The Prohibition Against What Needs to be Done

 In most lives, the reason for not getting things done, is the internal prohibition against doing what hasn't been done -- which is invariably, to solve a problem as soon as it is recognized.  Instead, the directive is to do everything and anything else -- rather than change the status quo -- even if it is not working, and that is the reason many people think everything they do, does not matter, or is futile -- rather than the reason for their productivity and success in everything they do.  Usually, it is because they have been conditioned to think otherwise -- that the arbitrary and even counterproductive is the value -- and the rectifying of those problems and issues, are forbidden -- and thus they live their whole lives in these mistaken notions -- rather than engaging the straightforwardness of reality.

That is the greatest handicap of all -- that actually prevents them from engaging reality at all -- in favor of a tortured existence they will struggle against all their lives.  Fortunately, there are many chances throughout their lives to break free from such thinking -- of which the most accessible is the exercise and testing of reality in our everyday lives, and everything we do.

There is no greater or more important challenge than what we have to do -- which is the simplicity of life for every life form less than human, as well.  Only in humans are we overwhelmed by the complexity of thoughts competing with our actual realities -- and so people are confused by which is important and urgent, and which are the fantasies of galaxies far, far away.  So we set off to slay the countless dragons -- rather than get more in touch with ourselves and our present capabilities -- which are the aches and pains of the body telling us what needs urgent attention first.

Instead, we ignore these signals and attempt to go about our normal activities and routine with these nagging injuries  and dysfunctions hoping to get through them first -- and all will be forgotten and forgiven.  So naturally, things just get worse -- rather than are nipped in the bud before it becomes a persistent, lingering problem that eventually dominates our consciousness and everything we do.  That's how these dysfunctions always begin -- so why not turn our attention to resolving them as the most important thing we have to do at that moment?  

We create an interval of time -- that removes us from that urgency of being in the moment -- as the diversion away from it.  That becomes the problem-solving paradigm -- always to do something else instead -- it may not matter what.  It is just an escape from solving the problems  of one's life -- in entertainment, food, drink, drugs, goals, etc, and so these things become more important in our lives than dealing with any problem immediately and effectively.  The escape is always the solution -- and when one returns to it, the hope is that it is gone and has resolved itself -- because that is what time has always done before.

Until one day it doesn't, and things just get worse with time, which we now call "aging,"  That is when all those things that worked before, no longer do -- and fall into that category now as the aging process.  That is simply the message that one is running out of time -- and time can no longer be one's excuse for not getting down to it.  The only question remaining is whether one has reached the end of the road -- or is another path possible?  That is true for any time and stage in life -- and why some are revitalized, while many others go into an irreversible downward spiral.

That is finally the only hope -- when that person turns their life around.  Some are more skilled and experienced at it than others -- because they've practiced it as their resilience in life.  People are what they actually do -- especially when nobody else is watching, or telling them what to do.  That's virtually everybody in "retirement."  What they make of life, is their own creation -- and the summation of their existence.  So it should be good -- because there is nobody else to blame but oneself.

A few will still be blaming everybody else for all their problems -- and at that point, it will never change.  That is the point of no return.  One has gone down that rabbit hole never to be seen again.  An increasingly rare few, will redefine what the effective human lifespan is -- for every subsequent generation as the evolution of human possibilities conspicuously into their 80s, 90s, 100s -- as we are witnessing already.  Not everybody gets there: it depends on individual choices they make -- in addition to a supportive, healthy cultural context.

That is the individual responsibility to make one as healthy as they can be.  That is the survival of the fittest -- and the fitness.  That is what is important to do -- before all diversions.

Getting Started

 Getting Started

As one gets older, just getting out of bed in the morning, becomes a monumental achievement — as the whole body seems to fall into a state of total flaccidity (incapacity) — that can be activated and energized once again systematically, in the easiest way possible. That is the challenge of changing from the resting (inert) state to a fully contracted one — as a sustained and progressive exercise — without the weights or gym equipment. All one is hoping for at this state (stage), is to make it out of bed — which is a challenge for a lot of people — especially the old, disabled and terminal.

Even champion athletes may have so exhausted themselves in an effort or game, that their body will feel so spent that they feel they cannot move a muscle they next day upon awakening, and feel like only a week of complete rest and sleep will enable them to fully recover — and that is the importance of exercising to failure from time to time — to condition the body to recover rather than avoid such supreme efforts when appropriate and commensurate to the risks.

Under the right circumstances, one wants to be able to go all-out and find out what that is — whether they are the world champion or given no hope for survival and told nothing further is possible. We want to find out what is the actuality of the possible — by manifesting it, and not what others say it is. That is the most important concept in exercise — to find out what the truth of the matter is by manifesting it — and not merely as a mental exercise — by which all things can be possible, or impossible. That is testing reality — and finding out what that really is.

