Building Hand and Grip Strength

 Building forearms and grip strength is a good proxy for understanding the muscular system and how it is designed to ensure one’s health and fitness — but are essentially ignored and neglected by most excercisers, and particularly denotes the end-stage of life for most people.

The contemporary buzz of medical researchers is the claim that all disease is caused by inflammation, or the accumulation of toxic fluids in the tissues of the body beginning at the extremities of the head, hands and feet — where circulation is poorest because that’s where the push from the heart dissipates, and the contractions from the skeletal muscles beginning at the extremities begin to push the blood back towards the heart — to clear space in the capillaries and tissues for new blood to come in. It is a naive understanding to think that the heart can overcome the resistance of miles of capillaries where blood is hardly moving. But a contraction beginning at the most distal (distant from the center) insertion will contract to its origin, which then will tie into the insertion of the more proximal muscle supporting it, and so on — back to the center.

That’s why people who are active and get this activation, become more muscular than others. The waste products from cell metabolism are sent back to the purifying and recycling organs of the body — creating room for new fluid (nutrients) which produces health and growth. It is that very process of circulation — effected by the alternation of the contraction and relaxation phases of the muscle. That’s why in exercises, it is important to move from the greatest relaxation to the greatest contraction — while focusing on increasing that range more than any other consideration — including how much weight one is using in the exercise. More often than not, the weight is often a hindrance to achieving those extreme ranges of articulation — and one is better off effecting those ranges without any weight or resistance.

This ideal movement can be simulated by a simple movement called the wrist roller — in which one had a rope tied to a short bar attached to a light weight and lifted the weight up in one direction and lowered it with the opposite movement. For most people, that exercise can be simulated to give a better result without the apparatus at all — but simply focusing on that movement — particularly extending the range of the contraction — which most people tend to omit, and so they believe that developing the forearms, calves and neck muscles are difficult if not impossible to do — because their range of movement is too limited.

What they need to do is not add more weight — but increase the range of their movement, and also increase their repetitions to 50 — at which most people experience noticeable muscle fatigue, burn, or pump — resulting in extreme muscle soreness for days after. The remedy for recovery from extreme muscle soreness is to do that movement the next day and the next — because those alternation of relaxation and contractions, are pumping the inflammation out of the tissues. That is the quickest way to ameliorate extreme muscle soreness — over the next few days, rather than doing nothing at all and letting that inflammation fester.

Most trainees never come close to a full contraction or full relaxation in any of their movements — which is the reason it doesn’t work. This is particularly true of the older bodybuilders whose joints have been so compromised that they can barely move — yet still insist on handling as heavy weights as they can doing half-movements. Increasing the weights assuredly won’t make them better — but increasing the range of their movements will because the range of motion dictates the range of the contraction and relaxation — and increasing that difference, increases the flow — while maintaining a steady state of muscular contraction does not. That is how most people do their exercises — unproductively.

The position most think is a contraction is not — nor is the relaxed position. Taking the bench press as an example, if one begins to press upwards from the “finished” position, one will notice how quickly the muscle will tire because one has achieved a supercontracted position. Likewise, most people do not go into a superrelaxed position but instead bounce the weight off the floor or off their chest because everybody knows how hard it is to begin a movement from a dead stop. The only way to do it safely is to use a very light weight — or no weight at all, and just learn how to achieve the greatest muscular contraction, alternated with a relaxation — for that pumping effect alone — which is not nothing, but the most healthful thing one can do — and by doing that produces the health, functioning and growth one ultimately hopes to achieve all one’s life.

Designing a Better Treadmill

There is no rule that prohibits useful activity -- so while one is just breathing and pumping blood -- there is no requirement that one make the heart alone work harder, while all the other muscles do nothing.  That is really not as Nature intended.  It foresaw that living a good, productive life, would enable them to continue to do so, and even better their prospects.  That is the well-known survival of the fit -- and not that one has to battle constantly with others to prove it.  Most likely, one lives longer if they are not engaged in constant battle with every other -- all the time.  Then like the alpha of every species, one can just pick their spots, and rise to the challenge that nobody else can.

When and how those challenges arise, is anybody's guess, and fate to determine.  Thus, one tries to be prepared for anything as much as possible and practical -- while also realizing their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.  Then one can answer the right challenges, and not just every challenge like the juveniles of every species think they must respond to.  Of course, that's what gets them into trouble and shortens their lives, or disables them thereafter.

One hopes to avoid those early childhood traumas -- and get to the long and prosperous lives we think possible.  The most crippling of those formative years, is the belief that there can only be one way -- and it doesn't work -- and so there is only despair that things can ever get better.  But that is what civilization and culture is all about -- creating that baseline foundation for everyone to proceed from and discover the unknown and unrealized.

