furniture; it has taken 200 years of modern advancement to go back to what we have done for a thousand of years prior. This seems to be the way humanity progresses and hopefully it doesn’t take 200 years to reverse the errors we are currently seeing now and we can find a harmonious balance between technology and minimalist to further enhance the potential of what is the most amazing biological advancement of all… ‘Human kind.’