Building Hand and Grip Strength

  Building forearms and grip strength is a good proxy for understanding the muscular system and how it is designed to ensure one’s health and fitness — but are essentially ignored and neglected by most excercisers, and particularly denotes the end-stage of life for most people.

The contemporary buzz of medical researchers is the claim that all disease is caused by inflammation, or the accumulation of toxic fluids in the tissues of the body beginning at the extremities of the head, hands and feet — where circulation is poorest because that’s where the push from the heart dissipates, and the contractions from the skeletal muscles beginning at the extremities begin to push the blood back towards the heart — to clear space in the capillaries and tissues for new blood to come in. It is a naive understanding to think that the heart can overcome the resistance of miles of capillaries where blood is hardly moving. But a contraction beginning at the most distal (distant from the center) insertion will contract to its origin, which then will tie into the insertion of the more proximal muscle supporting it, and so on — back to the center.

That’s why people who are active and get this activation, become more muscular than others. The waste products from cell metabolism are sent back to the purifying and recycling organs of the body — creating room for new fluid (nutrients) which produces health and growth. It is that very process of circulation — effected by the alternation of the contraction and relaxation phases of the muscle. That’s why in exercises, it is important to move from the greatest relaxation to the greatest contraction — while focusing on increasing that range more than any other consideration — including how much weight one is using in the exercise. More often than not, the weight is often a hindrance to achieving those extreme ranges of articulation — and one is better off effecting those ranges without any weight or resistance.

This ideal movement can be simulated by a simple movement called the wrist roller — in which one had a rope tied to a short bar attached to a light weight and lifted the weight up in one direction and lowered it with the opposite movement. For most people, that exercise can be simulated to give a better result without the apparatus at all — but simply focusing on that movement — particularly extending the range of the contraction — which most people tend to omit, and so they believe that developing the forearms, calves and neck muscles are difficult if not impossible to do — because their range of movement is too limited.

What they need to do is not add more weight — but increase the range of their movement, and also increase their repetitions to 50 — at which most people experience noticeable muscle fatigue, burn, or pump — resulting in extreme muscle soreness for days after. The remedy for recovery from extreme muscle soreness is to do that movement the next day and the next — because those alternation of relaxation and contractions, are pumping the inflammation out of the tissues. That is the quickest way to ameliorate extreme muscle soreness — over the next few days, rather than doing nothing at all and letting that inflammation fester.

Most trainees never come close to a full contraction or full relaxation in any of their movements — which is the reason it doesn’t work. This is particularly true of the older bodybuilders whose joints have been so compromised that they can barely move — yet still insist on handling as heavy weights as they can doing half-movements. Increasing the weights assuredly won’t make them better — but increasing the range of their movements will because the range of motion dictates the range of the contraction and relaxation — and increasing that difference, increases the flow — while maintaining a steady state of muscular contraction does not. That is how most people do their exercises — unproductively.

The position most think is a contraction is not — nor is the relaxed position. Taking the bench press as an example, if one begins to press upwards from the “finished” position, one will notice how quickly the muscle will tire because one has achieved a supercontracted position. Likewise, most people do not go into a superrelaxed position but instead bounce the weight off the floor or off their chest because everybody knows how hard it is to begin a movement from a dead stop. The only way to do it safely is to use a very light weight — or no weight at all, and just learn how to achieve the greatest muscular contraction, alternated with a relaxation — for that pumping effect alone — which is not nothing, but the most healthful thing one can do — and by doing that produces the health, functioning and growth one ultimately hopes to achieve all one’s life.

Doing the Right Thing(s)

 Many people have been advised by those who have no idea what they are talking about -- that doing anything is the same as doing the right thing(s) -- to achieve successful outcomes, because they have been sold the belief that the only thing that matters is how much energy (calories) are expended (consumed), and beyond that, there is no difference.  Thus they come to the conclusion that going as fast as they can while driving a car is the only way to go, and lifting the heaviest weight is always what is required -- including building a house, garden, meal, body, anything worthwhile.

