High-Intensity Training Frequency

 A once a week session of high-intensity exercise is the standard for what most people will thrive on.

The problem for most is dealing with the extreme muscle soreness from only once a week workouts because if one does nothing between those once a week high intensity workouts, the recovery takes longer, and so the key was discovering how one can recover from those once a week high-intensity workouts, and the fortunate discovery I made was when in my 40s at the height of Nautilus and high-intensity training, I was diverted onto exercising with no equipment for a while, and then when asked to instruct disabled, senior, and even terminal people on recovering from their conditions -- recognized the unappreciated points that Arthur Jones also emphasized but was ignored.

And that was the importance of extending the range of motion as an essential focus of the movement -- because those extremes, provide their own resistance. His claim was that the Nautilus machines provided variable resistance throughout the full range of movement -- but adding resistance, decreases the range of movement. That is to observe that increasing the weight (resistance) always decreases the range that is moved -- and that the real value, was moving from 0 to 100% contraction -- because that difference is the rate of flow, and the principle of fluid dynamics. That's how the heart works in pushing the blood out towards the extremities.

But the greater benefit is not in making the heart work harder (resulting in enlarged, weakened hearts that is the bane of strength athletes), but in using the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the body to compress (contract) the blood back towards the heart -- and that is why people who exercise that function over every other consideration including running, jumping, lifting weights, optimize their health to those extremities that are well-known for poor circulation and the first places to fail in older people as the dementias, arthritis, venous insufficiency, edema, lymphedema, lipedema, etc.

Contraction is compression -- and why compression clothing works in people with notoriously poor circulation. It reduces the inflammation (swelling) just as it reliably does in healing injuries, as well as the recovery from intense workouts which are a controlled form of injury. That is to note that one must break down to make room and necessity for the new -- as the muscle cell releases energy and produces waste products. However, in modern sedentary lives, it is quite possible that one does not provide any muscle contractions other than what they actually think to effect (exercise), so that the glaring weakness becomes the circulation to the head, hands and feet -- which then become the characteristic markers of deterioration in the elderly and those in poor condition. That's actually where the primary focus should be -- over the biceps and abdominals -- which are not the primary expressors of human performance.

Again, it is because people are distracted from the essential and significant, to the trivial and decorative -- because the problem of the old, weak and disfunctioning, is not that one can no longer squat with 200 lbs -- but they cannot squat at all, which includes many bodybuilders and formerly great athletes. Increasing the weight to 300 lbs is not going to recover that capability -- much less doing it more frequently. That's just wishful thinking.

Making Time

The value of exercise is that movement causes an increased circulatory effect at the joint actually moved — because a contraction causes compression of the residual fluid in the tissues which is inflammation — the source of all disease and aging. When those toxins are compressed out of the tissues, new blood and nutrients can enter — which produces health and growth. That is the reason why muscular contractions (exercise) are so beneficial — and not just for burning off (wasting) as many calories possible so one can eat more.

There is no problem in sitting or lying to do those exercises, because if when thinks about it, many movements can be done sitting or lying — however, all those considerations that people equate with exercise are also not important, like working up a sweat or raising one’s heart beat. There is no exercise or activity that will not raise the heart rate at least to the 60% of the theoretical maximum heart rate, which is the imminent danger of failure. However, because of the competitive nature in most thinking, many interpret the maximum heart rate to be the new minimum — while all the other skeletal/voluntary muscles remain as dormant as possible — often referred to as “cardio” — in that the only muscle contraction, is made faster, while the voluntary muscles continue to be unactivated as much as possible.

The real need is not for the heart to work increasingly harder — but for the skeletal/voluntary muscles to optimize those circulatory pathways in contracting at the most important organs of the body — which is the head, hands and feet — above all else, and don’t worry about the biceps and the six-pack. If the brain operating at its greatest capacity thinks that is what is necessary, then that is what it will do but usually it is far down the list of most important things to do, enable and optimize. It will choose to prioritize the blood flow to the brain — foremost, because that is the critical path of neuromuscular functioning. That is why humans have the largest brain in the animal kingdom, and with that, they have a grip that allows them to make tools, and unique feet that allows them upright locomotion — so they can see, hear, smell, taste the world around them more advantageously.