When we are clear on that, it doesn’t matter at what point we start from — from the weakest to the strongest, because we know we can change that. That’s what muscles enable us to do — change. They either contract, or relax, and by that alternation of muscular states, producing the pumping action that is the flow of blood and other nutrients to those volumes — by first compressing the old out of those spaces, and then as those muscles relax, the heart has space to pump blood and fluids into it. That is the proper understanding of blood flow — and how it is effected by the voluntary (skeletal) muscles — and not the popular notion that the heart simply works harder and faster and forces the fluids out throughout the body — equally, nevertheless. Physics and physiology doesn’t work that way — no matter how many certifications they have.

To activate the greatest circulatory effect, one would produce such contractions at the furthest extremities of the body — which are the known weaknesses of the feet, hands and head — where if an engineer were designing the body, would place hearts at those extremities for optimal effectiveness. However, one doesn’t need dedicated hearts at those extremities, as long as they recognize that the feet, hands and neck/face operating in the manner of a heart which is to ostensibly contract and relax, achieves that same effect — which is the value of exercise for any part of the body. Fortunately, to get to these extremities, one has to go through the rest of the body — which is not true if the axis (focus) of the movement, stops at the hip or shoulder girdle — as most “exercise” does.

The axis (focus) of movement (contraction/relaxation) must move to the wrist, ankle, and neck to effect the most productive flow — which again, is where most contemporary sedentary lives virtually never move — with these well-known disastrous consequences of most of the afflictions of modern life.

How Muscle Action Keeps Us Healthy

 Most people are familiar with the action of the heart — as the quintessential muscle of the body — that works by the action of alternating full contractions with full relaxations, and can work no other way because it is solely dedicated to that task. It doesn’t directly cause one to jump higher, run faster, or lift more weights — as many naively think. It’s primary function is to provide for that constancy of pressure that will cause blood to flow outward towards the rest of the body — depending on the action of the voluntary (skeletal) muscles to produce varying pressure differences through their own contractions and relaxations. That is why muscles that are “exercised” in that way, grow larger and healthier that are not exercised in that manner — rather than being equally developed because the heart is pumping blood equally everywhere.

The design of the musculature is that when it contacts, the insertion (distal/distant) moves towards the origin (proximal/center), while the venous blood flow also allows movement in this same direction back towards the center — with its many valves that prevent backflow. So the important concept that most people get wrong, is that the primary function of exercise is not to pull ump more blood into an already full muscle, but by contracting reduce the volume of the muscle to accelerate this flow out of those tissues, and upon relaxation, there is now a vacuum or void to draw fresh nutrients into that space with the constant activity of the heart and arterial blood vessels.

That is the health-giving process that was noted centuries early as the “vital life-force” — which the Chinese called “chi” and the Indians called “prana.” The important aspect was the recognition of “flow” — that could be enhanced by deliberate “practices” — long before they “discovered “ oxygen and circulation.

Flow is the principle by which things move and is interconnected, rather than the old concept of static categories in which nothing is related to anything else, and can never be changed or effected. As understanding increased, effort could be decreased — and one could achieve greater productivity and effectiveness by eliminating the extraneous (noise) and focus only on the significant — to greater effect. Rather than jumping higher, running faster, lifting more weight, etc., the essential could be reduced to the muscle state itself — as the difference between full contractions and full relaxation optimizing the flow by contracting (compressing) the waste products and inducing new nutrients by creating the void (space) for the new due to the constant (autonomous) action of the heart.

That change is entirely within the realm of the voluntary muscles to direct — especially when it is properly understood as the default action in the body rather than increasing the resistance to it. In fact, one wishes to decrease the resistance in going from one state to the other — because it is the difference in states, that makes the difference. People get no visible results from their efforts because they do not intentionally, deliberately, and dramatically change those muscular states — that optimize the flow. Their exercises consist of little to no movement at the furthest extremities at the axes of the neck, wrists, and ankles — where the retention is the problem. It doesn’t matter how much harder and faster the heart is working. The is virtually no movement and change of muscular states at the axes of extremities leading them to conclude that those are the most difficult body parts to develop — when the fact of the matter, is that they are not moving there specifically — and that changes the body.

