You Are What You Do

 Many people ask why they should exercise -- and if it really makes a difference to one's quality of existence.  Such people like to argue that they are happy as they are -- and it is the doctor's job to make them better -- and not that they should do anything themselves to ensure that result.  So of course, when they reach their senior years, they have no idea what they can do to make their lives (health) better -- because they've never done anything like it before, and often think nobody else should do anything either.  Instead, they believe that somebody else should ensure their well-being, while they themselves contribute nothing to that favorable outcome -- and in fact, feel entitled to do everything possible to undermine those efforts.

That of course, is the zero-sum game -- of merely opposing anybody else -- as what they think is the proper purpose of human relations and societal productivity.  That is the kind of conditioning they've had -- to believe that they have to be in constant competition with everybody else, and never for a moment thinking far more can be achieved and accomplished working everything together for a common purpose.  And even in describing the functioning human body, they believe the muscles were designed merely to oppose one another -- rather than that at all times, it naturally wants to complement each other for the most productive outcomes.

So they believe that the biceps is designed to oppose the triceps -- rather than to work in synchronicity to produce a desirable effect.  In no circumstances would it be advantageous or useful merely to cancel out one's own efforts -- so nothing could be achieved, much less get ahead.  Instead, one conditioned with that mindset, is likely to be the least productive member of society, and even counterproductive to it.  That's what criminals ultimately are.

In each individual human body, that is what disease and dysfunction is -- that which undermines the health and well-being of that organism, willfully and unknowingly.  That's why things go wrong -- first and foremost.  Of course there can be statistical anomalies -- but for the most part, what we are, is what we make ourselves to be -- whether that is an athlete, writer, researcher, thinker, gourmand, etc. is That is the statistical 95% -- and the exceptions are what only a rare few have to consider, and discover their unique path -- either as the geniuses and prodigies of that field, or on the other end of the spectrum, the hopelessly incompetent and inept.

It is usually safe to assume that one falls within the 95% -- rather than the 2.5% on either end of the human spectrum.  Generally, what works for most people, will probably work -- but obviously, most do not become the world champion at that activity, and even those who do, do not reign for long.  They have their time -- and then that passes.  And then they are faced with the next challenges and stages of life.  But those skills and habits are not lost in the next and every subsequent stage, but most of those lessons can be transferred to the new.

But if one has never bothered to master anything, the chances are not good that they will get better with time and age -- and so at every age, one learns that they have to do their best, and not just anything will do.  That is what will make a difference -- in anything, and everything one does.  That is why a few become good, and even extraordinary at what they do, while the mass majority have no idea what is going on -- except to do whatever they think everybody else is doing -- to meager and even nonproductive results.

But if they do the "right" thing, the results are invariably immediately manifested and unmistakable.  One just can't fake hitting a homerun.  Either one does, or one doesn't -- but merely wishing it were so, doesn't make it so.  So when people ask, "How long does it take before I can see any results," is an indication that one is not doing the right thing -- because it is self-validating.  It "feels" right -- and everything else just falls into their proper place.

In the quest to achieve lifelong optimal health, there shouldn't be this constant uphill struggle, but rather, a sense that there is nothing else that makes more sense to do -- in living the life one wants to live.  It shouldn't be a hard life -- but rather, an intelligent life, and how one manifests that.  Now I know most people grow up thinking that intelligence is the score they get on an inteically.ligence test -- and are never expected to manifest (actualize) it in any real-world activity or application -- but that is the only real meaning and merit of it. 

That is readily apparent to those with any proficiency in anything.  It doesn't have to be in that same field of expertise to be recognizable as such -- because the same scientific method applies to each.  It is the same processing of information and inputs that make it successful in every field of endeavor.  All one needs to do is master any one -- to know how that applies in every other.  Information processing is that same way no matter what the industry.  Machines do that unfailingly, but so do a few people -- systematically and methodically.  That can be applied even to those activities previously thought to be ruled only by brute force.

That has been the evolution of physical education from dumb muscle to neuromuscular functioning -- or the action of the brain fully manifested in the actuality.  That resulting action is the only way we know that the mind is still alive.  When there is no connection, it's hard to say what that quality of life is -- and that is the sadness of the dementias -- that the vital signs are still present, but nothing else is.  So the inquiring mind asks, how does one not get there?

That requires integrating the mind and muscle so tightly, that ii is inconceivable that one can be without the other.  There is no mind over matter -- because they are so inextricably linked.  In that way, the muscle keeps the mind alive -- and vice-versa.  One cannot conceive of the one without the other.  That is one way of doing it -- and presently, I know of no other.  Then when there is no link, what does it really matter? -- or how could one tell any difference?  In either case, one is simply gone.