At least, that is what humans used to do, and the challenges they evolved for — which are almost unrecognizable in contemporary life. In fact, those are the areas most telling and indicative of the state of health — the pencil/turkey neck, the swollen hands and feet that haven’t been articulated in ages — which is the inflammation that exacerbates in the downward spiral of aging and disease. Those are the markers of those aging badly.

There is nothing inherently wrong with sitting or lying — or prohibitive for any exercise program. One simply moves what is normally never moved — but should have the highest priority and attention, and the bonus is that because a muscle contracts from its furthest insertion activated back to the origin — which then is inserted into the underlying proximal (supportive) muscle, it is quite possible with that understanding, to exercise all the muscles of the body beginning from those insertions at the extremities. But you see, modern life no longer requires those movements at those most critical organs and features of the body.

What that is doing is driving all that inflammation out of the tissues back towards the purifying/recycling organs at the center of the body — which is really the whole point — and nothing else. That creates the conditions for optimal functioning and health — and everything else, is an added bonus. That person is operating on all cylinders — and looks it.

Yoga is done while lying, and most of the weight-lifting machines are done seated — as well as the bicycles. The problem with the treadmills is that there is very little foot articulation, and virtually none at the wrists and head — which means that the circulation is being diverted to where there is actual movement, which is at the hip joint — but not to the greatest range of that possibility, and so many report feeling that the blood has pooled even more in their feet from their walk — and hands, even though their heart rate has increased.

That shouldn’t be the objective and concern, because while lying in a hospital bed and presumably dying, is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what is most important in life to empower — and that would be first the brain, then the hands, and then the feet — and in doing that and really understanding the mind/body connection and the meaning of that, one can rethink what it means to survive and then function at one’s highest level.

With that understanding, one can exercise beneficially anytime, anywhere, under any conditions, with or without any equipment — making do and the most with what one has — or think of one reason after another, for why one can’t. That is the difference between those who do — and those who can’t. Circumstances will never be perfect enough to do what they need to do — and make the impossible seem more improbable with each attempt (repetition). Life is a practice — and that is how people become better at what they do, and are.

Optimizing Health and Functioning

 The meaning and purpose of life comes down to this: if one dies in the process of achieving it, then that is life -- but in the meantime, each does their best to actualize what that can be.  That is the simplicity of living.  It's easy to get side-tracked and blind-sided by all the trivial considerations at the expense of the greater, ie., seeing how much one can bench press before it crushes them, or how fast they can go before crashing, or how much one can get away with before somebody stops them, etc.

Understanding this, is called balance in life -- weighing each thing carefully against everything else -- and achieving that optimal balance -- and not just the one thing at the expense of everything else.  For these indicators and measures, the most important are at the critical faculties of the head, hands and feet -- rather than just development of the showy muscles of the biceps and abdominals -- or achieving the highest heart rate ever -- before succumbing to it.  That is not the objective of all these activities -- but to function as well in as many daily and ordinary challenges of living -- which increasingly, seem to be about increasing pain and immobility in all its manifestations and guises.

That seems to be an increasing fact of life -- and the reason we get "older."  Until then, we expect to increase our capacities -- even if just a tiny bit more, because it is this direction of change that signals appropriateness and progress over an entire lifetime -- and not just any particularly short-lived glory of the moment.  That is how lives are built -- each small thing after another -- so at the end of the day, the world is a different place, and better than before.  That is the story of civilization when all the lives are put together -- and not just the zero-sum game many academics proclaim their one thing explains all the others -- even to the suppression of everything else.