The Simplicity of Exercise (Movement)

 The Simplicity of Exercise (Movement)

The advantage that bodybuilders have over all other exercisers is that they know how to develop any specific muscle from all others — which is the reason a lot of them end up with grossly disproportionate developments — because they fixate on one muscle over all the others — as their priority. A thoughtful person would contemplate then if that is the case, what parts of their bodies would be most important to develop above all the others? If it is simply a matter of lifting the most weights, running (or walking) the farthest distances, jumping the highest, etc., then the comes a time when they cannot proceed any further without injury or natural decline due to aging. That is just a fact no matter how much pain and disability one is willing to endure to achieve those objectives.

But for most people, their highest priority is to live their daily lives as efficiently and economically as possible — which actually begins with the brain, and the hands and feet to carry out their directives. Yet as people decline (age), those are the critical parts of the body that begin to fail first and most noticeably — as in dementias, lack of grip strength, lack of balance — which impacts the functioning of everything they do.

At that point, many people just plow on — until they absolutely can’t anymore — and eventually come to that state in which their lives are greatly reduced and immobilized. Most traditional and conventional exercises are powerless to do anything about it — because of the limitations of their thinking — that things have to be done a certain way, regardless of the fact that it is not working to solve their problem(s).

So how does one achieve a fresh mind? That would be to get fresh blood into an organ by first understanding the basics of fluid dynamics which govern fluid and gas flow — which is pressure differences — primarily caused by the changing states and volume of the skeletal muscles. That is why exercise works to optimize the health and functioning of any part (organ) of the body. That effect is immediate and powerful. That is the characteristic of muscular action — it produces instantaneous effects — and not as the shamans promise, that it will show up in six months or a year.

The world doesn’t work that way. The greatest predictor of future results, are present results. The most obvious example would be a person lying totally motionless, and seemingly incapable of moving anything, even as a response to being alive. The simplest indication of responsiveness is not that they can lift their legs or any other bodypart but whether they can move their head — all the way to the left, and all the way to the right. In that movement, every individual will manifest a muscular contraction — even if they don’t know how.

A muscular contraction is also a compression — as the volume gets smaller — and thus the residual fluid (gas) has to move out in the direction designed for that purpose — which is the venal system allowing movement in only that one direction back towards the heart and center of the body. The heart meanwhile, is not designed for voluntary movement but is an autonomic function providing ambient fluid pressure — just as on the outside of the human body, atmospheric pressure provides ambient (always) pressure that enables breathing. But we also have to understand that the voluntary input is on the breathing o consut (which is also a contraction) — but there are still many explanations that think the inhalation is the necessary. That happens by default — when the muscles relax (expand) and thus the chest volume expands —lowering the pressure below the ambient — and must be equalized by the laws of Nature and physics.

So when we consider what “exercises” are good for the brain — and other extremities as well with their well-known problems of being the first to manifest as the aging experience — we should first consider the wisdom of Nature and evolution in providing for this mechanism — not only in humans, but every other living species as well. That is the benefit of millions of years of evolution to perfect — that should not be ignored — in favor of the latest whiz-bang theory some well-funded researcher comes up with — increasingly more funding to study — but changes nothing in the real world and real time.

It is just a thought of how the world works and what would be its remedy — rather than recognizing what is — and working with it must work.maximally. That’s why those organizations claiming there is no cure, require unlimited funding to prove that is so — rather than manifesting actions (movement) that must work — even if we don’t apply them.

Lying Side Back Arch

 Lying Side Back Arch

Most of the traditional/conventional back exercises don’t work the lower back muscles (posterior chain) in their position of strength and integrity — but rather produce contractile forces while in their most vulnerable positions, resulting in greater back pain rather than relief from it. The clearest example of this would be the deadlift — usually touted as a cure-all for this problem, when the vertebrae is stretched while the muscles are contracting. The safe way to contract these muscles maximally, would be to begin in a compressed position, and contract further — with minimal movement, or isometrically. The simplest way this can be done is to lie on one’s side, and contract the head and feet rearward — while placing one’s upper hand on the spinal erectors or gluteus maximus to verify that this most powerful contraction of the posterior chain muscles are in fact activated and engaged — with an intensity that cannot be achieved in any other manner.

The primary function of the muscles of the glute and lower back is not to provide movement but to provide this stability and anchorage for the movements taking place at the extremities — at the head, hands and feet. The action of the muscles is that the contraction moves from the insertion (distal) towards the origin (proximal) of that muscle — which in turn, triggers the underlying supporting muscle to contract from its insertion towards its origin and finally getting back to the anchorage at the core of the body — which are the largest muscles of the body for good reason.

