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[Continued from Part 1, posted earlier today]

In this review I have concentrated so far on the arguments and the overall message of the book.
The author does, however, also provide over a hundred examples of movements and routines, but
we can sense that he feels his guidance should become redundant once we have the right mindset
and can take up the abundant opportunities for physical challenges to meet our needs and
ambitions.  He also provides many examples of how to acquire the right mindset.  Forencich
reminds us continually of the animal model: animals do not 'work out'; they play, hunt and flee,
but exercise – never.

Although this book sets out a range of movements that have likely relevance to human evolution
and points to activity that mimics physical challenges that our bodies adapted to over millions of
years, the writer advocates exercise that suits the needs of each individual, not the needs of a
testosterone-charged hunter in the prime of life. He does this by focusing on functional exercise.
He tells us that if your aim is to be fit enough to play with your grandchildren, go swimming in the
sea every summer or enjoy without injury all the work you want to do in the garden, then that also
points to the sort of training you need to explore. He even lays out the basics for an entire 'garden
fitness' exercise program .  He refers to this as 'functional fitness' and explains that just as this
sort of activity does not involve the use of machines in a gym, so neither need preparing the body
to undertake these activities.  "Train for the way you want to live" is his advice.

Forencich devotes a chapter to walking, describing deliciously our ancestors' uses of walking on
the African savannah and in the forest edge and how walking was the key to survival as the
seasons changed. "If you wanted to eat, you'd have to put in some miles".  He describes a 'stealth
walk', a 'hunted gatherer walk', about walking with alertness and sharp observation and about
creative running. He also points out that the natural state of the human foot is shoeless and that
the natural environment is uneven rather than paved and explores the implications for our
walking, running and overall fitness.

From walking, it is natural to move on to balance and Forencich explains more clearly than I have
seen elsewhere the mysteries of proprioception.  Well, there are no mysteries after reading his
explanation and we realise just how important it is and how to foster our proprioceptive skills.
The author also takes us through warming up, stretching, 'sets and reps', 'correct form', injury
prevention and diet – all firmly in their evolutionary context, often relishing his Occam's Razor
conclusions that cut across the conventional wisdom of the fitness professional and the health
industry.  His holistic approach comes out where he describes his game 'carnivore', a mixture of
what I knew in my childhood as 'chasey' and 'hidey', modified to enhance its Paleolithic reality – a
game that he suggests can be combined with learning about grassland ecology, biology, animal
behaviour and human origins.

For those interested in the fitness levels of our ancestors, Forencich leads us into an examination
of the fossil record, describing, for example, skeletons of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens
with right side humerus (upper arm) bones that are significantly larger than the left side,
suggesting powerful frequent movement of the right arm – similar to what we see in modern
tennis players.  There is also evidence from the points at which the tendons attach to the bones
that indicate greater strength than almost any modern humans.

What is the thread running through the book?  Frank Forencich returns time and again to the need
for adults to regain the joy and elation they had for physical movement in their childhood, a
delight that adult hunter-gatherers retained in their exhausting corroborees, other dances,
wrestling contests, jousting with children.  He epitomises this as play.  Play is movement that is
voluntary, enjoyable, often companionable, unpredictable, fun and a little bit risky. Because play is
subjective, it can't be measured or analyzed; there are no stats or spreadsheets, no rankings,
winners or losers. Play does not fit in with our cultural preference for dominance hierarchies.  Fun
is in the body and spirit of the player, not in the eyes of judges, commentators or spectators.  All
Forencich’s movement recommendations are directed to help us progress beyond the
contemporary idea of exercise as an onerous duty that is good for health or as a penance that
must be endured to lose excess body fat – which will, of course, achieve both of these and itself
give us the motivation to show up and get moving.  In doing this, he acknowledges the need for
imagination and willingness to be trailblazers and to develop play forms that meet our adult
functional needs, and for this Forencich gives abundant help.

So here's a book that is not about fleeing from body fat, old age, diabetes or heart disease but is
instead about running towards agility, strength, endurance, vitality, competence and new
possibilities for play.

As a reviewer who has been participating in the development of 'Evolutionary Fitness' for the past
five years, I found it hard to fault this book.  Although the author deals with the science, he does
not get lost in reductionism; he always keeps in mind the principle that what worked for three
million years will still work today.  The omissions I noted are (i) his relative neglect of a Paleolithic
diet as described recently by Stephen Boyden [4], but Loren Cordain [5] and other writers have
already covered that field adequately (ii) the destruction of the Pleistocene environment and
expansion of human numbers such that re-creation of the Paleolithic lifestyle requires more than
a new approach to movement; (iii) the limited (though still useful) analysis of human social
developments associated with civilization and the supporting memes.  Forencich's writing is never
boring and, particularly in his final chapters where he draws the threads together and lays out the
path for us, is lyrical and inspiring.

The book is readily purchased over the internet through the author's website: www.goanimal.com.
In January 2005, my copy of the book arrived in Australia eight days after I ordered it.

References
4.  Boyden, S V, The Biology of Civilisation, 2004
5.  Cordain, L  The Paleo Diet, 2002
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This review is my own work; to the best of my knowledge it has not been reviewed previously,
though there is an article based on an interview with the author at:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/0706/fitness.html

This review will be re-written for publication in the Journal 'Nature and Society' taking into account
comments made by subscribers to this list.

I have no connection with the author other than as an admiring and grateful reader.

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