Hip and Back

  There is a reason the gluteus muscle is the largest and strongest muscle of the human body — but most people cannot see the reason for it, and so ignore and even deliberately do not develop it — in favor of developing all the other, less critical muscles of the body — and that becomes the source of a lot of pain and problems even in the otherwise well-developed human physique. The major function and importance of the gluteus muscle is to bind the upper body to the lower body, and in that manner, provide maximum stability and support for all the movements taking place at the extremities that are obvious as “movements,” while the base (gluteus) seems immobile.

As such, the best exercise for the gluteus does not require or exhibit movement, but actually occurs when the gluteus is simply squeezed into a tighter contraction — without and regardless of visible movement. Such compression and activation, forces the engagement and subsequent blood flow, that becomes problematical when there is no contraction and relaxation (pumping effect) of the gluteus muscle resulting in the numbness or sciatica of people who do not activate their glues for prolonged periods.

It is like any other muscle of the body that has that capability — but is ignored, because it can be — in the modern sedentary life and activities. One back researcher noted that such back pain was unheard of among indigenous peoples — who always exhibited well-toned and usually contracted gluteus muscles — but then developed elaborate back exercises to remedy back pain in modern sedentary lives — rather than the much more obvious solution to contract the gluteus muscles — as is apparent in any athletic performance — but invariably overlooked, as the key functioning that makes the supreme effort most effective.

Instead, they will seek to develop all the muscles adjoining it — like the spinal erectors above and the hamstrings and quadriceps below it — but not the gluteus itself. It is always taken for granted, and assumed to be working as well as it can — even without deliberate attention paid to it. In fact, a lot of exercise machine design addresses the upper body and lower body exercises as though they were two separate universes — rather than an integral whole. The obvious example is the difference between the standing press and the bench press — because no upper to lower body tie-in is required in the latter. And then in the leg press, no upper body tie-in is necessary. And that is how the body is generally worked — as two different and unconnected spheres of power — the shoulder girdle, and the hip girdle — but seldom as one and the same thing, which natural movement is meant to be.

Some traditional and conventional movement disciplines don’t make such divisions, and their whole intent is integral movement — rather than the isolated movements favored by the makers of exercise equipment. The more, different, and unrelated movements, the more machines and gimmicks they can sell — rather than the simplicity of understanding the human body at its most basic and functional level. The best example of these are the dancers and yogis who are fond of saying that their bodies are their instrument. From there, gym equipment and apparatus can get more elaborate and costly. But as fitness and exercise afficionados have known forever, all one requires is the body itself — to get the best workout.

Knowing what to do is the lack. The hardest thing to see is the obvious. Most glute exercises are unsatisfactory because they are done lying on one’s stomach (pressuring the abdomen) — while moving the thigh bone rearward. The easiest way to contract the gluteus is to lie straight on one’s back and with very little visible movement, simply squeeze the gluteus muscles — and then alternately relax. The sciatic nerve comes out of the vertebra into the gluteus — so if that (blood) flow is not optimal, it would affect the entirety of the sciatic nerve running all the way down the leg resulting in the familiar numbness and pain. The nerves are not being stimulated and fed by that proper functioning.

The other position to perform the glute squeeze is lying on one’s side — and placing the upper hand on the lower glute for added range of movement — with that twist. The glute can only be maximally contracted when the body is in a straight line — and not as commonly practiced in a squat, deadlift, or any other hinged movement. That is the peculiarity of the glute contraction — that it is to provide stability and support for all the other movements of the body — which even squatting or deadlifting cannot do, or any other back and leg exercises commonly done for glute activation and development.

It is an important muscle in the body — but not for the reason most people think so — as some kind of a sexual magnet, but is the anchor of the entire body — to which all other movements and activities are ultimately based in. We ordinarily don’t think about it, and merely take it for granted that it will just be there — until one day they fall, and the shock absorber they thought would always be there, isn’t, and so they fracture their hips — with devastating consequences. Shock absorption, is one of the major attributes of muscles that provide an added layer of responsiveness and protection in a long and prosperous life. It’s not just decoration.

