Art DeVany is a professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine. He is currently doing some revolutionary work in the field of fitness by applying behavioral mathematics, anthropology and evolutionary theory to exercise. His unique approach is called "Evolutionary Fitness" and it has been featured in New Scientist magazine and will be the subject of his upcoming book. Click here to check out his website.

 

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your evolutionary approach to fitness?

I am now 65. I am professor in the department of economics and the institute for mathematical behavioral sciences. At one time I was a professional baseball player in the minor leagues (poor eyesight, an occupational hazard of professors, but I hit with such power, threw so hard, and was so fast they called me Superman; they didn't know that I lifted weights, one of the few to do so in the 1950's, which gave me an edge). I have been an academic a bit more than 35 years. I have worked out for about 50 years. Learning and activity have always been essential facets of my life.
An evolutionary ancestor could not have lived any way other than how I have lived. Physical activity was obligatory, something on the order of a daily expenditure for some one of my size, 6'1'', 200-205 lbs, around 3000 to 4000 calories per day (technically; ancestors lived at about 2 times bmr, as do the Ache hunters of Paraguay). I believe the human genome evolved in a period of intense human physical activity and socialization; consequently, I believe both to be essential (though I am a bit of a non-joiner, almost loner myself, but enjoy company when it is not phony).

How does the theory of evolution relate to how we should train? How did you come up with the idea to apply evolutionary thinking to a training model?

My training ideas come from a life time of experimentation and observations in the gym, as well as a deep reading of physiology and exercise science. It comes also from my mathematical training and perspective and from an analysis of the ancestral conditions. What it comes down to is muscle physiology, energy systems, the role of acute versus chronic stress and adaptation, and the mathematics of nature all lead to the same conclusion: we are made for variation. The mathematics of it says that power law variation or fractal activity is the natural pattern. Intermittent intense activity mixed with languid periods is a good pattern. There should be no characteristic scale which rules out routine; routine patterning of activities is agricultural.

According to the NASA powerlifting totals, your numbers are not too
far offfrom those of the top competitors in your age and weight division
(drug-free of course). How have you been able to achieve this level of success withouttraining specifically for powerlifting?

I tried yesterday to dunk. Couldn't quite do it. I haven't been doing much leaping or heavy training lately because of a muscle spasm in my neck from sleeping on a bad pillow. So, my lifts are down a bit too, I guess since I don't really know what my maximums are.
Until the freak injury, I regularly did the following variations of leg training. Leg presses: 15 with 400, 10 with 600, 6-8 with 800, 4 with 900. This is done with no rest, just long enough to change the weights. Squats: 15 with 135, 10 with 225, 4-5 with 305, followed by vertical leaps to exhaustion. Again, no rest, just long enough to quickly change the weights.
DB one armed rows (braced on the rack with the other hand): I start with about 80 with 4 reps, 100 a couple of reps, 120 one or two, 145 (the highest weight in my gym) one rep, alternating arms until I do 3 or 4. Once a month, I dead lift double my body weight, which comes to about 405.

You told me that you like to include a lot of variation in your training, and play. Could you tell us a little bit about your approach to variation?

A big part of it is hitting all three types of muscle fibers and varying speed in the ascending and descending parts of the exercise. The hiking/walking/sprinting is restful and fun; much of this is done after a good work out so I burn fat.
I have 4 training technologies that I believe to be superior in their effectiveness to what most people do. I think too many people overtrain, but move so slowly in the gym that they get no "rush". I never train more than 30 minutes, often times much less. Then I walk or shoot baskets or whatever. I train a random number of times per week from zero to 4 sessions in the gym. I take a long walk roughly once a week on an empty stomach.
All these variations are meant to present the both with brief, acute stress and much time for adaptation. The same thing is true of eating: I over and under eat on different days with no particular pattern there either.

Being an economist, how do you apply economic thinking into your approach to training? You seem to embrace a lot of non-linear dynamics and chaos as part of the organization in your training, how does this fit into the Evolutionary Fitness model?

Economics is about decentralized systems coordinating their activities through communication. The body is a decentralized set of systems, each running by its own tempo and all of the compete for resources. This is economics per se, at least the way I understand and teach it. So, it is decentralized (there is no little man sitting in the brain running everything), and hierarchical. Such systems show power law variation (see Ari Goldberger's group at the REY Lab at Harvard for an example of power law variation and its relation to a healthy heart).
Non-linear systems exhibit chaos in that they produce results so complex they appear to be random; but such systems are poised and adaptive, just what you want in a successful human being.

