PREPARE TO BE FIT; A “Practical” New Year’s Resolution

Fitness activities provide wonderful benefits. They enable us to go faster, farther or higher, to move or move against more resistance, build muscle, and they certainly help us to breathe better, perform work longer, and manage lean body mass, but there are indiscernible effects that are typically not acknowledged.

For example, one of the training methods used for those benefits is known as “Functional Training”, a dubious nomenclature considering the long term cost it imposes a.k.a. joint wear. That “functional” contradiction is an expensive price to pay for the results, as it actually contributes to orthopedic malfunction.

The unfortunate reality of fitness endeavors of all kinds is that over time, while we procure these benefits, we are unknowingly wearing ourselves out, because we are not prepared in advance to more ably tolerate the subsequent joint stresses, and delay this insidious risk.

It is insidious because joint erosion is not instantaneous. It progresses gradually as our muscles and nerves inexorably lose contact with each other. When considering that every joint is surrounded by muscle tissues that contract to produce the torque (rotational movement of a joint or lever around an axis) and opposing torque requirements of mobility, as well as non-contractile (passive) tissues that react to it, and that nerves are responsible for transmitting the messages from the brain to all of the torque producers, if any of those tissues are not receiving sufficient signals, normal joint congruency is disrupted.

The irregular shapes of joint surfaces predetermine the course they will take when mobilized (path of mobility), so when they become incongruent, the surfaces are pulled off of their predicated paths (by disproportionate toque production).

The contractile force from our muscles (tension) not only produces torque, but also, forces between the contact surfaces that are affected by it. When torque consistency is amiss, joint congruency is disrupted, and the distribution of those joint forces is disturbed. Just think of holding a suitcase at your side, for example:

While the influence of gravity is distracting the top of the upper arm bone downward and out of its “partial” socket, the brain detects the potential for harm, and not only provides an upward torque to oppose the downward pull, but torque from every direction (and, in reality, from every muscle of the upper extremity), to support (stabilize) and retain the integrity of the joint i.e. prevent the suitcase from dislocating it. This is a most intricate and unique conscription of neuromuscular coordination that only the brain can manage.

The example above depicts holding a suitcase in place, but think about how much more multifaceted the mechanics becomes when it is necessary to move it. Although we don’t typically tend to think of it this way, the body has many machine-like characteristics, consisting of axes, levers, and pulley cables of motors that produce angles of force.

In the body, the cables are nerves; fascia, and tendons. The motors are muscles. The force is tension from the muscle contractions that torque the axes of the levers we call bones, and the pulleys are irregular shapes of bone structure that redirect the linear path of muscle forces, altering the placement of contact on their bones.

These oblique placements are “force angles” that diverge on two separate paths of influence; one more perpendicular and angular to the lever and the other less angular and more parallel to it. The former causing an influence of the aforementioned torque and the latter, of slide. The confluence of these influences a.k.a. curvilinear motion is precisely what makes mobility so complex. It is based on the assemblage of the muscle’s fibers as well as the shapes of its bones.

While the portion of the force that is directed on a more angular path, perpendicular to the muscle’s lever, causes it to rotate on its axis, the less direct portions create this more linear sliding influence against the arcing of rotation.

The more slanted angles are components of translation. The more perpendicular angles, rotation. The distribution of the forces between the joints, known as compression, friction, and shear, are affected by the position of the joint surface at each moment of the excursion and are therefore pervasive mechanisms within the somatic lever system. In one joint position, the translatory effect might increase compression of the surfaces and a moment later, as the relationship of the surfaces shift, the same translatory effect may result in friction, or shear.

When the multi-directional torqueing is well coordinated, the integrity of the joint capsule is retained because the components (of rotation and translation) remain consistent with the joint surfaces and the distribution of forces between them remain in proportion, but imagine what happens when any of those muscles, i.e. torque producer’s, or fibers within any of them, begin to malfunction.

Then, uneven torque interrupts the normal distribution of the joint forces, causing destabilization of the joint and potential damage of connective tissue or bone. These same forces that are all necessary to keep us mobile and on a steady course, can also cause harm.

Fatigue, excessive stress or excessive repetitiveness often create the neuromuscular gap of communication that contributes to these inconsistencies, but, also, if an irregular external force catches us of off guard i.e. unprepared, the abrupt contact against us can produce disproportionate extemporaneous torque demands, creating the same kind of hazardous disorder among the normal exchange of joint forces.

