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January 2, 2006
Why calisthenics are the best way to build functional strength
Let's get something clear that often gets confused. Muscle size and strength are not the same things. Yes, of course, the two are related, but modern day body builders create so much muscular hypertrophy that they can hardly get out of their own way.
In contrast, you may need to increase the size of your muscles. Muscle wasting has its consequences in aging. In that case, resistance training may be your best course. It is a scientific way to apply overload to isolated muscles. Since you can easily manipulate the resistance by incrementally increasing the weight, you can perpetuate the stimulus for muscle growth.
You can use your body composition measurements from Chapter 5, Measure Your Real Heart Health, to determine if you need to build or restore muscle mass. If your muscle mass is low, you will find a program for quick and efficient muscle building in Chapter 11, Individualize Your Heart Cure.
But in years of practical application, one glaring limitation of weight training remains: You’re not really training anything. It’s more “untraining” your muscles; it teaches them to tense. This tends to create unnatural patterns of movement, sets you up for injuries, and is not the best way to build practical strength that you can use.
Exercises that put your body through “functional” natural patterns of movement train your entire circuit from thought to action. This neuromuscular education is essential if you want that new muscle to be capable of doing anything.
Whenever you call on your muscles in real life, they move against the resistance of your own body weight. Before weight training became the rule, we called these body weight exercises calisthenics. They are still the best way to build functional strength.
Your prehistoric ancestors had to run, jump, climb, and fight in their daily pursuit of food and security. You can develop the extraordinary functional strength of wild animals by using your own body weight.
Bodybuilders can develop massive muscles through intensive resistance training, but gymnasts, acrobats, swimmers, sprinters, and athletes in many disciplines develop better functional muscle capacity. They have greater practical strength in response to the demands of their bodies in motion.
Remember, your cardiovascular system has muscle, too. These optimal exercises for growing your muscular strength will also help to strengthen the muscles of your heart, the muscles lining your blood vessels and the muscles expanding your lungs.
To read more about this topic order Al Sears MD’s The Doctor’s Heart Cure now
Posted by james at January 2, 2006 6:44 AM