EXERCISE

The KEY…Apply as much steady force against non-moving resistance as you can hold for 30+ seconds.  On top of steady force add sudden super contraction (like a jump, throw or strike) every second or less. Maintain steady force between super contractions.  Breathe smoothly avoid straining.  Once you can do both contractions in background, concentrate or meditate only on smooth breathing.  Strive until you must stop.  Then do a quick range of motion for only 5 seconds.  Repeat process two times.  MEE creates endurance, strong bones, ups human growth hormone and downs blood glucose.  Do as often as you like.  Each exercise once per week keeps most of your skeletal muscles in shape.  That’s about 3-10 minutes 3-4 times /day. Ideally wake up and MEE every 2 hours. 

Suggested exercises  ...Modify as ability demands and do both extremities.  Shoulders (nice to do while walking) S-1…Place arms behind back then make a fist with back of hand toward body just below waist.  Grasp fist with other hand. With hands locked strive to pull apart.  S-2...Place backs of hands against back, about belt level and strive to drive hands forward through body. S-3…Place palms of hands against sides of hips and strive to squeeze together. S-4…Make a fist and place palm side over umbilicus, cup back of fist with other hand, tense abdominal muscles and strive to drive fist through body.  Elbows E-1… Cross palms and force one up, other down at level of umbilicus.  You can also use a U (see below).  Hold U in front of abdomen and force one horn up, other down. Reverse.  E-2 Hold U by horns and twist out. Reverse.  Wrists W-1… Use U to stress wrists side to side.  Digits D-1...Put digits of one hand together, hold together with other hand then strive to force fingers apart. D-2... Stack ends of fingers then strive to push down with upper index finger hand and up with other hand.  Then put other index finger on top. Back B-1 ...On back with pillow under shoulders, strive to arch back between one heel and upper back.   B-2... On abdomen, come up on forearms and elbows and strive to arch back between arms and top side of one foot or shoe.   B-3 ...  On side, strive to hold hip off floor between shoulder and side of lower shoe.  Raise upper leg off lower leg if possible.  B-4… On back, forearms across abdomen, raise upper back and feet to tense abdomen, then thrust arms intermittently against tense resisting abdominal muscles.  Hips H-1…Squeeze inner sides of shoes together. H-2 While standing on one leg bend knee to 90 degrees and come up on toes.  Neck…Hold neck in position of attention, chin in, back of head up.  Always release tension gradually.  N-1 ... Cup hands on forehead and resist head moving forward.  N-2…Hands behind head resisting moving head back.  N-3…Resist side movement by placing one forearm against side of head and holding with other hand over top of head. Reverse.  N-4…Place one hand on front-side of head, other hand on rear-side of head to resist twisting. Reverse. You can also do chin-ups... pull up fast, lower very slow. When no longer able to go more than half way up, give it maximum effort for a fraction of second every second until arms are straight.  You can do push-ups...fast up, very slow down. Run up step hill or stairs as fast as you can when you can't take another step up walk down hill or steps and do it again and again.

Make a MEE U… obtain 10 feet of 1 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe, 16 elbows and PVC cement. Cut into (8) pieces 3 inches long and (16) pieces 5.5 inches long.  Cement one elbow to each long section. Push in firmly before glue sets. Cement two long sections to one short section on a flat surface.  

Maximum Effect Exercise is convenient.   Can be done walking, sitting, commuting, standing, in bed or when disabled.  Requires much less time to maintain or improve cardiovascular health.   Does not require gym, gym cloths, extra showers, warm up, cool down or stretching.   Allows you to preserve muscle mass when you diet to loose unwanted fat. Can be practiced, mastered and then taught to family and friends.   It requires no equipment, but a U, which you can make yourself, is helpful.

Maximum Effect Exercise is a specific way to exercise that educates nerves to turn on muscles and triggers a significant pulse of Human Growth Hormone.  HGH activates other cell messengers and hormones that one might call a “secret sauce” or health elixir that with exercise tells our bodies to get healthy, get efficient, repair and grow stronger.  The combination results in effective use of ingested protein and prevents muscle lose when one reduces calories in hopes of fat loss.   It improves bone density, promotes skin health & thickness and stimulates new capillaries, circulation and endurance. It increases ability to store glycogen.  It allows muscles to use glucose without insulin.  As we age the normal night time pulses of HGH gradually decrease. All this and more explains why studies show effective exercise prevents or treats many diseases better and safer than expensive medications.

Folks don’t need to understand the complex details of the “Secret Sauce”.  They just need to do the right exercise.  Fortunately there is a safe, anywhere, anytime way for everyone.   What type of exercise turns on the “secret sauce?  I could find only two.  Exercises that cause an “overwhelming accumulation” of waste products in muscles.  Exercises that tear and or injure muscle cells and tissue.

When production of metabolic waste of muscle cells exceeds removal by circulation, “overwhelming wastes” accumulate and trigger the secret sauce.  Effective training is that simple!  As we age we are less likely to push the vascular supply limits of any muscle group and trigger our secret sauce.   As sauce decreases we loose muscle strength, loose bone density, loose skin thickness, add fat inside muscle, add visceral fat, look old, and become weaker.  

The next thing to realize is that restricting the blood flow can speed the build up of “overwhelming wastes”.   Research shows that tourniquets (constricting bands) applied prior to leg presses reduce the work and time needed to get results (turn on the elixir).  The flow of waste products out of muscle can also be controlled safely without tourniquets.  Veins have one-way valves.  Each time the muscle contracts a squirt of waste (venous blood) is squeezed out and the inflow of arterial blood is reduced a little. With frequent contractions (like in running) the squirts are frequent and circulation and power output is good.  But strong contractions (as used in weight lifting) inflow of blood is squeezed down and outflow is reduced.  As a result waste products quickly build up with less work.

Exercise that in effect restricts circulation in muscle to aid achieving results is called resistance exercise.  Isometric or “same length” exercise is a form of resistance exercise that can also be sustained until the secret sauce is turned on.

Muscle injury is the other trigger of the secret sauce.  Each long hair-like muscle cell is either on (contracting) or off (relaxed). To lift a heavy weight you essentially turn on enough cells at any given time to raise the weight… no problem.  To lower you simply turn cells off.  What isn’t simple is your nervous system doing it without some cells stretching, tearing and being damaged as you lower the heavy weight.  This is most noticeable when you first start weight training.  With practice the nervous system gets more efficient at lowering heavy weights.  The injury is then reduced, but some damaging persists.  This damage can result in soreness for days and reduces your immunity for a while.  It takes about a week before the muscle has healed enough to make it advantageous to tear it again. This explains why body builders rotate muscle sets each day over a week.  For body builders, this damage produces big muscles faster than anything else.

In contrast…The strongest men in the world, Olympic weightlifters, avoid muscle tearing by not lowering weights.  They simply drop them.  They also use machines that prevent muscle lengthening under load. They are interested in ultimate power to weight ratios.  Scarred muscle has less strength for its weight.  Except for body builders, competitive athletes will be wise to follow the lead of the strongest athletes and avoid muscle tearing.