Beyond Effort

  “Aerobics” means with breathing as the essential focus of one’s movement. That is to say that all the other movements and activities of the body are synchronized to the breathing contraction and relaxation — rather than as many think, the breathing has to catch up to their activity — and so they commonly run out of breath, and the body is forced to stop. That is what one doesn’t want happening at the most critical moments in life — because that is frequently the difference between life and death. One has to know at any moment, what reserves and capacities one can reliably access — and not that one could fail at any time, moment, and circumstances. Obviously, that will not do — and serve their purposes very well — which is why we condition ourselves to meet the challenges of every moment of our lives — to be prepared for most things we normally encounter in our lives.

One of the first things a person does to become a world champion athlete or attempt any monumental undertaking in their lives — is to get their breathing under control, and well-known to them — rather than as many novices do, think nothing about it — and place it last in the scheme of their concerns. Thus, they will always run out of breath — and fail ultimately because of that — not for the lack of air around them, but because they are not managing that resource effectively. That is why a lot of physical as well as mental disciplines place the control of breathing as their highest priority — and not the last thing one should concern themselves with — if they ever get around to it at all.

In the early 20th century, exercise was largely about breathing and posture — which then morphed into muscle control and early bodybuilding — of which it was noted that the most transformative exercises was alternating the breathing squat with the breathing pullover — and was promoted by the popular physical culture magazines of its time as the foundational exercises for subsequent bodybuilding. Its earliest practitioners were not so much intent on gaining muscle — as it was that that was the astounding result of just doing those exercises to begin every workout. Many of those guys actually took up exercise as the minimum they could do — often with the lightest weights possible.

In fact, the person often regarded as the father of modern bodybuilding, Eugen Sandow, was famous for promoting his exercise routines using 5 lb dumbbells for 50–100 repetitions. But he also had a strong man act in which he lifted record poundages for his time. But he was not insistent that that was what one had to do — to be in good shape. The 5 lb dumbbells was what got him there. And beyond that, he was a master of muscle control — which is largely the understanding of how the muscle works and changes — regardless of equipment and venue.

The equipment doesn’t make the muscle work; the muscle makes the equipment work. That varies according to how well one knows the action of any single movement around one axis of movement (or rotation) — because all the muscles work in that same manner once its basic action is understood. Unfortunately, most people don’t bother with that simple, basic understanding — and so most of their movements are of a random sort — thinking that any motion is as good as any other, because their whole understanding is to waste as much energy as possible in everything they do. That’s why some people become very good at what they do — while many others have no idea of what they are doing, and could care less.

Those are the people who become unsuccessful exercisers — and are indifferent or hate what they do, because none of it makes any sense at all — and they are just wasting their time — not that they have anything more important to do. For surely, getting the understanding of exercise right, is the most important thing they can do — and get right, because it makes the most difference in their quality of life. That’s why exercise is revered in many cultures and traditions throughout history and survival. Properly done, it makes the biggest difference in the quality of one’s life -- and its many outcomes.

Undoubtedly the most important movement in one’s life is the simplicity of breathing. As a volume expands, the pressure drops. As a volume contracts, the pressure increases. That is the physics of movement — and not gravity. A high pressure will move into a lesser pressure. No exercise does that more purposely and effectively than the lying pullover on a bench — expanding the rib cage (volume) and contracting it was well. If one does no other exercise (movement), that would be the best one to do.

Arthur Jones recognized this and made it his prototype Nautilus machine. His second was the Hip and Back machine — and then he could have stopped there. That would have produced 90% of the results — with truly minimal effort — particularly if one did 50–100 repetitions of each with a resistance that made that possible. The muscle didn’t have to fail to make the movement productive; doing the movement itself — with nominal resistance, would have been the right movement to ensure impressive muscular development — whether one wanted it or not. He didn’t have to create all those other machines. The singular upper body movement, and the singular lower body movement, was all that was needed — to get into shape and maintain it all one’s life — without the strain and effort that people thought was necessary in exercise — because that is the way they have been conditioned to think and reinforce.