Nobody has that monopoly on truth -- and so all are empowered to test it for its validity -- and in that process, discover the many other things in life which might matter even more.  Science is more than just confirming what one wants to believe but recognizing when one thought was all that could be known, was just an unquestioned and unexamined premise -- and the truth lies beyond.  Until then, the future looks like a dead-end -- with only the end in sight.

But once we regain the right path, the possibilities seem endless again.  Life goes through such cycles -- as does every living thing.  We see both individuals and societies in decline and a few rising from the ashes and rubble to go on to unimaginable better lives because of it.  They have figured out what the problem is -- and not just know the solutions without even asking the right questions.  Unfortunately, much of that passes for our present education and conditioning -- and why the problems are interminable.  It is not enough just to have the "right" answers, but to know what actually works -- and not just more elaborate explanations of why it doesn't -- despite all one's "knowing."

Knowledge like that is life's greatest handicap -- knowing what doesn't work, and defending that ignorance to one's dying day.  Of course such people cannot change their outcomes.  They wouldn't know how to begin.  They no longer or never had the ability to distinguish "better" from "worse," and were taught instead, that there is no difference -- and anything is just as good as any other.  In fact, the good is only what "they" say it is -- beyond all review and recrimination.  It is because they say it is so -- and questioning it is forbidden.  

That has been the story since time immemorial.  New worlds were forbidden to be discovered -- because it would upset the old apple carts entrenched in their favorable spots -- to collect the tolls from all who were forced to pass.  It was always the straight and narrow.  

But life is not that way: it is the wide and vast -- which no one person or group can monopolize forever -- even the young or old.  Now we know that what works for the old, works for the young and everybody else -- and not that if one still behaves as the young, it will prevent them from becoming old.    One has to understand what makes the old "old."  It is the failing at the head, hands and feet -- that should be prioritized over the development of the biceps and six-packs they exhibit so proudly in their unflattering tank tops and leisurewear -- while gesturing unnaturally to emphasize those developments.  They've become caricatures of stereotypes rather than the picture of robust health and vitality -- which can be obviously seen at the neck, hands and feet.

Hands and feet weren't meant to be just clubs and stubs -- but are the very impressions unique to human beings.  Particularly characteristic of declining cognition and mental functioning, is also this distinctive lack of head movement -- which is the physical manifestation of the lack of awareness of what is going on around them.  That is how traditional humans took in information -- from which they could react appropriately to all the challenges they had to adapt to.  Now, they can just ignore it all -- because they have devices that tell them what is going on -- on the other side of the world!  But that kind of knowledge and information is virtually useless for responding to the requirements of their immediate environment.

Not surprisingly, they become increasingly disconnected to their actual realities, and all the people in it.  To hear effectively, requires directing all one's attention to the source of the sound -- and not just having the best headphones possible.  That's a very truncated and fragmented version of the world.  It is much like the conditioning of the classical dancer who has to be fully aware of the space of their performance, and not simply focused on what it is they do -- like the few who think that an entire weight-room exists for their exclusive use, and everybody else does not matter.  Such athletes make very poor teammates, and usually are locked into their own performance and world as though it is the only thing that matters -- which is a very distorted and unbalanced view of the world that can lead to many problems and conflicts -- and particularly to the damaging perspective that they are perpetually in competition with every other.

That precludes the much greater power in realizing the advantage of cooperation -- which magnifies the effectiveness of any one individual, no matter how formidable.  We've all seen the videos by now of how even the King of Beasts cannot prevail over a pack of hyenas or wild dogs, but even two, resumes the advantage in their favor.  Then when the numbers are equal, the rout is on.  That is frequently how the leadership changes -- beyond the one on one.  Thus the leader is not only the one who is the strongest but also skilled at mobilizing the collective force as well -- which requires awareness beyond themselves.

The less successful frequently have this tunnel-vision, or lack of awareness of anybody but themselves -- as though that were sufficient to achieve any worthwhile task, let alone achieving a monumental undertaking.  It requires more than just the sum of the parts -- but is a comprehensive greater whole, and life is firing on all cylinders -- and not just the one -- which then is an uncontrollable explosion, which then become our disasters.

