Tuesday, March 20, 2018
HURRY TO LIVE HEALTHIER AND LONGER
HURRY TO LIVE HEALTHIER AND LONGER
As a 77 year- old author of a blog entitled "Growing Young with Ray", I have become increasingly aware of the natural aging of my body as nearly all of my movements have slowed down a tad. For example, my mind tells me that I can race across the tennis court to smash the ball, but my body arrives a step or two late.
My new favorite magazine, GROWING BOLDER, {November/December 2016} recently featured Kenneth Cooper, M.D., who started a global health and exercise revolution with his 1968 best seller, "Aerobics".
86 years old Dr. Cooper has logged over 38,000 miles running and continues daily exercise at his Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas."
He believes that: "You can lead a long happy life before dying suddenly. We've been led to believe that you should slow down as you age when in reality, people who do this are shortening their lives and not enjoying their lives to the fullest. We're now seeing scientific evidence that proves you can slow down the aging process- and in many cases, reverse it."
As we age into adulthood, most of us we lose our ability to do many things such as running, hiking, climbing, kicking, throwing, catching and hitting a ball simply because we stopped doing these things and our muscles lose their ability to perform... which reminds me of a friend in his forties who had not thrown a baseball since high school who picked up an abandoned baseball and threw it to us resulting in tremendous arm and shoulder pain and he has never thrown another ball since then. IF YOU DON'T USE IT, YOU WILL LOSE IT.
I will probably never regain my lost step in tennis, but if I practice sprinting, I can regain a half step and maybe more.
Recent research has shown that regular exercise is essential to successful aging. The best exercise includes total body strengthening with brief sessions of intensity which strengthens the heart and lungs.
Hurry Up! Walk fast! Increase the speed of your bike! Park away from the entrances of stores! Avoid the escalators and elevators and climb and descend stairs! Try to execute chores quickly and efficiently.
Try to keep busy and avoid prolonged periods of time in a seated position. The American Heart Association equates a largely sedentary lifestyle to smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day. If your job requires you to sit at a desk all day, try to get up and move about several times every hour. You can try sitting and moving on a fitness ball which strengthens your core and posture. (inflate the ball so your lap is flat).
A JAMA Gait Speed and Survival study revealed that the faster you can move from one spot to another significantly determines how long you will live.
JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) conducted a mammoth study of 34,485 adults over 65 years who were followed for 6 to 21 years.
Participants were timed as they moved short distances. As the graph below shows, there was a significantly high correlation between gait speed and longevity.
The researchers theorized that walking places demands on the entire body including the heart, lungs, circulatory systems, muscular and nervous systems. Consequently, our gait speed indicates our overall health and longevity potential. Personally, I have incorporated speed walking into my life.
Our bodies are truly amazing in their capacity to adapt to our desires, and if we want to remain as youthful as possible as we chronologically age, it is achievable...with practice, perseverance, and patience.
So keep moving as quickly as you can and live happier and longer.
You might want to check out our next post about the MINI MAX WORKOUT , which maximizes fitness benefits in a minimal amount of time.
INTRODUCTION TO THE MINI MAX WORKOUT
INTRODUCTION TO THE MINI MAX WORKOUT
The MINI MAX WORKOUT MINImizes the time spent MAXimally energizing the TOTAL BODY!
Within 20 seconds, most of your muscles will be activated, plus you will increase your heart and breathing rates. These cardio/respiratory benefits complete the picture of a total fitness experience.
(By the way, if you watched the Olympic swimming events, you observed many of the competitors using MINI MAX movements with their legs and shoulders as they prepared for competition.)
WARNING
The MINI MAX WORKOUT emphasizes brief periods of intense movement which could precipitate heart complications in an untrained or unhealthy heart. We recommend that you obtain a physician's clearance so that you can participate in vigorous exercise.
Furthermore, for best results, you should increase the intensity and time of this exercise comfortably and gradually.
Ray Williams
Scroll down for more information about the MINI MAX WORKOUT...
Introduction to the MINI MAX Workout
What is a MINI MAX Workout ?
