Movement and Resistance

  Thoughtful, well-designed, productive equipment should be adjustable down as well as up — which was the unanticipated genius of the Nautilus machines — created to provide variable resistance throughout the full range of movement. That means going from zero to 100% — whatever that is — but the zero resistance is just as important — because that allows for full relaxation — alternated with a full muscular contraction — which mimics the essential function of the heart to provide the circulation and flow that is the river of life and health for every body.

Without that essential circulation and flow, the body becomes a stagnant pond — isolated from the life-giving resources outside that body in which all of life has evolved, and why they are so similar in basic ways that don’t have to be reinvented with each and every life. They are automatic (autonomous) and given to every living being as the result of millions of years of trial and error that has resulted in the evolution of the brain, heart, structures and functions distinctive of each species, as well as the individual variations within each species.

The eternal question asked by exercisers is whether it is best to exercise with heavy weights or light weights for optimal gains — when the answer should obviously be “both” — just as it might be asked of the heart — which is more important and productive?, the contraction or the relaxation? One gives meaning and significance to the other — but one without the other is the cessation of life. In life, that is often true — that one is not more important than the other, but that both are necessary parts of the whole.

Unfortunately, many gym equipment are designed to go harder, but few think to go easier, and then it is a whole new level of sophistication to realize that it should be infinitely variable — because the muscle itself is designed for that range of articulation — which is the fullest expression and realization of health. The problem with a barbell is that it always stays the same — and so it is too heavy when the muscle is in its weakest position (relaxed), and often too light in its strongest position — which can be easily rectified by extending the range of movement (contraction) — which most people fail, or never think to do.

Instead, the common manner of performance in all their movements, is to use the entire body mass to throw the weight up, and then let it drop when the momentum comes to its highest point — and repeat that manner of movement until one needs to stop and breathe — because that manner of performance, requires them to hold their breath until the conclusion of their set, which is usually five or less. And although they claim it is muscular failure that terminates that set; it is actually cardio-pulmonary failure — because they are not breathing — and will only resume once their set is terminated. While that supreme effort may be an objective for lifting the maximum weight in that movement, it is not the manner in which most activities or work is achieved — usually as a sustained effort — oftentimes for 8 hours. The closest physical approximation is long distance bicycling — in which one is essentially performing one unvarying movement (repetition) as long as necessary to get where they want to.

It’s not the Tour de France — but takes as long as it takes — until one gets there. Rather than being as fast as one can get there, the preferred pace is what allows them to enjoy the ride. The physical exertion is secondary but a necessary ingredient of the total experience in learning more about one’s self — and how one will respond to varying challenges. Fitness doesn’t come in a test tube — or in any one measure — but is the total response one has at their command and mastery — even if finding that out for the first time what that is. That can change from moment to moment, and position to position.

It would be a simple matter if all one had to do was load up a barbell as heavy as possible — but then, what is one doing with it? For most people, the more weight they use, the less they do — because the muscle has to remain contracted throughout the entire range of the movement — which precludes proper breathing. Breathing also requires the alternation of the muscles involved to contract and relax — to move air in and out of the body by the same principles of fluid dynamics that moves blood — by the pressure differences caused by changing volumes. That is the ultimate significance of muscle contractions (compressions) alternated with relaxations (expansion) — as is made possible when the weight moves from zero to 100%.

In that way, the muscle can work indefinitely. The reason for conditioning, is to succeed and not fail. That is the flaw in high-intensity training. The objective is to succeed and persist — and not fail prematurely when it is inconvenient to do so. 50–100 repetitions should be enough to maintain those capabilities — no matter how old one gets. It’s the movement that matters — and not the resistance.

First Things First

  I had the good (mis)fortune to be diagnosed at a young age with childhood (rheumatoid) arthritis — for which the doctors said I would be crippled as an adult — “but then they could operate.” So I asked innocently if that would make me well — and the doctor replied facetiously, “No, but then they can operate.” So early on, I realized I was on my own — at least until I was old enough for them to “operate.”

