The Hunter-Gatherer in the No Judgment Zone

I really don't like going to the gym, but I go. Almost every day. I dislike it even more when I have a running injury. I greatly resent exercising indoors next to many other people. I feel deprived of sunlight, vitamin D, fresh air, solitude, and keeping up the with going's-on in my town that I usually monitor on daily runs. And, of course, I just feel deprived of running, which can make me slightly miserable.

The running injury has gone on so long this time that I have had a chance to "get over myself." Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I started to take in the larger scene: dozens of people, sweating it out on machines that run for most of the day, so that we might achieve what nature had in mind for us -- the muscles, heart rate, flexibility, and endurance of a hunter-gatherer. 

Now, when I am panting along with everyone else, towering above the stinky masses on one of the two, old stair machines with steps that run on a belt, I see the irony of this situation. Going to the gym has somehow put me in touch with humanity. I see the commonality of both our struggles and our triumphs. 

Nature gave me a body that is designed to endure reaching for berries, climbing trees for fruit, spearing fish in fast-moving waters, running after prey, carrying young on my back, grinding grains between rocks, and scaling walls to escape predators. The body I was given is not only intended to do this, but as it turns out, if I don't do these things, it causes harm to my health, happiness, and shortens my lifespan. But, like most humans in modern times, I don't do any of these things. I spend most of my time sitting on my rear-end, typing on a keyboard or driving through modern cities that my hunter-gatherer ancestors couldn't ever imagine. For about 10 hours a week, I teach, which requires me to stand, but otherwise, my livelihood does not require me to do any of the things I was most designed to do. No climbing trees, reaching for berries, or scaling walls to escape predators (thank goodness!). Instead, I go to Planet Fitness, which is dubbed the No Judgment Zone, to try to simulate reaching for berries, climbing trees, and trekking across mountains and deserts. 

As it turns out, we're all at the gym, trying to fight this trend. 

Lately, I feel like our early ancestors had it made. Look at this picture here. These men didn't need to worry about getting in a workout, at least five days a week. Do you think that they worried about whether a machine was giving their pecs a proper workout? They didn't concern themselves about how many repetitions or sets they were going to do on anything. 

Take at look at the woman in this picture below. Do you think that she is worrying about her core muscles? I bet that carrying that basket on her head is helping her with balance and to stand up tall. She's not worrying about getting her heart rate up above 150. 

So, I have sympathy for all of us at the gym. We're all doing the best that we can and it is truly touching to me. I love to watch the skilled runner, who keeps at it for 30, 60, 90 minutes. But, I also enjoy the person who breaks out into a serious sweat walking 2.0 miles an hour for 15 minutes. I love even more the senior citizen who carries about her handbag inside the gym, setting it beside each weight machine before she lifts 5 or 10 pounds for two sets of 10-15 repetitions. Are our struggles not the same, all seeking to honor the hunter-gatherer body that nature gave us?

Initiating a hunter-gatherer life-style is really not an option for me. I'm not prepared to move into the wild, to relinquish canned goods, and the security of our meager welfare state. So, instead, I will be reduced to doing what everyone in the No Judgement Zone does: worrying about my core and wondering when I am adequately working those muscles...

Being reduced to doing silly poses in public that are supposedly good for me...

Literally running in circles and monitoring my progress...

And, sometimes engaging in even the bizarre, for the promise that it will get me in touch with my inner hunter-gatherer.