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.

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.

First Things First

 I had the good (mis)fortune to be diagnosed at a young age with childhood (rheumatoid) arthritis — for which the doctors said I would be crippled as an adult — “but then they could operate.” So I asked innocently if that would make me well — and the doctor replied facetiously, “No, but then they can operate.” So early on, I realized I was on my own — at least until I was old enough for them to “operate.”

When one is “old,” it does not much matter if one’s arthritis is the cause of being too young — or too old, because all one hopes for, is to be functioning at the highest level possible — all the rest of one’s days. Many of the greatest transformative legends began with such modest but realistic goals — just to be able to breathe without fearing one can’t. Two of them, Tommy Kono and George Eiferman, went from being scrawny asthmatics, to having strongman performances including blowing up hot water bottles til they burst — as well as being acclaimed as the most perfectly developed physical specimens of their time.

That was before everybody realized how effective exercise could be in producing such great results. But these original pioneers weren’t doing it for such spectacular results — but were starting to just get up to normal — and derived all the great benefits beyond. Those were the bodybuilding stories in the first half of the 20th century — before the hype took over, and everyone was sold to believe anybody could have similarly great results.

The truth of the matter was that nobody knew for certain who could and who couldn’t achieve such remarkable results — except by actually finding out for themselves — in the doing. In that way, they would remain grounded in their own reality — limitations and potential. That is all one can ask in life — that it is uniquely and personally their own experience — and not just the average as the truth of that endeavor for everyone. That is the primal lesson in life.

That is also what “science” is — testing out the truth of that matter for oneself, and not simply relying on the “experts” to tell them what the truth is — regardless of whether it works for them or not. And then if it doesn’t, the next question is to inquire why it didn’t — and refine a better solution. Otherwise, one is trapped in the conundrum of doing the same things over and over that doesn’t work — expecting a different result, no matter how fanciful the explanation. Therefore, the greatest motivator, is testing whether an idea works in the present reality — and not only after a year has passed. If it takes a year to manifest, you’re uncertain what worked — because a lot can happen in a year.

But if it manifests immediately, one can have more confidence that what one just did — is probably the reason for the difference (change.) The simplest and most direct understanding of the body and how it moves, is manifested at the extremities of the feet, hands and head — and as long as those organs are functioning well, the rest of the body is less important for ensuring lifelong health and functioning. As easy as it is to say, most older people lose their movement at these most distal joints — which defines the possibilities and limits of that functioning — including the arthritis at those joints and the brain fog at the head.

That is totally predictable and likely. But if such individuals do nothing else but keep their head, hands and feet looking youthful and fully functioning, there’s no easy way to tell how old such a person is — because the telltale markers are absent. That won’t change with more movement at the hip or shoulders — while remaining unmoving at the neck, wrists, and ankles. It is at those distal joints that movement has to be articulated — which implies the engagement of the supporting muscular structures — because that is how the body actually is designed to work — and not by short-circuiting the movement and circulation to the proximal structures — that does nothing, or very little for beyond that movement.

That is the most misunderstood part of exercise — that makes it far less effective and unproductive — but with the proper understanding of the whole design and objectives of the human body, the ultimate objectives can be achieved and manifested immediately. That goes for beginners or advanced — and puts everyone into the game — without the torturous path to it. You simply do what the body immediately needs and will benefit most by, and the body fills in the rest. Otherwise, the efforts and resources are diverted to the lower priority needs — at the expense of the higher. It’s like considering the brain alone. All things being equal, what would one choose to develop most? Then do it first.

The Intelligent Exercise of the Human Body

 The Intelligent Exercise of the Human Body

The distinctive features that make the human being the ultimate achievement of evolution, is the large brain, tool-using hands, and feet that make upright posture and locomotion possible. So it would make a lot of sense that the most practical and productive development of those faculties would be the preferred conditioning program — rather than the development of what is common to all life forms, which is the heart similar to most other species.

Thus, that is not the distinguishing feature, nor does it have to be worked any harder and faster — because its value is that it works reliably as its greatest function — automatically. That’s why the heart is only a one pound organ in humans, rather than 30% of the body weight — as in the well-muscled human. The heart can only do one thing — while the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the human body can do whatever one wants it to do. That may include nothing at all — which is the problem for many. On the other hand, the heart as a muscle, does not have that option, but must always work until the day one dies — unfailingly.