The ultimate objective of life is not just to make the heart work harder -- but to be firing on all cylinders -- and not just the one.  The obvious example is when the heart continues to beat heartily when the brain is dead, or has stopped functioning for most recognizable purposes.  Obviously, such people are not much fun to be around -- and will cost other lives to be sacrificed for their care and continued sustenance.  You don't want to be that person.

That's why one should do everything within their power and abilities not to be -- including taking the necessary precautions whenever appropriate -- assuming that everybody else's job is not doing that for him.  That fully eliminates 90% of what could go wrong -- just being aware of what is going on around them, and not thinking that is everybody else's job to ensure for them.  Life doesn't happen that way.

So the essential exercise should be increasing that awareness -- while they are doing anything and everything, and that not only knowing what is going on in their own heads is all there is to know and worth knowing.  Often, the difference between being mugged and not, is acknowledging and being aware of the presence of others, rather than denying their existence.  It is the same in the wild kingdom, that those most alert and aware, are less likely to be victimized -- while the oblivious, are the preferred targets of the opportunists.

Not that one should necessarily be overly paranoid about everything.  Simple awareness takes 90% of the surprise out of most incidents.  And that is why in one's choice of conditioning activities, one should prefer to develop one's awareness of what one is doing -- over thinking one is doing anything else.  It's like a person reading and planning for their next vacation -- while being oblivious to the one they are presently on.  Or simply reading a magazine while they are treadmilling.  Their body is dispassionately doing one thing, while they minds are engaged elsewhere -- so a great part of their conditioning, is to be fully engaged and present in what they are actually doing.

That has great power -- because the mind operating with that awareness, is very powerful, and may be the difference between succeeding and failing.  That mind, can make an immediate adjustment -- as required by the actual circumstances and developments.  And that is what life is all about -- making those adjustments and adaptations, and not merely continuing to do the same thing over and over again -- despite it not working, and even being the source of all one's problems.

That fragmentation in thinking about exercise began in the '60s with the thought that there could be exercise for the heart and exercise for the muscles -- as though they were antagonists rather than integral to the entire operation of a healthily functioning body.  That notion was largely promoted by those selling the measuring devices -- including the heart monitors and resistance machines.

But the object is not how hard one can work the heart alone, or how much weight a muscle can move -- but the healthy benefit of optimizing the circulatory effect that ensures one's health and well-functioning.  Then muscles naturally grow, bones get stronger, organs remain functional, etc.  It is not just the one thing -- but everything -- working well with each other.  That is the well-integrated individual -- and not each part fighting for primacy within the individual and so one is out of balance and proportion -- and looks it.

That's why many gym physiques look unproportional and unbalanced -- when the ideal even of antiquity, was for aesthetic balance -- especially the mind in a well developed body.  In fact, that was what the body manifested -- as the most accurate gauge of that development.  That was how the being showed its intelligence -- and still is, but not necessarily in the puerile ways many think it so.

That would be the objective in thinking that the measure of any activity is the amount of calories burned -- or even heart rate despite the atrophy of the rest of the musculature.  Instead of deliberately minimizing the engagement of the rest of the musculature, it would make far more sense to make a treadmill of any more meaningful movement -- such as are designed in any other exercise machine -- with minimal resistance -- while accentuating and increasing the range of movement.

That's what most people fail to do -- even while making their hearts work ever harder.  That is especially true of the older exercisers -- distinguished most notably by their lack of range at every joint, mostly because their inactive (sedentary) lives don't demand it of their normal and usual movements.  Treadmills are not normal and usual movements -- as much as is made to normalize them as such -- as the standard of human movement and activity.

Far more useful and meaningful is the movement at the head, hands and feet -- and those movements give meaning to the larger, supporting muscular structures -- and not vice-versa, and why those conventional exercises fail to halt the deteriorating effect most visible at the head, hands and feet.  That development produces a well-proportioned physique because that is how the body is designed to work.  Anything else is reinventing the body by pasting body parts according to one's tastes -- while ignoring the millions of years of evolution to get it right.

Making It Possible ... Not Harder

 The mistake most make in prescribing exercise for the senior, disabled and terminal, is not that the exercises are not hard enough, but that they are impossible to do at all -- and the proper way to begin, is exploring what movements they can do -- and most need, rather than all the extraneous movements and activities possible.  That is usually what is referred to as the latest gimmick in getting people to exercise -- as though it is just another form of entertainment and diversion, rather than that their very lives depend on it.

Many still are conditioned to believe that exercise is optional rather than mandatory and necessary for a body to obtain and maintain its best health -- throughout life, and so it is necessary to design techniques and protocols that make that manifest -- rather than just the wishful longings for the days long ago when one could do such things.  The intelligence and capability of the human mind is that it can solve a problem -- and not that it is powerless to act by its own invariable constitution.

