Recovery from Exercise

 Physiologists say there are 600-800 muscles in the human body -- so in order to work every muscle individually would be prohibitive -- and require one to exercise virtually every waking moment -- unless they can find a way to work many muscles at a time, which is an easy thing to do when one realizes that muscles are organized into pathways or meridians in which energy flows.  Some of the ancient adepts called it "chi" or "prana" indicating the vital life force.  Centuries later, it would be called "circulation," which for all practical purposes, are the same thing.

Life is funny in that way: the same thing can be called by different names as though they were different things -- rather than the same thing called and described in different ways -- as it more accurately is.  Such differences are rooted in language itself, and not whether it is a higher or lower understanding of that phenomenon.  But once we are clear on what we are talking about, we can evolve even higher levels of understanding of what we are talking about, otherwise, one opinion (explanation) is as good as any other.

In these discussions, it is possible to go in two different ways: the simpler, or the vastly more complex -- and endless discussion so that one never gets around to acting on it.  Or having the simplest understanding, and immediately acting on it, and being guided by that outcome as to what to do next.  In other words, one does not begin with a conclusion -- but is a discovery of the truth along the way.  Most of life prefers this way -- learning by trial and error, or doing -- rather than thinking one knows what they doing, and finding out at the end, that one had no idea what they were doing.  That is the difference between success and failure -- and of course, disappointment.

"Exercise" has always been the exercise of one's understanding, and not just the mindless repetition of what some higher authority says is good for you -- without rhyme nor reason.  The value of exercise has been to enhance and even optimize the circulatory effect -- to best do what a body needs to do.  For a few, that might be to lift the heaviest weight -- but for most, it is to sustain their effort for as long as it takes -- and not to fail prematurely or unexpectedly.  Under dire circumstances, maybe that is what they would have to do -- but not if they can avoid it, as a last, desperate resort.

Instead, they would prefer to have plenty in reserve at all times -- uncertain as we all are, of exactly where the "finish line" is, or the music stops.  That is true for all the aspects of our lives -- health, finances, jobs, relationships, or contests -- or if we choose to condition ourselves for such extremes, it is done sparingly and under controlled circumstances in which even the recovery is planned for.  It is not enough just to work oneself until utter exhaustion and even death -- thinking that whatever doesn't kill them makes them stronger.  They might not recover -- but go into a lifelong downward spiral to the end.

That is particularly a problem with prolonged modern lives.  Everyone would be perfectly happy to live a hundred years in perfectly good health -- but that is usually not the case.  Thus far, it may even be unprecedented.  So then, who will be the first?  Obviously, recovery and recovery ability plays a big role in that actualization.

As far as I've been able to determine, performing the exercise through the full range of motion from contraction to relaxation -- without a load (resistance) speeds the recovery from the inflammation brought about my overload training.  Such a performance is what used to be called "muscle control," by the pioneers of modern day bodybuilding -- like Eugen Sandow himself -- generally considered the "father of modern bodybuilding."  But he was notably unique in that he trained with heavy weights, light weights, and no weights at all, and attributed each for his outstanding development.  Each in his mind, was equally valid, and allowed everyone to self-select the course of instruction that suited them best.

It is only in recent times that most are convinced that lifting the most weight is the most productive -- and the exercises in which one can lift the most weight, have become the most popular -- even though they are largely unproductive for most.  They can simply lift the most weight in the deadlift, squat and bench press -- but whether they are the most productive exercises for bodybuilding and health, is another matter entirely.  And particularly worth pondering because they are likely to be the most injurious exercises to perform because of the heavy weights.  

That is in distinct contrast to achieving a superior muscular contraction and relaxation -- with no weight at all -- because there is no resistance to prevent it.  That would be similar to the peak muscle contractions achieved by competitive bodybuilders -- whose downside is that they never learn to master the muscular relaxation phase of it -- and thus are always hypertense.  Hypertension is a big problem in the population at large -- and doesn't need to be exacerbated by maintaining that state all the time.  That is in fact the major occupational hazard of being a competitive bodybuilder -- as opposed to the bodybuilders who do it purely to achieve their best health -- which includes the ability to relax as well.

But the critical factor in such movements is not the weight or resistance -- but the attainment of the fullest contraction and the fullest relaxation that produces the pumping effect that reduces the inflammation (swelling) by enhancing this flow -- that can be achieved and effected by just knowing in what position the articulation must be.  That is how easy, effective, productive exercise can be -- at all times, and under any conditions, and especially in recovering from more strenuous exercise that produces extreme muscle soreness that gets worse without this active recovery process.

Intensity and Resistance

 Usually when we speak of resistance, that is referring to a mass outside the body, which can be moved measurably — including the body mass itself. In fact, many people’s idea of exercise is to move the body itself — before adding further resistance. However, the really important part of movement, is the movement happening within the body itself — which is the circulation, or circulatory effect that enables one to perform a movement, and more importantly, sustain such effort to accomplish some task.