Thus the logical action of those muscles, would be to contract even more from a beginning position of strength — as happens with only slight movement of the head and feet in a rearward movement. While it may not seem like much, one will note that very powerful effect and contraction taking place — because it just has to. Most other movements and exercises are not so direct at producing such an instant and immediate effect — and should be the exercise done by everyone just to get up and out of bed each morning — especially with back/hip pain. As such, it would also be the exercise one would do if bedridden to regain their strength and functioning — from a weakened or debilitated state.

During sleep or long periods in bed, the many muscles attached to the vertebrae may fall out of alignment during the complete relaxation of the muscles — and some will activate and be engaged a lot better than others, while a few will remain less responsive — and as a result, the whole body will not be as coordinated as it can be initially. However, the lying side back arch requires the activation and engagement of the entire posterior chain — without firing them individually and out of proportion to the others, and one can gauge that with the hand placed on the spinal erectors or gluteus to confirm that response and effect.

So it is a movement that works on many respects — as the must do exercise, each and every day, before one even gets out of bed — or whenever one experiences debilitating back pain. In this position, it is also possible to “crack” one’s own back — or relieve the uneven pressure one feels in the spine that is experienced as back pain — for which people often go to a chiropractor, massage therapist, or acupuncturist to do for them. This is one way to do it for oneself — by oneself, in the many instances that one doesn’t have a team of health care professionals at the ready. The backwards arch while lying on one’s side produces this equal pressure on all the vertebrae — that puts them into their proper alignment.

Once the bones are in the proper place and alignment, then the muscles can contract maximally — with minimal risk of pain and injury, and in fact is curative for those with back (joint) pain and aches. The version for the anterior chain of muscles would be the lying press down (dip) with toe retraction to contract all those muscles with one movement (position) that can be performed dynamically or isometrically for a count of 50 — and repeated for another round as desired or required. All this can be done before getting out of bed — or as a means to get out of bed — and then beneficially, as needed any time one needs a reset or reorientation to proper muscular functioning.

Some things just work.

Finding Out What Works

 In every human activity and aspect of life, the ultimate measure and bottom-line is what works — and not just compulsive activity and busyness until one dies — or simply gives up. With all the things that humans can do, learning what an individual does well, gives them a competitive advantage in the struggle for survival, and discovering what those are, is the fulfillment of the ancient wisdom to “know oneself” — as the best guide in living one’s best life. In this, one is not likely to start equal with everyone else — and even less likely to end up equal with everyone else, even if we handicap the most able, while giving. unfair advantages to the least able and competent. That is not a wise use of human capital and knowledge.

But in many areas of life, most people possess baseline similarities to get through a normal life with appropriate adaptations and modifications. The greatest difference is between those who do — and those who absolutely can’t, because the principles of physics and physiology apply to everyone equally. To a much greater extent, differences arise from the lack of understanding of those principles — in favor of knowledge that doesn’t make any difference — which many get fixated on, thinking that to know better, is the same as doing better — or even, doing anything at all. They simply wish they were healthier and more capable — as though that were enough.

So from the youngest years, individuals are greatly advantaged to test reality for themselves — rather than taking the word of others that something should work — or is good for them — as though though that other person really knew. That is the value of exercise — to learn if the principles one learned, actually works in many different cases — and not just the one that may be the exception. In fact, the scientific method is an invitation for any independent practitioner to prove or disprove what the author of that idea has offered as the truth of the matter.

It is not enough just for some authority figure to claim themselves as the “science” that has to be accepted unquestionably by all the others who haven’t claimed that exclusive title and turf for themselves first. In this, time usually wins out — until a better idea is offered — and ideas that prevail, have literally stood the test of time — and not as many say, “age” is now the excuse. What worked 50 years ago, no longer works — because of age, and besides, most of them are dead anyway — as proof that that truth cannot be tested.

But that should be convincing proof that the idea doesn’t work — except for the exceptional few who are still alive — because what most are interested in, is the general rule (principle) that works for everyone — and then we deviate from there. That would be that human movement is characterized by movement and expressions at the extremities back towards the center, and not that it emanates from the center to the extremities, or all movement is equal — and one can just choose any muscle as effectively and productively as any other — resulting in the competitive bodybuilding physiques of looking like unrelated and disproportionate body parts pasted together in an unpleasing lack of flow.

Usually, such attainments are abandoned as soon as the stage lights are off — because they are not sustainable any longer than they have to be — which is actually quite an aberration from the enduring work of art and athleticism one hopes to endure as long as one lives. As many more achieve longer lives, that is the greater meaning of “fitness,” than how much one can lift — if one can still move at all. And rather than functionality at the extremities to be the first thing to go, they actually imply the proper functioning of the supporting structures that enable it — rather than vice-versa. That is the disturbing trend in modern contemporary aging — that the hands, feet, and head are the first to go — rather than implying the health and functioning of all the rest.