In any of those instances, our joints become progressively and inconspicuously less stable, our movement becomes imprecise and less controlled, convex protrusions on the surfaces that otherwise slide into concave depressions begin to scrape against the aforementioned passive tissues.

Eventually, the scraping becomes erosive and deteriorates the passive tissues enough that the surfaces begin to rub against each other, until before we know it, we can’t stand upright, have an arthritic knee, need a hip replacement, have back pain that doesn’t subside, etc.

As if that’s not enough (or even if it is, for that matter), the irregular shapes of our bones and their surfaces are predetermined by our genetics, gravity, and thereafter, by how we are required or choose to perform work (function). Even if all of our torque producing muscles are contracting well and in sync, the torque production of their tension and the distribution of the subsequent joint forces, as mentioned earlier, do not remain consistent. They both change through each moment of their joints’ excursions and the type of changes vary among the muscles of every individual joint (due to moment arm and length tension changes and/or according to variations of attachment sites).

Furthermore, even the best functioning muscles in the world are imperiled by fatigue i.e. fatigue diminishes tension and torque production. That alone seems rather precarious, but there is more:

The forces acting against our efforts (gravity, wind, water currents), a.k.a. resistance, are inconsistent as well, and the more complex the task, the more they vary, the more preparation we need, and ironically, the less time there is to do it.

It is because the resistance of our environment is so inconsistent and the changes in amount, direction, and placement of it upon us are so instantaneous that we don’t have time to brace i.e. prepare for the impact and stress. That would require thought; a conscious effort that would disrupt the achievement.

When we are consumed in the moment of “just doing it” to complete a task, there is no time to prepare for the existing veiled hazards. We are completely dependent on our instincts i.e. the aforementioned “symphonic”, involuntary torque recruitment of neuromuscular frequencies “orchestrated” by our brains, a.k.a. compensation. All of this would make it seem that at any moment, we are on the precipice of disaster, but that’s not usually the case.

Although there is always the potential for acute injuries like an ankle sprain, we tend to be resilient enough to heal from them remarkably well (unless of course they are really severe). It’s not that any moment could cause acute harm, but that every moment does, chronically, to some extent or other depending on all of the aforementioned factors, including, but not exclusively, according to how our joints are prepared for the encounter.

Every step we take, every rep we perform, every lift we make, has the potential to induce minute, imperceptible joint wear, due to all of those aforementioned resistance and torque production inconsistencies. The frequency and regularity of joint stress from ordinary challenges alone can surpass the body’s ability to repair the wear, so imagine what happens when we increase the demand to get leaner, bigger, stronger, and especially so that we can perform more work i.e. apply joint stress, for longer durations.

It almost seems like doing nothing would be safer than being fit, but that would actually be even worse, because our joints require mobility to remain healthy. Their protective tissues (cartilage) contain lubricants that keep them smooth, slick, and solid. The interaction of the aforementioned joint forces are responsible for releasing the fluids, and also, mobility creates a necessary exchange among them.

Furthermore, even though it doesn’t need to come from movement, bone and muscle require stress that damages the tissues. Their subsequent repair causes a remodeling process that sustains their function and resilience.

Although there is no way to completely eliminate it, (wearing out is an unfortunate reality of life), doing nothing or imposing more demand on our joints than they are accustomed to tolerating in their current state only exacerbates the erosive reality. So, what’s a person to do?

Our best alternative is to prepare for the ordinary challenges of life or the extraordinary physiological, kinesiological, and/or metabolic challenges of fitness by improving the functional state of our joints and all of their counterparts (nerve, muscle, tendon, fascia, ligament and cartilage) to postpone the inevitable reality.

The brain actually provides two sources of compensation. One is for the resistance imposed by the task, and the other for muscle fibers with weaker transmitting signals. It will default to muscle fibers transmitting the strongest signals, even if they are not as directly related to the resistance. The less specific the muscle fiber recruitment, the greater the long term incidence of gradual joint erosion.

The preparation to minimize the repercussions of long term stress imposed on our joints is to reduce the gap between muscle and brain function (production and detection of tension for torque respectively), and restore the exchange of impulses between the brain and body, providing better, more direct compensation for tasks that require impulsive function (i.e. the aforementioned distracted performance of Fitness exercises and ADL).