It’s never been thought that exercise doesn’t need to be difficult and hard — and that the better way, is actually the intelligent way — which can be sustained without the difficulties self-imposed. That was the step beyond — that he never quite achieved. How does one go beyond effort?

No Equipment, No Problem

  The critical mistake most (elderly) people make is in thinking that in order to exercise and improve their fitness (health), they have to have certain equipment and instruction (experience) rather than realizing that the body itself is designed for that self-maintenance and optimization. That accounts for the wide-range of things a person can do — and achieve proficiency in, which in their younger years serve as that measure of their fitness, but as they get older, are less likely to remain so specialized at those metrics, but value greater versatility and generality for doing all the various things one needs to enable their lives. Then, whether they can open a jar or medicine bottle, become the necessary requirements for living a full and fulfilling life. Likewise, standing, squatting, getting up from any position, is their Super Bowl — not requiring them to make it any more difficult than it already is.

Most exercise equipment, is actually designed to make movements harder — rather than easier, and then are instructed to make the difficult, impossible by increasing the resistance to failure — after five repetitions if possible. The problem is not that most elderly (untrained) people will do too many pullups and squats, but that such movements will be impossible to do even one — and so equipment that makes it increasingly harder, is not the direction you want to go — but to make that movement possible, and even easy — so that one can do it countless times without quitting — and that is obviously the problem when one is insistent that one should never do more than five repetitions of any movement — and if one does, then one immediately must add more resistance so that is not possible. That kind of training becomes negative reinforcement — rather than the positive reinforcement one should receive to encourage them further.

One does not need to program premature failure; that is the default — yet there is this kind of perverse psychology and conditioning — that predictably discourages people from exercise rather than engaging it as a lifelong necessity. Exercise is not something one does because they can do it easily and tirelessly beforehand — but is what is necessary to get to that point — much more importantly. That can be done just to be able to get out of bed, a chair, off the ground — without specialized equipment to do so. That would be an easy thing to do if one always had a chair or walker to assist them — but in lieu of that convenience, one makes do with whatever equipment is available — which is always the case with the body. One is not likely to go anywhere without it. That is the rationale and genius of movement strategies like yoga, tai-chi, dance, floor exercises, chair exercises, and bed exercises.

The important thing to know is that a muscle contraction begins at the insertion (distal) end of a muscle back towards the origin (proximal) end closer to the center of the body — without exception, and that is why the most valuable muscle contractions will begin at the furthest axes of movements — at the hands, feet and head doing the most to enhance the circulation — by contracting the fluid (blood) out of those areas to reduce the swelling (inflammation) caused by that buildup in the tissues which is the debilitating and disease effect.

One can argue about that endlessly to no conclusion, but one can immediately verify that by simply moving at those axes in which few do because it is no longer a requirement in modern life — which has as its objective, the elimination of as much effort and movement as possible from daily life. That has unintended consequences — of reducing the circulatory effectiveness of ordinary movements. So unless one reprograms back in such movements, they will virtually never be done, or articulated, which is self-maintaining to health, and in its absence and omission, becomes non-functional and/or dysfunctional. That could include such things as getting up and walking a short distance to use the bathroom or kitchen. There is simply no need to maintain those abilities — if they are no longer required.

Exercise machines often require one to maintain those skills — but are they the most useful and versatile movements to become proficient at? That is the problem with treadmills, stationary bikes, and even rowing machines. Are those the movements that actually loom large in one’s daily activities? — or are they movements and activities one would not do otherwise? — or more than a minute just to ensure one still could. But 30 minutes every day? What else could one be doing with that time — and energy? Probably one could easily do 30 different movements — not requiring 30 different exercise machines.

Those are the simple articulations of full-range head, hand and foot movements — that activate the rest of the musculature because they the insertions of those muscles that instigate those integrated movements. One frequently hears it referred to as compound exercises involving the most muscles possible — without understanding its fullest implications. The engagement of the muscles is not lateral but vertical — which is to note that the change in the position of the foot, bending the fist, turning the head — activates and engages all the muscles in that pathway back towards the center of the body near the heart.

