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.

The King of Bodybuilding Exercises

 The King of Bodybuilding Exercises

Back in the “Golden era of Bodybuilding” — generally regarded as the 1950s-1960s — the most impressive distinguishing feature was the chest to waist differential achieved by alternating 20 repetitions of the breathing squat with 20 repetitions of the breathing pullover for up to 3 sets before moving on to anything else. At that point, it was even thought that any other exercises were unnecessary — because one could get so “pumped” up just with those two exercises — which is a condition not achieved by most contemporary training programs invariably using low repetitions with too heavy weights — while resting overlong between sets.

The major value of bodybuilding exercises is in the breathing — more than any other aspect. While many thoughts on breathing emphasize the physiology of breathing, what is fundamentally overlooked and ignored is the actual physics of breathing — or the laws that dictate the movement of air — in and out of the body, and once in the body, the movement of fluids within the body in the respiratory/circulatory process. That basic and simple law is that fluids (including gas) move from high pressure to low pressure — always, and that pressure is determined by the volume in which it is contained in. That is why artificial respiration works — by compressing the lungs and heart to produce that flow.

The most visible manifestation of that effect — is produced by the lying pullover. The chest volume expands as the arms are moved backwards, and compressed when the arms move forward — and there is no other movement that produces that extreme of articulation. That is simply what that movement does. Coupled with high repetition squats produces an enhanced requirement for that fullest articulation of the expansion and contraction of the lung function because there is no distraction to any other considerations. That is the breathing function as its purest — expansion and contraction.

Many primitive observations of the breathing movement believe that air movement is determined by the action of the diaphragm — which is only one of the walls that constitute the chest volume. Far more visible and apparent is the rise and fall of the chest — rather than the movement of the diaphragm in heavy, labored breathing. As such, that is why chest compressions are used in artificial respiration — rather than diaphragmic manipulation — if that were more essential for breathing.

But since the heart and lungs are contained within the chest cavity (volume), it is much more convenient to kill these two birds with one stone in the well-placed compression to the sternum — providing both respiration and circulation together — as the present state of the art in that understanding.

Many knowledgeable people have commented on the fact that today’s top competitive physiques do not have the same aesthetic appeal of those bodybuilders of a previous generation — particularly in the chest to waist ratio, and that some present day versions even look “pregnant,” or a bubble gut — because they don’t primarily try to achieve impresssive chest to waist differentials. They prefer to be big all-over — despite the well-established health marker that a waist circumference greater than 32″ is the greatest health risk of all, and if one is not engaging in exercise for this prime consideration, just what is the value of such exercise? — especially for health purposes?

The proven exercise that works is the lying pullover with a light weight that allows for full range of movement for at least 20 repetitions — and there is no downside to doing more — even if it doesn’t allow one to do anything else, or feel the need to. That’s why breathing is considered a practice of high regard in many venerable cultures — along with fasting. The latest state of the art science and medicine are rediscovering those two exercises as its own “Golden Age” of understanding of long-lost wisdom.

Often, the hardest thing to see is the obvious.

The Importance of Neck (Head) Development

 The most important organs of the human body to deliberately maintain are the head, hands and feet — which are precisely where responsiveness begins to fail first, because as important as they are, they are properly placed at the extremities to maximize their effectiveness. But that means they are furthest from the heart as well — which is an autonomic function rather than a voluntary ones we control consciously. There is an ancient wisdom that goes, “Let me change what I can change, and accept what I cannot change, and give me the wisdom to know the difference.”

People who fail spectacularly at everything they do, lack that essential wisdom — and will put out unlimited energy, time and resources to change what they cannot change, and zero into those things that could make a huge difference — and all the difference in the world. So first we need to have this basic understanding of how exercise is essential to any part of the body — because it enhances the flow of nutrients into it, and removes the accumulated waste products of cells that break down and need to be repaired and replaced. That is the cycle of life at its most basic understanding. Life and health require this constant flow — and exercise is the program we adopt to optimize that development — to our greatest priorities.

Although many exercisers will insist that the head and brain should not be a top priority — in favor of rear deltoid development (sic), etc. — to most thoughtful individuals, that would be their top priority — even if they don’t consciously realize it. For many young athletes, it becomes a moot point beyond learning the gross motor movements — while for the child prodigies of every activity, those extra movements (gear) are the gifts few others have — and can be identified by equally gifted coaches. This is appreciating movement at its highest level, but is equally relevant to every functioning level, and particularly the dysfunctional and deteriorating.

