Paleotraining is a very attractive and different option to get in shape. Although it could be thought of as one more workout, the truth is that this trend is gaining more and more followers. Well, it is a high intensity training based on routines of our prehistoric ancestors. And it also has the potential to help us achieve an athletic body.
Image By Matan Ray Vizel from Pixabay Let’s discover below what is its origin, benefits and other interesting information about this training that is revolutionizing the world of fitness.
What is paleotraining?
It is a training method designed to replicate the movements that Paleolithic man made to maintain survival. Among the movements that are worked on are: jumping, pushing, kneeling, getting up or moving, using the body itself as a load. Although then you can add weight with other materials, if necessary.
How did paleotraining originate?
Paleo training originated in 2007, in the Canary Islands. As part of a therapeutic exercise program to combat pain in patients with shoulder joint problems. As well as the lumbar, dorsal and cervical spine.
The method is based on scientific evidence that our body is a tool for survival. And it remains the same as we had in the Paleolithic period, despite the fact that the environment and its demands have changed.
This look at the past was the premise by which a group of connoisseurs of the human body, among them Spanish physiotherapists, trainers and nutritionists decided to create a training method. Whose main objective is to recover some aspects of healthy life, lost by the frenetic lifestyle that we have today.
Over time, paleotraining has also spread to different gyms with the intention of preparing the muscles and helping it gain functionality.
Advantages of paleotraining
1. Flexibility
One of the advantages of paleotraining is that it can be practiced anywhere, including outdoors. This makes any environment suitable for training, from a beautiful beach or forests to the living room of our house.
This is because the exercises do not require special materials. It also introduces cardiovascular exercise and includes high intensity interval training or HIIT.
2. Take advantage of all our potential
The variability of training makes our body capable of metabolizing fat in an optimal way. This can help us complement, for example, a diet very low in carbohydrates and high in healthy fats such as the ketogenic diet.
To enhance metabolism, paleotraining recommends training on strategic fasting. That is, at least 3.5 hours after the last meal. With the purpose of stimulating fat burning as an energy source.
3. It allows to train all the muscles
The functional training followed in paleotraining works several muscle groups at the same time, in each exercise. All this without overloading or overstimulating any to avoid injury.
In ideal conditions our whole body will start, increasing metabolism. Making each part of the body move optimally. What will allow our body to change together and not in a localized way in some specific part.
4. Variability
To emulate the way in which our ancestors carried out physical activity, the training sessions that are handled are very varied. In total there are 250 movements and more than 120 sessions, with which we seek to recover our muscular memory and not always repeat the same workouts every day.
5. Biomechanics
Paleotraining works to improve posture to avoid back pain and injuries. Which translates into improvements in the mobility and stability of the body.
Paleotraining benefits
One of the strong points of paleotraining is its various benefits. Being one of the main trainings, the little time that is required to obtain results. The rest can be summarized as follows:
Health: the practice of paleotraining allows you to gain muscle mass and helps muscles regain their functionality. It also helps to gain strength and promotes weight loss. Although, we cannot fail to mention that it regulates the activity of the immune and endocrine systems.
In the same way, it allows to work all the muscles of the body, without overstimulating any, thus avoiding possible injuries. While, some movements that are performed also help to counteract pain that we could have due to bad postures.
Silhouette: working and strengthening muscles also reduces superficial and visceral fat. Which in turn translates into a healthy and slim silhouette.
Posture: as we have previously said, this method emerged as a therapeutic exercise program. Therefore, performing exercises with this method guarantees the proper and therapeutic use of the body, while helping to regain the body extension that we have lost. This effect generates an upright posture even in elderly people.
Physical and body ratio: thanks to the increase in lean mass and the decrease in superficial and visceral fat, the development and maintenance of a proportionate body is fostered in both men and women.
Physical and sports performance: Paleotraining exercises enhance motor functions, such as hanging, dragging and responding to unforeseen events. Through these motor functions the 12 physical capacities that we have lost are improved.
These are: coordination, maximum strength, agility, aerobic capacity, power, speed, strength-endurance, anaerobic capacity, balance, precision, reaction and flexibility. Thus turning men and women into physically versatile and complete beings.
What to eat when doing paleotraining?
The ultimate goal of this training is to adapt our muscles and regain the capabilities that we have lost. But in addition to the movements, paleotraining is based on a healthy lifestyle. So it must also be combined with a healthy diet, which is called a paleodiet.
The paleodiet seeks to take exclusively those foods that already existed in the Paleolithic. Leaving aside processed foods, dairy, cereals and sugar, which are modern and our ancestors did not need to live.
What is posed by the followers of the paleodiet is that we are more evolutionarily adapted to a diet based on fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood or fish. And less to the last nutrients included in the human diet during the Neolithic period such as cereals, legumes and dairy.
As you can see, paleotraining is not about running with a spear and a loincloth, as some might infer from its name. But it is a new way of training and at the same time a new way of life. That in addition to helping us tone our muscle mass or lose weight, it involves returning to our origins and recovering the essence of the human being.
Therefore, you want to know and practice it, we recommend that you seek expert advice in this training to obtain the best results and make your practice safer.
ALFA