As such, movement (exercise) should more meaningfully and productively be focused on the axis of rotation at the wrist, ankles and neck — over running, jumping and lifting heavy weights to ensure the longevity. That is the resistance — that lack of movement at the most critical organs of the human body — that can be verified by one’s own experience and experimentation.

That is the design flaw in most exercise machines — they require movement at everywhere else — but what is most essential to move, and optimize. Bodybuilders should have the advantage in conceiving movement specifically and directly to the body part they wish to develop — but even they, don’t. One does not need a machine to do so. Full-range of motion movement achieves it — from full relaxation to full contraction of those muscles at the axis they occur. Yet once those muscles are activated and engaged as a priority, one can add any other body movement one chooses to — but one can’t move in the other direction because the insertion (distal) part of the muscle must move towards the origin (proximal).

That was the problem even with the Nautilus training machines — if one kept the head, hands and feet immobilized — as the manner they were instructed to. Those machines, and any movements, become optimized for blood flow only when those circuits are defined by the alternating contractions and relaxations at the furthest axes of the body — which naturally engages and activates the supporting muscular structures back to the center of the body — next to the heart, lungs and other central organs — as the logical pathway to maintaining health and functionality all one’s life.

Age is No Excuse

 Age is No Excuse

Sarcopenia is described as muscle atrophy due to age — but nobody is getting younger with time, while many suffer muscle atrophy at any age — due to lack of the proper exercise. So sarcopenia explains nothing — while seeming to explain everything. That doesn’t do anybody any good — but makes a lot of self-styled “experts” very proud of themselves — for knowing something that doesn’t explain anything, or make any difference.

Even champion bodybuilders will explain their lack of present results due to age — rather than improper training methods. If methods work well, they prove themselves to be the exceptions — and not the same old things that aren’t working for everybody else — with a different explanation, or excuse. And then we just multiply the explanations and excuses — rather than find a way that actually works.

Many still think that the major rationale for exercising is simply to burn as many calories as possible — as though that were a good in itself. It’s also the reason people buy a car — thinking that the objective is to burn as much fuel as possible — or a bicycle for that matter. Then they wonder why they now have to deal with expensive repairs for excessive and premature wear — always missing the point. The objective of every effort, is to produce a desired result —and not simply, any results — that often leads to further problems and complications.

The expressed and intentional reason for exercise is to prevent malfunction and dysfunction as the primary objective — and not as an afterthought — after meeting the arbitrary objectives of random activity. A lot of people get lost in thinking that everything else but the deliberate intention to improve one’s health and functioning — is the greatest purpose, and not the competition and performance. That is to say that what matters is not doing it for the sake of any one else, but solely for one’s own benefit. Otherwise, one will stop doing it as soon as the instructor is not there to tell them to do it — for their approbation — which invariably happens as we get older, and are left to our own devices.

At that point, some people just fall apart and stop caring as soon as they are no longer the center of attention. That eventually happens to all of us — some sooner than later. The problem is not the health care system — but the self-care structure and environment each person builds throughout their entire lives. That’s the main difference between those who thrive in their later years, and those who disintegrate as soon as there is no one there to tell them what to do. That is the role of the coach, teacher, pastor, spouse, boss, or any other significant other — but the most significant, must be the individual themselves.

That is the importance of exercise and discipline; that is one’s categorical imperative — or basic drive and orientation in life. That makes the most difference. That’s what shows — in everything they do and are. There are no guarantees for eternal life and youth — but they do the best they can at every moment because they know the cause and effects, and not just the randomness of being. Those are two very different types of people: one believes that nothing matters, while the other believes that everything they think and do matters — and makes a difference.

It doesn’t matter what one can’t do — or no longer can do. What matters is what one can do — and does it, and the results are the proof that it works — or not. If not, one has to discover what does work — even if it takes the rest of their life. What more important thing is there to do — for oneself surely, but for everyone else as well. That’s how great discoveries are made — even if it was just to find out for oneself — the truth of the matter. One doesn’t know and then confirm what one already knows. No, they find out what they don’t know — but presume they do, as the fallacy for why it doesn’t work. It would be an easy thing to simply conclude, it doesn’t work so it must be age — and feel quite satisfied that one has explained everything there is to know.

But even now, a few people are emerging who are unlike everybody else we’ve seen before — not because they are young, but because they reach unprecedented levels of health — that even young people don’t achieve. So rather than age explaining everything, it really explains nothing — but we presume to know. It’s not just the longevity experts who are making these discoveries, but everyone manifesting it in their own lives — as the proof of what they know. That is how the new reality comes into being.