What can we do about it? — or can nothing be done about it? When many of my cohorts were beginning to wonder why they no longer got the same results they did when younger, I was introduced to and noticed that it was even far more dire for those disabled, aging, and even terminal — and wondered what was the exercise (movement) they could do with the greatest immediate impact — beginning with that forlorn look of hopelessness and helplessness that made them sit like statues all day — seemingly completely unresponsive to life anymore. And while it was clear what they couldn’t do, the only relevant question was what could they do? — to change that whole reality.

That was head movement: the simple turning of the head all the way to the left, and then back all the way to the right — increased the flow to the brain — and that had maximum impact on every other functioning of the body. Why wouldn’t the body respond in that critical way? That is literally the integration of the mind with body. As the head moves, that is awareness of one’s surroundings — and the world we must respond to — beyond all else. That simple awareness, is what is required to be “all there” — at the most critical times. As has been said, “Some people make things happen, some people are aware of what is happening, while the vast majority wonder what is happening?”

We’ve forgotten how to use our own senses to gather information — and that is why the cave man was more fit than today’s sedentary beings — wholly dependent on their smartphones to tell them what to think. Thus they never need to move their heads anymore — and so the flow to the brain diminishes — because flow is the function of that movement — just as it is with all the movements of the human body. The same process that develops the biceps, also develops the brain — it would be stupid not to. That’s how Nature works — even for the creatures that never went to college. It would develop the blueprint for all of life.

It is not that the head cannot move, or is impossible to improve, and the atrophying of the neck muscles are inevitable signs of deterioration and decline. The movement of the head is actually the best indicator of the vibrancy of that individual — and of all the others. The 360 degree side-to side head movement requires the engagement of all the muscles of the body — in addition to the neck muscles, which many exercise authorities think cannot be effectively exercised — because they misunderstand the simplicity of movement. It does not require elaborate machinery to provide resistance; it is the understanding that every movement eventually produces its own resistance — against further movement. At this point, the muscle contraction has cleared space for the heart to pump blood into that vacuum — rather than the naive notion that a 1 pound heart will be able to force all the fluids around in addition to being the motive force for 500 lb lifts.

The genius of exercise is in realizing that all the voluntary (skeletal) muscles can be recruited to optimize the circulation in this manner — and particularly to areas deemed as a priority in attaining peak readiness and performance for its purposes.

Better or Worse

 People won’t want to hear this — but walking on a spot (in place) is SUPERIOR to actual walking. The greatest advantage is that one can do it in the comfort of one’s own home (controlled environment), rather than the much more perilous random conditions one is likely to encounter walking around most cities — and particularly hazardous now that public officials don’t enforce safe and drug-free environments, in addition to treacherous sidewalks.

The key thing that makes the step in place superior as an exercise is the range allowed by tailoring the conditions to optimize safety and performance. The extreme is the knee-lift that can be achieved by marching in place. That is contrasted to the much more limited range of movement in barely lifting one’s feet — as most people do — in walking. That is the essential movement — repeated over and over again so it becomes conditioned automatically. That is the purpose of exercise — self-conditioning — rather than being conditioned by everything else — much of it extraneous.

Increasingly with years, is the realization that one can’t be doing things that aren’t working — for the dwindling remainder of their lives. At some point, they hope for a resurrection to their best selves. That manner of thinking can be programmed into all the moments of our lives — but obviously not what got us to this state. Then one is shocked into the realization that everything they do matters.

Will We Need to Change?

 To be successful throughout life, a person has to be changing and evolving with the times and circumstances — and not thinking if they keep doing the same thing for time immemorial, it will be right for any time and all circumstances. That is the essence of life — and not having a fixed idea of perfection and never deviating and evolving a better response to the present challenges — then wondering what went wrong, and how one got so detached from reality and proper functioning. Then every day after that, their situation seems to get more dire and hopeless. Change is the way of life.

As people grow older, they can also grow wiser — but many will stay the same all their lives, and fare poorly because of that mindset and approach. Those who remain viable all their days are quicker to recognize what they thought worked, no longer does — if it ever did, and make the proper adjustments. It is the same with all aspects and activities in life.

In the case of the bodybuilders and weightlifters, they eventually come to realize that simply doing what they did when young, may be impossible when they are old — which doesn’t preclude everything else one has not tried before — including and especially, that exercise can be made easier and more productive, rather than continuing to beat themselves up the hard way, with less results, and more possibilities of injury — and reduced recovery ability until finally, they just give up entirely. Of course that is the worst case outcome leading to total disability.

One gets better at doing what one actually does — but when one is resistant to trying, nothing will be done. So rather than increasing the resistance, the proper course is to lower the resistance — or maintain the same level as one ages so that movement looks and becomes easier, and not more labored. That is obviously the reversal of what one has been taught to believe that one should be constantly adding as much resistance as possible at every opportunity to do so — infinitely. It doesn’t work in older people, and neither does it work in younger people. Because it was never that the resistance was so important but that the full-range movement itself produced the fullest contraction and the fullest relaxation of the muscle — which optimizes the circulatory flow that is health.

