I’m giving it my all playing Ultimate (Frisbee),
stand-up paddling, snowboarding, or racing my
teenage son down the beach and into the waves.
And while the euphoric feeling that comes from
“going long” is still in my blood, instead of push-
ing the pace in the pack till my tongue hangs out,
I take my time and enjoy a deeper connection
with nature. I might follow the little white ball
around the golf course, or hike and explore the
remote canyon trails near my home, but I’m not
concerned with beeping heart watches or down-
loading data from a GPS training watch into a
computerized mileage log.
Many folks ask me for insightful pearls about my
exercise “schedule”. Truth is, about the only thing
on my schedule is a standing Ultimate game on
Sunday afternoons. The rest of my workouts are
based on what my mind and body feel like doing,
if anything. This sporadic, intuitive, unstructured
approach is flat out the most effective and evolved
way to become fit and healthy. I must emphasize
that I’ve arrived at this epiphany after forty years
of struggling and suffering, so let me underline
how strongly I object to the linear fitness ap-
proach favored by Conventional Wisdom—a life
of graphs, schedules, weekly progressions, and
beeping watches.
That said, I understand the desire to have some
structure and advance planning for your exercise,
so I’ll share with you suggested weekly routines
that align with the Primal Blueprint fitness prin-
ciples. As you absorb the information, please
remember that you are still the one behind the
wheel, while I’m riding shotgun. This is a critical
distinction that many programs and experts fail
to emphasize, and I have personally suffered the
pitfalls from turning the responsibility for my train-
ing decisions over to someone else.Listen to your own voice above everything else.
Absorb the information provided, but remember to
exercise when you feel like it, do the stuff that’s the
most fun, and always align your workout choices
with your energy level, motivation level and state
of health. If I’m tired, jet lagged, or detect a slight
sore throat or elevated temperature, I’ll do little
or no exercise until I feel fine in a resting state. If
I’m energized and excited, I will pull out the stops,
throw caution to the wind, and push my body to
great new heights doing fun new stuff. Excuse my
over-the-top enthusiasm, but I can’t tell you how
awesome it feels to be fitter, healthier, and more
energetic at 57 than I felt at 27 or 37. Lifelong
functional fitness can be yours too, in as little as a
few hours a week of PBF style exercise.The PBF Schedule cont’d 5