So making a fist and simply bending it in a knuckleward or palmward direction causes all the muscles from that point to contract or relax — and that alternation of muscular states, like the heart, produces a pumping effect, which is the circulatory effect by adding those pumps to the extremities at which have the greatest effect — particularly if one suffers from the many problems of poor circulation (swelling/inflammation) at the hands, feet and head — and their related conditions — including brain functioning.

For the foot, one can simply hold the back of a chair with one foot ahead of the other and shift the weight forward and back to articulate the fullest range of foot movement. That would be superior to walking miles with a limited (non-existent) foot movement — as most people do — thinking speed and incline is more important. But when shifting the weight back, the front foot will lift the toes as much as possible, and then shifting the weight forward the back foot will lift the heel as much as possible — ensuring the change of muscular states that pump the swelling out of the foot. Most older people are notable for having swollen feet, hands and faces for that reason. That is the simple remedy that gets them back on the right path to addressing these vulnerabilities of the aging human body.

Doing the Right Thing(s)

  The glutes, hamstrings, lower back, are all contracted maximally when the thigh bone (femur) moves backwards out of line with the torso, and if the head moves down simultaneously, the abdominal muscles are contracted maximally as well — disputing the notion that muscles work antagonistically — than as is more often the case, complementarily, or synergistically.

The obvious case in point is the contraction of the biceps of the arm. That contraction of the biceps does not produce a relaxation of the triceps — but requires the triceps to be maximally contracted as well. And so It is the case that when the back muscles are maximally contracted, the abdominal (front torso) must be maximally contracted simultaneously — or the maximum contraction in one direction with the complete relaxation of the stabilizing muscles in the other direction, would pose great risk to the spinal column — which has structural strength and integrity by equalizing the pressures to these vulnerabilities in all directions.

That is to note that if one anticipates absorbing a blow to the midsection, one would not simply contract the front abdominal muscles, but all the muscles surrounding the midsection simultaneously for maximum structural strength — which then gets dissipated through all the other muscles of the body. That is one of the greatest reasons for older people to maintain maximum muscularity throughout life — not because they can hit another harder, but they can absorb the blows from any other effectively and efficiently so as to render themselves impervious to those injuries — including the inevitable and dreaded falls — which are more likely than finding themselves in a fist fight.

Muscular people bounce right up — or lie there briefly thinking if everything is still responsive and in working order — and slowly are on their way again. Muscles are not only decorative but highly functional — for many different reasons this way. So while many will think what is the point of developing the gluteus muscle — the fact that it is the largest muscle of the body and likely to remain so the older one gets, probably serves an evolutionary survival purpose — in padding and protecting the well-recognized fragility of the hip structures that have served as a reliable indicator of survival in elderly populations.

In younger people in their most prolific years, the dancers, gymnasts, ice skaters, are probably most notable for their outstanding ranges of motion — by which they awe the competition and judges with their ability to easily move their legs back and even grab their foot above their heads. But most people are not built that way — so moving the leg back even slightly out of line with the torso is likely to produce a maximal muscle contraction and development — and can even be done lying down on one’s side in comfort. In this respect, lying on one’s back or stomach is more problematical because of the pressures against the breathing muscles of the lower torso — when a heavy weight is employed in the traditional machines designed for that purpose.

However, as I’ve frequently pointed out before, maximum muscular contraction is more a function of the range of movement — than weight used in a limited (unchanging) range of movement — with the weight often acting as an impediment to the expression (articulation) of the muscular states from fullest relaxation to fullest contraction. That is primarily a function of knowing in which position the muscle is relaxed and contracted — and not of the resistance and effort of moving from one to the other. It’s like a light switch: it doesn’t matter how much resistance or effort is required to get from the “off” position to the “on” position. What matters is whether it is fully on or fully off — often being the exact same motion. That is the “digital” world of reality.