Health and Functionality

The older one gets, the more they realize that their very health and functioning is what really matters -- and not all the lesser concerns one thought was so important -- including how much one can lift in a gym, how many steps one should take to simulate "natural movement and exercise," etc. -- the point being to be able to do those movements throughout the normal course of their day, and throughout life -- as who they are.  That is the reality of each life -- no matter what they do.  The doing is the telling.

The theme that seems to be gaining prominence, is the realization that people, and particularly the young, are not be well-prepared to meet the challenges of the present -- particularly when faced with problems and difficulties -- as the people of yore.  Instead, they waste a lot of time playing video games -- often for hours each day -- while hardly moving from their couch.

So rather than looking like robust and dynamic individuals, capable of doing anything, they turn into couch potatoes -- hardly capable of moving, and even requiring assistance with their daily living.  As much as we can, we choose to do as much as possible independently as the primary expression of everything we are capable of doing -- which means maintaining those capabilities as required -- throughout life.  That is the meaning and purpose of "fitness" -- beyond all else.  Everything else just seems less important -- over the years -- and even counterproductive in many cases.

Until recently, it was even thought a prolonged period of complete dependency on others, was a final stage of life -- beyond retirement -- that might even last the entire latter half of life -- if one was so fortunate to live so long.  Of course, such lives were unprecedented because if people lived so long, it was because they excelled at maintaining their fitness beyond the rest.  And while entire industries have sprung up to keep others alive as long as profitable, lesser attention has been given to learning how to take better care of oneself.  The chief beneficiary in that, is the individual themselves -- in their own better quality and capacity of life.

In that way, the quality of life has improved directly, and not simply the cost and profitability of keeping people alive beyond what they can do for themselves.  That is the only way it can be done for mass numbers of people -- that each individual has to train themselves to attain that life, and no amount of other people, can do it for them.

Ultimately, that is the great equalizer in life -- not how one' began, and all the distractions subsequent -- before that final stage and act -- that can be increasingly prolonged.  If the only yardsticks for that measurement was what we first learned as young people, that usually eliminates the great majority of people -- but there is no rule against moving those goal posts -- as becomes practical and meaningful in one's own life.  That will best be determined individually -- and uniquely -- rather than by the arbitrary authority of those who would establish that criteria for everyone else, and particularly the young who can benefit from that guidance -- before one is well on their own path.

That is the ultimate objective of every learning, practice and exercise -- and not to abandon it as soon as nobody else is validating them for such efforts.  And these days, it is often the case that a few go into a lifelong downward spiral -- in full public view until they disappear completely because they no longer want to be seen, much less participate in community activities.  They even come to believe that they are "invisible," and so why should they care?

It's not that there are no longer standards -- but increasingly, they have to be set by every individual for themselves -- in the hierarchy of ascent to a greater life.  At that challenge, many implode because there is nothing within except jumping onto the latest new trend and bandwagon -- until they are let off, or fall off in the wilderness -- and are left entirely on their own.  It happens to everyone sooner or later.

From there, only a rare few continue on -- realizing that is what they have been practicing and preparing all their lives to do.  The rest will retreat back to the familiarity of the past -- even with its certainty of a dead-end, and no exit.  That has been the paradigm of aging in the past -- clinging to the past, rather than in creating the future paradigm that subsumes all that has come before into a more sustainable future.

So rather than lamenting what no longer works -- one must discover or invent what does work -- and makes a difference.  It doesn't have to be a 500 lb. bench press, squat or deadlift -- but the full range (articulation) of such movements -- without impediments and resistance.  That is making all movements possible, easy and functional -- rather than the present course of making it more difficult and impossible -- until the predictable abandonment of all further efforts and hope because it is just "too impossible" anymore.

Learning from Everything

  Learning from Everything

Structure provides the framework so that one is not reinventing the wheel to do anything and everything in life — which means they are always starting from zero — instead of where they left off, which becomes the foundation and baseline for improvement. However, many people take this structure as inviolable and perfected for all time and all conditions, rather than just the beginning of their undertaking, which may be different every time, and particularly, changing with time and age — no matter how much one wishes it were not so. So change will happen whether we make it happen or not — because that is what life is — constantly changing, improving, evolving — and we cannot keep everything as they were, frozen in time and space, no matter how much we try.