So in our training style, we want to develop not only power, but also patience, persistence and endurance -- for the long haul so we are still there at the end when everybody else has passed.  That is the last man standing -- and often, that is what it requires to be successful -- just showing up.  Merely that, is the survival of the fit -- to still be in the game.

Eliminating the Pain for the Gain

 As people get older, they usually report experiencing daily bodily aches and pains — which is an indication that they need to do more contractions alternated by complete relaxations to increase the flow of the fluids (blood, inflammation, swelling, edema, lymphedema, lipedema) from the tissues back towards the heart and other purifying/recycling organs at the center of the body. That was what a normal, healthy lifestyle used to be before all the modern inventions made any unnecessary movements necessary — which is the problem of sedentary lives in which major parts of the body are no longer exercised, and so becomes merely redundant bodyweight.

Otherwise, the waste products from normal cell functioning accumulate with no enhanced push back towards the center — and the nerves are destroyed by those prevailing toxic conditions — which the body has minimal provisions to deal with them. However, exercise greatly enhances that effect by providing the muscular contractions that propel fluid more forcefully and vigorously back towards the heart — which the heart cannot do alone no matter how vigorously it pumps because it runs into the resistance of the miles of capillaries that slow the flow down as much as possible so there can be the efficient exchange of oxygen and other nutrients to the tissues, while exchanging it for the waste products.

That happens naturally with an active lifestyle requiring those contractions and relaxations that produce a flow. That is also why the heart works. But that same circulation, is also the primary responsibility and function of all the voluntary (skeletal) muscles of the body, and why those who exercise those parts, develop higher degrees of functionality and health. That is particularly important to optimize that development at the head (brain), hands (grip), and feet (balance) — and not just stop at the biceps and abdominals.

When muscles “fire,” they release energy along with resulting waste products — which under normal healthy conditions is removed effectively, however, not all individuals have that same degree of efficiency and activity. In fact, there is the rather common phenomenon of “venous insufficiency” which is most prominent of people suffering from “varicose veins,” but everybody has this tendency for insufficiency — particularly if they misunderstand this vital role of all the skeletal (voluntary) muscles in this greater scheme of defining the ultimate limits of the circulatory effect.

This is particularly important in light of the most common afflictions of modern life — which is this notable deterioration at the head, hands and feet — even as the heart and lungs continue to function for another 20 years beyond the responsiveness at the most distinctive and critical parts of the human body — in the head, hands and feet (neuropathies). That’s where any intelligent life form would prioritize as the most significant markers of fitness and health — over biceps and abdominals — but in doing so, also derive those benefits as well because they have to be engaged in a supportive (anchoring) role by evolutionary design.

That must be how it works — and it is not optional dependent on what one wishes and theorizes it is. That is simply the fact of the matter — despite what the self-proclaimed experts develop more jargon and buzzwords to explain away their lack of any scientific underpinnings. For them, the truth is anything they want it to be — and they are the “science.” Even if it doesn’t work, and only needs infinite more funding for further studies.

It is indeed true that one can provide extreme muscle soreness requiring a week to fully recover from — producing sustainable growth indefinitely if that is the only consideration — but that is seldom the only consideration in life — for most people who live more balanced lives — and that balance is paramount in what defines fitness and health. Lots of people will go out in a blaze of glory — if they think that one thing is the “only” thing. Sometimes a person has no choice but to go “all in” this way, but for most situations, something less is “optimal.” How much less then becomes the significant question.

Ideally, one does not want to awaken each day to unbearable pain (extreme muscle soreness) but if they do, want to be able to rectify that situation so by the end of day, they have fully recovered and restored their abilities — even if they awake the next morning with a similar or even worsening soreness — but they know there is something they can do to improve. That is simply alternating the contractions and relaxations from the extremities back towards the center of the body to flush the body of that inflammation which is the source of pain and dis-ease, and that is the trigger for increasing health and responsiveness (fitness). That is the recovery ability so few understand — but is key to sustaining health and fitness for as long as one lives.