So the productive person realizes it is not enough simply to expend random energy and effort, but to achieve the greatest economy and efficiency in what they are doing -- or hope to do -- and that's what makes the difference.  However, that is not what is usually taught by those who should know better -- who fail to make those distinctions.  And so they are exasperated that they never achieve the results they hope for but then get lost in the efforts as the end in itself, and thus they come up with measurements that are purely arbitrary -- as though they meant something.

Then they will come up with pronouncements like everybody must do a minimum of 10,000 steps a day -- or hang from a chinning bar for 5 minutes -- or they won't see 100 -- to say nothing of the agony and injury they might endure in trying to achieve those "objectives."  They'll even  insist that if one can't even hang from a bar for even a second, one should keep trying until they can -- instead of merely and intelligently advising to do something they can do -- presently.   It is much more productive to do something one can do,  then to "try" to do something one can't do -- because it is entirely possible that even the strongest man in the world will not be able to stand on their toes -- without breaking all of them (as well as their neck) -- and suffer a crippling injury that will disable them for the rest of their lives.

Yet people are ill-advised to do such maneuvers under the blanket generalizations that "everybody can," -- and that the only ones that can't, have no chance for survival -- or fitness  by those standards, and so now the only commandment, is to be able to get off the floor without using one's hands -- because not using one's hands is the new commandment -- and only those who can kip up, are indicative of a long and healthy life.

And those who can't?  They should keep trying because everybody can -- if one person has proven it possible, as though everybody is on the same trajectory of possibilities and improvement.  That is not to say that some things are possible for virtually everybody, while others are just possible for a few -- and one should "discriminate" those differences that matter -- from that which doesn't.

Things happen for a reason -- and merely demanding that they don't doesn't alter the reality, but intelligent design and thought should align with those realities -- to be useful, and productive.  Simply doing whatever one wants to, is not going to get them the same results as that which invariably produces better outcomes -- which for every individual, is a healthier, better functioning existence.  That is what we are all here for --whether we realize it or not.  That is what drives all of life.

That which doesn't think so -- or behaves that way, is not around for long.  That is the primary drive in life and not whether one looks good doing so. It is the health that is primary -- and not the illusion of it.  One takes care of the other -- but not vice-versa.  That is the difference between causation and correlation -- and why one should not mistake one for the other.  Correlation doesn't care which came first -- or caused the other, and it is knowing that difference, and being able to tell that difference, is why some are successful while others just go through the motions wondering why they never achieve those successes.  It is not just a matter of doing it long enough that it must work -- but learning the significant difference that makes all the difference.

Those are the "right" things -- which is very different from any amount of the wrong things that do not matter.  That difficulty in understanding is the et the same results they got a barrier keeping most from achieving their own health -- in favoring of demanding everyone but themselves to produce it for them.  That's not how evolution works.  Individuals get better because they achieve it for themselves -- and not that the think-tanks in far away places have figured out the winning formula -- and winning lottery ticket, so that the rest of us know how to "game" the system. with life "hacks."

The hardest thing to see are the obvious -- but that plays out every day in every gym across the world.  The people in worst shape choose the worst exercises in the worst way.  It is no secret why it is not working.  They have come to the gym to do more resting -- and cell phoning -- like they do everything else in their lives -- with never any full attention to anything they do.  That is particularly true the older they get -- and that is why they don't even get the same results they got as a younger person.   They're not even doing that anymore -- because the weights are too heavy to allow them full-range movement.  But rather than lower the weights (resistance) to allow them full amplitude of movement, they keep the weights that now make those movements prohibitive -- and it is the full-range movement that makes them fit, rather than any amount of weight that restricts that articulation.  

And so it goes until they lose even further range of movement -- until finally they virtually immobilized -- not because they cannot move, but because they have forgotten how to move -- since they no longer express it, or know how anymore.  That's how they lose their movements -- but is an easy thing to maintain and improve -- as long as they do sufficient repetitions of it -- which is not five or ten before resting for ten minutes.    That is what got them into their present condition.