That is the pumping effect we are trying to achieve — in developing any muscle. If the muscle is not articulating the fullest flow (circulation), then no amount of doing that movement with any amount of weight and resistance will produce the desired effects. No matter how much weight one stands up straight with in the squat or deadlift, the gluteus muscle will remain relaxed — because it requires the fenur to be moving back out of line with the torso to contract, and contract strongly. That is directing the flow to and from any muscle — producing the desired function, form and development (health).

If one does the wrong movement that doesn’t achieve those changes of muscular states, it doesn’t matter how much weight and resistance one uses — though admittedly, one is using more weight and resistance. But if one simply wants the results — without the impediments to it — which is the underlying question of every inquiry, then one has to examine what movement produces those changes — regardless of weight, resistance, repetitions and all the other irrelevant considerations — because time is running out on everybody — and that is why we are exercising as a lifelong practice.

The Measure of Success

  What a lot of people don’t realize about those “Before” and “After” photos is that it is not about change over time — but change momentarily. When the entire objective is to build (pump) the body — rather than measure on any other criteria or performance — that can be seen by a tape measure and photos of that enhanced circulation known as the “pump.”

This can be so dramatic that many well-known physiques will not let anybody see them unless they are pumped — and their arm sizes are about 2″ larger than their arms are “cold.” Likewise, they may be fairly fit-looking before a workout, but seem twice as big, and virtually a different person — and that is why a lot of adolescents get hooked on bodybuilding and weight-training — because it does give them that instant gratification and success, particularly if it coincides with their puberty growth spurt. Then these transformations seem nothing short of miraculous — and dramatically affects their psyche and outlook on life thereafter.

As often as not, that is the significance of the “before” and “after” photos and measurements. It could just as well be the measure of change before and after a single workout — rather than the representation of change over time. That is the measure of the effectiveness of a product or practice — more than it is little change over many years — thinking it will miraculously morph into something unforeseen in the present practice and exercise.

Bodybuilding and weight-training is not alone in effecting such transformations. One can see it happen instantly in skin care products — and more familiarly, with the application of make-up, posture, manner, and dress. All this should not come as a secret; it should be obvious — and why astute people cultivate these advantages.

The worst outlook on life, is to feel that one can never change anything — about themselves, or any other happening in the world — no matter how much time, effort and resources one devotes to it. That is distinctly the value of movement, action, and intent: one can change the world, because they can change themselves — and that is the root of all action and intents.

They experience that as a fact — in their workouts — which the tape measure and photos merely confirm enough times initially that shortly, it is not required — but should not be forgotten — for those times in life when what used to work, no longer works. Then they have to go back to those basics, rather than merely presume it is still working — because they may be doing something entirely different now — that doesn’t work. It usually is because they are doing too few repetitions with too much weight — that it actually precludes doing anything productive, restorative or rehabilitative. That’s why there is no measurable change — no matter how long one stays at it.

But actually changing, is easily measurable — and that measure is significant. It is not merely the passage of time — with no change until eventually, one day, everything will have changed — but what exactly caused it, is anybody’s conjecture. Changing weights is the easiest thing to do — but changing the body itself is the greater objective. For that purpose, it doesn’t matter how much the weights have changed — while one has stayed the same.

That’s what most people don’t suspect — that the most consequential change, is what is happening to the body — and not the weight stack. Is the body being super pumped — or is it largely and mostly at rest? If one can sustain an optimal pumping effect, where is it going? — and how can one tell? The tape measure and before and after photos are easily obtainable self-evidence of this. Either it is happening — or it isn’t. Even in the older guys who believe they can no longer achieve a pump (because of age) — if they ever did.

That’s what makes bodybuilders and physique competitors fairly unique; that is their objective — which is not a bad thing for anybody to be able to do somewhat — because that is the rehabilitative process that also makes them grow. That is what is called the recovery ability — and when one loses that, deterioration and decline becomes a way of life. How does one know when that has become the predominant theme in their life? The tape measure and photo — of before and after. The decline is not inevitable. That becomes the measure of success.