When one is “old,” it does not much matter if one’s arthritis is the cause of being too young — or too old, because all one hopes for, is to be functioning at the highest level possible — all the rest of one’s days. Many of the greatest transformative legends began with such modest but realistic goals — just to be able to breathe without fearing one can’t. Two of them, Tommy Kono and George Eiferman, went from being scrawny asthmatics, to having strongman performances including blowing up hot water bottles til they burst — as well as being acclaimed as the most perfectly developed physical specimens of their time.

That was before everybody realized how effective exercise could be in producing such great results. But these original pioneers weren’t doing it for such spectacular results — but were starting to just get up to normal — and derived all the great benefits beyond. Those were the bodybuilding stories in the first half of the 20th century — before the hype took over, and everyone was sold to believe anybody could have similarly great results.

The truth of the matter was that nobody knew for certain who could and who couldn’t achieve such remarkable results — except by actually finding out for themselves — in the doing. In that way, they would remain grounded in their own reality — limitations and potential. That is all one can ask in life — that it is uniquely and personally their own experience — and not just the average as the truth of that endeavor for everyone. That is the primal lesson in life.

That is also what “science” is — testing out the truth of that matter for oneself, and not simply relying on the “experts” to tell them what the truth is — regardless of whether it works for them or not. And then if it doesn’t, the next question is to inquire why it didn’t — and refine a better solution. Otherwise, one is trapped in the conundrum of doing the same things over and over that doesn’t work — expecting a different result, no matter how fanciful the explanation. Therefore, the greatest motivator, is testing whether an idea works in the present reality — and not only after a year has passed. If it takes a year to manifest, you’re uncertain what worked — because a lot can happen in a year.

But if it manifests immediately, one can have more confidence that what one just did — is probably the reason for the difference (change.) The simplest and most direct understanding of the body and how it moves, is manifested at the extremities of the feet, hands and head — and as long as those organs are functioning well, the rest of the body is less important for ensuring lifelong health and functioning. As easy as it is to say, most older people lose their movement at these most distal joints — which defines the possibilities and limits of that functioning — including the arthritis at those joints and the brain fog at the head.

That is totally predictable and likely. But if such individuals do nothing else but keep their head, hands and feet looking youthful and fully functioning, there’s no easy way to tell how old such a person is — because the telltale markers are absent. That won’t change with more movement at the hip or shoulders — while remaining unmoving at the neck, wrists, and ankles. It is at those distal joints that movement has to be articulated — which implies the engagement of the supporting muscular structures — because that is how the body actually is designed to work — and not by short-circuiting the movement and circulation to the proximal structures — that does nothing, or very little for beyond that movement.

That is the most misunderstood part of exercise — that makes it far less effective and unproductive — but with the proper understanding of the whole design and objectives of the human body, the ultimate objectives can be achieved and manifested immediately. That goes for beginners or advanced — and puts everyone into the game — without the torturous path to it. You simply do what the body immediately needs and will benefit most by, and the body fills in the rest. Otherwise, the efforts and resources are diverted to the lower priority needs — at the expense of the higher. It’s like considering the brain alone. All things being equal, what would one choose to develop most? Then do it first.

One OR the Other

 One OR the Other 

Both. I go to the gym and exercise with light weights once a week — as my heavy workout. But every day when I wake up, I exercise those same movements without weights by simulating those contractions by flexing/extending at the extremities of the wrist, ankles and neck — to aid in the recovery from those once a week higher intensity workouts. If you only work out at the gym once a week and do nothing else for the rest of the weeks, muscle soreness will increase for several days due to the inflammation not being pumped out of the muscles with those light contractions.

As most people are familiar with, when muscles contract, they release energy as well as break down into waste products — that remain in the tissues until the body slowly dissipates it — which can be sped up by effecting muscle contractions of lesser intensities. Those lighter contractions and relaxations are not nothing — but serve the primary purpose of enhancing the circulation to pump the waste products out — and in that manner, producing the space for new nutrients to enter — which is the principle of fluid dynamics, or how fluids flow. If the fluids are stagnant because of the accumulated waste products, and no pumping action of the local muscles, then the heart, which is only a one pound organ, is not strong enough to force the blood into that stagnation or resistance — but simply returns to the heart because that is the path of less resistance. It does not have to go to and through the most distant and smallest capillaries at the most distal ends of the body — and that is why people have that bloat and inflammation accumulating at their extremities — and then backing up towards the center of the body more obviously.