The human body is designed to optimize movement at the head, hands and feet -- and if those movements are maintained and practiced, the prognosis for the health of the rest of the body is excellent -- but not vice-versa.  You don't want to be the person whose heart is still beating for 25 years long after the head, hands and feet have stopped moving and responding.  Yet that is the pattern for all those people living in those places where the prognosis for recovery of those faculties are nonexistent -- who are prescribed movements and exercises for improving every other part of their body but those specifically.  It would indeed be miraculous if they worked.

Designing a Better Treadmill

 There is no rule that prohibits useful activity -- so while one is just breathing and pumping blood -- there is no requirement that one make the heart alone work harder, while all the other muscles do nothing.  That is really not as Nature intended.  It foresaw that living a good, productive life, would enable them to continue to do so, and even better their prospects.  That is the well-known survival of the fit -- and not that one has to battle constantly with others to prove it.  Most likely, one lives longer if they are not engaged in constant battle with every other -- all the time.  Then like the alpha of every species, one can just pick their spots, and rise to the challenge that nobody else can.

When and how those challenges arise, is anybody's guess, and fate to determine.  Thus, one tries to be prepared for anything as much as possible and practical -- while also realizing their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.  Then one can answer the right challenges, and not just every challenge like the juveniles of every species think they must respond to.  Of course, that's what gets them into trouble and shortens their lives, or disables them thereafter.

One hopes to avoid those early childhood traumas -- and get to the long and prosperous lives we think possible.  The most crippling of those formative years, is the belief that there can only be one way -- and it doesn't work -- and so there is only despair that things can ever get better.  But that is what civilization and culture is all about -- creating that baseline foundation for everyone to proceed from and discover the unknown and unrealized.

The ultimate objective of life is not just to make the heart work harder -- but to be firing on all cylinders -- and not just the one.  The obvious example is when the heart continues to beat heartily when the brain is dead, or has stopped functioning for most recognizable purposes.  Obviously, such people are not much fun to be around -- and will cost other lives to be sacrificed for their care and continued sustenance.  You don't want to be that person.

That's why one should do everything within their power and abilities not to be -- including taking the necessary precautions whenever appropriate -- assuming that everybody else's job is not doing that for him.  That fully eliminates 90% of what could go wrong -- just being aware of what is going on around them, and not thinking that is everybody else's job to ensure for them.  Life doesn't happen that way.

So the essential exercise should be increasing that awareness -- while they are doing anything and everything, and that not only knowing what is going on in their own heads is all there is to know and worth knowing.  Often, the difference between being mugged and not, is acknowledging and being aware of the presence of others, rather than denying their existence.  It is the same in the wild kingdom, that those most alert and aware, are less likely to be victimized -- while the oblivious, are the preferred targets of the opportunists.

Not that one should necessarily be overly paranoid about everything.  Simple awareness takes 90% of the surprise out of most incidents.  And that is why in one's choice of conditioning activities, one should prefer to develop one's awareness of what one is doing -- over thinking one is doing anything else.  It's like a person reading and planning for their next vacation -- while being oblivious to the one they are presently on.  Or simply reading a magazine while they are treadmilling.  Their body is dispassionately doing one thing, while they minds are engaged elsewhere -- so a great part of their conditioning, is to be fully engaged and present in what they are actually doing.

That has great power -- because the mind operating with that awareness, is very powerful, and may be the difference between succeeding and failing.  That mind, can make an immediate adjustment -- as required by the actual circumstances and developments.  And that is what life is all about -- making those adjustments and adaptations, and not merely continuing to do the same thing over and over again -- despite it not working, and even being the source of all one's problems.