Then once a week workouts to exhaustion (failure) should be enough for most people — along with daily “freehand” movements for 50 repetitions articulating the full-range movements at the neck, wrists, and ankles to produce those alternating full contractions and full relaxations that optimizes the flow to the circuit activated in such manner. What won’t work is merely increasing the flow to the heart itself — in what is called cardio exercise — because that is what we were all blessed with starting out by virtue of being born.

The difference is how effectively one includes that circulation to even the remotest areas of the body by activating those contractions back towards the heart — creating the space (vacuum) for the new nutrients to enter, and in that contraction (compression) removing the fluids tending to accumulate otherwise as the inflammation and swelling of the tissues until they are no longer functional and responsive.

That is the greater meaning of health and fitness — if we hope to live longer lives in as good a condition as Nature intended and allows for. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel — or even the pulley.

All in One

 A better question is which one movement requires the activation and engagement of all the muscles of the body to achieve?

That would be rotating the head 360 degrees from left to right, and back again. A hundred years ago, a doctor recommended this movement he called ”The Giant Swing” — as the cure for all common ailments — because it enhanced the circulation throughout the body — beginning with the head.

One of the great afflictions of modern times is the problem of the dementias — which is the condition of the brain becoming disengaged (dysfunctional) from the rest of the body, so while the heart and lungs may continue to function (automatically), all the other cognitive and responsiveness of the body has ceased — increasingly for ten, twenty, thirty years or more — requiring many other lives to sustain that one. Of course that is not a sustainable course for the future because we can’t have increasingly many caring for the one — who is incapable of doing anything for themselves — or we’re back into the more primitive times in which everyone was a vassal sacrificing their life for the Pharoah or chief — who upon their death, took everybody with them to continue serving them in the next life.

Hopefully we live in more enlightened times — in which each individual is empowered to be all they can be — and not one part overruling every other — but integrating the whole as the summation of every action. That genius of evolution can also be noticed at the other extremities of the body where the critical faculties are. Those are the movements most advantageous and beneficial to do so — at the extremities of the head, hands and feet — which are ultimately the movements of articulation and expression — and not the six-pack or core muscles, whose main function is to support and stabilize the movements occurring at the hands, feet and head.

Anybody with any smattering of understanding of physiology knows that to produce a desired work, the insertion (distal) of a muscle must contract towards the origin (proximal), which in turn, is attached to insertion of the anchoring muscle — so that a contraction from the most distant (distal) point, triggers the contraction of every proximal muscle back towards the center of the body close to the heart, and thus even the ancients recognized it as the center of power. But that power can only be triggered from the most distal insertion back towards the origin — and never vice-versa.

Naturally, that is the only way to engage most of the muscles with an economy and efficiency of movement — or one has to work out each muscle in isolation individually (660+) which is a very laborious process resulting in the disproportionate development of so many exercisers — and most egregious among the many novice bodybuilders who develop their upper bodies to the complete neglect of their lower bodies, and then to every disproportion imaginable because they are not exercising with this balance and integration foremost in mind.

And thus in their older ages, may still have impressive six-packs and biceps, but are no longer capable of moving their heads — and all other head functioning as well, which of course, include one’s cognitive functioning. This is particularly striking if one ever has the opportunity to visit a place where all the people there are suffering from this lack of cognitive functioning — and every other expressions we’ve come to regard as distinctly and uniquely human — for lives we no longer recognize or are responsive.

The same goes for these people who shuffle along each day thinking the objective is to walk or run a certain amount with no discernible foot movement — when it is only the articulation of the foot that really matters. That’s why high jumpers can jump; they have to use their foot as levers to thrust them high — and no amount of shuffling their feet, is going to get them off the ground. In throwing or batting, one has to turn the wrist — for any meaningful result to occur. That is the construction of the human body and how it is designed to function, maintain, and optimize their abilities — and not to prematurely self-destruct and abuse by doing all the wrong things so that we need replacement parts — which again, can be endless.