Realizing that, the thoughtful person wishing to maximize their effectiveness, would choose to do what is not automatic but lacking, as their greatest contribution to increasing their productivity, functioning, overall health and proficiency. That is what is sorely lacking — and not what has been provided for in all living beings — no matter what. That is to note that we do not need to create “gravity” because it is simply a fact of life in our environment — whether we realize this or not. Many people don’t, and can live healthy and productive lives — just like the air we breathe.

We don’t first have to create the right mixture of gases that compose the air we breathe. We just have to access it as best we can — but a few will try to perfect the science of that functioning to gain an advantage — if it makes a difference. In most things, if a tool does the job, it doesn’t have to be a precision instrument made of the best materials. And often, the cheapest thing that can do the job, is the best money can buy — and beyond that, the rest may be impressive to others, but conveys no further advantage — for all practical purposes.

That is the first law of survival — if it works — regardless of the fancy explanations of why it does, or worse, why it is not working — but they are the “experts” in the field. They know all the things that do not work. Thus they claim, they need more funding to maintain that status quo — of them in charge, and to keep all others out of it. That kind of thinking is endemic to all activity and spheres of influence — but the trick is to distinguish that and not get caught up in those distractions that can consume a lifetime. And so many will conclude that it doesn’t make a difference — because they faithfully did all the things that did not work.

That is usually evident from the very start — but many insist one has to give it time — like a few years to exhibit those results, because it does not work. It is like asking a class of grade schoolers if they know how to “make a muscle,” and every arm in class will bend In the appropriate manner to make their biceps contract. That’s how easy it is — to make a muscle — and that simplicity and directness should not be complicated by elaborate explanations paraphrasing what researchers far away know exclusively — but have yet to prove in their own lives and being.

It is not because of age or lack of equipment and space that are the barriers — but simply the lack of the awareness of their own doing — or lack of it. The simple exercise that always works, is simply to turn one’s head as far to the left or right as one can go — and find out what is possible and the limit of that range of movement. In that very movement, the muscle of the neck will contract to enable that movement — as surely and demonstratively as the grade schoolers contracting their biceps. But for all intents and purposes, turning their heads is much more valuable as that movement affects the circulation to the head and brain — which most exercise practitioners just ignore as not being very important — because they think the head, hands and feet should be immobilized to enable their exercise. That kind of exercise is the wrong kind of exercise specifically for that reason — in that it precludes the movement where it is most important to move — and make a muscle because the circulation has been enabled by that movement.

That is the very reason the human body deteriorates prematurely and very visibly — at the sites of the neck, hands and feet — before all else, but is also the easiest thing to rectify — because it is simply a rotation around the furthest axis of the human body — which implies all else, but not vice-versa. The “core” muscles don’t need to be moved because their major function is stability and support — for the fine movements that occur at the extremities — whether that it shooting a basketball, hitting a ball with a bat or racket, painting a picture, playing an instrument, running, jumping, walking, etc.

As such, only enough room to move the head, the hands, the feet, is all that is required to optimize the circulatory flow throughout the body — rather than move or jump over mountains — to achieve the beneficial effects of exercise in any environment one feels most comfortable in, and has the inspiration and opportunity to do. That’s how easy, convenient, and accessible it can be — unless one insists that it has to be otherwise. Then it becomes an excuse not to do it.

The Importance of Exercise

 Practice (exercise) makes one better — immediately and instantly. One doesn’t have to wait a year or six months to see results. The effect is immediate — and then if maintained over many days, weeks, months, years, .builds a reserve that allows for growth and improvement. But it always begin remedially, rehabilitatively, and restoratively. That is to say that one must go from 0 to 100 — and not start from 99 to 100. The magnitude and effect of change is much greater starting from 0 — than it is starting at 99 — and it is change that is the desired ability, and effect that transforms the body.

And that is the categorical imperative of every living being — to change as required to improve their survival chances, and beyond that, to begin at a higher base each time — and not simply repeat what they’ve always done before, and lose even that. That is how most think of exercise: retaining what little ability they have — rather than increasing those capabilities significantly and dramatically. Generally, that is what competitive athletes do — and what motivates many until they realize they can no longer improve by those metrics — and cut back, and in many cases, cut out those activities altogether — which makes them susceptible to the deteriorating forces once again — because one is no longer doing what made them healthy and proficient anymore.