A trained eye can also see that happening throughout the body — as well as realizing the simple remedy of producing the muscle contractions at the wrist, ankles and neck, as the most productive movements one can do. However, most people have been told that the reason for their exercise is to work the heart harder and faster — and are dumbfounded with people exercising in that manner all die of some manner of heart failure — because you’re not going to get a one pound organ to power a 600 pound deadlift, squat or bench press! — and if you do it often enough, the failure of that organ is predictable and inevitable.

Meanwhile, the voluntary muscles of the body — and particularly at the extremities, remain unexercised or underexercised so that the bloat and inflammation builds up — destroying the nerves at these sites of poor circulation (neuropathies). If these muscles at the extremities are simply articulated to maximize the contraction alternated with the relaxation from these extremities of the wrists, ankles, neck, that will optimize the flow through those tissues — and that is the process by which one maintains its health, functioning, and allows for growth beyond present capabilities. It’s not that wanting bigger arms makes one grow bigger arms — but that one does all the right things that makes that growth possible — and inevitable.

It’s preposterous to think that one can exercise once a week at a gym and then do absolutely nothing else for an entire week — or just as likely, to do the same workload unvaryingly each day — without at some point placing/facing a greater demand requiring the body to adapt by providing a margin of reserve for those irregular extra-ordinary challenges. That’s what makes one fit right? Being able to do what one normally does regularly, but also having that extra gear and reserve for facing the extra-ordinary — because life is unpredictable in that way. Failing to meet that challenge, is frequently the way many go.

Because of the teaching that one thing is unrelated to any and every other thing — rather than in seeing the connection between things, they think all 600–800 muscles of the human body act unrelated to any other — than that the skeletal muscles of the body all connect to the center — starting at the extremities which are only three — the hands, feet and head — and so instead of developing these grossly disproportionate muscularities one sees so often in gyms — working them properly from those extremities back towards the center (heart), ensures the proper proportional development by exercising them in the way they were designed to work — and not just having a much of over- and under-developed body parts pasted together. That was the ideal the old-time bodybuilders strove for — and not today’s grossly disproportional developments that would be unrecognizable and offensive to the classical sculptors renowned for those figures of great proportions, symmetry, and integrity.

That was the point.

The Intelligent Exercise of the Human Body

  The Intelligent Exercise of the Human Body

The distinctive features that make the human being the ultimate achievement of evolution, is the large brain, tool-using hands, and feet that make upright posture and locomotion possible. So it would make a lot of sense that the most practical and productive development of those faculties would be the preferred conditioning program — rather than the development of what is common to all life forms, which is the heart similar to most other species.

Thus, that is not the distinguishing feature, nor does it have to be worked any harder and faster — because its value is that it works reliably as its greatest function — automatically. That’s why the heart is only a one pound organ in humans, rather than 30% of the body weight — as in the well-muscled human. The heart can only do one thing — while the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the human body can do whatever one wants it to do. That may include nothing at all — which is the problem for many. On the other hand, the heart as a muscle, does not have that option, but must always work until the day one dies — unfailingly.

Realizing that, the thoughtful person wishing to maximize their effectiveness, would choose to do what is not automatic but lacking, as their greatest contribution to increasing their productivity, functioning, overall health and proficiency. That is what is sorely lacking — and not what has been provided for in all living beings — no matter what. That is to note that we do not need to create “gravity” because it is simply a fact of life in our environment — whether we realize this or not. Many people don’t, and can live healthy and productive lives — just like the air we breathe.

We don’t first have to create the right mixture of gases that compose the air we breathe. We just have to access it as best we can — but a few will try to perfect the science of that functioning to gain an advantage — if it makes a difference. In most things, if a tool does the job, it doesn’t have to be a precision instrument made of the best materials. And often, the cheapest thing that can do the job, is the best money can buy — and beyond that, the rest may be impressive to others, but conveys no further advantage — for all practical purposes.