Only a rare few improve persistently over time. That is what is significant to measure — and people who make that difference.

How Much Rest is Enough?

 As a general rule, the more one rests, the less they do. That is true not only in working out, but at work, play, and any other activities. As far as I have observed, the most out of shape people, are those who do very little — if anything at all. Such people obviously don’t need more rest — while world-class athletes, can benefit from as much rest as they need — before their inner clock compels them to make another attempt. But then, one need not tell the world-champion in that event what more or less they should be doing, because their distinction tells it all.

However, for those in the poorest health and condition, any strategy that gets them in motion and keeps them in motion, is the much better strategy — until they become the world champion at whatever they want to be good at. Among the less proficient, the better advice is to practice until one becomes good at what one is doing, and the rest and inactivity are what they are already good at, and don’t need more practice. They need to practice what they seldom do — and not rest up over generously from the little they already do.

That is the obvious reason most people who workout in gyms or any other venue, don’t get any, or much results: they are resting too much — thinking that is the major part of the program they like to do, and so they double up on that, rather than the hard part. Some justify that by making the hard part harder, rather than making the hard part easier — so that people actually like doing them — instead of not doing it as much as possible — and getting that result.

In the 1960s, two forms of exercise became popular: one promoting what is today called “High-intensity (interval) training,” and the other, “aerobics” or “cardio” training — and were promoted as though they are two different things, rather than two-sides of the same thing — resulting in superior health and outcomes. Back then, high-intensity training meant higher levels of effort that couldn’t be sustained for more than a minute — or less. The 100 yard sprint is the best example of this, while a marathon run would be an example of the ultimate cardio event. Same activity (running) — but conducted at levels that could be sustained by vastly different durations.

As most have observed, marathoners are usually ultrathin people not carrying excessive muscle mass, while strength athletes carry as much weight as their weight-class will allow. The lesson here is that if one’s primary goal is to lose and control weight, they should be actually exercising most of their workout time — rather than resting 95% of the time — presumably to recover from their 10 second at maximum effort. Even the world champion at that event will insist on at least 10 minutes of rest before their next heat.

The problem lies with people used to putting out little effort and then taking overly long rest breaks. That is likely to be your novice exerciser — not strong enough to exert themselves requiring much if any time for recovery. Such people don’t need maximum rest to recover from minimal efforts. They just need the practice — or “reps” until they become much more proficient at their movements to become serious threats to their own well-being and safety. That is a danger posed in a “non-contact injury,” which become the majority of injuries among the aging and old — so that they give up on competitive events because they recognize that they are their own greatest risk to their well-being and continued success.

But rather than maintaining or increasing those loads, the better strategy is to lower the intensity so that it can be sustained for the proper amount of time — rather than resting to compensate for those overloads. The obvious would be using minimal resistance and eliminating the rest entirely — which then makes resistance training cardio as well, and cardio, muscle building — to converge as the one thing that builds strength as well as endurance.

That is to say that for the majority of those exercising for complete and comprehensive health benefits, they should do high reps of different movements while eliminating the rest periods entirely. Low reps and overly long rest between, won’t get one into the shape one wants to be in.

What 5% of the Effort -- Provides 95% of the Results

  People knowledgeable of High-intensity exercise have proven in study after study, as well as personal experience — that one such workout a week is sufficient to induce and sustain growth over the course of their lifetime. However, that doesn’t mean they only work out that once a week at that level of intensity. If that’s all they do — and nothing else the rest of the week — they are likely to experience extreme muscle soreness for nearly all that week until it is time for their next high-intensity once a week workout — which is not a pleasant way to go through life — always recovering, and then inflicting that same muscle soreness for another week, etc.