That fragmentation in thinking about exercise began in the '60s with the thought that there could be exercise for the heart and exercise for the muscles -- as though they were antagonists rather than integral to the entire operation of a healthily functioning body.  That notion was largely promoted by those selling the measuring devices -- including the heart monitors and resistance machines.

But the object is not how hard one can work the heart alone, or how much weight a muscle can move -- but the healthy benefit of optimizing the circulatory effect that ensures one's health and well-functioning.  Then muscles naturally grow, bones get stronger, organs remain functional, etc.  It is not just the one thing -- but everything -- working well with each other.  That is the well-integrated individual -- and not each part fighting for primacy within the individual and so one is out of balance and proportion -- and looks it.

That's why many gym physiques look unproportional and unbalanced -- when the ideal even of antiquity, was for aesthetic balance -- especially the mind in a well developed body.  In fact, that was what the body manifested -- as the most accurate gauge of that development.  That was how the being showed its intelligence -- and still is, but not necessarily in the puerile ways many think it so.

That would be the objective in thinking that the measure of any activity is the amount of calories burned -- or even heart rate despite the atrophy of the rest of the musculature.  Instead of deliberately minimizing the engagement of the rest of the musculature, it would make far more sense to make a treadmill of any more meaningful movement -- such as are designed in any other exercise machine -- with minimal resistance -- while accentuating and increasing the range of movement.

That's what most people fail to do -- even while making their hearts work ever harder.  That is especially true of the older exercisers -- distinguished most notably by their lack of range at every joint, mostly because their inactive (sedentary) lives don't demand it of their normal and usual movements.  Treadmills are not normal and usual movements -- as much as is made to normalize them as such -- as the standard of human movement and activity.

Far more useful and meaningful is the movement at the head, hands and feet -- and those movements give meaning to the larger, supporting muscular structures -- and not vice-versa, and why those conventional exercises fail to halt the deteriorating effect most visible at the head, hands and feet.  That development produces a well-proportioned physique because that is how the body is designed to work.  Anything else is reinventing the body by pasting body parts according to one's tastes -- while ignoring the millions of years of evolution to get it right.

The Problem with Most Exercise

 One notices that when one goes to a gym these days, there is very little exercising actually taking place -- but what most people are doing, is resting -- or playing with their cellphones -- just as they do with much of their other time that got them into their hated sedentary shapes.  Yet they are perplexed that they are not getting into the shape they think (hope) they should be in -- despite spending countless hours "at" the gym.  I've even seen caregivers drop off their clients at the "aerobics" machine and then do nothing while they go off and use the swimming pool or hot tub, and return an hour later -- and presume that their clients were exercising all that time -- in a classic case of wishful-thinking making it so.

Of course they rationalize that they were free to do whatever they wanted and could not be forced to do anything they didn't want to do -- and out of sight, was out of mind, and no longer their job (responsibility) to do anything beyond that.  And so it spirals into a worsening of condition -- while being totally mystified that it should be so -- because the wishful-thinking surely must have had precedent over the actual reality in the virtual reality they inhabit.

The invariably, the more involved exercises they are advised to do, are even more problematical to do -- usually producing pain in addition to the boredom of treadmill activities.  So quite predictably, they get very little benefit for the "time" they put into such activities -- while they could be doing what is most beneficial to do.  That would be simply moving at the critical junctures of the head, hands and feet -- if nothing else, because the entirety of productive movements, is expressed at those points.

All the other musculature supports the movements taking place at the extremities -- and if movement is not effected at the extremities, very little productivity can be achieved.   That would be the actual movement of the head from left to right, and up and down.  The feet moving to raise the heel, and conversely, to raise the toes.  And the hands (grip) to flex and extend -- as the major movements needed to maintain one's capabilities.

Those are obviously the critical joints at which movement is designed for -- the smaller, multiple bones activated by multiple muscles, while the larger bones are best suited for support and stability -- and not vice-versa.  That is important to consider because in designing meaningful exercise movements, the tendency is to focus on the movement of the larger muscles and bones, rather than as nature intended, the fine motor control -- that actually makes the critical difference.