That is the first law of survival — if it works — regardless of the fancy explanations of why it does, or worse, why it is not working — but they are the “experts” in the field. They know all the things that do not work. Thus they claim, they need more funding to maintain that status quo — of them in charge, and to keep all others out of it. That kind of thinking is endemic to all activity and spheres of influence — but the trick is to distinguish that and not get caught up in those distractions that can consume a lifetime. And so many will conclude that it doesn’t make a difference — because they faithfully did all the things that did not work.

That is usually evident from the very start — but many insist one has to give it time — like a few years to exhibit those results, because it does not work. It is like asking a class of grade schoolers if they know how to “make a muscle,” and every arm in class will bend In the appropriate manner to make their biceps contract. That’s how easy it is — to make a muscle — and that simplicity and directness should not be complicated by elaborate explanations paraphrasing what researchers far away know exclusively — but have yet to prove in their own lives and being.

It is not because of age or lack of equipment and space that are the barriers — but simply the lack of the awareness of their own doing — or lack of it. The simple exercise that always works, is simply to turn one’s head as far to the left or right as one can go — and find out what is possible and the limit of that range of movement. In that very movement, the muscle of the neck will contract to enable that movement — as surely and demonstratively as the grade schoolers contracting their biceps. But for all intents and purposes, turning their heads is much more valuable as that movement affects the circulation to the head and brain — which most exercise practitioners just ignore as not being very important — because they think the head, hands and feet should be immobilized to enable their exercise. That kind of exercise is the wrong kind of exercise specifically for that reason — in that it precludes the movement where it is most important to move — and make a muscle because the circulation has been enabled by that movement.

That is the very reason the human body deteriorates prematurely and very visibly — at the sites of the neck, hands and feet — before all else, but is also the easiest thing to rectify — because it is simply a rotation around the furthest axis of the human body — which implies all else, but not vice-versa. The “core” muscles don’t need to be moved because their major function is stability and support — for the fine movements that occur at the extremities — whether that it shooting a basketball, hitting a ball with a bat or racket, painting a picture, playing an instrument, running, jumping, walking, etc.

As such, only enough room to move the head, the hands, the feet, is all that is required to optimize the circulatory flow throughout the body — rather than move or jump over mountains — to achieve the beneficial effects of exercise in any environment one feels most comfortable in, and has the inspiration and opportunity to do. That’s how easy, convenient, and accessible it can be — unless one insists that it has to be otherwise. Then it becomes an excuse not to do it.

The Resistance Within

  The Resistance Within

Every person is their own “Primary Care Provider" rather than the designated, specialized health professionals. That is to acknowledge that one is primarily responsible for their own best health and well-being — and everybody and everything is secondary in that endeavor. That includes researching and choosing the best professionals in every field to assist them in achieving their ultimate objective of attaining the best life possible for themselves — and not just be the best customer/client a professional ever had. There is a difference — because not every professional or amateur, is equally good and competent. One has to make those determinations as well — and not go by their sales pitch, marketing program, or sincerity in saying, “Trust me.” One is their own ultimate judge and jury of such matters, as well as every decision they make in life.

If they choose well, life will be successful — but if they choose poorly, things will turn out badly. Fortunately in most things, it is never too late to see the light and course-correct — because that too is life, and maybe the better part of it. That’s how one' improves — and not the fantasy of making one decision, and then living happily forever after. Even the great ones failed a thousand times before achieving their greatest successes. That is every “greatest story ever told.”

In health, that is invariably the story of the runt of the litter and the 98 lb. weakling transforming themselves into the renown human specimen — because that was the drive and necessity for their very survival. It was either that or they would perish — at every opportunity to do so, but fatefully, they chose and acted wisely, and continued for another day. Such individuals then became famous for their resilience and persistence in the face of all odds. It did not matter how daunting the obstacle, they would overcome them as their signature style at living life large.

But it doesn’t just happen; those are the people in the habit of overcoming every obstacle — and when they fail, simply consider it practice until they eventually succeed. And then if they don’t, they’ll perish like everybody has before them — but know they gave it their best shot, and so went out on top regardless of the outcome. So that is the question to ask of oneself — each and every day — and how to get there, and not just settle for arbitrary goals others say will guarantee them eternal happiness and immortality.

