Primal Fitness

Yesterday I went out for a hike instead of the gym,  as I often do on weekends. I find the outdoors a much healthier place to exercise, the negative ions from the air, the sun, the elements, all serve to connect us to the deepest parts of our existence: as part of the vast complex web of life from which we came from and depart to after our demise.

Hiking can take on all levels of intensity – and can be made into an amazing workout.  Want functional fitness? Try scrambling up a steep cliff where you need to pull yourself up on the trees to make it up. Thats an all body workout you will not forget.

Hiking up through a river bed is another very technical, intense activity. You need to be fully present to choose each step; one wrong move can land you in the cold water, or worse, with a broken ankle.  The amount of brain activation for such activities is immense and I beleive that ADD people like myself need experiences like this to balance our brains.

NY and CT have so many awesome places to hike, our favorites are up along the Hudson River in NY, from Bear Mtn. to Breakneck Ridge.

My brother and I have had some interesting experiences hiking:
- Several years ago as we were hiking down Bear Mtn we heard calls for ‘Help!’ We scrambled across the rocks (it was treacherous) to find a man and his son. His son had fallen and hurt his leg, so he couldn’t walk. I ended up putting him on my back (he wasnt that big) and carrying him down the mountain. Talk about a workout!!
- Once my brother and 2 friends were hiking up the steep Breakneck Ridge and his friend (who was out of shape) suffered a massive heart attack. They tried to revive him and called for help, but to no avail.