The Focus of Movement

The critical importance of Arthur Jones' lifelong observation on exercise was ultimately manifested in his focus of muscular action around a single joint (axis of rotation) -- of which the largest are the shoulder girdle and hip girdle involving the largest muscles of the body.  That specificity seemed to enable one to work the largest muscles -- but more importantly, to work the most muscles in that singular focus.

The reason for that is because every muscle contraction is dependent upon the muscle contraction underlying it -- which is to note that the bicep cannot be fully contracted while all the other muscles are in a state of relaxation.  That is not how the muscular "system" works.  One of the primary tasks of every muscle, is to recruit as many other muscles as possible -- to make that task easier, as well as possible.

That is why the proper performance of every movement, should be to begin as strictly as possible with the muscle at the joint of movement, and eventually spreading the load over the entirety of the muscular system (network) as one has exhausted that specific muscle and requires the assistance of all the supporting and surrounding muscle.  Rather than being "cheating," that is the obvious and intelligent thing to do -- to recruit the most muscular activation and participation possible.  That is what any intelligent being and manifestation would do -- and not tie all their appendages behind their back -- thinking if they can survive that challenge in that manner, they will grow stronger for it.

Working out in that manner of isolating every muscle, then becomes even more prohibitive than most have time for -- as there are 600+ muscles in the body.  However, the secret is that the design and orientation of human expression and movement, is optimized by movements at the head, hands and feet -- while the muscles at the core -- including the heart and lungs, play mainly a supportive role and are not the primary means of expression and articulation.

The hands and feet are not just clubs and stumps -- so that one must immobilize those areas at the wrist and ankles -- rather than achieving the greatest range of motion possible at those areas of focus (expression).  I think most people who have thrown or hit a ball recognize this importance of turning their wrists to achieve the precise effect they want -- often "posing" for a few moments because it felt so right.  It would be even absurd to consider to do so without the proper articulation at this joint.

And so the whole design of the human body is focused on these fine, expressive movements at the head (face and neck), hands (grip strength and dexterity), and feet (to lever against the ground).  Thus it doesn't matter how many miles one shuffles their feet -- as it would be simply to articulate the full range foot flexion the ballet dancers are capable of achieving to obtain impressive lift and deftness.  Pound for pound, they are incredible athletes with power to weight ratios that most can only imagine one day doing.

But the purpose is not to make everyone into Zhakarova, who is truly gifted for that performance, but to take a few lessons from that range of possibilities -- because there aren't any other lifelong trained ballerinas who can duplicate that range of movement as much as they try.  But the same principles of movement still apply to everyone -- regardless of their genetic makeup.    

In one position, the muscle must be contracted, and in the other, the muscle must be relaxed -- and gradually and deliberately working to extend those ranges, causes the entirety of that body to make that possible.  Not only does that one focused muscle have to be entirely contracted but its fullest contraction will require all the connected muscles to be in that supportive state as well, and that is true for the relaxation of each individual focused muscle -- that it is dependent on the muscles it is interconnected to to also be in a relaxed state as well.

Thus by limiting the focus to the movement around only one axis, it is possible to control the state of all the others -- and the primary work being done, is to move the blood and fluids around the body back towards their purifying and recycling central organs -- and in that manner, ensuring the healthy functioning of that body -- and everything follows from there.  The healthy organism can do whatever it wants to do -- and is not limited by its own self-imposed disabilities and injuries.

One of the important markers of suboptimal circulation is the bloating and inflammation manifested in swelling -- particularly at the extremities of the hands, feet, and face (neck) -- often thought to be "natural aging."  That's why compression garments are effective in many people who have this swelling of their feet, legs, hands, arms, because compression is the same as contraction in making a volume smaller -- so less fluids can accumulate.

It works paticularly well at reducing the tremendous and acute swelling that accompanies many injuries -- to half the size or more from the resulting inflammation.  As such, many people with largely bloating and inflammation problems, can immediately reduce those conditions with compression garments as well as alternating rhythmic muscle contractions -- just as the heart does in pumping blood out to the extremities.  

But the heart does not pump the blood back to the heart and all the centralized purifying and recycling organs.  It relies on skeletal, voluntary muscles to achieve that effect -- and why people who are more active in this manner, are in better shape and condition than those who do not, or very little.  That should not be a huge secret but simply the proper understanding of biology and physiology.

Half of the circulatory process is automatic -- but the other half is dependent on what one actually does to effectively pump the blood and fluids back towards the heart.  That part is not automatic -- but willful, and effected foremost, by the proper understanding of this functioning.

The complement of circulation is respiration -- or the exchange of air within the body with the environmental air.  The proper understanding of this process is that the lack is not the breathing in, but the expulsion of the old air in the body -- that must be expelled first in order to make room for the new. 

