PRIMAL ATHLETICISM

This companion guide is a supplement to the main videos.

Your life is 10% knowledge and 90% action. Everything you do matters.
Every day is a new opportunity to connect and express yourself. Start today,
never stop. Keep going every day until you die. You will be rewarded with
tremendous power, and a life of courage and love.

Onward….

At the zoo, you see animals who have lost their fire. These are sick animals.
Like a dog who stays in the house and never gets taken for a walk.

Human beings have fallen a long way from their peak of physical and mental
prowess.

Worse yet, is the mental toll it has taken to endure a culture and lifestyle that
is so anti-health and anti-movement.

The demands on the organism do not match the design.

We were created with much more in mind that sitting at a desk, tapping the
glass on a phone, watching a screen, or sitting in a car.

Modern humanity has been ensnared and enslaved in a way of life that
sucks out the fun and slowly kills you.

Humanity has deteriorated massively because of a lack of stimulus. We’re

under-trained, unchallenged, and at the same time, totally overstimulated.

Before computers were such a big deal, (and we had supercomputers in our
pockets), it was still a 40 hour work week. Now the pace of life is faster than
ever and we are in a state of constant half-stress.

It’s not the exhilarating kind of stress either. You know that good kind.

The stress and excitement with natural hormonal cascades cycling

throughout your body—and a feeling of being alive.

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Sadly it’s more of a constantly low-grade worry or anxiousness about some

modern cultural bullshit.

There are some ways you can reconnect with your roots and find greater
power and peace of mind. This involves learning about the structure and
origins of your meat-suit— and a daily practice to cultivate it.

A daily practice can be anything you like— the most important thing is to do
it every day and ENJOY IT!

Every day is a new opportunity to unleash and refine your primal potential.

Athleticism, as I defined it in my 2nd book, Ultimate Athleticism, is “the ability

to move uninhibited in any range of motion with strength, speed, and
coordination.”

This is certainly a worthy target for your exercise efforts. If you put in the
time following that plan, you will achieve great results. The beauty of this, is
that it makes everything easier, more fun, and there is less fear of pain or
injury.

And it’s incomplete.

Wait, what?!

Yes, even if you can do freestanding handstand push-ups, deadlift 3 times

your bodyweight, squat on one leg with ease, and dominate the gymnastics
rings…

Your Primal Athleticism might be totally weak!

When I realized it was incomplete, it rocked my world so much that it led me

to a huge perspective shift.

This is when Ultimate Athleticism took the red-pill and followed Alice down
the rabbit hole.

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You do not exist in a vacuum. You are always in a constant process of

communicating with your environment. What I discovered, was that a
person’s performance is affected significantly by the scenario.

For example, you may have someone who can press a weight overhead
from standing, but lay them down on the floor and they can barely roll
themselves over or organize their body to lift an arm overhead holding zero
weight.

They may have a dysfunctional relationship with the ground. This is quite
common, and just one example of how a person can be fully capable in one
environment, but practically disabled in another. This leaves huge gaps in
athleticism and health.

It is very important to test and challenge yourself in different situations if you

want to expand your true power.

This is one of the things we now take into consideration with our Primal
Athleticism daily practice.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a treasure chest full of fun and
profit to be gained by adding a few of these primal patterns into your daily
life. Just wait until you feel the power of the Primal Breathing Protocol!

You’ll become, quite literally, superhuman.

And once you are a superhuman, I am challenging you to not be a selfish

demigod. My challenge to you is to SHARE this experience.

People ask me this question all the time, “Max, what’s the best piece of
training equipment?”

It’s not a kettlebell or gymnastics rings. It’s not a barbell. It’s not a bicycle.

Anytime I hear this question I respond with no hesitation: “An enthusiastic

partner.”

For strong habits, and true strength, you need another human.

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Are you kidding yourself with only training solo?

Dance, Wrestle, Play.

If you don’t, you’ll:

Regret it when you’re “too old”

Decrease your total power and agility
Miss out on the actual best way for a human to connect

The movements and practices you learn here will give you tremendous
power.

Share the love.

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 PRIMAL ATHLETICISM

MODERN MONKEY MISTAKES

There are endless distractions to derail your journey to supreme power and
peace of mind. In the interest of keeping things simple I’m going to share the
top few tactics for overcoming common barriers.

#1 FASTING

You can likely survive 3 weeks with ZERO FOOD. I’m not saying you should
do this, but I am definitely recommending you experiment with the stupid-
simple power of “not-eating.”

My personal strategy is the 1,3,7

Every week, skip a day of eating.

Every month, take a 3 day fast.
Every year, take a weeklong fast.

Start where you feel comfortable. Skip breakfast, see how you feel.
Skip breakfast and lunch—see how that feels.
Then when you’re ready, skip a day.

You will feel very powerful when you realize that “mind over matter” is more
than just a cool t-shirt slogan.

Consult your favorite health professional before trying this.