In earlier times, such people would simply be allowed to wander off -- or stay behind so that the greater body could survive and go on.  That was the very real reason for keeping one's edge and being fit to go on.  The terrain and challenges are slightly different now -- as they always have been.  That is what evolution is all about -- being fit not only in one way, but all the ways -- to meet all the challenges, even that of the sedentary life made possible by automatons.

That being the case, individuals must devise their own strategies for optimizing their health -- not limited to running faster, jumping higher, lifting more weight -- but doing directly what is required for maintaining optimal health and functioning -- and not as a secondary and extraneous benefit.  And so we think it would be nice if those good things happen -- but not as a primary objective in itself -- as the highest attainment of our being.  That almost seems heretical to consider.  That would put all the health care professionals out of business.

No, they too would have to up their game to a higher level and advise the healthy rather than merely treat the sick.  We already see that evolution coming.  While it is noble to treat the sickest among us, attending to the greatest actualization of human potential serves the greater society better -- as the template for what is possible not just for the few, but most.  That's the 95% of humanity.  But first, one has to develop the prototype for those possibilities -- and manifest it.  That's not just the work of a few geniuses among us, but the essential work of every human being who lives.  That is what gives every life meaning and purpose -- to be the leader in that way.

That is the new model of civilization in the 21st century -- going where we have not gone before. 

Creating Your Own Yoga

 Most yoga instructors are very dogmatic about how exercises are to be performed -- even if their instructions are largely arbitrary and counterproductive -- rather than individualized for optimal performance and functioning.  In many cases, the limitations on the movement are imposed by the adamant instructions rather than achieving the maximum range of movement -- which should be the objective in all movement exercises.  It is not to make it more difficult and problematical until the novice gives up -- never to return.

Case in point is the manner of instructions for the reverse tabletop -- and how a seemingly minor deviation from the manner directed, can result in a difficult and nonproductive exercise becoming a highly productive one.  That would simply be in allowing the fingers to point in the direction away from the feet -- rather than demand that the fingers point in the direction of the feet -- no exceptions, no deviations, no explanations of why that should be so.  The rationale if given, is that it forces the shoulders to have to work harder to maintain that position -- but also makes it more restrictive on the hip and back movement because maintaining that fingers toward the feet locks the shoulders so that full range of movement is impossible for any other structure of the body.

That is particularly the case if one is doing this movement for the purpose of relieving back pain because it restricts the hips from moving upwards -- which the positioning of the fingers in the direction away from the feet unlocks and does not limit the hips from rising in achieving a back arch.  And that back arch is what is lacking in most movements and postures -- because it is the backward movement of the femur that activates the powerful muscles of the gluteus and lower back that cannot be achieved in any other manner easily and conveniently -- especially for one experiencing back pain.

For this reason, the inventor of the Nautilus Machines, Arthur Jones, created the Hip and Back machine as what he originally thought was the only other machine he needed to work out the major structures of the major girdles of the human body -- the shoulders and the hips.  At those points, most of the major (largest) muscles of the body were integrally linked -- and his original purpose was to achieve maximum efficiency for bodybuilding purposes.  He added more machines on the insistence and observation that he could sell more machines if he had more different machines to sell -- which was not his original intention -- which was to involve all the muscles in as few movements as possible.

Today, that is usually referred to as "compound movements" -- arguing for that superiority over any machine limiting a movement to largely just one axis of rotation -- at the aforementioned shoulders and hips.  However, meaningful movement is never expressed and articulated at those junctures, but are expressed at the fine movements and musculature at the extremities -- as the ultimate expression and articulation.

That accounts for one to throw or hit a baseball, play a musical instrument, and write or speak.  Those are the ultimate expressions and articulations that give meaning to all human movement -- of which the girdle provides the major support function.  In that way, it is similar to the heart in being the ultimate supportive organ.  One does not get one's heart beat as high as possible to hit a homerun, but rather, it is hitting the homerun that may raise the heart beat momentarily to a higher level.  But all that is done automatically and autonomically -- rather than deliberately, which has little bearing on one's achievement.  One's focus is entirely at the action at the axis at the extremity -- and that is what produces the homerun -- whether the batter or tennis player, can turn their wrists to result in a precise result.

