"Functional Fitness:

  When one has a problem, the most obvious thing to do is to solve that problem expressly and directly — and not simply solve any other problem, thinking that will be the answer. Yet that is what a lot of exercisers do — which is the thinking that any effort is as good as any other, rather than focusing on what specifically needs to be done at that critical moment — and nothing else will do. When the house is burning down, one needs to get out as quickly as possible — and not simply brush their teeth as usual, or has vowed to do everyday, no matter what.

That is simply developing the proper priorities that need to be done most urgently and specifically — and not that anything will do equally well. If one has a back pain upon arising, it would be most appropriate to direct one’s attention to that need — before all else, because that is what one’s body is telling them to do — and not simply follow a boilerplate exercise program designed for those who have no such problem. This happens more than people like to admit — when they frequently note that some area is improving greatly, while others fail to respond. The appropriate action is to address that weakness — rather than doubling up on where one is proficient, and dismiss that lagging bodypart and attribute it to “genetic” deficiency — that would continue to be unresponsive no matter what.

But that increasing imbalance between their strengths and their weaknesses will always result in the critical failure — despite the whole purpose of exercise being to deliberately and systematically strengthen those weaknesses — to become a better all-around individual that makes them truly more fit. Otherwise, they have a handicap — for which they have to compensate and compromise all their other strengths to accommodate — until all those efforts fail, and that weakness becomes their virtual “Achilles tendon.”

Many people actually experience this condition literally — and find all kinds of ways to work around it — and so it never gets better, and actually gets worse — even predisposing themselves to such injury — despite of all that they do — while doing nothing actually to strengthen it. That would be simply stretching it — by moving the knee out past the toes, as in the static lunge, or the toe lift to heel lift. This is the movement that most gym exercisers do wrong — or simply, not at all — claiming genetic defect, rather than not knowing how to do it properly and effectively. Instead, they will often be advised by those who claim to know better, that they should not move their knees past their toes in squatting or at any time — or to put a weight plate under their heel to accomplish that same effect — of not stretching out the Achilles tendon and other tendons, ligaments, and fascia of the critical ankle/foot axis. The foot was designed and evolved to be a lever against the earth — that allows one to stand, walk, run, jump, dance and any number of movements requiring the greatest articulation of the foot movement — and that along with the fullest articulation of the wrist, and neck, makes one fully functional — much more than any other movements of the body.

Those are the expressive organs of the human body and most uniquely distinctive from all the other animals. The cessation, or limited expressions of such movements, is what typically characterizes aging and deteriorating health in humans — more than the heart and core muscles. That is what makes people truly and impressively functional — as long as they live — and become a problem when they become inert, inflamed, swollen, and misshapened by what is called arthritis or neuropathy — which is the dying of the nerves (and muscles) at the furthest extremes from the center of the circulation — and thus where exercise makes the greatest difference.

It is accurate to note that the liveliness at the extremities of the head, hands and feet, is mostly what distinguishes vibrancy in people — and especially, older people who can be observed to have little movement at these sites — and that limited range, works its way back towards the center — and not vice-versa that most people think is so. That is to note that what the dancer is doing with their feet, hands, and head is far more apparent than how their heart is functioning — if that is a concern at all. Likewise for the aging pianist or artist. The measure of their proficiency is the productivity at the hands, feet, and head — as the obvious measures of functionality and productivity. That is the output, and not the inputs — which tell one nothing.

Yet that is how many contemporaries measure functionality and productivity — which is the end-result of health and fitness. We don’t determine the worth of a car by simply how much fuel it burns. We want to know how far it gets us on a certain amount of fuel — or inputs, including skill and time. All that is usually dismissed or overlooked by those who claim to know better — but make very little difference in the world. The proof is in the product — and not simply doing what is fashionable to do.

Most of what such experts call “functional fitness,” has very little to do with actual functioning — in these productive ways — but become ends in themselves. It’s easy to see with chinups or pushups that many such instructors will insist are true measures of functionality — but how so? And while walking five miles everyday may seem innocuous, what is being accomplished except to say that one does it each day — while continuing to age in the conventional manner? Then one can claim to be in good shape for a person who looks older than they actually are. That is true for a lot of aging exercisers — that despite all their efforts, maybe they’re not on the right track. They should look healthier than they do — as the direct result of what they do, and not claim the genetic deficiency as their problem for everything.