That is true in every athletic and performance movement (metric) -- whether throwing a football, baseball, hitting a tennis ball, baseball, throwing a javelin or shot put.  If the wrist is not activated and fully engaged, the movement is basically meaningless -- and that is the design of most modern movements that instead focus on moving mainly the largest muscles of the body -- with little or no regard for the fine motor movements and control that make any movement actually  productive and/or expressive.

But it is well known that the obvious markers of decline in human health is the attenuation of the grip strength, foot balance, and head movement (cognition) -- that should be the focus of any movement therapies and strategies -- that is overlooked as "normal," while it can be most greatly impacted by intelligent and thoughtful exercise and movements.  Those are the capacities one wishes to maintain and enhance above all the others -- and failing that, it doesn't matter how long the heart continues to beat while those critical faculties are unresponsive.

And that is the kind of people we're producing -- who have long outlived their effective usefulness.  That is clearly avoidable -- but it is not enough just NOT to shake one's head in agreement -- but those very movements are indicative of the further functioning of the head apparatus.  Otherwise, how do we know it is still working?

The same is true of hand and foot movement -- even while the heart will continue to beat unceasingly until it doesn't.  Most people in sedentary lives are not conditioned to move at those very important joints of the wrists and ankles -- even while they may tread for miles on a treadmill shuffling their feet and immobilizing their wrists.  

But that is the very source of the problem -- of the lack of effective circulation resulting in the buildup and retention of fluids at those areas notable for poorest circulation.  That is what has to move -- at that axis of rotation because that contraction is also the compression that causes the flow back towards the heart, while the alternating relaxation allows for new blood to flow into those tissues.  That keeps the body healthy.  Not to effect that flow, allows the toxins and waste products to accumulate in the tissues as the inflammation that causes disease and deterioration.  But there is a mechanism for dealing with that.  That is producing the flow -- with the proper understanding of that process.  The heart plays its role -- unfailingly -- but the other muscles determine where that flow goes to -- in clearing that space first.

The helpful precedent for understanding this process is how cardiopulmonary resuscitation works.  The effort has to be made to empty the cavity of air and fluids by compressing the space -- and on relaxation, the atmospheric pressure will fill the void -- while simply forcing more air and fluids into an already filled spaced, will simply provide resistance for doing so.  The evacuation (contraction) must occur first -- or further effort (compression) will be ineffective.  One must precede the other -- in the proper order.

Then one can do whatever one wills -- because then it doesn't matter.  But unequivocally, the proper order is to engage the smaller muscles that engage the larger as part of its own functioning -- but it doesn't happen vice-versa because the larger muscles, doesn't need to activate the smaller muscle -- but that is what is most important to do -- if the ultimate objective is to produce and maintain a fully functioning human being throughout the full span of their lives, and not simply prolong the heart long after its critical responsiveness has disappeared.

That is the best one can do -- but is still no guarantee of immortality.  That might entail living in a test tube.

Making It Possible...Not Harder

  The mistake most make in prescribing exercise for the senior, disabled and terminal, is not that the exercises are not hard enough, but that they are impossible to do at all -- and the proper way to begin, is exploring what movements they can do -- and most need, rather than all the extraneous movements and activities possible.  That is usually what is referred to as the latest gimmick in getting people to exercise -- as though it is just another form of entertainment and diversion, rather than that their very lives depend on it.

Many still are conditioned to believe that exercise is optional rather than mandatory and necessary for a body to obtain and maintain its best health -- throughout life, and so it is necessary to design techniques and protocols that make that manifest -- rather than just the wishful longings for the days long ago when one could do such things.  The intelligence and capability of the human mind is that it can solve a problem -- and not that it is powerless to act by its own invariable constitution.

The major reason for this proper exercise of one's faculties is not that it is for vain and ego purposes -- but to produce and optimize health, and that is reflected in one's appearance -- and not as many "intellectuals" rationalize -- can only come at the expense of one's health.  That is certainly the wrong way to think about these things -- and they are encouraged by all these well-intentioned people who try to make it as difficult and impossible for those to begin.

