INSURE BASIC WALKING WITHOUT PAIN
We know that we should exercise, but do we really know why. Do we really know how to maintain our bodies to not only be healthy, but to have the ability and sustainability to insure basic walking without pain. Walking, something we take for granted, until the pain is so great or until we simply, can’t.
We have been told of the health benefits of exercise, but really what health benefits. The oxygen to the blood, the relief of a couple of points of high blood pressure, the way it begets more energy, etc. What about the pay-it-forward benefits. The move-it-or-lose-it benefits. The benefits of maintenance and consistency of movement.
It’s the move-it-or-lose-it benefits that, as we age, that may possibly outweigh all of the other tried and true benefits.
If you do not move your muscles, they become out-of-shape and lose mass and tone and you lose stamina. If you rarely use certain muscles, they become weak and if you never use a muscle for just a few weeks, it can atrophy; ever have your arm or leg in a cast, then you know exactly about atrophied muscles.
Knees, neck, elbows, etc., all joints, if not moved on a daily basis for a meaningful amount of time, will in fact begin to build up deposits. These deposits eventually create pain when the joints are moved back and forth; movement is impeded and eventually, scraping the deposits off of the bone becomes necessary.
The body like anything, must be maintained, if not, it becomes ineffective. Once ineffective, it needs to be repaired – just like a house, and it needs to be respected – just like a temple.
The pay-it-forward idea for exercise becomes essential as we age.
Our body is complex because it is networked, but the mechanics are simple. For example, if we don’t use our stomach muscles what will happen. First we see the girth change; if that was all that changed it would be great, but so much more begins to become affected. After the stomach muscle begins to lose tone, it affects the back, legs and hips. The stomach muscle helps to strengthen the back and is attached to the leg/hip, so when it becomes unused, toneless and weak, it is no longer able to be an effective, networked component to raise the leg and have a proper range of motion. When the muscles are no longer strong enough to function, the body does its best to compensate; but upon the natural compensation, other muscles suffer as they are doing the work of weakened muscle. The back begins to compensate, the feet begin to compensate by rotating in an improper direction, the gluteus maximus muscle becomes week and feeble, then the body’s alignment is off and weak muscles become completely inadequate and over-used muscles become overly fatigued, and pain and loss of movement become the norm.
Exercise is so very much more than oxygen in the blood and feeling more energy. Exercise is vitally necessary to insure basic walking.