It is a MINI workout that the MAXimally energizes the TOTAL BODY… in as few as 10 SECONDS.The MINI MAX movements AWAKEN and MOBILIZE all the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissues from toes to head by dramatically increasing blood and lymph circulation.
The results are improved flexibility and mobility and sports performance.
Although not necessary, MUSIC offers motivating rhythms. Music with a high number of beats per minute (100 +) appear to be the most encouraging. If you can last a full song, you are in good shape and will reap excellent cardiovascular benefits.
WARNING
Unless you are a flagrant extrovert, you should avoid performing this exercise in public. Observers will be shocked and respond with anything from:
a. overt gawking and pointing,
b. hysterical laughter,
c. urgently calling 911 for medical intervention.
I speak from experience when I report that the only public place you can exercise and express yourself with a MINI MAX and feel somewhat comfortable is in the dark corner of a dance floor.
I speak from experience when I report that the only public place you can exercise and express yourself with a MINI MAX and feel somewhat comfortable is in the dark corner of a dance floor.
Ray Williams
Instructions and Guidelines for the MINI MAX Workout
INSTRUCTIONS/ GUIDELINES
Visualize a wet dog shaking off the water after exiting from a dip in an ocean or lake. Every fiber in the pooch’s body is ferociously ignited for a few seconds.
Begin by standing tall with your feet about shoulder width apart with your weight on the balls and toes of your feet. Your knees should be slightly bent.
With your chin tucked in, visualize a puppeteer pulling up on a string attached to the top of your head. Roll your shoulders up and back and down.
Draw your navel up and back to your spine for deep abdominal core strength and protection of your spine.
Your ears should be in VERTICAL ALIGNMENT with your shoulder, hip, knee and ankle joints.
You have now assumed your PRIMAL POSTURE to avoid injury and maximize the MINI MAX benefits. (You might want to check out our post about the health and longevity significance of “Primal Posture”).
BEGIN SLOWLY. It may be a new experience for parts of your body, unaccustomed to movement, to be suddenly all shook up. STOP in response to any sharp pain.
You basically remain in one place as you rise up with the toes and calves into “Elvis Presley” legs and hips… shaking and rotating rapidly forward, backward, sideways, and circular.
The energy moves up into the hips and buttocks. Shake and rotate that booty!
The energy then rockets up through the torso into the shoulders and out through the arms to the hands and fingers.
Chest and tricep muscles are activated by punching; while back and bicep muscles are exercised by grabbing and pulling movements.
For a total body warm up, include some rotations in each direction from the hips while also stretching the neck by looking to the right and left and up and down.
BODY AWARENESS AND SELF DIAGNOSIS As you activate the various parts of your body, you will become aware of those areas that are particularly tight and needy.
After several months of daily MINI MAX WORKOUTS, I’m happy to report reduced tightness and soreness following fitness activities and improved flexibility and quickness.
As long as you keep moving your body parts, you are creatively free to express yourself.
Ray Williams
ORIGINS OF THE MINI/MAX WORKOUT
The idea for our MINI MAX WORKOUT originated after viewing a Dr. Oz TV show with his guest, Dr. Andrew Weil, internationally renowned health guru, who demonstrated his “Shake the Bones” basic moves. With its roots in Chinese medicine, the intent is to reduce stress and create positive energy, according to Dr. Weil.
I was immediately struck by the fitness advantages of Dr. Weil’s demonstration and began developing and incorporating a bone shaking routine into my daily fitness activities and named it the “MINI MAX WORKOUT."
During the past year or so, I have been doing the MINI MAX moves several times every day in the privacy of my home. (I have MINI MAXed in public in a corner on dance floors, but am not really comfortable with all the attention I attract.)
I have discovered that as few as 10 to 20 seconds can loosen and revitalize tight and sore muscles.
Although Dr. Weil recommends multiple minutes of shaking, I have found that the fitness benefits can be achieved within 1 minute and less. While extra minutes may be helpful for stamina, the body is adequately invigorated within a minute.
It is recommended that you start out your day by loosening up with a MINI MAX WORKOUT and repeat during any slumps in your day, or in preparation for exercise, sports activity, and restful sleep. It also relieves post exercise soreness and stiffness.
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