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HomeNL-2023-03 8 Safety Minute


Safety Minute

The TAO of Exercise


March 2023
by Harmon Everett

 

As I look up to the boat on top of my truck and feel: “Ugh, that is SO heavy. How am I going to lift that up and get it on the ground again this time?"

My thoughts begin to run along the line of: “Maybe I’m getting too old for this.” Notwithstanding that I’ve ALWAYS thought that when trying to get the boat off my truck. Even when I was younger.

My next thought is: “Maybe I should exercise more, so this would be easier.”

How prosaic of me. But I realize exercise has its place. Otherwise, muscles atrophy. We commonly think of atrophy as a result of laziness or disuse, but instead, it is a vibrant natural dynamic activity of our bodies which goes on all the time – and is essential for our bodies to continue. There is a marvelous system that continuously examines every cell in our bodies and gets rid of stuff that is no longer used, or damaged, in order for new stuff to take its place. The rule is typically stated that every cell in our bodies is replaced every seven years, but that is just the average. Some cells, like our blood cells and the cells lining our intestines are replaced daily or weekly or such, and other cells, such as the cells that make up the lenses in our eyes may not ever get replaced.

Think of it as an automatic app that goes around and automatically deletes your old, unused, and redundant computer files.  (Boy, would I like one of those!) If the process didn’t happen every day, we would be carrying around old dead junk cells all the time, and just get bigger and more calcified every day. I currently have 16 gigabytes of external hard drives, and dread thinking about having to go through all the junk, useless files, old operating systems and redundant photos to try and get rid of most of it.

Our bodies have that system up and running very well most of the time.

But sometimes it looks at some important cells we haven’t used in a while and disposes of them when we wish that we could keep them around. We call it atrophy. We just really need to keep keeping those cells moving to remind the automatic garbage disposal system that we still need them. Which means: Exercise.

 

Then, too, our bodies have all this neat stuff inside them,

 

 

that keeps moving around all the time. Stomachs get bigger when filled with food and water, lungs expand with every breath, and when you stretch from side to side, everything shifts. The organ that keeps everything more or less together is an intertwined network or fabric of cell membranes called the INTERSTITIUM. 

Doctors used to think that all that connecting tissue was just benign static connecting tissue and didn’t contribute much to our bodies except function as sort of sacks that held stuff in place. But then, AS RECENTLY AS 2018, they were able to examine some of these membranes while in place in a living body, and discovered it was much more than that, and was its own separate circulatory system. All of the connective tissues were one contiguous organ of its own.  When inside a living body, it was much like an interconnected double walled bubble wrap, filled with water and specialized body fluids that bathe the different organs, as well as support, protect, and connect them. 

If we sit or remain motionless most of the time, the fluid in that interstitium also sits still, and the dissolved chemicals start to settle out and begin to decay the tissues around them. I suspect this is what happens with diabetics when their feet and ankles get ulcers.

The answer is, of course, to keep moving: exercise. Remember Newton’s First Law of Motion: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion. I intend to stay in motion as long as possible. Maybe even longer.

When I complain that these exercises take up maybe an hour out of my day, I have to remember that astronauts on the International Space Station are REQUIRED TO EXERCISE AT LEAST TWO HOURS PER DAY. Or they can’t hardly walk when they get back to Earth’s surface. Talk about muscles and bones atrophy.

Here are some of my suggested exercises. (Disclaimer: nothing in here is to suggest that I am giving medical or therapeutic advice. Please, if you are having a medical emergency, CALL 911.)

These are just some exercises I have found useful, and that I can do anywhere at any time, with no equipment, that might be useful for paddlers.

Arm Swinging

Just swinging your arms around side to side for 15 minutes. Gets blood flowing to your arms, moves all those internal organs around, and strengthens the muscles around your spine.




Great for practicing paddling moves and keeping your back and arm muscles supple.

Toe Touching

Again, the very simple exercise that gets most of your internal organs moving and strengthens the muscles around your spine. Try to do 25 to 50.

Balancing on One Foot

Standing on one foot for 10 to 20 seconds.

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There have been some studies coming out recently that imply that one good way to tell if someone is in good shape and are less likely to die in the next 5 years, is if they can stand on one leg for more than 10 seconds. I’m not sure whether this is testing your leg muscles, or your brain’s ability to send the appropriate signals to your muscles. Probably both.

I like to practice this while waiting in line at the grocery store or bank.

Walking

Yes. We’ve all heard the “10,000 steps” malarkey. “Bah, Humbug!” I say. That’s about 5 miles. Each day. Sigh.

Unfortunately, there are studies coming out that sustain that figure, and also indicate that walking BRISKLY for those 5 miles is substantially better than just strolling those 5 miles.

Standing Ups




My daughter told me this one. Starting from laying down prone on the floor or ground, stand up. Then get back down on the floor or ground and stand up again. Repeat 10 times. Evidently as we get older, it becomes important to be able to stand back up if we ever find that we have fallen. I’m sure we’ve all seen those TV commercials.

Not to mention that it tends to exercise ALL of my muscle groups and move around ALL of my internal organs.

And thinking about getting some simple weights, and lifting weights while I surf the internet. 

I’ll probably still grumble about putting my boat on top of my truck and getting it down again. Happy Trails!

See you On The Water!

 




The author, Harmon Everett