While the brain may wish that it can sustain those gains without the actual exercise of it anymore, those memories and desires are insufficient to actually produce the forces and conditions that make it so. That can happen at any point in life — but is particularly the problem of the aging athlete who can no longer sustain the activities they were once proficient at — especially if they believe that what was the use and value if they weren’t recognized at Number 1 at it. At that point, many just abandon all efforts to depair and depression — even to nominally maintain their health and functioning at a rudimentary level.

For every individual, that is the base level from which they start — and not the highest level they once achieved, but is only a foregone memory anymore. It’s not that the awards and trophies are so important — but that one hasn’t replaced those motivators to align more closely to their present capabilities and challenges — which now, are much more meaningful. Most people will not be Number 1 at what they do— but go on In life anyway, because it beats the alternative — which is just sitting around doing nothing and getting worse until the end. But if they really get into what they’re doing, that is what matters, and makes a difference — and they don’t need the awards, trophies, and approbation of others to keep on doing what they know is the best they can do — and improving at that.

So it doesn’t matter if one day (or every day for that matter) they wake up and feel they cannot move at all without great pain and discomfort — if that is where they have to start. That is simply their challenge for the day — and what they have to deal with and overcome. While not Mt. Everest, it is uniquely their own mountain to climb — and all that matters. Then it doesn’t matter what the obstacle or circumstances, one simply finds or discovers a way surmount those challenges and difficulties.

A good place to begin is just taking inventory of what is working — and begin with that — and not the insistence that one must run a marathon at 4am in city streets — or some other arbitrary and preposterous criterion of maintaining for the rest of their life — no matter what. In fact, true “fitness” might even determine that’s not a good idea even if one could. Meanwhile, lying in bed wondering if one will ever get up and move again, the most important functioning is to see if the head can still move — as the singular most important organ that has to be functioning for life to be meaningful. Many misinformed people think you cannot move the head — or shouldn’t, when movement is what enhances the blood flow or circulation to any area of the body. That is the significance and importance of movement in any human being — that by the alternation of the contraction and relaxation of the muscles that provide that full range movement, it determines the blood flow out of, and into that area.

That is the function of muscle contraction — that with that action, pushes the fluids (blood) back towards the heart — and upon relaxation (expansion) draws in new nutrients to those vacated spaces — because the heart which is a one pound organ, is always and automatically pumping. That is the given we are working with — and not that we have to deliberately and consciously get the heart pumping — or it won’t. The skeletal, or voluntary muscles, are another matter entirely — and most people have it reversed in their thinking. They think the voluntary muscles are operating always and automatically — while it is the heart that must be told to operate, and hence, the measure of the effectiveness of exercise and movement.

This misunderstanding is entirely wrong — but the doctors and researchers have learned what they know about exercise from the same PE instructors we all had — and even most self-proclaimed experts and researchers on this topic, were susceptible to that same kind of conditioning of that manner of thinking. That has been the problem — and not the solution, and why it spectacularly fails in later life — when most need it most to succeed — as the critical factor of their continued existence. And as such, exercise is more important and impactful at this stage of life than when they were younger — but learn too late, that what they thought they knew, doesn’t work — and think they have run out of time to find out.

But fortunately, we do not have to recreate the wheel. We simply have to realize that we have mistaken the effect for the cause — and it is the head that directs the heart, and not the heart that directs the head, or any other movement producing blood flow (circulation), and optimizing that circulation, is what keeps the body supremely healthy and well-functioning.

It Simply Works

 When you think about it, micro workouts throughout the day — as one has the time and inspiration for it, is more likely to be the more natural and productive way to exercise and maintain one’s health and fitness — because it is done as needed, and has the opportunity for it — than as a rigid program of requirements regardless of how one feels — in the moment. Then one is likely to get “out of synch” with the need and appropriateness of activity and movements — apart from the actual realities and challenges (demands) of the moment — and in that way, exercise becomes an arbitrary obligation regardless of the realities and needs — rather than the answer to them — as required.