This involves training the Central Nervous System to adapt to restored signals transmitted from muscle fibers that have been retrained to contract better a.k.a. an increased stasis of mind, brain, muscle and bone Coordination (Psycho-Neuro-Myo-Fascia-Skeletal coordination), and a “practical” strategy more worthy of the title, “Functional Training” than the Fitness trend performed with the same reckless abandon required of all fitness modalities).”Training from the inside out” (Eric Glickstein, 2012) provides the necessary preparation.

The adaptation requires a conscious effort a.k.a. “intention” to make muscles contract more forcefully. Not more load or speed (yet), but conscious contraction.

It is a process of actually slowing things down, reducing the number of moving parts, giving oneself a chance to hone in (concentrate) on muscles controlling as few as one joint at a time, and learning how to contract against resistance that has been strategically modified in amount, direction, and placement against the body, to compliment the current state of the muscles’ contractibility. Then, to gradually and tactfully reinstate joint complexity, and finally, return the modified resistance to its inconsistent state, where, with rejuvenated coordination of neuro-myo-fascia-skeletal function, there is a greater tolerance for the ensuing stresses. All of this, with regard and respect for the joints’ predetermined threshold of articulation.

This intention is what separates “exercise” to build a better body from “Fitness exercises”. As the stimuli of more germane fibers increases, the brain acquires better resources of compensation a.k.a. Adaptation to Strategically Imposed Demands, (Eric Glickstein, 2018) to substitute for those impulsive moments.

Remember, when we are consumed in the moment of “just doing it”, we must act impulsively, i.e. rely on the brain to compensate for all of the complexities and variabilities that are instantaneously imposed upon us, so that we can place all of our attention on, well, “just doing it”!)  

The indisputable fact is, the better the body works (functions), the better it can perform (function) the complex skills of sports, fitness, and exercises (functions). More succinctly, building a better body that is more capable of using its forces on the inside (tension) enables us to perform (torque) better against forces on the outside (resistance). (Eric Glickstein, 2020)

It is as irrefutable as the existence of the forces themselves. There is no doubt that things fall i.e. accelerate to Earth due to the force of gravity. However, the internet and the Fitness Industry are replete with “experts” who prefer to base their expertise on subjective successes, beliefs, and impersonal, theoretical science instead.

Among all of the scores of dubious theories, flawed and/or biased studies the “experts” depend on, accede to, and allege, unconditionally, when they teach or endorse exercise, there is one undeniable reality they ironically prefer to ignore:

Since every mass in our atmosphere is pulled toward the Earth at a rate of 9.8 meters per second squared (acceleration), every mass that pushes against the Earth receives an equal and opposing push from the Earth (reaction of equilibrium). This means that gravity not only pulls against objects. It also pushes, and because the mass will remain in its place unless it is acted on by some other source (inertia), irrevocably, the existence and influences of forces are (and should be) the primary factors Exercise Professionals need to comprehend, because the influence they have is INTRISIC i.e. within us.

We know that (1) the force is called gravity, (2) it is resistance against whatever it is contacting, (3) whenever we are its source of contact, the force of our muscle contractions (tension) provides the torque (effort) we use to work against it (as well as to remain alive), (4) there are no two people in the world who function in the exact same manner so the exact same force will have varying influences on differing individuals, and, (5), it is important to prepare for challenges that require involuntary performance by adjusting the consistency (amount as influenced by Newton’s Laws, direction, and placement) of the forces according to those individual functional idiosyncrasies, because (6) those same mechanical properties outside the body exist on the inside as well!

However, as stated, the Fitness Experts who endorse training methods or products on the internet or who are training people in their homes or at gyms, or who are designing/programming Fitness devices that “train” people with special optics and motion sensors, have no idea how to apply Newton’s Laws to exercise or how individual performance changes the influences those Laws have on the Performer, i.e. how to adjust forces outside the body to comply with the forces on the inside, or how to identify the unique traits of an individual, and yet thousands of unprepared consumers fall victim to this joint eroding methodology.

Before these high tech devices, internet, social media and mobile phone applications existed, there were infomercials that promoted exercise routines on CD’s, hosted of course, by Fitness Experts. Before that, there were crude inexpensive exercise devices like Bun Burners, Thigh Masters, Gut Busters, Ab Rollers, etc. promising the most ridiculous myths and yet guaranteed the impossible (money back and all) body sculpting, spot reducing benefits. The technology has improved. The physics has not. Society remains duped.