Instead, it should be realized that the most necessary movements to do and become proficient at, are those that is most palpably useful -- which is the use of the head, hands and feet -- where human expression is articulated and maximized.  Yet it is frequently noted that those are in fact the first places to decline and deteriorate -- for the increasing lack of use -- as the swollen hands, feet and faces of those not in their best condition.

Right off, one recognizes that those are the areas that could benefit the most and immediately from a strategy to reduce that swelling (inflammation) -- which is the simple and obvious value in producing contractions to effect the compression that pumps the fluids (including blood) back towards the center of the body to the purifying and recyling organs of the heart, lungs, kidney, liver, etc. -- rather than allowing those waste products to accumulate in the tissues for a lifetime.

That is the immediate and obvious value of exercise -- which doesn't need more funding for further studies to verify.  We know that to be true in the standard medical treatment for most acute injuries.  Pressure (compression) will stop the bleeding.  Compression will simulate the beating of the heart -- as well as breathing.  That is so because those are the conditions that life has evolved in.

The alternating contractions and relaxations produce a flow -- and in their absence, flow does not occur -- because it is produced by alternating pressure differences.  Properly understanding that, is most of the difficulty in exercise -- and not that one is attempting to overcome and override the laws of physics at every effort in life.  Far better to understand and work with the environment one already finds themselves in -- rather than attempting to change the entirety of the world to suit one's own primacy and superiority over it.

Assuredly that won't happen -- and it would be foolish to undertake.  Yet that has been the premise of much undertaking in history as well as modern life -- trying to game the system, rather than simply enjoying the game and enjoying what life gives.  And so the great wisdom of the ages is to appreciate that -- to be one with that Nature -- and not cut off from it, and increasingly isolating oneself from that greater Life.

That is everyone's religion -- and guiding principle throughout life -- learning to go with that flow.  However, most of what people do, goes against that flow -- thinking it will make them stronger and wiser -- than the billions of years of evolution.  Of course if they could overcome all that, they would be God -- and could make whatever rules they want.  

But the far more productive course for most, would simply be observing, understanding, and heeding what all of reality is telling them -- of which even their own lives would be a bountiful library of experience and knowledge -- far greater than even the most well-funded studies.  Not that they need even more funding to be more accurate -- but that others can duplicate those results in their own experiments -- and not that such things can only be properly conducted by self-designated "experts."

That's not what "science" is about -- maintaining the authority of certain individuals to proclaim the truth to everyone else.  Rather, it is the truth that can be tested by anyone and everyone -- as verifiable truth.  Then that becomes self-evident truth -- because one has done and tested it for themselves, and not just quoted some other, or countless other authorities.  

That flaw is usually because they all assumed the same premises -- rather than questioning from the very beginning -- and that is the notion that the harder the exercise, the better -- rather than the better the understanding, the less effort is required to achieve even greater results.  that is the breakthrough idea that makes every subsequent effort and achievement easier -- and not more difficult!

But effort and achievement will always be necessary -- because it must always be an actuality and not just a thought unexercised and untested.  Naturally, the most highly motivated to find out if anything is true, are those whose very lives depend on it -- which are the people in the worst condition, and often terminal.  They have nothing to lose -- and their lives to gain.  Closely behind them are the disabled, and seniors -- who are frequently the victims and end-results of ways that do not work -- try as hard as they might.  

And of course, they are told, there is no other way.  There is just the straight and narrow path that hasn't worked for anybody before -- and none other -- and they are exhorted even harder, to get with the program!  By then, they are convinced that nothing works, and there is no hope, and only the constant decline is the fate of all human beings.

