Some readers will know that I am a long-time fan of Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint. It is sometimes referred to as the “Definitive Guide” or “The Original” Primal Blueprint because it is inspired by the life our ancestors lived around the Paleolithic Age.

It is simply a set of principles that our ancestors lived by without any thought, that we should intentionally apply today to our modern lives. The logic is that it will for the most part, sort out your health, simplify your life, and get your priorities straight.

The principles are in no way complicated, hence why our ancestors wouldn’t have had any concept of them being “healthy”, but rather this is just how life was lived with no modern technology when you live outside full-time. 

Stumbling across it again recently reminded me that I actually wrote my own list of principles for healthy activity. It is not “primal” per se, although the points would probably fit that criteria for the most part.

Mine was intended to be the things you should look to be getting when you’re taking up any new activity as a way to determine if it is productive or a good use of your time.

Let me lay out my principles and I’ll give examples of how you would run things from your daily life through these points. 

Physically Demanding

A very obvious place to start is: ‘Does it test my body physically?’ This point becomes increasingly important as our modern lives grow more sedentary.

You need to be moving all the time, even if that’s at a slow pace or low intensity. Sometimes, you need to move quickly at a high intensity.

Activities that test your whole body are the best in my opinion, such as climbing, sports, yard work, CrossFit, etc. You’ll also want things that test your full ranges of motion to keep your body as supple as possible like squatting, passive hanging from a bar, tae kwon do, etc. 

No Distractions (No Screens)

Full immersion is the idea here. Think of a deep flow state.

I say no screens because we are all exposed to too much screen time. Some of it’s necessary like for work or education, and some of it is not at all like the TV that turns on while you’re filling up your car with gas or the blaring TV in the dentist’s waiting room.

Screen time should be intentional most of the time. Otherwise, turn it off. You will be more highly involved in what you’re doing without it and I guarantee whatever that is is more rewarding than watching another episode of the Kardashians 😉

Eliminating distractions from your pursuit will give you the best results you have ever had in that area and it will enable incredibly clear thinking. To become great at anything or even just get the most enjoyment out of it, you’ll want to be as involved as possible.

With Other People

This is a massive point here. Humans have always been tribal. We rely heavily on the people around us whether we know it or not.

Having a community of people who are going through the same things, have the same interests, or share the same mission is one of the best feelings you can have in life. This is because feeling a sense of belonging and feeling valued is crucial for us.

Find people that share the same interests or have similar goals to you and you won’t need much more. This will provide you with companionship while you are improving yourself at whatever pursuit you choose.

I recently started playing in a men’s Sunday soccer league and the camaraderie I already feel is unexplainable. Feeling like my team and I communicate through our sport where we physically push ourselves hard for the common goals of getting better and winning feels great.

Lately, I’ve been telling my family that the purpose of my life is to show up on Sunday mornings and play. That’s all I need.

Natural Environment

I like to highlight this point because we can sometimes forget how simple it is to help your overall health. Being outdoors in whatever you’re doing is the easiest way to initiate this process.

Sunlight helps with vitamin D production and lifting our moods. Fresh air is literally ‘a breath of fresh air’, compared to the recycled, temperature-controlled, allergen-carrying air that we get inside of buildings. The changing weather teaches us to grow more resilient and helps us build immunity to varying conditions. The natural ground is uneven and textured, a great break from the artificially flat and lifeless flooring inside of buildings. Jumping into bodies of water is a great full-body workout, excellent for endurance, easy on the joints, and the cold temperature can be good for your skin and immune system.

Historically speaking, our bodies developed their incredible resiliency and adaptability from our ancestors living outdoors full-time. Wouldn’t it make sense to maintain these highly beneficial traits by exercising them more?

Mental Work

An under-discussed part of healthy activity is the work that our brain feeds off of. It is perhaps why people have typically been healthier while still in their working years because once they retire and have nothing to focus on, their cognitive health can decline very quickly.

Activities that require some sort of thinking or strategy are excellent for us and prove to be the most satisfying when we succeed. When games are slightly challenging, this is what enables us to get into a flow state. A flow state is basically when you get to be the passenger in your own body because you are so fully immersed in the activity that it feels like there’s no thinking or work being done. Of course there is, and that’s the best part.

I love using tactical thinking when I’m playing soccer to try and expose players on the other team. I look for patterns or weak points in their game and try to capitalize when I pick up on them.

This has me using my brain, using my body, deep in a flow state, and enjoying absolutely everything about it.

I will also add things that test your capabilities or even teach you new skills are great too. Our bodies evolved under constant stress. It’s good to find where your limits are and push the boundaries or expand your brain by learning something new within your activity. 

Provide Multiple Benefits

Hopefully, your activity brings you multiple benefits at the same time. It most likely does but it’s worth mentioning. You should barely even have to think about it.

We all have an inclination to multi-task, spare ourselves some energy, and get as much done in as little time possible and this is not a coincidence. It’s in our best interest to leverage our time and efforts to multiply our results. This gives us a bigger bang for our buck.

I’ve been talking about soccer so to stay consistent, playing soccer checks almost all of these boxes. Everything except for the natural environment piece.

Sometimes, however, I do get to play outside when it’s nice out and then it becomes the ultimate healthy activity for me. During the winter, I have to play inside which I am more than happy with.

If your thing was playing video games though, this would not check many boxes. Maybe you play with friends online, so that’s one box. Maybe you could argue the game forces you to use your brain while putting together and executing a strategy.

I would encourage you to spend your time checking more of these boxes though as you will feel the difference.

There can be other benefits besides the ones on this list too.

Maybe you have a side job that is fun for you and checks some of these boxes and it makes you money on top of that. Or maybe you are staying in to play a board game with your partner and it provides you the intimacy you crave. These are all valid as long as they are checking your personal boxes that light you up.