So that is the question we really want to be asking — how to develop this greater whole — including the brain, touch, balance — to be firing on all cylinders, and not just be one more lop-sided developed person in the world thinking the part is the whole of the universe. That’s not how it works.

A Paradigm that Explains It All

 Exercise in the traditional sense (gravity) and sweating are not the indicators of health most think they are. The proof of that is that people continue to live in zero-gravity space because the human body is a closed hydraulic system — which accounts for the health and functioning and not the resistance to the environment. That’s why SCUBA divers can also maintain their health and functioning under water as well — and you don’t see sharks and whales floundering around like jellyfish because of their environmental conditions. Instead, they each try to optimize their survivability as best they can — which is what makes them healthy and fit for that environment.

The outer space conundrum is helpful in discussing the actual requirements of life and how to enhance its functioning and development — apart from how we are used to thinking about these things. The value of exercise and functioning, is that we can access the life-sustaining environment, so that our own organism can survive and flourish. To do so is not about lifting weights, sweating, getting the heart rate as high as possible, moving our bodies in space, but the movement that occurs within the body — or what we call respiration and circulation — which is the ABCs of life-restoring protocols.

A would be checking the Airway to see that there is no obstruction or blockage preventing one’s access to the environment (air). Then when that is assured, the primary importance is getting the air to come into the body and then be expelled — so there is the effective exchange of the life-giving nutrients, and the removal of the accumulated toxins in the body. But it is not enough just to get it in and out of the lungs; it has to get into the blood for further circulation throughout the important parts of the body — and particularly to the brain and neuromuscular tissues.

That movement is caused by pressure differences within the cardiovascular system as well as the branching structure of the lungs. The characteristic of that design, is that one large vessel, branches and continues branching to the finest possibilities until a single air molecule or blood cell can pass — which is optimal for the exchange of gases. At that point, the autonomic provisions for that movement diminish, and the voluntary exercise of that movement back towards the heart and lungs take on primary importance — and that is the importance and significance of those voluntary movements we call exercise.

Those who produce more of those voluntary movements, achieve much greater functioning and development because that is what optimizing the circulation supports — while those not in the habit of making those voluntary skeletal muscular movements and contractions (compression), are not likely to have the optimal circulation to function and grow further. That is why muscles and other organs grow healthily — they are given every resource to do so — by optimizing the circulation of the body — which is automatically done by the heart and lungs, but is modified and enhanced greatly by the contractions and relaxations of the skeletal muscles — particularly beginning at its furthest point from the heart — which is where the circulation is poorest — resulting in the characteristic deterioration beginning at the neck, hands and feet — noted in older people.

This deterioration is particularly pronounced in those who no longer move their heads, hands and feet — even if they may spend hours each day making their hearts work tirelessly harder and even enlarge (weaken) — which may serve the heart well enough, but at the expense of the lack of circulation to these very obvious sites of deterioration that even those with the most plastic surgeries cannot hide, but should be obvious to any observant person, that is where the deterioration and weakness is most obvious. So it is not surprising if they have no grip strength or foot strength not to topple over, and obvious deterioration of the neck area, is already a sign of what is happening in the brain as well — because of that similar lack of optimal circulation.

That circulation, is what makes the body healthy and well-functioning — but is grossly misunderstood by all the experts including the cardiologists and brain surgeons. Those organs are not operating in the manner they were designed to self-maintain themselves in optimal conditions — which is the head turning, the hands gripping, and the feet levering against the ground to provide locomotion. But one doesn’t need the ground to provide that contraction and relaxation that occurs when the joint is moved through its full-range of movement. That is to note that contraction is not a function of resistance (gravity), but must occur because of the articulation of the fullest range of movement at that joint — because that is how it is designed to work.