However, astute observers and practitioners will note that in this "inevitable" respect, not all people are equal -- and a few defy this deterioration much longer, while others seem to age rapidly and hopelessly from their earliest years.  Is there some scientific principle at work here?  That has been the quest for the holy grail and the fountain of youth for as long as recorded history -- but even the 100 year old alligator does not become immortal.  Accidents, catastrophes and miscalculations do occur -- and one is fortunate to avoid them for as long as one can.  That is also part of health, well-being and conditioning.  One does the right thing as much as one can -- but there are no guarantees of infallibility.

But as much as possible, one wishes to have as much of one's fate in one's own hands -- and not at the will of everyone, or anyone else.  That does not mean going against everybody and everything else -- but in understanding how it all flows, and that is life itself.

Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

The quick, simple and obvious truth of why intermittent fasting works is the realization that excessive weight gain is caused by eating all the time. and that if one simply restricts the time one will allow for that activity, that is at least half the problem. That is particularly true in exercise — of people who think they have to eat before they can do anything else — especially exercise, and so a good practice and habit is to exercise before eating rather than thinking one can only do so after a meal — at which point, exercise becomes further deferred, if not forgotten altogether. But together, they are the ideal diet/exercise combination.

Many morbidly overweight people will rationalize that if they don’t eat before doing anything else, they will “starve to death,” but humans like any other species, have evolved to do well without eating for prolonged periods — and that is Nature’s plan for keeping one healthy — because then the organism will “eat itself” — which is a good thing, because it realizes that the prudent thing is to burn off the oldest, weakest most diseased and excessive cells in the body in the purging and renewal process to maintain its health and viability. That is what every life form does — rather than going into starvation mode first. It is the last and unavoidable last resort — when one has run out of choices and options.

But if one’s priority is always to eat first and foremost — above all other considerations — that will be disastrous when food is always abundant and available, and so one should devise a schedule to reduce those opportunities. That is just common sense — aligned with millions of years of evolutionary wisdom to derive higher beings. If we ignore that wisdom, we create a lifetime of problems for ourselves — which the ancients have warned us against, but foolish people think they can simply cancel what they want. And so things don’t work right — and they haven’t a clue.

A good place to begin is to do nothing — and see if things get better or worse — including not eating. It seemed to work so well that wise people throughout the ages and across cultures have recommended it highly — as the beginning of wisdom, insight and mindfulness — that makes everything else possible. That practice has even become the cornerstone for many religions — as well as health modalities and cures. It might have been that they were intolerant to some foods — so abstaining from further consumption was the obvious and simple cure. To such people, consuming more is not the answer — but the problem.

They often have no idea — but think that if a little is good, more is always better. And of course, unlimited more is the ultimate achievement. But nothing works that way — and instead, there is a fine line for obtaining the proper balance in all things — for optimal effect and results. In a world of scarcity, it would be advantageous to eat at every opportunity, but in a world of abundance and prosperity, a better strategy is to practice restraint, and focus on more pressing priorities — and make the most of those other opportunities. Then one is a complete and well-developed human being — rather than one doing too much of only one thing — to the exclusion of all their other opportunities and abilities. 

Is it Better to Do More Repetitions with Lighter Weights?

  The more relevant question is whether light weights can build health — which includes better functioning as well as muscular development. And once one knows what they are doing, they can even build health and muscles with no weights at all — but with a better understanding of what they are trying to achieve. That is particularly important the older one gets with an increasing urgency for health and functioning — and not just to have bigger muscles or to lift more weights.

The person often called the father of modern bodybuilding, Eugen Sandow, prescribed such a course of using 5–10 lb dumbbells for 50–100 repetitions in all his exercises. Then 50 years later, Arthur Jones developed his Nautilus training principles centered around producing resistance through an even greater range of movement — in which he recognized that at one extreme of movement, the muscle under consideration was fully relaxed, and at the other extreme, the muscle was fully contracted. But beyond that, if one increases the range of motion beyond either extreme — the body produces its own resistance — against further movement — not requiring weights at all but working with the greater understanding of the physiology involved.