All the mumbo-jumbo, hocus-pocus, jargon, pharmaceuticals aside, that is the simple process ensuring health. Most bodybuilders and weightlifters condition themselves to the wrong things — and that becomes unsustainable in time and age, and is the primary reason they die prematurely at younger ages than their cohorts — usually from heart problems because they are overworking their hearts — thinking the harder the better. The primary value of exercise is not for the heart — but for all the other skeletal muscles that are not working unless one deliberately programs them to. The heart is always the hardest, most dedicated muscle of the body — and doesn’t need to be stressed harder or exclusively while the rest of the skeletal muscles continue to do little or nothing at all. And worse, some think it desirable to work the muscles against the heart to make it work even harder — endlessly until it fails. Of course, that is the ultimate failure.

Instead, one desires to learn to use the body and muscles so that it can sustain its functioning and activity as long as necessary — all of one’s life if possible. That requires a very different approach and mindset. That probably is the great challenge of conditioning activities of these times — not just for bodybuilders and weightlifters, but for everybody aspiring to achieve their best lives, for the rest of their lives.

Making Exercise Easier

 Making Exercise Easier

Your living area should reflect the priorities of what you think is most important to do. For many people, their living spaces are configured to accommodate that ease and convenience — of plopping down into a Lazy Boy and turning on their television by remote control — and spend the rest of their hours in that position until it is time to go to sleep, and many just give up entirely and go to sleep in that position. So of course, they don’t get a lot of exercise in their daily lives — except to get up for bathroom breaks and getting something to eat. That reflects who they are and the shape they are in.

People who make exercise the central activity of their lives con’t have to buy a lot of exercise equipment just to use for a minute each day — but are inclined to have a nearly empty room for which they can move around quite easily — because it is the movement itself which is important, and not the amount of equipment they have — and use so briefly. The best example of this is the dance studio — with little or no furniture — only bars installed into the walls to practice their balance and flexibility. Close seconds are the martial arts studios with their cleared space to practice their movements. And then there are the yoga practitioners — who don’t move around a lot, and just require a mat — if that.

Clearly the lesson to be learned from these examples of people highly likely to break into exercise at any opportunity and inspiration, is that they are not dependent on any particular apparatus and circumstances, but can improvise with nothing or very little — rather than being constricted and constrained by the furnishings and predisposition to comfort with no further effort. Monasteries are often set up in this way — to make prayers, postures and practices the only thing possible, as well as to indulge in as much as possible.

That would be the template for anybody desiring to design more exercise into their lives — or anything else for that matter. Their living room should be their exercise studio — and everything else secondary to that primary purpose — if at all necessary. Instead, the usual contemporary life accumulates as much clutter as is possible — to make productive movements and exercises nearly impossible and prohibitive. Rather than clutter as much as possible into their living space, the ascetic values that space as the room that makes movement possible, productive and expressive — instead of limiting those possibilities, and even putting away their exercise equipment to limit their access and spontaneity to it.

But rather than cluttering up one’s space with as much specialized equipment as one can afford, a far better idea is to realize that the floor, walls, movable chair and mat (not rolled up and put away), is the perfect time and conditions for practicing and mastering whatever movements one can think of. One could even do 10,000 steps marching in one place more productively than walking outside — in less ideal conditions. It doesn’t matter how far one goes, but how fully they lift their knees and articulate the leg movement — which is likely to be more constrained if they have to transport the rest of their body over uncertain terrain.

That’s what the exercise adepts realize — that it is not the external trappings that make exercise more conducive, but this anywhere, anytime access possible — even if one just thought of it in the spur of the moment. That really is what the true spirit of exercise was meant to be — and not all this planning, expense, and thinking people insist is required. Many will even insist that you consult with one’s Primary Care Provider or Certified Personal Trainer before attempting to do anything new and unfamiliar.

People are invariably successful because they discovered a way that works for themselves — despite what all the experts say and prescribe for everyone else. That is the whole poi.nt of living, purpose and meaning in the fully actualized life — not reserved just for the experts, media and influencers. That ultimately is the permission to live one’s own life — and achieve the greatest success at it. No one can do it for any other. That success is entirely personal. It either works, or it doesn’t — and what one should go by.

Lots of things work for a while — and then it stops working once the novelty wears off. That merely indicates that one has to improve the understanding — and not that all understanding is futile. Exercise doesn’t have to be hard and difficult. Only the experts insist that it is so — but then it doesn’t work for them either. So one has to break all the rules to find the way that does work — and not simply settle for more elaborate explanations of why things don’t work. Anything that works is self-evident truth. Life is very simple in that way.