Is Anything Better Than Nothing?

How you move, is more important than how much you move. Many people who are terribly out of shape, actually expend many more calories than those who are sedentary or world-class athletes, many who have such efficient metabolic systems that they eat very little -- and also expend very little energy.

Because of the quantitative orientation imposed by medical and scientific people, what they fail to notice is that the difference between the world’s best and the worst, is not how much, but how. Those who move around most gracefully, effortlessly and efficiently are your world’s champion at that event; those who labor hardest at that event, are likely to be the least suited for that event -- and lack that economy of movement that those gifted for that event was born with.

That’s the level of natural selection taking place in every sport (activity) these days -- that is open to universal participation. One has to be a genetic freak to be the champion -- among a lot of other genetic freaks. No longer can one expect to go far just randomly picking the event they’d like to be the best at, and going for it. Everyone is not born with equal talent and ability. Somebody will be born with virtually all the talent and abilities for that event; who that is, nobody knows until they’re all brought together, for the contest. Quite often, if one is so far ahead of the pack, the judges and officials will not be prepared for such abilities that are unprecedented -- and may regard them as illegal or cheating.

The significance of this for the fitness participant is the realization that the condition they’re in, is not produced by the lack of proper movement but also the reinforcement of movements that cause the body to take on the appearance of inefficiency and bloat. The body is ultimately a reflection of one’s activities -- good or bad, and that’s why, one wants to practice the good, and eliminate the bad. Doing more of bad movements, reinforces their present condition, and exacerbates it. Just doing anything is not necessarily better than doing nothing at all. One may be destroying their body -- rather than just allowing it the rest it needs to recover from the abuse one puts on it, engaging in improper activities or movements.

There’s a reason people come down with injuries or illnesses. Most think that they have no input into that causation -- when behavior is always a major component of outcomes. Bad things don’t just happen; more often than not, it is caused, or at least predisposed. If one hangs around bandits, one is much more likely to be a victim of crime. If one moves around like a fat person, one will likely look like a fat person. If one moves like a ballerina, one is likely to look like one; conversely, the ballerina who moves like a fat person, is likely to look that way eventually.

And that is what one sees on the jogging trails or stair steppers -- people reinforcing bad movement, limited range movements, rather than the full, graceful articulation of the joints of the extremities, particularly. Although the casual observer is most impressed by the range of movement at the torso, most of the well-trained eyes will note, the best of the world’s greatest dancers, could have performed Swan Lake, entirely with their hands, and mesmerized their audience.