There is a tendency to get caught up in such lofty and far-flung goals rather than remain focused on the simple matters at hand — known as the “attention to details,” yet it is this latter, that makes the most difference. This is why a rare few achieve remarkable results — while the vast majority come to regard their efforts as futile, or hardly worth the effort — because they’re focused on all the wrong things. It’s not about how many calories they burn, how profusely they sweat, how much pain they endure, how elaborate their theories and explanations, or how much weight they lift. What makes the difference, is how well they increase the health/life-giving circulatory effect to the part of the body that needs it the most. That is more than just thinking to make the heart work harder and faster — because that is not the ultimate and greater objective: it is the greater circulatory effect — that can be achieved when all the muscles of the body assist in that task, and not just the burden of the heart alone — even working against all the others — as though that was a smart thing to do.

That is the primary function of all the muscles in the body, and when one understands that, it is a simple matter of designing movement that effects that most optimally — regardless of equipment external to the body, or even moving the entirety of the body itself. What one wants to know and achieve, is how to optimize the flow to the areas one can benefit from the most — to produce the greatest functioning and health, and from that, all the other attributes are derived and manifested — rather than vice-versa. In a cause and effect world, one has to properly identify which is the cause and which is the effect — and mere correlation is insufficient to this understanding and purpose. It is not a co-incidence that things happen; that is the fallacy of epidemiological studies.

“There is a reason things happen.,” and not that if one does anything, they achieve the desired results. Of course they may attain many other unintended consequences — like injuries or loss, which is inevitable in a cause and effect world. Nothing happens randomly — although there can be unintended results. That is, it may make things worse, and become the problem — rather than its solution. That happens frequently when a plausible explanation is not true — which is the old wives tales that are commonly believed as the truth — rather than the actuality of the results. When this is pointed out, the resistance against the obvious, is simply increased — instead of rethought — to achieve a more effective level of understanding.

That is the unfortunate legacy of many physical regimens. Simply harder is better, rather than taking the time upfront to develop clarity. One wants to be as busy as possible so that there is no possibility for thought and understanding — before applying maximal effort and force. It may be that a lighter touch with a better understanding is all that is required. In exercises, it is the movement itself that is the benefit and not the resistance against it — and then not doing it properly. The proper movement, produces the alternating full contraction with a full relaxation — whereas the steady state muscle impedes that flow no matter how hard the heart is working. That is also the definition of what it means to be “aerobic.”

That produces dysfunction and failure — whether one is sedentary or riding a stationary bike. The flow is not induced where the muscle involved is not moving — from fullest contraction to fullest relaxation — which is what modern bodybuilders and previously, muscle control artists, understood and actualized. That control could be achieved entirely without equipment — but equipment could also be designed to instruct one on where the movement requires the muscle to be in its most contracted state, and in which position it must be in its most relaxed state. That was the genius of the Nautilus machines. The inventor designed the movement to effect those muscle states — regardless of the resistance used. That’s how the human body works.

This is particularly important as one ages — or desires to strengthen a weakness. It is the range of movement that is significant — and not the resistance increased at the expense of this range. The range is the resistance.

The Most Basic Fitness Program

 The problem for most people is not that they don’t know how to exercise — but that they don’t know what a muscle contraction is, and the powerful effect it has on the functioning of their body. Most people “know how to exercise” — even if it doesn’t do them much good — but the effects of muscular contractions are unmistakable and undeniable.

The difference is that just burning calories is insufficient to achieve the desired exercise effect — as is obvious in the many people who get plenty of “exercise” but not the desirable effect of optimizing the circulatory effect — that occurs because the muscles contract fully — just as the heart must to be an effective and efficient pump. The design and evolution of the heart is that is always working automatically — not just to pump blood to itself (cardio), but more importantly, to pump blood to all the other parts of the body — and particularly, the extremities — which are the important sensory organs of the head, hands and feet.

These organs are frequently underutilized and underexercised in modern life because the tools and technology minimize the need to maintain them in optimal condition for those purposes. Thus in general conditioning programs, the importance of exercising these most vitally important organs are minimized or overlooked entirely — but observant people can detect the lack of functioning and movement indicative of inflammation, swelling, and bloating at those sites to be the best indication of that individual’s health and well-being — as the most apparently visible.