The major reason for this proper exercise of one's faculties is not that it is for vain and ego purposes -- but to produce and optimize health, and that is reflected in one's appearance -- and not as many "intellectuals" rationalize -- can only come at the expense of one's health.  That is certainly the wrong way to think about these things -- and they are encouraged by all these well-intentioned people who try to make it as difficult and impossible for those to begin.

Instead, it should be realized that the most necessary movements to do and become proficient at, are those that is most palpably useful -- which is the use of the head, hands and feet -- where human expression is articulated and maximized.  Yet it is frequently noted that those are in fact the first places to decline and deteriorate -- for the increasing lack of use -- as the swollen hands, feet and faces of those not in their best condition.

Right off, one recognizes that those are the areas that could benefit the most and immediately from a strategy to reduce that swelling (inflammation) -- which is the simple and obvious value in producing contractions to effect the compression that pumps the fluids (including blood) back towards the center of the body to the purifying and recyling organs of the heart, lungs, kidney, liver, etc. -- rather than allowing those waste products to accumulate in the tissues for a lifetime.

That is the immediate and obvious value of exercise -- which doesn't need more funding for further studies to verify.  We know that to be true in the standard medical treatment for most acute injuries.  Pressure (compression) will stop the bleeding.  Compression will simulate the beating of the heart -- as well as breathing.  That is so because those are the conditions that life has evolved in.

The alternating contractions and relaxations produce a flow -- and in their absence, flow does not occur -- because it is produced by alternating pressure differences.  Properly understanding that, is most of the difficulty in exercise -- and not that one is attempting to overcome and override the laws of physics at every effort in life.  Far better to understand and work with the environment one already finds themselves in -- rather than attempting to change the entirety of the world to suit one's own primacy and superiority over it.

Assuredly that won't happen -- and it would be foolish to undertake.  Yet that has been the premise of much undertaking in history as well as modern life -- trying to game the system, rather than simply enjoying the game and enjoying what life gives.  And so the great wisdom of the ages is to appreciate that -- to be one with that Nature -- and not cut off from it, and increasingly isolating oneself from that greater Life.

That is everyone's religion -- and guiding principle throughout life -- learning to go with that flow.  However, most of what people do, goes against that flow -- thinking it will make them stronger and wiser -- than the billions of years of evolution.  Of course if they could overcome all that, they would be God -- and could make whatever rules they want.  

But the far more productive course for most, would simply be observing, understanding, and heeding what all of reality is telling them -- of which even their own lives would be a bountiful library of experience and knowledge -- far greater than even the most well-funded studies.  Not that they need even more funding to be more accurate -- but that others can duplicate those results in their own experiments -- and not that such things can only be properly conducted by self-designated "experts."

That's not what "science" is about -- maintaining the authority of certain individuals to proclaim the truth to everyone else.  Rather, it is the truth that can be tested by anyone and everyone -- as verifiable truth.  Then that becomes self-evident truth -- because one has done and tested it for themselves, and not just quoted some other, or countless other authorities.  

That flaw is usually because they all assumed the same premises -- rather than questioning from the very beginning -- and that is the notion that the harder the exercise, the better -- rather than the better the understanding, the less effort is required to achieve even greater results.  that is the breakthrough idea that makes every subsequent effort and achievement easier -- and not more difficult!

But effort and achievement will always be necessary -- because it must always be an actuality and not just a thought unexercised and untested.  Naturally, the most highly motivated to find out if anything is true, are those whose very lives depend on it -- which are the people in the worst condition, and often terminal.  They have nothing to lose -- and their lives to gain.  Closely behind them are the disabled, and seniors -- who are frequently the victims and end-results of ways that do not work -- try as hard as they might.  

And of course, they are told, there is no other way.  There is just the straight and narrow path that hasn't worked for anybody before -- and none other -- and they are exhorted even harder, to get with the program!  By then, they are convinced that nothing works, and there is no hope, and only the constant decline is the fate of all human beings.

However, astute observers and practitioners will note that in this "inevitable" respect, not all people are equal -- and a few defy this deterioration much longer, while others seem to age rapidly and hopelessly from their earliest years.  Is there some scientific principle at work here?  That has been the quest for the holy grail and the fountain of youth for as long as recorded history -- but even the 100 year old alligator does not become immortal.  Accidents, catastrophes and miscalculations do occur -- and one is fortunate to avoid them for as long as one can.  That is also part of health, well-being and conditioning.  One does the right thing as much as one can -- but there are no guarantees of infallibility.

But as much as possible, one wishes to have as much of one's fate in one's own hands -- and not at the will of everyone, or anyone else.  That does not mean going against everybody and everything else -- but in understanding how it all flows, and that is life itself.

Is It Better to Do More Repetitions with Lighter Weights?

