Physical Intelligence - Day 58

Typically I have categorized three physical fitness areas which are flexibility, aerobics and body building. There is an area between aerobics and body building that deserves its own category and that category is strength training. I have come to see that strength training is not necessarily body building (a.k.a. weight lifting).

Moreover, I have witnessed first hand the recovery of people who have had surgery due to the compounded effect of extreme sports and body building and not necessarily direct structural injury, but a gradual wear and tear on the body that culminates in a secondary effect. One of the surgery patients I visited was particularly painful - which involved an incision in the back of the neck area that was a hit or miss chance of recovery. Fortunately the surgery was a hit, without which the relative of ours would have ended in time living life in a wheel-chair.

I don't engage in picking up heavy weights and the sound of those weights in the weight room are chilling when they go back to position, never mind the size of weights on the bar actually look intimidating. In contrast the free weights or bar bells seem logical and more intelligent, especially in contrast to machines, but they still need proper form and know-how, there is no point in engaging movements that are not actually serving a healthy outcome.

The problem with strength or weight training is that the media which accompanies it often exhibits with people who are buff, overly-muscular and with body types that are not realistic at all to my middle-aged beer-gut condition. Proper form is a must and as I found out as I tried out yoga, this form is not as easy as it looks.

The chief trouble area for injuries is the position of the back and with poor form, the physical forces on the back are a concern. This is no different to being taught proper lifting techniques in a work environment, where workplace safety training teaches us to keep our back more straight and lift with our knees, rather than create strain on the back or where tears can result of which a hernia is a good example of muscle tears that then may need an operation to heal.

One thing that caught my eye was a video by Brian Turner who provides a basic demo of exercises using our own body weight. At over 200lbs I am my own weight machine and the good thing about Turner's video is we can observe proper form and it is another reminder that we do not actually need a gym room - so not being near a gym is not an excuse to skipping a workout.

Physical Intelligence - Day 58

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