People just assume that a double-chin and swollen face, swollen (inflamed) hands and feet are the products of natural aging — rather than the indication that those areas and organs are being neglected — in favor of much less critically important parts (muscles) of the body — that makes a huge difference in outcomes in later life as those inefficiencies and toxins build up in the tissues with no way to escape — and rejuvenate and revitalize with fresh nutrients.

The value of exercise is the extent to which the contractions fully expell the accumulated residual toxins in the tissues — as the purpose and meaning of circulation — all the way out to those extremities. That is the circuit — which can be limited to where there is actually the movement (contraction) of those muscles. Simply holding a heavy weight provides no such movement — no matter how heavy the weight. Movement would require the alternation of muscular states from contraction to relaxation — which is the same action of the heart, especially if it is choreographed to be rhythmic in that way (repetitions).

A good number to shoot for is 50–100. Admittedly, one could do more, but 1,000 repetitions of a single movement would take away the opportunity to do 20–10 more of different exercises that would provide greater value than just the one over exercised part — at the expense of all the others, with the added downside of repetitive stress in doing too much of only one movement. With 20 different movements, there is a reasonably good chance one can articulate and lubricate most of the major joints of the body daily — and easily for at least 50 repetitions — just as a health practice, and a sufficient warmup for whatever one can expect to encounter in the normal course of daily living.

That is the conditioning one hopes to establish as the baseline fitness for the rest of their lives — so it is a good habit to get into — no matter what else one will do in life. That would enable them to meet the ordinary challenges of life — which is more important than doing just one thing proficiently and exclusively — like the person who only does bench presses and nothing else. Most people who prefer to have a well-balanced physique and development — as that is what is impressive aesthetically as well as functionally —rather than as is usually seen, the large upper body with puny legs, or the well=developed legs with puny upper body, etc.

In a combat (competitive) situation, the well-trained individual knows to look for the obvious weakness and vulnerability of their opponent — and exploit that, rather than attack strength on strength. That’s why the first minutes of any bout is usually this feeling the opponent out — rather than a predetermined attack no matter what. The best read of another’s capabilities are the most obvious and visible — which are usually the neck, forearms and lower legs (feet). If those areas look inflamed (swollen), they are likely to be painful and nonfunctioning as well — whereas the person with outstanding dexterity and balance, have well-defined feet, hands, neck muscles — and the resulting control.

Most people miss that and in fact, never look at those organs as the best indicator of general health and capabilities. Because of that inattention to those areas, they are also the parts of the body that deteriorate first and affect all other subsequent movements — even to the point in which they have to be amputated for that lack of circulation. that is likely to happen at the feet, but when it happens at the head, it is usually not suspected that it could be from that same lack of optimal circulation to the head and brain that allows the buildup of toxic byproducts that allow for no space for the new nutrients that would revitalize its health.

The head and brain, like all other parts of the body, require effective circulation to maintain and achieve its best health, functioning and well-being — but most just look at a non moving head (relative to the torso), and think nothing of seeing a very swollen or atrophied neck, and think it has nothing to do with brain functioning and development — especially in later life — and think there is nothing they can do about it, when obviously, that is the most important and easiest parts of the body to impact positively. Most conventional exercisers don’t account for it at all in their training programs — when clearly, that is the key to maintaining health and fitness when all the other participants have stopped thinking it can be effective anymore.

It is a simple matter of effecting the flexors and the extensors of the extremities at their greatest range of movement for a sufficiently high number of repetitions (50–100) daily — and maintain that regimen for as long as one wishes to be an optimally functioning human being — fully capable of having to do whatever they have to do. That is being fit for life — how it matters.

The Importance of Exercise

  Practice (exercise) makes one better — immediately and instantly. One doesn’t have to wait a year or six months to see results. The effect is immediate — and then if maintained over many days, weeks, months, years, .builds a reserve that allows for growth and improvement. But it always begin remedially, rehabilitatively, and restoratively. That is to say that one must go from 0 to 100 — and not start from 99 to 100. The magnitude and effect of change is much greater starting from 0 — than it is starting at 99 — and it is change that is the desired ability, and effect that transforms the body.