 The more relevant question is whether light weights can build health — which includes better functioning as well as muscular development. And once one knows what they are doing, they can even build health and muscles with no weights at all — but with a better understanding of what they are trying to achieve. That is particularly important the older one gets with an increasing urgency for health and functioning — and not just to have bigger muscles or to lift more weights.

The person often called the father of modern bodybuilding, Eugen Sandow, prescribed such a course of using 5–10 lb dumbbells for 50–100 repetitions in all his exercises. Then 50 years later, Arthur Jones developed his Nautilus training principles centered around producing resistance through an even greater range of movement — in which he recognized that at one extreme of movement, the muscle under consideration was fully relaxed, and at the other extreme, the muscle was fully contracted. But beyond that, if one increases the range of motion beyond either extreme — the body produces its own resistance — against further movement — not requiring weights at all but working with the greater understanding of the physiology involved.

That is the first thing one has to do — increase the range of movement — and then repetitions become relevant. If one shortens the range of movement to handle heavier weights, then such exercise becomes counterproductive, and eventually injurious. That is the case for not advising older people to use increasingly more weight because it greatly increases the risk of injuries, while being non- or counterproductive — and why people think exercise is no longer effective in older people, or dangerous at worst.

So beginning with these older, more critical population, one fully recognizes the wisdom of the Hippocratic Oath, which is first, “Do No Harm” — and not as many coach and advise, “What doesn’t kill (cripple) you, makes you stronger.” That is the major reason people have to give up exercise entirely — even if they were once Mr. Olympia. More likely than not, they just die at a prematurely young age — of an exercise-induced condition.

We are surprised to learn that many so-called very fit athletes die suddenly — while following their self-prescribed regimens for keeping fit and healthy forever. Particularly susceptible are the “world’s strongest men,” because their hearts and joints can’t take the abuse anymore. The truth of the matter is that exercise does not have to be hard and difficult to be productive — and the favorable health effects can be achieved with a better understanding of the physics and biology involved.

People are healthier in every way because the circulation is optimized — rather than stagnant. Those are the fundamentals of essential life functions — breathing and circulation that in the absence, life cannot be sustained — but under normal conditions, is also not optimized, which exercise clumsily attempts to do. But it is not just a matter of making the heart beat faster and work harder — but that the entire musculature has that as its primary and most important function as well. That happens when a muscle mimics the action of the heart — in alternating muscular states of contraction with relaxations — that produces a pumping effect.

But you don’t do Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation with just 3–6 repetitions and think that is enough. Instead, one does 50 compressions in a minute — and maintains that pace for as long as they deem necessary and hopeful. Compressions are a contraction as they both make a volume smaller — which increases the pressure within until it is forced out into an area in which there is less pressure. And then when it relaxes, it allows space for new fluids and gases coming in from a properly functioning heart. But it is not the heart that is forcing the blood into an already occupied space. It has to first be vacated by the muscle contraction beginning at the insertion of the muscle that is being contracted — back towards the heart by a different set of blood vessels (venous) — which only has tiny valves to prevent a backflow. But the major propulsion has to be provided by the contractions of the skeletal muscles beginning at the insertion of the furthest axis of rotation (contraction).

That is true for the head, hands and feet — which suffer from the poorest circulation in most people because they do no produce contractions at those axes — because of the sedentary life and lack of articulation particularly at those axes (joints). As such, it is easy to understand why people suffer from arthritis at the hands, feet, and head — which greatly explains dementias and the lack of functioning at those critical parts of the human body with advanced ages — even those who exercise their hearts tirelessly but exclusively — as is possible to do with modern exercise equipment.  The inflammation remains in the tissues.

That’s why the telltale signs of aging are at the hands, feet and face/neck — because in modern conventional exercise, they are deemed unimportant to exercise — when in fact, they are of the greatest importance, and assuring that circulation and health, requires the health and development of the rest of the body — but not necessarily vice-versa. And so we have the familiar people whose hearts go on beating long after their heads, hands, and feet have become unresponsive — and people can’t understand why.

They don’t want to understand why. They think they should just be entitled to optimal health, functioning and development. But that’s not how life evolved. Life favored those who used all their faculties — and that use, optimized their continued survival — just as with all the other species. That is the meaning of survival of the fit. It is not an entitlement to live forever doing nothing to ensure one’s own health and prospects. One has to care for oneself as one’s primary task — and not only demand it of others. That means practicing what needs to be done — all one’s life — as though their lives depends on it, because it does.

It sounds like a cold, cruel world but it doesn’t have to be that way. One has to improve the understanding before repetitions do any good — and practice such movements until they become second nature — not requiring extraordinary effort and motivation to effect. Too much of the discussions on exercise presume that it is extraneous and even vain to desire rather than the reasonable expectation of continued life. That is what it takes.