Why wouldn’t we want to train this way and respect that underlying primate brain and its natural way of doing things?
Sick and tired of modern living? Decided to return to your caveman roots? Coach Kevin Don breaks down primal training and if it’s just another fad.
Get-Fit Guy is hosted by Kevin Don. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Hi, I'm Kevin Don, the Get-Fit Guy and I’m back again with your weekly installment of fitness facts and fallacies. Sit back, relax, and enjoy as I explore what primal training is and reveal if I think you should be training like an early proto-human.
If you are a regular listener of the show, you will know that I am a big fan of defining things by etymology. So what does “primal” mean in terms of primal movement, primal strength, and primal training? The word primal comes from the Latin word “primus,” meaning first. Therefore, primal training relates to the movement patterns and needs of the first humans.
Obviously, the needs of early man 200,000 years ago when the Earth was shared with larger, stronger, and more sturdy Neanderthals—who shared the same hunting grounds—were very different. There was that physical competition for resources and, of course, the resources themselves sometimes bit back—sabertooth tigers being one example. With the advent of agriculture being only 12,000 years ago, its fair to say that “primal” man was a hunter-gatherer and so the functional needs of their survival would have involved running, stalking, brachiating (climbing), swimming, throwing, carrying, pushing, pulling, etc.
On the surface, so far, I like the sound of this. Why wouldn’t we want to train this way and respect that underlying primate brain and its natural way of doing things?
Well, because, like almost all other types of training you can do, its typically taught by an instructor who has a certificate in “primal or animal movement,” and this means we may end up in a scenario where instructor bias comes in (the coach teaches what they enjoy). But also, because these training situations are normally run as classes, we find that our primal training is limited to what we can do in a couple of square meters of space whilst having to share equipment.
You aren’t going to be hunting a mammoth down in a forest. You are going to be doing what looks like CrossFit or “functional fitness” but with odd objects. Instead of squatting a barbell, you will be squatting a sandbag. Instead of deadlifting a barbell, you will be flipping a tire. Instead of pressing a barbell, you will be pressing a log.
So we are already beginning to see a problem. Primal training is limited by the exact same constraints that a HIIT class, a CrossFit class, or a boot camp is—space and equipment as well as safety.
Furthermore, it's limited by the actual market demands. It’s more primal to go for a long hike than it is to do a workout of 5 rounds for time of sandbag front squats, box jumps, and log presses. But people generally don’t want a long steady aerobic class. Most people are training on the way to or on the way home from work—they want an hour of power. To leave themselves soaked in sweat and in a worn-out heap on the floor, take a picture of the sweat angel for their Instagram, and leave.
So is primal training any better than other offerings out there? I don’t know. Maybe. Because each gym and each coach will have their own version of “primal.”
I think it's best to go back to my first episodes on Get-Fit Guy and have a look at how I defined a well-rounded program for health. You have to move in 6 essential patterns:
And do so in 6 degrees of freedom
THAT’S primal. Someone can argue all day long that climbing a tree is more natural and functional than doing a pull-up. But that depends on the lens you look at it through. Remember, I have already defined functional as something that meets the needs of one's lifestyle or goals. I don't remember the last time I climbed a tree. But I remember the last time I did a pull-up. So I can argue that actually, a pull-up is MORE functional because more people are doing pull-ups than are climbing trees. You don’t get to say something is better because proto-humans did it, because almost no one lives that way, and those who do don't have the ability to listen to podcasts!
So I would encourage everyone to reflect on if natural means functional and if it's really even possible to train that way anyway. My answer is no—it’s unlikely that this is any better than any other class option out there and the best scenario is to develop your own program based on the 6 degrees of freedom and 6 movement patterns.
Let me know what you think. Have you tried a primal movement class? I’d love to hear about your experience!