The Rule Book and User Guide rule 7 We Must Move Our Bodies Wisely, Individualized To Our Body Constitution-gctid233599

[Nana]

The following is excerpted from: The Rule Book and User Guide For Healthy Living - Nana Kwaku Opare MD, MPH, CA. copyright Opare Publishing all rights reserved

7. We Must Move Our Bodies Wisely, Individualized To Our Body Constitution

Just about everybody knows that you cannot be serious about your health if you do not exercise. But what kind of exercise and how much? If your goal is health and not qualifying for gladiator-type activities, then you exercise to feel good and to keep feeling good. Looking good will come as a byproduct of feeling good.

People often come to me to lose weight. I ask them why they are trying to lose weight. My belief is that if you have the right pattern of diet and exercise, you will naturally migrate to the proper weight for your body constitution.

There are two types of exercise, internal and external. What most Westerners call exercise is external exercise, which is meant to allow you to move and expend energy.

Internal exercise is designed to cultivate the inner workings of the body. It is designed to cultivate and build qi, enhance respiration, digestion and elimination. It is designed to ensure the free and easy flow of energy through the body and to calm and center the mind.

Both external and internal exercise are important. If your internal function is good, then your ability to expend energy is good. If your internal body function is constrained or weakened, the ability to perform physical activities is diminished. Tai chi, qi gong and yoga are the best-known forms of internal exercise. Internal exercise should be taught in childhood and the practice continued daily throughout life, regardless of external exercise. The benefits of internal exercise are many and the risks are few.

Because we must get around in the world and on occasion must physically defend ourselves, external exercise is also essential.

I place the goals of external exercise and its benefits as a) balance; b) flexibility and pliability of the joints and muscles; c) core strength and posture; d) endurance; e) overall strength.

Balance. Because we stand and walk erect, the first thing we must do is keep from falling over. Many young people take this for granted. The elderly often list fear of falling down as one of the primary reasons they avoid outdoor activities. This is with good reason. Hip and other fractures often lead to suffering and death in the elderly. Falling is a dangerous proposition for all ages. Falling and hitting your head on a hard surface is enough to kill you. This is why it is of crucial importance for all bicycle riders to wear a helmet, no matter how fast or slow they ride. Having good balance is key.

Flexibility. Because we do fall, it is important that our muscles and joints be flexible and pliable to absorb shock. Flexibility (and avoiding of reckless behavior and dangerous sports) is the key to remaining injury-free. It is also the key to remaining pain-free as you age.

Core Strength and Posture. Because we stand erect, core strength and posture are necessary to hold the body upright. Keeping the vertebra properly stacked upon each other is essential for the proper action of respiration and digestion. Integrity of the spinal musculature and abdominal musculature and its proper coordination and tone ensures this. Many doctors teach sit-ups as the key exercise. Properly done, sit-ups are a great way to strengthen and tone the abdominal wall muscles rectus abdominus*, but they do not effectively tone the obliques* and transversus abdominus*. Often ignored is the quadratus lumborum* as a posture-maintaining muscle*. Hatha yoga and Pilates are excellent for building core strength. This is why we offer instruction in both at our center in Atlanta.

Endurance. Those of us preoccupied with our appearance often overlook endurance. However, being fit has to do with not just looking good but being able to maintain physical output long enough to get done what you are doing or getting to where you need to go or to get away from danger. The most important defensive skill is running. No one can defeat you in a fight if

they cannot catch you. There is always going to be someone stronger than you. They may have a gun or a knife. But they cannot defeat you if you run away. Raw speed is important for the first 100 yards or so. But after that it is endurance that counts. More battles are won because of the army's ability to sustain their output than by how many pounds the soldiers can bench press.

Overall Strength. Speed does not mean that strength is unimportant. Having the ability to push away or pull up or lift your weight or that of your family member is a very important survival ability. Muscle strength also supports the joints and protects them from injury. Having good muscle mass and strength is important for doing everything else. However, if one focuses on balance, posture, flexibility and endurance, one will develop strength in the process. Weight training done intelligently is an excellent activity, however most people need only to do calisthenics and simple gymnastic movements such as pulls-ups, push-ups and squats, etc. More than that is only helpful if you are competing in an activity that requires speed and power. Soldiers need to be strong but not at the expense of the other aspects of fitness.

* All of these muscles are part of the abdominal wall.

[Agya Yaw]

Excellent post!