Because like the blood vessels, lung tissues branch into finer vessels, which mean it must follow a fixed path in and out -- and why chest compressions obviate the need for breathing into the lungs because the atmospheric pressure will restore air into the vacuum caused by compressions.  But first, the old, residual air has to be expelled -- and that is the same for the fluids in the tissues -- they must first be expelled by these muscular contractions to have the greatest health-giving effect.

That's what muscle contractions do -- and then once that is done first -- the relaxation of that contraction allows new fluids a vacuum (space) to enter.  Thus the importance of both fullest contraction and fullest relaxation -- but that is not achieved attempting a one lift attempt, followed by any amount of resting (doing nothing).  Those people are likely to have high-blood pressures, and dangerously spiking heart rates.

And then their doctors will tell them, "No more heavy lifting," to which they interpret to mean no more exercise ever again -- because that is the only way they know and think productive.  There is a better, more productive, healthier, sustainable way -- beginning always, with the proper understanding of what one is doing.  Otherwise, more of the improper understanding, is not likely to achieve the desired results.

The Key to Healthy Lifelong Exercise

 The key to sustaining healthy lifelong practices is to have the proper understanding of what one is doing. Once one has this understanding that makes perfectly good sense, then it is impossible not to do it — like avoiding touching a hot stove. One understands that perfectly clearly — and not that one feels lazy and so will rest their hands on a hot stove. The human body is a lot smarter than people think it is — innately, and so when they are clear on what they must do, it doesn’t make sense to do anything else.

But unfortunately, a lot of what we are taught to do, doesn’t make any sense, and so the body intelligence tells them to ignore that “instruction,” because it doesn’t make sense and can be confirmed by their own experience — which ultimately overrides what they have been told to do “for their own good.” However, that is not confirmed in anything they do — and so they don’t bother to waste their time — because they know better.

That is particularly true in developing lifelong exercise habits — because they seem so unconnected with immediate feedback — and one will be advised that if they simply keep it up, they’ll have miraculous results in one to three years — rather than immediately and thereafter. If that were the case each and every time, then one would be a fool not to do it — especially when one needs to — like getting up in the morning and recognizing that one can barely move or is experiencing pain in moving. At that, many think the cure is not to move at all — since it causes pain, rather than “exercising” caution in that movement — and getting back to the basics of that movement — which is the articulation of that joint through as full a range as momentarily possible, realizing that every articulation of that range, increases that functioning through circulation and lubrication.

And that is the whole purpose of adopting a lifelong movement strategy to maintain those fullest capabilities — rather than throttling back more and more each day until one is completely disabled and dysfunctional. Obviously, that is not heading in the right direction they want to go — let alone as they get older. Maintaining full range movement is the only thing that makes sense — to enjoy the fullest life possible — but the price one has to pay to maintain those capabilities is not as exorbitant as most instructors make it out to be — infinitely out of reach. That is the training psychology employed by most instructors by promising those results only and always in some distant future — rather than actualizing those capabilities in the present moment — when it is desirable and important to do so.

Contrary to what the popular media would have us believe, most people do not pop out of bed each morning ready to take on the world — beginning with running a marathon and setting a personal best weightlifting — which is daunting rather than encouraging. Instead, most people are at their lowest levels of energy and wish to bump that up incrementally until they’re “ready to go,” and that is particularly important for the weak, sick and disabled — to bump themselves up to that next level of increasing functionality and well-being. Otherwise, nothing happens, and nothing seems possible. Also, nothing makes more sense to do.

But that doesn’t imply or mean doing all the things that don’t make sense — thinking if they simply do it long enough and more — that it will magically transform a pumpkin into a golden carriage. Reality doesn’t work that way. It is not “magical and wishful-thinking” enough that gets one there. It has to have a sound basis in reality and experience — and produce direct and immediate results. One does not turn on a computer and hope to get the proper results a year or three from now. No one would buy one if that is the timeframe of their expectations.

Yet they accept those rationalizations from “instructors” who obviously cannot produce immediate and direct results — because of that disconnect from reality in favor of their theories and explanations. The simplicity of exercise is understanding the basics of vital functions — underlying breathing and circulation. They both operate by the fundamental principle of volume inversely related to pressure — so that as any volume decreases (contracts), the pressure increases and has to move where there is less pressure, and since every muscle contracts by moving the insertion (distal) to the origin (proximal), that action enhances the flow back towards the center of the body (heart) — while the heart pumps blood towards the extremities (but not back towards the heart again). That is what the voluntary muscle action does.

And so those who understand and merely effect those muscular contractions, enhance that obvious health effect — along with producing movement, and the familiar pump, as well as fatigue. All that is incorporated in traditional movements like running, jumping, walking, lifting weights — but also can be done deliberately just for that enhanced pumping effect — when one understands that that is the effect — whether one wants it to be or not.