What is your approach to diet, do you follow Paleolithic nutrition as partof your lifestyle? Also, I hear that you use some type of caloric restriction. How do you balance the benefits of caloric restriction while still maintaining muscle mass?

My diet is just wonderful, I think. I eat very well. I go for color and texture. The base of the system is water and water containing vegetables and fruits. This also lays a foundation of fiber, which our ancestors ate much of and which the colon seems to need to function well. Lots of egg whites and tuna and salmon. Plenty of spices that I grow fresh in my yard. A fair amount of meat too, grass fed preferred. Buffalo meat was provided in Army camps on the order of 4 pounds a day to soldiers, so I eat a good deal of meat. But, again, there is variation.
I imagine, and have modeled mathematically and statistically, the energy balance of our ancestors. I calculate that they were in negative energy balance (expenditure greater than intake) about one third of the time. They were about 8 to 11 percent body fat, but with variation of course. So, I do live in negative energy balance episodically, usually a long hike or walk or motorcycle ride on an
empty stomach.
My reading of the calorie restriction research convinces me that most of the benefits come from low body fat and periodic deprivation. So, those are my objectives. Both are easy to do. Above 13 percent body fat, bad things begin to happen. Fat secrets a number of factors, like tumor necrosis factor and many hormones (it aromatizes testosterone to estrogen), so I stay lean. Of course, I have always been lean because of my high activity. Fat is not managed by diet. Activity is where all the leverage is and muscle mass gives you a great start. But, drinking all those gainer drinks and powders is not helpful. They do not put muscle on and destroy insulin sensitivity.

Have you ever tried Kettlebell lifting? Any thoughts on this type of training?

I guess I come close in some ways. Years ago I did side presses emulating Eugene Sandow's pictures. These were done with dumbbells or barbells, but the move is similar to some kettlebell lifts.
I use bds a lot as I believe the asymmetrical loading strengthens the core muscles that stabilize the back (the deep multifidus and transverse abdominals).

Finally, I have to ask, how do you do it at your age? Are you unique, or do you think anyone can attain high levels of fitness at any age? What advice do you have for your peers regarding training?

I actually am unaware of any knowledge that my level of fitness is exceptional. It is not something I measure. I am told that often, but it is not something I aim for. I think if you compared my fitness with a Paleolithic ancestor of the same age (yes, humans did live to this age) I would just be average. It is only because we "moderns" of the last 30 years have declined so much that I may be an exception.
I hardly think of my age since I function very much like I always have and find I move through life with the same ease I always have.
Low stress is one of my "secrets" if I have any. Stressful living (and working out adds stress if one overtrains and falls into a narrow routine) activates the HPA axis which produces insulin resistance which produces abdominal obesity which produces insulin resistance and stress .... and so on. It is one of those non-linear systems with positive feedback.
Get enough sleep; too little sleep means too little growth hormone release and high stress hormones. This hormone profile makes you get fat.
We are all unique, genetically and biochemically, but we all share fundamental physiological systems. The fitness and health I regard as byproducts of a thoroughly enjoyable life way.
Everyone could gain from some simple practices: spend a lot of time on your feet (I always teach class on my feet and when on the telephone) this is something humans always did until very recently; there are no elevators; bound a bit going up stairs; run more as in playing catch, but not as in JOGGING (a dreadful practice and I never saw a jogger who had a good body); be playful and take pleasure in play (I spend hours with my grandson running and throwing things); throw things now and then (an essential skill for a Paleolithic ancestor).
Get up early and out in the sun; morning sun on your face brigthens the whole day. Eat a large breakfast (me: four egg whites with fresh spices, half a cantelope, and a ham steak with coffee). Eat dinner well before bed time and go to bed on an empty stomach.
Work out fast, but carefully. I will reveal my training technologies in my book, which I am now back to work on.
Lastly, take a good brand of antioxidants that contain glutathione. I have done so for the past close to 20 years and believe it has slowed my aging by quite a lot. HMPScience makes the product I have used (they aren't paying me for an endorsement, I just know the product works for me).