Heiden was a hero when I was a kid.  Interesting.

Anyway, I believe all this goes to AJ's noodle-bending contention  
that there is no difference between muscular strength, size, and  
endurance.  And his idea that the purpose of the heart and lungs are  
to support the musculature, not the other way around.  After HIT, I  
just have a difficult time finding an activity that winds me.  And  
that includes pounding up steep hills on a bicycle for hours on end.   
I hope I don't need to say that I am far from a genetic abnormality  
-- it's the training method.  Again, I am working out less than half  
an hour a week.

We do have evidence that the average hunter did relatively brief,  
intense work.  And we have some data that there were long runs and  
endurance type activity.  But I believe the best physical results can  
be obtained with brief, intense, infrequent.  At the very least you  
can get equal results with exercise modalities that take much longer.

My workout right now consists of the following: squat, calf raises  
with dumbbell, underhand pull up, lateral dumbbell raise.  That's  
it.  Single set to exhaustion, four seconds positive, eight  
negative.  Time under load goal is about a minute.

This workout takes me about eight minutes twice a week (or 16 mins  
per week).  And about once a month I'll get the urge to go on a long  
bike ride or run, after which I take about three days for recovery  
before resuming the normal workout.  Eating paleo is the key to  
avoiding soreness and excess post workout exhaustion.

You'll notice I've avoided the machines vs. free weights debate  
entirely.  ;-)    And, yes, I've avoided references for now.  Please  
forgive as I'm trying to avoid taking the Christmas lights off the  
house, but keep getting that look from my dear wife.

Jim

On Jan 4, 2010, at 12:10 PM, Ken O'Neill wrote:

> When I read this I was suddenly reminded of Eric Heiden's training  
> for Lake
> Placid Olympics, first to ever sweep sprints through long distance.  
> His leg
> presses on the much more difficult old fashioned vertical leg press  
> was sets
> of 100 reps with 500 lbs. Even more incredible was the occasion  
> with no warm
> up that he took a 235 lb barbell, knocking out a set of 300 reps -  
> no typo
> there, 235x300. And he wasn't juiced on polypharmaceuticals.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paleolithic Eating Support List  
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Jim Swayze
> Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 7:54 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Art DeVany's book: "The New Evolution Diet"
>
>> I liked your sensible advice "Don't copy the other people in the
>> gym". It
>> reminds me of the most valued comment I have ever received at my
>> gym: when I
>> was in my early 50s a fellow asked me "How come you don't do any of
>> the
>> standard exercises, yet you have the best body in the gym?"
>>
>> Keith
>
>
> At 43 years old, I get the same comments.  How is it you're spending
> *at most* half an hour per week and yet you are in the best shape of
> anyone here?  How is it you can run a half marathon or bike 40 miles
> with zero training?
>
> The answer is of course that it's a combination of eating a species-
> appropriate diet combined with intense, brief, infrequent workouts.
> It always saddens me when I think of the hours of wasted time people
> spend in the gym or out on the road.
>
> Jim Swayze