That is the first thing one has to do — increase the range of movement — and then repetitions become relevant. If one shortens the range of movement to handle heavier weights, then such exercise becomes counterproductive, and eventually injurious. That is the case for not advising older people to use increasingly more weight because it greatly increases the risk of injuries, while being non- or counterproductive — and why people think exercise is no longer effective in older people, or dangerous at worst.

So beginning with these older, more critical population, one fully recognizes the wisdom of the Hippocratic Oath, which is first, “Do No Harm” — and not as many coach and advise, “What doesn’t kill (cripple) you, makes you stronger.” That is the major reason people have to give up exercise entirely — even if they were once Mr. Olympia. More likely than not, they just die at a prematurely young age — of an exercise-induced condition.

We are surprised to learn that many so-called very fit athletes die suddenly — while following their self-prescribed regimens for keeping fit and healthy forever. Particularly susceptible are the “world’s strongest men,” because their hearts and joints can’t take the abuse anymore. The truth of the matter is that exercise does not have to be hard and difficult to be productive — and the favorable health effects can be achieved with a better understanding of the physics and biology involved.

People are healthier in every way because the circulation is optimized — rather than stagnant. Those are the fundamentals of essential life functions — breathing and circulation that in the absence, life cannot be sustained — but under normal conditions, is also not optimized, which exercise clumsily attempts to do. But it is not just a matter of making the heart beat faster and work harder — but that the entire musculature has that as its primary and most important function as well. That happens when a muscle mimics the action of the heart — in alternating muscular states of contraction with relaxations — that produces a pumping effect.

But you don’t do Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation with just 3–6 repetitions and think that is enough. Instead, one does 50 compressions in a minute — and maintains that pace for as long as they deem necessary and hopeful. Compressions are a contraction as they both make a volume smaller — which increases the pressure within until it is forced out into an area in which there is less pressure. And then when it relaxes, it allows space for new fluids and gases coming in from a properly functioning heart. But it is not the heart that is forcing the blood into an already occupied space. It has to first be vacated by the muscle contraction beginning at the insertion of the muscle that is being contracted — back towards the heart by a different set of blood vessels (venous) — which only has tiny valves to prevent a backflow. But the major propulsion has to be provided by the contractions of the skeletal muscles beginning at the insertion of the furthest axis of rotation (contraction).

That is true for the head, hands and feet — which suffer from the poorest circulation in most people because they do no produce contractions at those axes — because of the sedentary life and lack of articulation particularly at those axes (joints). As such, it is easy to understand why people suffer from arthritis at the hands, feet, and head — which greatly explains dementias and the lack of functioning at those critical parts of the human body with advanced ages — even those who exercise their hearts tirelessly but exclusively — as is possible to do with modern exercise equipment.  The inflammation remains in the tissues.

That’s why the telltale signs of aging are at the hands, feet and face/neck — because in modern conventional exercise, they are deemed unimportant to exercise — when in fact, they are of the greatest importance, and assuring that circulation and health, requires the health and development of the rest of the body — but not necessarily vice-versa. And so we have the familiar people whose hearts go on beating long after their heads, hands, and feet have become unresponsive — and people can’t understand why.

They don’t want to understand why. They think they should just be entitled to optimal health, functioning and development. But that’s not how life evolved. Life favored those who used all their faculties — and that use, optimized their continued survival — just as with all the other species. That is the meaning of survival of the fit. It is not an entitlement to live forever doing nothing to ensure one’s own health and prospects. One has to care for oneself as one’s primary task — and not only demand it of others. That means practicing what needs to be done — all one’s life — as though their lives depends on it, because it does.

It sounds like a cold, cruel world but it doesn’t have to be that way. One has to improve the understanding before repetitions do any good — and practice such movements until they become second nature — not requiring extraordinary effort and motivation to effect. Too much of the discussions on exercise presume that it is extraneous and even vain to desire rather than the reasonable expectation of continued life. That is what it takes.