It’s rarely the case that one accomplishes anything with one burst of power — and then no further effort. Those incidents are largely involved in the destruction of something — rather than the making of it. Building something requires time and effort — while great things can be destroyed in a millisecond. But then all one has is a lot of broken pieces, while the objective of most work and effort, is to build something out of nothing — over time. That is the work of man — whether building a structure, or their own bodies, health, and well-being.

Such edifices can last a lifetime — while “one and done” is dependent on how much one started out with — to last very long. If one hasn’t first build up that reserve, then there is no well to go to — and one is constantly in search of a new source, and exhausting oneself each day in that way. Thus the practicality of building up one’s reserves — so that they are readily available at the right opportunities — or the need for survival. But rather than exist only in perpetual survival mode, one wishes to have a little extra, and if possible, a lot extra — to better take advantage of the opportunities presented to them. That begins with one’s health and fitness — or readiness to respond to the challenges of their own existence — as the basic equipment they always have with them.

Naturally, it would make a lot of sense if that did not require a lot of equipment, nutrients and other resources to carry around with them — to access those inner reserves — by the body’s own design. That is the function of the circulatory system and effect. It gets those resources to where they need to be — to be most useful and productive. In primitive times and conditions, the daily movements required for survival ensured people stayed in the best health for what they had to do. But in contemporary life and times, there is little one actually needs to do to ensure that survival, and so a lot of people become unfit — simply because they can.

In earlier and less prosperous times, societies could not support such unproductive individuals, and so it just didn’t happen — not if any individual could help it. But with the growth of societies and civilizations, it became possible to support most people in abundance, and prosperity if they managed that abundance well, and wisely. Life became a little more complex — because it afforded most with that luxury. However, such wealth can be frittered away if not valued and managed properly for optimal results.

One might simply waste as much time, energy and resources as the thing to do — thinking that is all to do in life. And so their exercises and activities will reflect that wasting of capacity rather than the building of those reserves toward a greater life. Predictably, their measure is only how many calories they “burn” — as though that is all — and not the possibility that it is to build the body for greater capacities than it started out with. Most are aware of such possibilities, but think that it is only possible with great sacrifice of time, energy and resources — rather than how the body would prefer to be — and was designed for.

All animals are similarly designed in that way — unless their movements and activities are distorted and constrained. In humans, certain movements naturally produce muscle contractions — which are the triggers for blood flow to increase in that way. That is the effect of use, or exercise — specifically to produce a maximal contraction that expels fluids out, and upon relaxation, reload because of the space (vacuum) created by that expansion. — allowing the heart to easily fill those areas with its reliable pumping. All the muscles of the body work in this simple way: There is a position in which it must be fully contracted, and another position in which it must be fully relaxed, and those are the important positions — and NOT the resistance in going from one position to the other.

The body doesn’t care about the resistance in going from one extreme to the other. In that way, it is similar to the operation of a computer. The computer only recognizes if a switch is open or closed — and how it gets from one extreme to the other is irrelevant. But that is what most people concern themselves with — the resistance in getting to the extremes, and so never get there. Getting to those extremes, is what is required in increasing the range of motion (movement). Instead, the tendency is to shorten the range of movement — while adding more resistance — whether that is bodyweight, free weights, machines, angle, difficulty, etc.

The problem is that one selects a resistance that is determined by the most weight one can handle in the pre-contracted position — rather than the proper weight determined by the pre-stretched position — and thus never gets into the super-contracted or super-relaxed positions indicative of the greatest range of that possibility. That can be achieved not by resistance — but in knowing what the extreme ranges of that muscle expression are. That was what I observed when I studied the Nautilus machines that featured “variable resistance throughout the full range of movement.” The range of movement itself, was the greatest resistance — moving in either direction.

This is particularly helpful to note in people with limited range of movement — which is virtually everybody — but obscured with the preoccupation of “resistance” used — while the range of the movement varies greatly from one person to another — so as to be virtually meaningless. That is true of all the exercises usually performed and seen in a gym — further exacerbated by overly long rest intervals, so as to render most workouts predictably unproductive. Some are more obvious than others — such as talking or scrolling on their smart phones for 90% of their gym time. Very rarely does one witness a person actually working out the entirety of their gym session — but if one does, that is usually the best conditioned person in the gym.

But it is not enough just to do a limited range movement like the treadmill or stationary bike — in which there is no articulation of the neck, wrists and ankles — indicative of people only working their heart harder and faster, with the resulting atrophied and emaciated look of “cardio” exercisers throughout the rest of their musculature. Sensibly, they should be doing light resistance weight training without rest as all the cardio they need — while achieving total muscular failure/exhaustion in an hour. I’ve never seen that program fail to produce impressive outcomes with each and every workout — no matter what the level of previous training and experience.

That quality of workout can be done only once a week — while simulating those movements without weights the rest of the week — to obviate the muscle soreness that might linger the rest of the week. What is generally called a “high-intensity” workout uses heavy weights for a small number of repetitions — that produces cardiovascular failure rather than true muscle failure, because the weight restricts the breathing by compressing the chest — while the heart rate exceeds the safe levels under that duress. So everything about that manner of performance and exercise is telling the trainee to stop or they will suffer extreme adverse effects — and not that whatever doesn’t kill them, will make them invulnerable. Life doesn’t work that way.