That is the meaning of “listening to one’s own body (and senses),” rather than just following a program that may not work for some — but think they must do regardless of the outcomes (results). The outcomes are what is important — and not the inputs, or good intentions — without any feedback in reality. That is because a lot of people these days learn only what other people tell them is the truth, rather than finding out that truth for themselves — in their own experience and lives, and that is entirely the truth for themselves, and not the “theoretical/academic average” — that poor students and instructors think is the ultimate truth of the matter — regardless of their own results.

It is their own results that matter — and from that, one might extrapolate a greater universal application — but if it is not working for one(self), one has to look elsewhere, and try something else until it works — and that will be the truth of the matter, and not what everyone says, but nobody has actually seen any results from doing so. Before one asks anyone else, one can test out an idea themselves — to get a baseline understanding of what is involved, and then enlarge the perspective and understanding by asking others what their own experience and results have been — and process all the answers into a greater understanding and meaning.

Obtaining 30 minutes of deliberate and focused daily exercise is easily possible anyway one can get it. It doesn’t have to be constrained with many rules that make it nearly impossible to achieve. That seems to be what a lot of people insist exercise must be — that makes it an exercise of the will to overcome the impossible — rather than making it as possible for themselves all their lives. There is no rule against that. Movements are frequently hard enough, and so the exercise is to make them as easy and effortless as possible. Obviously the best conditions and circumstances to practice this, is upon first awakening from a prolonged inactivity (rest), and get one’s moving parts moving again — without the aches and pains that accumulate and compound with life. This is actually the best time to exercise — in moving from zero to normal operating conditions — because such movement accelerates the movement of the two major fluids of the body — the blood, and the synovial fluid (mucus) — which is the lubricant for all movement in the body.

That is the role and importance of the mucus and mucus membranes — throughout the body. Without it, food would not pass through the digestive tract, air would not pass through the respiratory tract, etc. And movements properly activated, cause the contraction of the muscles that exaggerate this flow back towards the central, purifying and recycling organs of the body — which if never moved out of the tissues, result in the accumulations we know as inflammation and swelling — which are the precursors of all disease. If we could flush these toxins out effectively, then we’d be self-perpetuating healthy beings — which is the natural design of all living beings. And in clearing the space, we make room for new nutrients to enter into those spaces (tissues) — because there is not unlimited space to store as much junk — just because we can. At some point, the body becomes toxic — and then tissues and organs start breaking down in the various neuropathies. Then things don’t work as well as they used to — and keeps getting worse — unless this course is corrected.

That could be as little as a minute of concentrated movement to restore that full functioning again — as in the case of a leg or arm going to sleep (numb), and being revived with a minute (50 repetitions) of a simple movement around one joint (axis) — to start up the circulation again. Usually, that already makes a difference — and can be repeated a few times throughout the day — without fear of harm, or further injury and damage. In fact, that is the cure — and should be the basis of any exercise program — first for rehabilitation and restoration, and in that process, are the seeds for continued progress, growth and development.

Too many people put the cart before the horse — and want to win the Kentucky Derby or the Mr. Olympia title before just to get healthy and whole again — and let the body take its natural course from there. That is the process that gets one there — and not how ambitious or desirous one is of getting to the top — even sacrificing their health and life to do so. That is the wrong way to go about it. But if one is simply and humbly focused on finding out what works for them — they will go as far as they pursue it, and have it last their entire lifetime — which is the new benchmark of possibility for this day and age.

Increasingly many are coming around to that realization of this new paradigm for fitness. Why not all one’s life, and not just while one is young — and then revert back to the traditional paradigm of unrelenting decline and deterioration? Obviously that requires a different way than the one that hasn’t worked before. One knows by now that High Intensity workouts have to be brief and infrequent, but does that mean that Low Intensity workouts can be sustained and prolonged throughout one’s lifetime? But it also can’t be nothing. Yet it has to be the easiest movements possible.

Rather than handling the heaviest weights, it would be maximally effective with the lightest weights possible — and that is the movements at the head, hands and feet — that initiate those contractions at the farthest extremities of the body — to do the most good. It is a well-known truism that the greatest predictor of future health and vitality is the functioning of the head, hands and feet — as what must be exercised as the priority to health and longevity, and can easily be done anywhere, under any circumstances, if one can just spare a minute from their daily lives. There doesn’t have to be an upper limit on how frequently it can be done — to good effect. That is the simplicity and genius of the micro workout. Anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances. It simply works.