But that does not invalidate the fact that one hard workout a week is about all a body can stand — without prematurely burning out or getting injured in some mysterious way — causing many to give up exercise entirely once they reach the vulnerable, susceptible “older” ages — which of course becomes fatal at that stage of life. So the challenge for everyone, is to find that “pace” that allows them to remain exercising all their lives — rather than overdoing it for a short period of time, and then quitting completely — as is fairly typical. One desires to be the atypical person who wasn’t just active and in good shape 50 years ago in the past, but one at the top of their game until the end of life. That is the survival of the fitness — and not the many others who have fallen off the exercise bandwagon for some reason or another. At that point, it doesn’t matter what the excuse is — only that one is not doing the best they can — presently.

Thus one will see a lot of people giving advice in their later years — of what they claimed worked 50 years ago, but is simply unthinkable in their present condition — which might have gotten them this way. That includes the damaged knees, damaged backs, damaged hearts, drug addictions, personality disorders, etc. That is often the price the former great athletes had to pay for their moments of glory. To a lesser extent, that is also the calculus daily exercisers have to make as well. The question is, what 5% of the effort and expenditure, gets one 95% of the results and effects of beneficial exercise — and not as many people think, that unlimited more is always better — and guarantees favorable outcomes.

That is usually what naive and young people think — and think is sufficient to keep them always young — but a few grow wiser with time and age, and note that recovery ability is not unlimited — but has to be managed to last and optimize a lifetime. Of course, first we have to have a critical mass of people living to those older ages — before we note, that some do it better than others — as is true of most things in life. So increasingly, we see the great divergence of the healthy becoming unprecedentedly healthier — while there seems to be no limit to how dependent the not so fortunate in this respect can be kept merely alive indefinitely.

That gives a new meaning to the concept of “peak physical condition” beyond the past traditional measures and expectations of what that is — because it is being defined as we live it. It is not just whether we can still sprint a 100 yards — or do 10 pullups — but something much more meaningful in our daily living — as we actually require it. It is just as much about knowing one’s present capabilities and limitations — as it is establishing a “new personal best” by more conventional standards or event.

At some point in life, just successfully recovering from a hard (intense) workout, is accomplishment enough — because if one can maintain that “ability,” that is all the encouragement and motivation one needs. What is worrisome, is reaching a point in life at which one feels they can no longer recover — from anything, and just fall further into hopelessness and despair for the rest of their lives. That is what resilience is about — which is recovery ability — to adapt to the many challenges a life will bring — and that is more important than just doing what doesn’t need to be done — no matter how impressive.

Most are familiar that some version of a squat is desirable to maintain joint integrity of the lower body — but are often advised not to allow their knees to move as far forward as possible — which is precisely the requirement for engaging the ligaments and tendons of the ankle — as well as the plantar fascia of the feet. Yet the excuse for that performance is that it does not stress the knee joint — which is not the limitation in most people but the tightness of the ligaments and tendons of the ankle, as well as the tightness of the plantar fascia. Meanwhile, the knee maintained in a nearly upright position is obviously the most stressful to the knee by forcing all the weight only on to that one hinge (axis), rather than allowing all the joints of the leg to handle that load — and disburse it. That should be the whole purpose of that exercise (movement).

And similarly, for the upper body (shoulder girdle), the movement of greatest engagement is to attempt to touch one’s hands behind one’s back, with one arm going above the shoulder and the other going below the shoulder — as the productive calisthenic (freehand) movement that results in a quick muscle pump of those structures — more so than one could get with the jumping jacks. Such a movement engages all the muscles in one — rather than working only one at a time, with the obvious limitation that one simply runs out of time and energy to do such low-productivity workouts.

And the word on diet is simply that one is best off lowering carbohydrate intake as low as possible — because the healthy body has the capacity to create its own fuel (glucose) from its own healthy cells. That is the basis for the wisdom of the ketogenic diet and autophagy. There is no need to store glucose in the body — which results in obesity and diabetes (insulin/metabolic resistance). With these simple guidelines, achieving optimal health and functioning should not be the difficult resistance many make it out to be. Actually, that is how Nature intended it to be — and provided for, but we have to understand, and learn to work with — and not against.