And that is the categorical imperative of every living being — to change as required to improve their survival chances, and beyond that, to begin at a higher base each time — and not simply repeat what they’ve always done before, and lose even that. That is how most think of exercise: retaining what little ability they have — rather than increasing those capabilities significantly and dramatically. Generally, that is what competitive athletes do — and what motivates many until they realize they can no longer improve by those metrics — and cut back, and in many cases, cut out those activities altogether — which makes them susceptible to the deteriorating forces once again — because one is no longer doing what made them healthy and proficient anymore.

While the brain may wish that it can sustain those gains without the actual exercise of it anymore, those memories and desires are insufficient to actually produce the forces and conditions that make it so. That can happen at any point in life — but is particularly the problem of the aging athlete who can no longer sustain the activities they were once proficient at — especially if they believe that what was the use and value if they weren’t recognized at Number 1 at it. At that point, many just abandon all efforts to depair and depression — even to nominally maintain their health and functioning at a rudimentary level.

For every individual, that is the base level from which they start — and not the highest level they once achieved, but is only a foregone memory anymore. It’s not that the awards and trophies are so important — but that one hasn’t replaced those motivators to align more closely to their present capabilities and challenges — which now, are much more meaningful. Most people will not be Number 1 at what they do— but go on In life anyway, because it beats the alternative — which is just sitting around doing nothing and getting worse until the end. But if they really get into what they’re doing, that is what matters, and makes a difference — and they don’t need the awards, trophies, and approbation of others to keep on doing what they know is the best they can do — and improving at that.

So it doesn’t matter if one day (or every day for that matter) they wake up and feel they cannot move at all without great pain and discomfort — if that is where they have to start. That is simply their challenge for the day — and what they have to deal with and overcome. While not Mt. Everest, it is uniquely their own mountain to climb — and all that matters. Then it doesn’t matter what the obstacle or circumstances, one simply finds or discovers a way surmount those challenges and difficulties.

A good place to begin is just taking inventory of what is working — and begin with that — and not the insistence that one must run a marathon at 4am in city streets — or some other arbitrary and preposterous criterion of maintaining for the rest of their life — no matter what. In fact, true “fitness” might even determine that’s not a good idea even if one could. Meanwhile, lying in bed wondering if one will ever get up and move again, the most important functioning is to see if the head can still move — as the singular most important organ that has to be functioning for life to be meaningful. Many misinformed people think you cannot move the head — or shouldn’t, when movement is what enhances the blood flow or circulation to any area of the body. That is the significance and importance of movement in any human being — that by the alternation of the contraction and relaxation of the muscles that provide that full range movement, it determines the blood flow out of, and into that area.

That is the function of muscle contraction — that with that action, pushes the fluids (blood) back towards the heart — and upon relaxation (expansion) draws in new nutrients to those vacated spaces — because the heart which is a one pound organ, is always and automatically pumping. That is the given we are working with — and not that we have to deliberately and consciously get the heart pumping — or it won’t. The skeletal, or voluntary muscles, are another matter entirely — and most people have it reversed in their thinking. They think the voluntary muscles are operating always and automatically — while it is the heart that must be told to operate, and hence, the measure of the effectiveness of exercise and movement.

This misunderstanding is entirely wrong — but the doctors and researchers have learned what they know about exercise from the same PE instructors we all had — and even most self-proclaimed experts and researchers on this topic, were susceptible to that same kind of conditioning of that manner of thinking. That has been the problem — and not the solution, and why it spectacularly fails in later life — when most need it most to succeed — as the critical factor of their continued existence. And as such, exercise is more important and impactful at this stage of life than when they were younger — but learn too late, that what they thought they knew, doesn’t work — and think they have run out of time to find out.

But fortunately, we do not have to recreate the wheel. We simply have to realize that we have mistaken the effect for the cause — and it is the head that directs the heart, and not the heart that directs the head, or any other movement producing blood flow (circulation), and optimizing that circulation, is what keeps the body supremely healthy and well-functioning.