But some people think that their objective in life is to relive and reinvent the past — rather than improve the present — which means learning as we are doing, and not simply going through the motions and reliving the past as though that were enough to keep one young forevermore. So while it is nice to have a preconceived program for what one intends to do, the much greater gain lies in learning something new and possibly better — because that’s how one makes these quantum leaps in life, and not simply plod along as one always has, hoping for a different (better) result. Those are the breakthroughs in life that are not simply a matter of time and staying the present course — but the transformative moments when life becomes unexpectedly something else — much greater.

We don’t know what that is, if we only stay within the known and familiar — and so there must be a provision for breaking the mold as well. It is the same with every human activity — those who grow immensely from it, and the many who don’t, get discouraged and move on from one fad to another — never figuring out what actually works. That means learning and trying something new — and the surprisingly easiest way to do that is just to keep one’s ears, eyes and mind open — and learn what is going on around them, as well as what their own body is telling them.

Often, the exercises one is doing is not making them better, but actually making them worse — like lifting as heavy a weight as possible, or running or walking arbitrarily great distances — to the point that their feet, knees, hips and back are begging them to stop. At which point, most sensible people will just stop — but not try something else, because they were misled to think that was the only way — and it worked for everybody else but them. Obviously, the truth of the matter is that it doesn’t work for most — even as much as these “experts” claim it will — although they don’t seem to be living proof of that themselves. Often, these experts are experts because they’ve tried everything that doesn’t work — and that is what makes them the expert on these matters. You can’t tell them otherwise.

The gyms are full of people who used to be in shape — even at the top of the game once — but what they claimed worked before, no longer works now — when they need it to work most. That is the present state of the art — who knows what works best now, for the condition they are in now? Just doing what one did 50 years ago, is not the answer to reliving that peak. The deadlift, squat, and bench press were not the most productive (healthful) movements performed but owed their popularity to being the movements that allowed for the most weight to be used — and there was nothing magical beyond that. Yet still, they are prescribed as the cure for all the damage done by lifting maximum weights in those movements — by those who claim to know better.

That’s obviously not how it works. What doesn’t kill you, will eventually do so — if one persists at it. That’s what injuries are about — but even before that, are the imbalances that may be disabling in the later years of life — that one unfairly attributes to normal aging. That includes the limited range of movement, the lack of balance that leads to falls and hip fractures because the largest and strongest muscles of the body are left undeveloped in favor of the frivolous development of the showy muscles that are less critical to health and functioning.

That is the greatest threat and fear of the old people — that they fall and have no musculature to absorb the shock with the gluteus muscle. That is the great danger — and not that their biceps are lacking. That is the key to understanding the problems of aging — the back pain, hips pain, knee pain, foot pain. There must be a good reason Nature made the gluteus the largest and strongest muscle of the human body — that few think to accentuate it — not because of the concern that it will become too large and prominent, but that the well-developed glute holds the body together tightly — and that is its fundamental and integral strength.

The exercises we think develop this vital connection — the deadlift and squat, cannot engage and activate the gluteus muscle because it requires the thigh bone to be moving backwards — which is prohibitive in those movements. And in fact, the completed position for the deadlift and squat, produces an uncontracted gluteus muscle — in a bone on bone lockout. That is the problem with most weightlifting movements — that they end in a bone on bone lockout — rather than the fullest muscular contraction. That fullest muscular contraction, has to be designed into the movement — or it will always terminate in a bone on bone lockout — which allows the muscle to rest and relax.

That was the rationale for the Nautilus machines — which were actually so effective and efficient, that one had to use less weight rather than more — but bodybuilders being bodybuilders, defeated that purpose by adding more weight than most could use to perform the movements correctly and completely — and continued in that direction until it became unproductive for most. It was designed to be used in a rehabilitative manner than a competitive one — and in that manner, would have produced the foolproof results its inventor promised, rather than being abandoned by most within a decade.

That greatly accounts for the overwhelming success of the early bodybuilders of the 50s and 60s — most who got into it not because they were great athletes to begin with, but because they had no other hope as the proverbial 90 lb weaklings and other outcasts from the most prolific natural competitive athletes of their time — very few who trained with weights at that time. Then the world changed.