So when it works in the fullest expression of that possibility, all the other good stuff also must happen — but in the absence of that observation and understanding, no amount of effort will produce those same desirable results. The resistance is not against gravity but the body’s own resistance to move those fluids throughout the body effectively. And if one is intelligent, one would devote the entirety of their efforts in ensuring the health and functioning of the most important organs at the head, hands and feet — over the development of the biceps and the six-pack — which is the emphasis that makes so many older bodybuilders look comical — because particularly, it is accompanied by no development at the neck, forearms and calf muscles indicative of a well-developed and proportioned physique.

And those who exercise their hearts to the exclusion of all the other musculature, have that characteristic look of the atrophied body dying to make it to the finish line — rather than a robust look. So now, not surprisingly, many who adhere to the belief that one can’t work their heart hard enough, seem to have a shocking number of their numbers dying “young, fit and healthy,” for mysterious reasons. It’s the wrong paradigm because the preferred understanding, is the realization that one can devote and use every muscle of their body to do the one thing that maintains and enhances the well-being of any individual — and that circulation is not just the exclusive function of the heart, but of every muscle in the body to ensure that exchange in its own localized area.

A person understanding that intelligence built in to every life form, will obviously get much more out of life — than those caught up in a struggle against everything they know to be true in life, and work against it tirelessly all their lives.

Taking Nothing for Granted

There are still a few people who believe that they are "entitled" to perfect health and life -- without doing anything to merit it -- because they have been brainwashed to think that everything in life should be free and available just for the demanding of it.  That's how far removed some have become from reality and the struggle for survival -- that requires their optimal fitness to endure and prosper.  They have been led down the primrose path in thinking that it shouldn't matter what they do -- because they are simply entitled to the same result as everyone else -- regardless of what they do in life.

Many have grown up in bubbles of unreality -- believing that no action has consequences, and particularly undesirable ones -- because every story must end "happily forever after," and all that is required, is simply to click our heels together, and wish it so.

Real life, however, as every honest person can vouch for, is simply not that way -- and every action produces very specific results -- regardless of what one wishes.  Often, that is to find out what those actions will ultimately result in -- and not that one claims that perfect knowledge beforehand.  Most of what we do, is actually to find out the truth of that matter -- in taking our best guess and shot at what that outcome will be.  But the wise and knowledgeable, know that no result is guaranteed -- but they like their chances, and are willing to take them.  That is the mature, and usually successful outlook on life, and what it takes to achieve it -- and not simply another game of "Pretend," with nothing at stake, and no investment in the outcome.

Otherwise, the many fortunes "made on paper," would be the reality that everyone already inhabits -- rather than just another simulation of the game of "Reality," where everybody has as much as they want, every time they want it.  Learning the difference, is ultimately what life is all about -- and why some go on to live happily and fulfilled, while many others, face one upheaval after another -- until mercifully they are gone.  In either case, life goes on -- so it only matters to each individual, what their fate is -- but to that individual, is everything, and what their life is all about.

It doesn't have to be sad, happy, or indifferent -- but simply is what each makes of it.  That has always been the reality of every existence -- so whether one makes the best of it, or the worst of it, is entirely up to each individual to ask of themselves.  Each has their own lifetime to work with.  That is the meaning of their own life.

The healthy individual wants to know how healthy they can be -- because that is the foundation for everything they do.  Even the sick and disabled, want to learn the extent of their capabilities -- and not simply the enclosing walls of hopelessness and despair.  That is the striving of every being -- to realize and actualize the greatest possibility of their existence -- whatever their walk of life.  And in fact, the greatest transformations of those possibilities, have generally emanated from those with those disadvantages that motivated them far beyond what the average was motivated to find out, explore, and develop for themselves primarily, but might prove valuable for the many others facing such as a  challenges.