Beyond Effort

 “Aerobics” means with breathing as the essential focus of one’s movement. That is to say that all the other movements and activities of the body are synchronized to the breathing contraction and relaxation — rather than as many think, the breathing has to catch up to their activity — and so they commonly run out of breath, and the body is forced to stop. That is what one doesn’t want happening at the most critical moments in life — because that is frequently the difference between life and death. One has to know at any moment, what reserves and capacities one can reliably access — and not that one could fail at any time, moment, and circumstances. Obviously, that will not do — and serve their purposes very well — which is why we condition ourselves to meet the challenges of every moment of our lives — to be prepared for most things we normally encounter in our lives.

One of the first things a person does to become a world champion athlete or attempt any monumental undertaking in their lives — is to get their breathing under control, and well-known to them — rather than as many novices do, think nothing about it — and place it last in the scheme of their concerns. Thus, they will always run out of breath — and fail ultimately because of that — not for the lack of air around them, but because they are not managing that resource effectively. That is why a lot of physical as well as mental disciplines place the control of breathing as their highest priority — and not the last thing one should concern themselves with — if they ever get around to it at all.

In the early 20th century, exercise was largely about breathing and posture — which then morphed into muscle control and early bodybuilding — of which it was noted that the most transformative exercises was alternating the breathing squat with the breathing pullover — and was promoted by the popular physical culture magazines of its time as the foundational exercises for subsequent bodybuilding. Its earliest practitioners were not so much intent on gaining muscle — as it was that that was the astounding result of just doing those exercises to begin every workout. Many of those guys actually took up exercise as the minimum they could do — often with the lightest weights possible.

In fact, the person often regarded as the father of modern bodybuilding, Eugen Sandow, was famous for promoting his exercise routines using 5 lb dumbbells for 50–100 repetitions. But he also had a strong man act in which he lifted record poundages for his time. But he was not insistent that that was what one had to do — to be in good shape. The 5 lb dumbbells was what got him there. And beyond that, he was a master of muscle control — which is largely the understanding of how the muscle works and changes — regardless of equipment and venue.

The equipment doesn’t make the muscle work; the muscle makes the equipment work. That varies according to how well one knows the action of any single movement around one axis of movement (or rotation) — because all the muscles work in that same manner once its basic action is understood. Unfortunately, most people don’t bother with that simple, basic understanding — and so most of their movements are of a random sort — thinking that any motion is as good as any other, because their whole understanding is to waste as much energy as possible in everything they do. That’s why some people become very good at what they do — while many others have no idea of what they are doing, and could care less.

Those are the people who become unsuccessful exercisers — and are indifferent or hate what they do, because none of it makes any sense at all — and they are just wasting their time — not that they have anything more important to do. For surely, getting the understanding of exercise right, is the most important thing they can do — and get right, because it makes the most difference in their quality of life. That’s why exercise is revered in many cultures and traditions throughout history and survival. Properly done, it makes the biggest difference in the quality of one’s life -- and its many outcomes.

Undoubtedly the most important movement in one’s life is the simplicity of breathing. As a volume expands, the pressure drops. As a volume contracts, the pressure increases. That is the physics of movement — and not gravity. A high pressure will move into a lesser pressure. No exercise does that more purposely and effectively than the lying pullover on a bench — expanding the rib cage (volume) and contracting it was well. If one does no other exercise (movement), that would be the best one to do.

Arthur Jones recognized this and made it his prototype Nautilus machine. His second was the Hip and Back machine — and then he could have stopped there. That would have produced 90% of the results — with truly minimal effort — particularly if one did 50–100 repetitions of each with a resistance that made that possible. The muscle didn’t have to fail to make the movement productive; doing the movement itself — with nominal resistance, would have been the right movement to ensure impressive muscular development — whether one wanted it or not. He didn’t have to create all those other machines. The singular upper body movement, and the singular lower body movement, was all that was needed — to get into shape and maintain it all one’s life — without the strain and effort that people thought was necessary in exercise — because that is the way they have been conditioned to think and reinforce.

It’s never been thought that exercise doesn’t need to be difficult and hard — and that the better way, is actually the intelligent way — which can be sustained without the difficulties self-imposed. That was the step beyond — that he never quite achieved. How does one go beyond effort?