To reply to a digest, insert the relevant message header; don't reply to the digest header
-------------------------------------------------------------

> Just finished watching a re-run of the BBC's "Walking with Beasts",

Sounds somewhat similar to a show aired a couple months ago on the Science
Channel (Discovery) about survival during the last Ice Age. It followed the
progress of a small group who, having been seperated from their tribe in
the north, journeyed south to escape the advancing glaciers. Unfortunately,
I only caught about the last half of the series. But, what I saw of it was
fascinating and awe-inspiring. I believe it was just called Ice World (or,
perhaps just Ice?).

> I'm not sure which of the above I am agreeing with...  I think high
> intensity effort was there, but was it sought out, or avoided at all
> costs?

I agree. If we accept the notion that paleo man of 50,000 years ago was not
so different from us, then we can assume really hard work was avoided at
all costs. If there's an easier way to do something, humans will (try to)
find it. We see this attitude a lot in modern hunter-gatherer societies.
(Of course, some intense activities could not be avoided. If you didn't put
your all into wrestling that cougar, then you definitely wouldn't last too
long :)

I think it's likely that sporting type competitions were used to keep men
on their toes (and, possibly women too). Just as with modern athletes, the
drive to *win* would have ensured "high intensity" effort. However, in the
case of sustained activity, it's almost certain a low intensity pace was
kept up for extended periods of time. (Think along the lines of a
long-distance runner pacing himself until the winning sprint at the end).

I've read a few comments on other lists that suggest weight lifting is "not
paleo". Well, I would have to disagree with this assumption. I think weight
lifting "competition" has been around for a long, long time. ("Ha ha, me
lift bigger rock than you. Me stronger..." :)

> I guess it makes an argument in my mind for a fairly chaotic and random
> approach, though I don't think that is optimal for modern athletic
> performance.

Agreed. Sometimes I pick up a weight to do presses or whatever, and
suddenly decide to go for a lighter weight and pump out higher reps. It
does not fit the definition of "heaviest weight to failure HIT", and I
don't think it maximizes muscular contraction, but I believe it is
nonetheless a valid exercise. I do a lot of "drop sets" to improve muscular
endurance as well.

Even though I do follow a split "schedule" of sorts, I doubt I ever do the
same workout twice. There's always something new I'm trying or
experimenting with (my definition of "fun" :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
The FAQ for Evolutionary Fitness is at http://www.evfit.com/faq.htm