The beginnings of bodybuilding as a manifestation of this categorical imperative for improvement is the logical place to start.  From the body flows every other action -- and is the testimony of results.  In this regard, the older the better -- as further testament that those truths have stood the test of time -- otherwise, every warrior would simply go out in a blaze of momentary glory -- as juveniles everywhere still do.  Far better if they can still function fully at their greatest maturity.  That is the new standard for these times -- and not the many who used to be good at something or other, half their lifetime ago -- and now are merely shells of their former selves.  That used to be good enough, and maybe all that was thought possible.

But now in this new age, is it now inevitable for people to continue to get better throughout their lives -- now that there is a critical mass of population now doing so -- and what does it take to manifest it?    Just improving the core is not very meaningful when it is the well-known extremities that deteriorate first -- because of its poorer circulation.  That's not caused by the heart not working hard enough to optimize the circulation to those parts.  The problem is that the musculature at the extremities are not working at all to designate the circuit of circulation -- in contemporary sedentary lives.  That means the musculature effecting movement at the head, hands and feet are not producing the pumping effect of alternating muscular contractions and relaxation -- just as the heart is doing automatically and unfailingly, and for that reason, should not be the focus of added efforts.  That is the given.

But when the head no longer moves, then the muscles of the neck atrophy into that familiar look of a person in failing health, and similarly, one loses their grip strength and balance because those levers are unexercised and unarticulated.  And with that lack of alternation of contraction and relaxation, there is no flow into those areas that simply deteriorate -- because although there is a provision for that variable circulation, it is never exercised because modern behaviors no longer facilitate it -- by conveniently making the picture on the screen move -- and so one no longer needs to turn their heads to optimize their hearing, sight, and awareness of what is going on.

Increasing the circulation to any area, increases the inflow of nutrients by first evacuating the inflammation, swelling, and other waste products from those tissues, and in that process, create the conditions for health and growth by that ingenious normal process.  Forget all that jargon about microtears and cardio producing those effects -- because it is the simple basics of circulation that explains it all.  That is the magic of exercise -- that those parts actually exercised (articulated) grow stronger -- including the brain, while the heart is always working unfailingly, and will make the proper adjustments accordingly.  And so people following such regimens, develop enlarged hearts while still maintaining an atrophied and emaciated look everywhere else -- because that is what they are doing!

Now they may win a ribbon or trophy for that -- but no longer seem to be a model of full development in all the ways that really matter.  The same can also be said of those who develop their biceps or abdominals to the exclusion of everything else -- especially their legs!  And so they take countless pictures of their biceps or abdominals -- while the most important parts (organs) of the body atrophy in the typical fashion of their unexcersing cohorts.  That moves the needle just a little bit -- but is not the picture of a fully-functioning human specimen still firing on all cylinders and in every aspect of their lives.  And that is what we really want to be -- and not just a more grotesque caricature of present disturbing trends.

That is the horror of these times: that people's hearts and lungs go on working, but nothing else does, and is functional in a meaningful way -- and simply making the heart and lungs live longer, is not the answer to the problem.  The answer is bringing the rest of the vital organs up to the level of its most reliable and steadfast -- instead of increasing the disproportion and disparity that will drag not only that individual, but everybody else who has any contact and relationship down with them as well.  That is simply the reality of what is going on -- and no amount of wishful thinking otherwise is going to change that.

Developing and enhancing the bicep is not going to alter that disproportion.  What is desired and appropriate, is to bring the weaknesses up to the level of the strengths -- which in most bodies, is the heart and the lungs that still work unfailingly -- because it unfailingly is getting all the blood and oxygen.  But that doesn't mean it is going everywhere else equally.  It has to be directed specifically to where there is the muscular alternation of contraction and relaxation that induces a flow -- and by that action, provides the health, vitality and growth desired.  Nothing else will do.

That is what causes healthy functioning; that would be truly exercising the brain (head) so that it is not the critical failure -- that is increasingly the greatest horror of our times.  That is the simplicity about exercise that one needs to know.