Muscle is Temporary; Joints are Forever

Yesterday, I wrote a blog to say,
"Strength Ain't The Way."

Some heated debate arose on a
website that runs my blogs in
tandem. While I am trying to
start a revolution of better health,
and freely offer excellent advice,
some senior citizens argued with
me that lifting weights is
ALWAYS a good thing.

This morning I found a valuable
link on Oprah.com; multiple
"fitness" experts offer advice on
exercise in your 20's, 30's, 40's,
50's, 60's, period. If you briefly
peruse the article you will see
just "how important" weight lifting
is to LOSE WEIGHT when you're
young; then gradually, the experts
tell you to phase out of it in order
to maintain your mobility. There is
no mention of how to exercise after
the decade of your 60's:
http://www.oprah.com/health/Exercise-for-Your-20s-30s-40s-50s-and-60s_1/print/1

My work coincides greatly with this
information, with the exception that
I'm not advising exercise for fat loss.
I'm trying to convey the message that
MOBILITY IS PARAMOUNT TO
YOUR HEALTH.

I want you to think of it this way:
imagine a 1-14 scale pH test for mobility.
Less than seven is incrementally decreasing
mobility, and 8-14 is increasing mobility.
When you're born, you're immobile:
you are a one (1) on this scale. Then
as you grow up, you get more mobile
until you reach a precipice; let's just
guess you reach pH 10 at age 15. Then
you start getting older, and gradually
stiffer. You reach pH 7 at age 30, and
lose a point every decade after that.
Most people finish life grossly immobile.

If you were to imagine a pH scale for
health, it would overlay the pH scale
for mobility almost identically. So again:


MOBILITY IS PARAMOUNT TO
YOUR HEALTH. What I sincerely
want you to understand is that the more
mobile you are, the fewer health problems
you will have. This has everything to do
with stimulation of the internal organs &
the spinal column, and weight-bearing on
your bones (which is where white blood
cells are manufactured).


Every time you lift weights, you are reducing
your mobility. Your tendons are getting
shorter and shorter from all the excessive
pulling; this in turn reduces your range
of motion. Even if you stretch, it's not enough.
Your mobility pH is going down every day.
When you're older, you'll have twice as
far to go to regain mobility.


Conversely, if you practice Tai Chi, you will
let go of your strength. You will relax; stand
upright; allow your tendons to stretch in
natural, rotational patterns; and increase your
mobility. If you thought it was strange that
a 15-year old only achieves a mobility of 10,
it's because people like gymnasts, dancers
and Tai Chi masters are far more mobile
than even a highly flexible teenager.


Tai Chi is based on the philosophy of
the "Tao Te Ching." Chapter 76 reads:
Man when living is soft and tender;
When dead is hard and tough.
All animals and plants when living are tender and fragile
When dead they become withered and dry.
Therefore it is said:
The hard and tough are part of death;
The soft and tender are parts of life.


Weight lifting will speed you to your death.
Fu Tai Chi will make you tender and years younger.