#2 INFORMATION FASTING

Like above, restrict your media consumption to blocks of time to avoid

getting lost in the infinite scroll or autoplay. These can consume a person’s
attention like a black hole.

Then, set a timer for each one. (I do 5 minute blocks for each, so I can be
more accountable).

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My personal kryptonite is Youtube. I could learn and be entertained for hours

on end. But wisdom is knowing yourself, so I similarly set a countdown timer
when I use these powerful tools. If you let them dictate the flow of your
attention, you will have a very hard time getting it back.

#3 PEN AND PAPER

This is real power. Touch a pen to paper every day. It doesn’t matter if you
are a writer. Write. Fill up a notebook. There are a plentiful prompts to get
you started, but here are my favorite:

“I’m grateful for….”

“I’m nervous about _____ because….”
“I’m going to _____ because…”
“[word you find interesting] is all about ____, ____, and ____….”

This is mental training. Without a strong mind, a strong body

is useless!

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STOP!

You might be confused, because this idea really flies in the face of modern
fitness mythology.

Trust me though, a daily practice of these simple movements will yield you
more power and less pain than you have ever experienced. Forget about
periodization and “leg days” for a while. Just try it and see.

Focus your energy deeply into each practice. Become the practice. Don’t
worry about how many reps you did, or even how many sets.

Focus on practicing daily with joy and a spirit of play. Challenge yourself and
challenge your friends.

Refine your skills and increase your mind-muscle connection with everything
you do.

And finally, remember this one final thing:

NOTHING IS NEUTRAL!

Everything you do brings you closer to heaven or hell. Your life is the
feedback loop between your beliefs and behaviors.

You are at the end of this lesson, but your journey is JUST BEGINNING…

Enjoy,

Max

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VIDEO LIST:
EQUIPMENT (LETTERBALL, SANDBAG, RINGS/ROPES)

INTRO:

Connect w/ Nature (including self)

Boost Power + Peace

BREATHE

Om → Control Pause → Nauli (+ swallows, neck movements)

Quiet, nose breathing (all the time)
4/8 breathing (down-regulate)
Invigorator (plug expand-a-lung)

VISION + VESTIBULAR SYSTEM

Palm Fronding
Eye-sometrics
Near-far
Fingerprint Push-ups
Juggling/Letterballs
Pinhole pirate VOR (leads to vestibular…)
Pinhole stalking, moving

RHYTHM, PARADIDDLE, SLAPS/CLAPS

Spaghetti arms
Figure 8’s

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VIDEO LIST:
EQUIPMENT (LETTERBALL, SANDBAG, RINGS/ROPES)

RUB

Hands (sensors and squeezers)

Sword Sharpening
Cricket mobility
ART (pin and glide)
Dry Brushing (lymph + skin)

SQUEEZE (ISO + TOWEL + WALL)

End ranges + Middle (multidirectional)

SHAKE (LYMPH + TENSION RELIEF)

ROLL (GREAT MOBILITY, CORE, AND

VESTIBULAR SYSTEM)

Butterfly
Soft
Hollow
Shoulder
Roll up to short side plank
Add challenges (cup of water, balls, etc)

BALANCE

Static vs Dynamic
Jumping, kicking, vs statue
2x4 (ball of foot, heels, outside edge, inside edge, arch)
Squat+Hinge Flamingo Sequence

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VIDEO LIST:
EQUIPMENT (LETTERBALL, SANDBAG, RINGS/ROPES)

CRAWL

Cat
Bear
Crab
Frog
Monkey
Hindu Push-Up
Thoracic Bridge

CLIMB

Squat Hang Flow

One arm/leg combos
Torque Chains
Hang
Row

CARRY

Walk (Superslow → →
Chi walk maximum efficiency, swinging)
Run (metronome)
Freeze Frame Running Practice
Squat + Hinge
Hindu vs Flat vs Kickstand
Lunge
Deep, Jumping, Compass
6 position carries

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VIDEO LIST:
EQUIPMENT (LETTERBALL, SANDBAG, RINGS/ROPES)

DANCE (POWER OF MOVING ON BEAT)

Rhythm → Expression
WRESTLE/PLAY COMBAT

Push-hands
vs or cooperative (earthquake architecture)
Tag…Tap the (shoulder, belly, knee, etc)
Pizza Delivery

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(PRINT ME)

THE ULTIMATE PRIMAL CHECKLIST

(15 SECTIONS: 1-5 MINUTES EACH, 15-75 MINUTES TOTAL)

"WE ARE WHAT WE REPEATEDLY DO"

Breathe
Vision
Rhythm

Rub
Squeeze
Shake

Roll
Bounce
Balance

Crawl
Climb
Carry

Dance
Wrestle
Play

EVERY DAY ASK YOURSELF:

DID I…
Get a pump?
Sweat?
Heart rate up?
Smile?
Challenge myself?
Relax fully?

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