So whether one is an astronaut or simply lives a largely sedentary life, they no longer have to labor from dawn to dusk to maintain optimal fitness — but can achieve those objectives “scientifically and systematically” by upping their understanding before undertaking more effort — without it. That addresses the great challenge of these times in how to maintain health in greater longevity — even and despite increasingly sedentary lifestyles. The answer is not standing up or walking all day — but simulating the alternating muscular contractions and relaxations that produce that effect — beginning at the known weaknesses of those effects at the extremities of the body — the head, hands and feet — that despite all the myriad of activities undertaken, are ignored in conventional exercise to begin at the biceps, quadriceps, and pecs instead — which is the lack of understanding and observance of how the body fails with age — most disastrously at the head, hands and feet.

The beauty of this is that even the most weakened and aged people, can still move their head, hands and feet — even in they cannot move at every other joint — nor is it necessary to do so to obtain the healthy circulatory (pumping) effect — because the fluids pumped from the extremities has to go through the rest of the body, but not vice-versa if the focus is at a joint closer to the core — as in the case of the biceps, quadriceps, pectoral muscles — while the vital organs of the extremities are left to languish in the familiar pattern of the aged.

An intelligent being would recognize it means little for the heart and lungs to continue functioning while the critical organs have perished for the lack of this vital circulation to maintain them in top (optimal) condition for the remainder of their lives.

Can One Exercise Too Much?

 The problem with doing 500 squats a day is that it leaves less time and energy for working the rest of the body — although we usually see the opposite of this — in people who do 500 repetitions for their biceps or abdominals, while doing little or nothing for their legs. Most gyms are full of such people with lopsided developments that make them look grotesque rather than appealing. Another variation on the theme is to load a barbell or machine, and just let it sit there so nobody else can use it — and so one can pull ahead of everybody else in that manner.

But all sarcasm aside, the danger of such regimens is the thinking that any one thing is all that is required to achieve perfection in all things — rather than just the one thing that has become the limits of their universe — and that is true with running, weightlifting, gender identity, or any other one thing by which they hope to reduce and explain every other activity in the world. The whole rationale for exercise is that it enabled one to become as complete a well-developed individual as possible — rather than a caricature of a stereotype — even of oneself. That’s why it was the fundamental exercise of the ancient academies — and not all the smart guys went to one camp, and everybody else went to another camp, and further divisions and specializations as job security for the bureaucrats of every ambition.

Having discussed exercise with many of the great pioneers and researchers, I found that 50 repetitions of any exercise would provide the appropriate fatigue that simply doing more would not. That was true whether they were in the poorest condition or world-class condition. If one performed less than 50 repetitions the weight was too heavy, and if they could do more than 50 repetitions, the execution was imperfect — which in the case of the squat was dropping down and rebounding out of the low position — rather than actually “squatting” at any time — which is specifically, to sit in the bottom position for an extended period of time.

The movement from the top to the bottom is not actually squatting — if no squatting actually occurs — which is to rest in the bottom position for any extended period of time — which is a great practice for a count of “50.” In this definition, many squatters cannot even do “one” — but do everything possible not to actually achieve the squat, and are even taught to avoid ever getting into a proper squatting position by allowing their knees to move forward beyond their toes — which is an actual requirement for a proper squat. Thus they usually cannot go below a quarter of the way down — and activate dorsiflexion, which is the toes moving towards the shin or tibialis — which is how the human leg is designed to move (hinge).

Yet many exercise instruction actually teaches against moving in the manner the body is actually designed to move — while contriving many other movements that have no practical application other than performing that exercise. And so after a lifetime of performing such movements, as they age, the damage to their knees, back, and other joints become apparent if not crippling — when the very reason for performing proper exercise is to avoid injury, rehabilitate and strengthen beyond present capabilities her than the — as a lifelong practice.

In the “squat movement” particularly, that would be performing the bottom half rather than the upper half usually done by most — because the top of the bottom half is not a resting position as standing fully erect is. So even with bodyweight alone, the muscles must work to maintain that position, while in the fully erect position, it is a bone-on-bone lockout requiring very little muscle activation — which is the kind of weightlifting/training most people do — and so can go all day, every day — with liberal rests on top of that.

But if the purpose and understanding is to fatigue the muscles as thoroughly as possible (high intensity failure) to stimulate muscle growth, that should be achieved in 50 repetitions rather than 500 — to prevent repetitive stress injury and premature wear and tear to the joints — while doing very little for muscle activation and full-range articulation of the movement and muscle from fullest relaxation to fullest contraction at the focus of movement — which is the “pump” indicative of enhancing the circulatory effect that skeletal (voluntary) muscles direct in addition to the always reliable heart action.