This is a must-read article from my friend Kathryn Woodall's 'A Comfortable Soul' blog. If you sometimes wonder why you need to exercise or how to get started with your own program you will find the answers here. It's not just about being "fit" (whatever that may mean for you) but its about living better.
There is even more in the original article and I urge you to check it out HERE.
Dear Friends – RMAXers,
We’ve been taking a closer look at three factors that contribute to creating health.
- the food we eat
- the amount and type of movement we engage in
- the thoughts we have that are incorporated into our paradigm
We already covered food and paradigm in previous issues, so it’s
time to discuss motion. While all movement is a form of exercise, the
type, quality, and quantity determines whether or not it is beneficial
or harmful to your long-term health. Too many people err on the side of
too little exercise to even begin to worry about the type and quality
of their movement. The saying “Use it or lose it” is filled with wisdom
when it comes to our bodies, because movement is vital if we are to
maintain or return to optimal health. The primary way nutrition gets
into adult joints and the way that metabolic waste is pumped out of
them is through motion. As Coach Scott Sonnon says, “We are only as old
as our connective tissue.” If you have spent any time around elderly
people, you will quickly realize that you view those people who move
less as ‘older’, regardless of their actual age. We associate a loss of
motion with aging, but we don’t always remember that exercising to
maintain motion when we are younger will help us to continue to move
like a younger person even when we are older.
Balanced exercise is one of the most positive things that we can do
for ourselves. The benefits are vast, and include such things as
normalizing levels of insulin, blood glucose, growth hormone, cortisol,
and several other hormones. Exercise increases blood flow, accelerates
nutrient exchange at the cellular level, delivers more oxygen to your
brain, and has been shown to improve mood. Adequate exercise can
decrease premenstrual syndrome in women and increase erectile
capabilities in men. Certain forms of exercise will decrease fat and
increase lean muscle mass. Studies suggest that exercise even helps us
to learn faster. Other studies indicate that when a person exercises on
a regular basis, the rate at which his body ages decreases. When done
properly, balanced exercise is probably the single simplest thing that
can be done to help change our lives for the better. Of course, before
you begin any exercise program you should consult with your healthcare
team to determine if it is appropriate for your current level of health.
While all of the above is very compelling, once you are cleared to
do so, exercising in a balanced way is still a choice that only you can
make. The smaller picture is the activity that you do or don’t want to
do, the bigger picture is the benefits that you will either gain or
lose. On the days you do choose to engage in balanced exercise, realize
that choosing to become happier, sexier, smarter, healthier, and
physiologically younger is a solid choice. It certainly beats the
opposite effects (less happy, less sexy, less healthy, slower to learn,
and physiologically older) that are gained when you choose to not
exercise or to exercise in a non-balanced way.
So now that we have an idea of why movement is beneficial, you may
be asking yourself, “What does she mean by ‘balanced’ exercise?”
Balancing your exercise means that you are getting the right types of
exercise, in the right amount and intensity for your current level of
health, and performed in a high quality manner. Having the right
quality of exercise means that you are maintaining proper form and
technique. It isn’t necessary to be perfect, but in order to ensure
that the results remain health-first and beneficial, form needs to
remain at an 8 or higher on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being perfection. The
amount and intensity appropriate for balanced exercise are directly
proportional to your level of health and the type of exercise that you
are doing.
Balanced exercise will include some days with joint range of motion
exercise (perceived intensity of 1-4), some days with compensatory
exercise (perceived intensity 1-4), some days with resistance exercise
(perceived intensity 5-10), and some days with exercise that increases
your heart rate and warms you up (perceived intensity 5-10). The ratio
of the four types will vary depending on your current needs. Your needs
are determined by your current level of health and are affected by the
quality of your nutrition, sleep, stress levels, discomfort, tasks you
are training for, and the intensity at which you are training the
resistance and heart rate increasing aspects of your exercise.
Examples of each type of exercise in terms of CST products:
- Joint Range of Motion – promotes joint nutrition and health as well as neurological awareness
- Compensatory Exercises – promotes structural balance and efficiency
- Resistance Exercise – promotes structural strength and some metabolic functions
- Increasing Heart Rate/Warming the Body – promotes metabolic functions and some structural strength
- All Four Types in One Package
As you can see, some products fall under more than one category
depending upon how they are practiced. I am using CST products as
examples because they are what I use in my personal practice, but other
forms of exercises can also be used. If you are a member of the Core
Cadre (www.ScottSonnonCoreCadre.com)
you have recently seen examples of some of these exercises. The actual
products or individual exercises don’t matter as much as having all
four types of them present in a ratio that gives you the benefits of
each type. Balanced exercise might look something like:
- Day 1: Intu-Flow
- Day 2: Ageless Mobility
- Day 3 and 4: Flow-Fit I with a perceived intensity of 5-10 and Intu-Flow
- Repeat
But for someone else, it might be:
- Day 1 and 2: Prasara Yoga and Intu-Flow
- Day 3 and 4: Flow-Fit I with a perceived intensity of 5-10 and Intu-Flow
- Day 5: Clubbell® Swinging with a perceived intensity of 5-10 and Intu-Flow
- Day 6 and 7: Intu-flow
The possibilities go on, but you get the idea.
Now that we have covered ‘why’ and ‘how,’ lets look at ‘when.’
There are studies that indicate that morning is the most beneficial
time to exercise because of the positive hormonal/metabolic benefits.
Morning is also great because beginning your day with something that
will help you to become happier, sexier, smarter, healthier, and
physiologically younger means that it won’t get pushed aside by
anything less beneficial later in the day. But if you don’t exercise
first thing, it doesn’t mean that the day is wasted or that you
shouldn’t make room to fit it in later. When it comes to motion, the
benefits are so vast that it is better to do the best you can do than
to do nothing at all. If you have hit a plateau and things aren’t
getting better despite consistent work, then it is time to evaluate
whether you need to reprioritize your exercise, or perhaps it is time
to consult with a coach.
Kneel on the floor, knees wide, and sit on your heels. Lean forward and
press your palms on the floor with your fingers turned back toward your
torso (thumbs pointing out to the sides). Bend your elbows slightly and
touch the pinky sides of your hands and the outer forearms (up to the
elbows) together. Then bend your elbows to a right angle and slide your
knees to the outside of your arms and forward of your hands. Lean your
front torso onto the backs of your upper arms and burrow your elbows
deep into your belly at or below the navel. 
If your elbows slide apart, you can bind them together with a strap.
Position the strap just above your elbows. If you can't quite manage
the full pose (as described in the next step), support your feet on a
block (sitting on one of its sides), placed near the back end of your
sticky mat. 
Firm your belly against the pressure of the elbows. Lower your forehead
to the floor. Then, straighten your knees and stretch your legs out
behind your torso, tops of your feet on the floor. Firm your buttocks
and round your shoulders slightly downward. Lift your head off the
floor and look forward. Lean your weight slightly forward—if your legs
and buttocks are firm and active, this slight shift of weight will
lever your feet off the floor. Position your torso and legs
approximately parallel to the floor. 
Hold at first for about 10 seconds, gradually increasing your time to
30 seconds as you gain more experience with the pose. Then lower your
head and feet to the floor, bend your knees, and lift your torso off
your arms. 
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