In the day of “Buns of Steel”, the deception was as blatant and intentional as a Ponzy scheme, but what’s more disturbing is, the most recent Fitness exploitations are being produced and/or endorsed by people who have a genuine motive that coincides with making money. They sincerely believe the legitimacy of the benefits, and they are not wrong, because they ascribe to the perilous standards of the Fitness Industry; to take a body in its current state and make it work harder than normal, to provide muscle hypertrophy, vascular and respiratory endurance, fat loss, ability to pull and push more, etc. All short term, short sited benefits that simply wear a body out in the long run, but all veritable benefits, nonetheless.

The problem is, none of this has anything to do with the unique internal functions of an individual. No consideration for the forces our muscles produce to function against the forces of the devices, exercises, or our environment. Just the very impersonal, impractical, dysfunctional “Just Do It” philosophy of arbitrary movement simulation.

It is so out of control that this arbitrary philosophy is being displayed across the internet so anyone and everyone can simply simulate what they see, which is really nothing new (just out of control). The predecessors of this deception did this on CD’s. Before that, on cassettes. Before that, on eight track tapes. Before that, on TV.

The first of their kind was Jack Lalane. Jumping Jack (from where the name of the exercise originated). Funny thing; In 1956, when I was two, I sat on the floor in front of a wooden cabinet with a screen, rocking back and forth while holding my ankles, watching him on TV, and then, 46 year later, found myself sitting next to him while dining and conversing at a restaurant in Chicago.

I would think that anyone who recognizes that no two people are alike would be able to acknowledge the impractical hazards and deceit of this impersonal training, so at this time of the year when Fitness resolutions abound, think about the need to prepare your body before you begin, or possibly, to make building a better body your resolution.

Do this by conditioning your muscles to function better i.e. contract with more force to control your skeletal structure and protect your joints in particular. Stop searching for miraculous, instantaneous results. Stop listening to unrealistic promises from misinformed, pseudo “experts” and anecdotal testimonials from recipients of indiscriminate short term benefits. Acknowledge that the bases of Fitness are involuntary effects, but, more practically, building a better body is based on causation i.e. the forces we are able to generate to perform (function) against the forces that are imposed by whatever we do.

The innovator of forced based training, who conceived a “practical” i.e. useful i.e. functional “Exercise Mechanics?” related education (and the Effort Mechanics that make it functional), the originator of genuine Personal Training based exactly and exclusively on the malleable influencing idiosyncrasies that define the inconsistent, momentary ability of an individual vs the influences of external forces, and the Founder of Resistance Training Specialists?, is Tom Purvis.

Every credible, reliable Exercise Professional in the world knows who he is and has either been acquainted with this most functional education by one of his instructors (RTS Practical I? or RTS Practical II?) or is a legitimate “expert” i.e. ”Specialist” who has attended his Mastery classes (RTS Practical III), so let that be your litmus test (find a Resistance Training Specialist?) to learn how to build a better body.

In other words, when you meet an exercise professional for guidance or assistance, ask if the person is a Resistance Training Specialist? or if the person possesses an understanding of Exercise Mechanics?. If they affirm, make sure they know that you actually mean, Exercise Mechanics?, not Exercise Science, biomechanics, or kinesiology.

Stop placing your faith and trust in people who don’t possess the skills to apply Newton’s Laws to exercise, the human body (this doesn’t mean bio-mechanics), or in products that are inconsiderate of those Laws, because the future of your functional ability is at stake.

Also, remember, the health benefits of Fitness are acquired at an orthopedic cost because they are not preempted by strategically imposed preparation! If you are unprepared, Fitness will not do it for you, nor will it build a better body. Fitness Experts will deny this. They will claim that your preparation is simply to start with a warm up i.e. increase body temperature, and don’t forget, “get a good stretch”!

None of that will protect your joints from erosion. The experts are not even considering it, any more than they are aware of how to adjust external forces according to your internal forces. Furthermore, these high tech products they represent and/or endorse will pump you up, encourage you to sweat more and breathe harder, but they will not build a better body either. There is nothing “practical”, or personal, about looking in a mirror or at a video and simulating the image someone who is different than you and knows nothing about you or how your body functions.

If you are an exercise professional who has made a New Year’s resolution to acquire this Practical exercise education to provide the expertise those informed people are searching for to build better bodies, the information you need can be found at rts123.com. Then, you can fulfill their informed inquiries and teach them how to use this F.E.E. i.e. Functional Exercise Education (Eric Glickstein, January, 2020) to prepare to be fit and reduce the erosive cost that Fitness imposes.