Thus one is looking at the proper grip and hand position that results in that fine motor control -- and not simply overwhelming brute force using the hands and feet as clubs in every case and application.  Even in the application of force, it is likely to require some, or even a high degree of precision -- as in sharpshooting.  It is not simply a matter of who can squeeze the trigger or click the camera as hard as possible that invariably produces the best results.  A high degree of fine motor skills are required to acheive the desirable results.  Likewise, the one who pounds the keyboard as hard as possible until all the keys fly off, is not necessarily the best writer -- and in fact, is more likely to indicate a person who does not know what they are doing, and acts out that frustration.

One often sees that frustration acted out in competitive environments -- athletic or otherwise.  That is also the demeanor of a champion -- that they don't fly into a rage and off the handle when posed with any challenge.  They accept that as part of the game that they have to rise to the challenge of -- and test their inventory of responsiveness.  That is the true measure of their "fitness," and not simply doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result.

So the better their understanding of what they are doing -- as well as the awareness of what the other "players" are doing, the greater chances they have of success.  These things don't just happen despite what one is doing -- but invariably, is caused by what they are doing -- that makes a difference.  In the case of our specific example of the reverse tabletop position, with finders facing in the direction of the feet, the shoulders are locked so that the hips cannot rise and therefore assume a back arch that allows the femur to move backwards and thus engage the gluteus and back muscles -- and so has limited, or no use, as a back strengthening exercise -- as most exercises and postures also fail to do.  As such, most people experience back pain as their leading cause of weakness and discomfort.

Thus Jones created the Hip and Back machine -- unlike any movement done before -- so much so that it was difficult to get most trainees to do the movement correctly because it just was not ordinarily done -- and the yoga manner prescribed, made it prohibitive -- because it locked the shoulders so that hips could not rise in the manner that would fully contract the gluteus as well as the spinal erectors.  It is movement, and particularly range of movement that accounts for muscle contraction and relaxation -- and not resistance!  As a muscle contracts, it brings one bone as close as possible to another -- and as it relaxes (elongates), allows the bone to move as far as possible from the anchoring joint.  That contraction must occur regardless of whether there is resistance to such a movement because then, the contraction itself, is the resistance -- to further contraction.  That is, it cannot contract to zero -- but volume is inversely related to pressure, so as the volume contracts (becomes smaller), the pressure increases -- and that pressure has to go somewhere.

In the case of a muscle contraction, the pressure (fluids) have to move back towards the heart -- while the lack of movement, will cause the fluids to remain where they are -- and results in the problems of edema, lymphedema, and lipodema -- particularly as one gets older, and the valves in the veins become insufficient to this task.  The most obvious of these indications are seen as varicose veins -- but also the swelling of the ankles, feet, hands, and wrists -- that are often thought to be the natural products of aging.  Overlooked is the fact that there is this contractile insufficiency of the muscles that compound this effect.

That can be proven when one suffers an acute injury that produces swelling (inflammation), and the difference seen when one wraps that area -- or not.  That area will usually swell to monstrous proportions if not wrapped -- whereas it will actually shrink because of compression caused by the wrapping.  Muscles also act in that same manner --of forcing the swelling (fluids) out of that localized area -- back towards the purifying and recycling organs next to the heart -- by virtue of the fact that all the muscle structures are rooted next to the heart.  How clever of Nature to do so.  But that's millions of years of evolution to perfect that design and function -- and will not be overridden just because somebody wants to sell every person in the world a heart monitor to keep track of that given. 

In like manner, one can devise all kinds of movements to restrict and inhibit movement -- that allowed to give full play to their actual limitations -- would be health-sustaining rather than prohibiting that possibility -- merely because somebody thought it should be so.  Thus, many people think that developing the hip and back structures are impossible because it is difficult to design and build a machine specifically for that purpose and function -- because that movement is prohibited to them by edict of their instructors. 

Instead, one can design and build a machine with unlimited capacity to load resistance -- but not do anything productive -- which is largely the case when it is assumed that simply "using" as much weight as possible automatically equates to favorable results.  Or getting a meter to measure as high as possible -- even to the detriment or expense of what one is actually trying to accomplish.  We see such misguided thinking in many examples of daily life -- when people think that the singular object in life is to go as fast as possible, or burn as many calories as possible -- rather than being properly focused on the healthiest and safest way to achieve their objectives.

One can load up a bar to 500 lbs on the squat rack and destroy one's knees trying to resist it from falling straight down -- or articulating the movement not possible using any resistance but the insight that it is the backward movement of the femur that contracts the gluteus and spinal erectors.  That's just how the body works -- and is especially important if one wants to keep their bodies working throughout all the years of their lives.