Being Well-grounded

 The extremities of the feet, hands and head (face and brain) are the leading indicators of the general health and functioning of the body — so much so that that is how we recognize individuals apart from every other. Those are also the most visible and obvious parts of every body — more than we could identify one’s person’s heart from another, shoulder or hip, etc.

They are also the distinctively expressive organs of the human body. When we note that an individual is remarkably animated (vibrant, lively) it is because of those movements at the face, hands and feet — rather than how high or far they jump, fast they run, or how much they lift. And in fact, specialists in such activities will adopt a rather stoic expression throughout to conserve their energy only to the essential required for efficiency and economy of their "movement."

Apart from such narrow and constrained competitions though, the human is at its best being ready and able to express whatever movements might be required by their versatility afforded by their face (communication), hands (tool using and making), and feet (leveraging one’s bodyweight against the ground). Other animals are much more specialized in what they can do — and why they do it so well. But the human being (organism) has the capacity to do many things — because of the large brain capacity that enables and empowers it. Humans seem to be good at whatever they decide they want to become good at.

One of the earliest forms of human expression and distinction in addition to physical competition, was simply dance — that exhibited fine motor coordination in addition to the gross motor coordination of traditional athletics. Other similar manifestations were painting (art) and music (dexterity) — in the broader category of culture — those shared values it was agreed upon that were desirable qualities to cultivate and improve — for long-forgotten reasons.

Often, people didn’t know why, but recognized that there was something “right” in being light on one’s feet — rather than simply plodding along, shuffling one’s feet — even for great distances. Palpably and aesthetically, it was not the same sense as one leaping and moving quickly on their feet — and particularly on their toes or balls of their feet. Such movements, required the greater articulation of the foot musculature — which has led some exercise physiologists to proclaim that the feet are the second heart of the human body when operated in this manner — as the "soleus pushup.”

That has led to a few enterprising individuals to devise and market a simple device to simulate this movement — but doesn’t require it. It can easily and effectively be done sitting in any chair that allows such freedom of movement — and as such, may even be superior to a stationary bicycle because of its singular focus on the importance of the full range foot movement — not to be confused with the movement at the hips and knees. It is the alternation of the muscle state from fullest contraction to relaxation that produces the pumping effect — which is also the quality produced by any and all the muscles activated in this way.

That is the very reason that exercise in general is beneficial for the health of the body — by directing the blood flow to those areas actually exercised in this manner. If it were only the heart responsible for pumping blood equally to all parts of the body, then we would not see the disproportionate developments of those who choose only to work their upper body, and ignore their lower body -- and vice-versa. But the flow must go to where there actually is the clearing of space because of the muscular contractions compressing the fluids out of that area — which then makes it possible and easy for the heart to pump blood into those vacuums. Without such preceding contractions and clearing, the heart cannot overcome the resistance of the already full area — and fluid accumulation and inflammation (swelling) Is the inevitable result — that continues to worsen in time without this intervention.

This is the condition seen so often with poor circulation in their feet and legs — even if they articulate movement at the hip and knees — because the backup begins at the feet that is minimally or inadequately articulated — even while there may be movement at the hips and knees. This is fairly typical of the movements performed on exercise machines that do not stress the importance of the movement at the extremity. For all practical purposes, it is the same as walking a mile while shuffling their feet. There is no articulation at the foot, and thus no pumping effect — which is the chief value of the exercise.

So when one realizes that it is the movement at the feet (ankle), the machine, device, resistance is much less important — that movement can be done, seated, lying, or standing — with or without equipment, productively. That is true for all the extremities of the body — which are those areas notorious for the poorest circulation of the body — but doesn’t have to be that way. The understanding changes the equation. Then when one realizes that the distal (insertion) of muscles contracts towards the proximal (origin), it becomes a simple matter in accomplishing the healthful effect of exercises — rather than just burning as many calories futilely by doing all the wrong things and wondering why exercise does not deliver the results promised by so many “experts.”

It doesn’t matter how much of the wrong thing you do — and have no time to learn the right thing that works.