The Holy Grail of Health

 The question is not whether exercise works and is good for you, but what does one prioritize in a world of limited time, energy and resources?

We see that in older people, what breaks down are the critical faculties at the head, hands and feet — or cognitive function, grip strength, and foot strength (balance), as the major markers of decline — or good health. Those are neuromuscular functions — or voluntary — rather than cardiovascular — which is autonomic. That means that what one can make the most significant difference, is what one can control — rather than what is automatic. The neuromuscular effects the cardiovascular system automatically, while simply increasing the heart rate, does not indicate or improve athletic performance. That is to say that lifting a weight will increase the heart rate, but simply increasing the heart rate, will not necessarily lift a weight.

And in fact, what is usually called cardio exercise, is usually done with very little movement of the upper body, as well as foot articulation. It is the full range articulation at that axis that causes the muscle to be fully contracted or fully relaxed. Just shuffling one’s feet with little of that change of muscular states precludes that flow to the extremities — while the core may continue to function for years. And that is the problem of the unexcercised body — the willful voluntary muscles hardly move again. That movement causes blood and fluids to circulate to those areas — and without it, the circuit is circumscribed.

The heart may be working harder — but none of the other muscles of the body are — and they contribute greatly to the circulatory effect. It is that circulation that produces muscle growth and optimal functioning of all the organs. So if the brain, hands and feet are cut off from that enhancement, effective and efficient circulation will not occur no matter how hard and fast the heart alone works. It is a one pound organ providing for the hundredful mass and musculature — rather than recruiting all the other muscles of the body to optimize that circulatory effect. That would be the intelligent thing to do — and the most productive exercise to do.

That is what is overlooked in exercise expressly for health in longevity. A person who is vital and animated is particularly so by the expressions and movements (articulations) at the head, hands and feet. Those are the organs of human expression. The rest of the body plays a supportive role. When the functioning (health) of the head, hands and feet cease, then that individual loses their uniqueness and identity — and become our worst nightmare — requiring constant care by others to do all the things most people can do for themselves.

But if a person retains and increases their functioning and proficiency at the head, hands and feet, they are functioning at their highest level. But even young and presumably fit people don’t achieve that — because their time, energy and resources are misplaced to what is much less important — including competitive athletics, which presumably is to prepare them for the greater challenges of life ahead. That may be lifting a heavy weight, or running great distances — leaving no time for developing the head, hands and feet.

The best example would be maintaining and enhancing one’s ability to turn one’s head 360 degrees — because that movement, requires the activation and engagement of all the muscles of the body! — and not just the heart alone. The exercise of that movement, would be indicative of a person firing on all cylinders — and not just the one — whether that be the heart, biceps, glutes, abdominals, etc. The atrophied turkey/pencil neck is not inevitable in every aging person — but indicative of poor circulation to the head (brain) — with predictably disastrous consequences. The head must actually move to provide that circulation; playing “mental” games doesn’t produce that very “physical” effect. That is the integration of mind and body long sought as the Holy Grail of Health. It’s not the mind or the body; it requires one to be firing on all cylinders to make the “unprecedented” life possible. That is what we are all here for.

Obviously we just can’t keep on doing the same things that hasn’t worked before — hoping for a different result. We have to do something differently — something that makes perfectly good sense — so we don’t have to force ourselves to do what doesn’t make perfectly good sense and produces those results immediately as self-evident truth.