the use of exercise

[Plenum]

this may sound like another strange question, but:

is exercise actually useful?

or this another misperpetuation that has been sold through the 'healthcare industry?'

by exercise, I mean the deiliberate taking time out to be 'active' and 'vigorous' ... as if that was not already incorporated into our lifetyle with walking and getting fresh air daily as part of the way we live already (being close and in nature etc).

[Jeremy]

Though I will admit to a bit of insecurity/vanit at times as for one of the reasons that I work out but another huge reason I do is that it prevents injury by strengthening your ligaments, tendons, and muscles. When I pulling patients around, picking them up, pushing stretchers, etc is really does help. My back isn't as sore, I have more energy throughout the day, I'm able to stick to a strict food regime because of it. It's just a part of my life that I enjoy.

[Monica]

The problem is that it's not already incorporated into our lifetyle with walking and getting fresh air daily as part of the way we live already (being close and in nature etc)'.

(in most cases, in industrialized societies.)

[Rake]

I thought there were studies that showed riding an exercise flat out could greatly improve health but only for certain people. Some guy did the test and he thought he was getting fitter but they could conclude somehow that the test was never going to help him. If I'v got time i'll have a look for it.

[Diana]

Monica is right. Modern-day lifestyles in most industrialized countries do not include enough movement. If you walk everyday and get sun, then at least the chi and blood and "waters of the body" are moving and not stagnant. Consider the amount of time spent in front of personal computers, just sitting.

Jeremy also makes a good point. However, workouts on the machines at the gym aren't ideal for strengthening the ligaments and tendons because they isolate the muscles; use free weights instaed, and especially kettlebells (see Pavel Tsatsouline's books and videos).

Also, if you remember to use your muscles when going about the house helps. If you are going down stairs, for instance, use your leg muscles instead of letting your feet fall to the step (feel the muscles engage). Another thing is to be vigilant of your posture. Exercise your eye muscles every day if you are working on a computer a lot by going outside and looking at the distance.

[isis]

[deleted / swiss cheese]

[ChickenInSpace]

Try any martial arts. They are never about vanity and will help chi flow. Many spiritual practices are baked into virtually all older martial arts.

Yes. Exercise is actually useful.

It's the reasons why you exercise which may not be useful.

[Diana]

Try any martial arts. They are never about vanity and will help chi flow. Many spiritual practices are baked into virtually all older martial arts.

Yes. Exercise is actually useful.

It's the reasons why you exercise which may not be useful.

I agree. This is a good point, CIS.

And martial arts is really about Not fighting. Tai Chi is a martial art, and specifically moves the chi (when done properly). My martial arts teacher, who is in his 70's, and his teacher, who must be near 90 now, both still practice and teach martial arts (Gung Fu, Wu Shu, and Tai Chi), and both are amazingly vital and healthy. They both attribute their health to the Tai Chi long form which they do every day.

[isis]

[deleted / swiss cheese]

[GentleReckoning]

Exercise is useful inasmuch as focusing work on the mental or spiritual is useful. Focusing on the health of the body empowers development of the mind and spirit just as focusing on spirit empowers the mind and body.

As with any activity, focusing on any of these exclusively creates distortions.

[Karl]

Yes it's useful. Most people don't know how to do it though.

[isis]

[deleted / swiss cheese]

[AnthroHeart]

Exercise can be grounding for those who need it. Even the monks sometimes have vigorous workouts, many hours a day studying martial arts. So it can be a boon to spirituality.

[GentleReckoning]

Exercise is not the same as providing health for the body. Exercise is largely a waste of time.

[AnthroHeart]

I've healed pains in my hand through energy work, which seems to be more healing than exercise.
Even if I were to depart this world through magical means, I could do so full of joy and bliss that exercise doesn't give me.

[xise]

I notice a significant difference in my body metabolism if I go for more than a week without exercise.

[GentleReckoning]

In my mind, exercise is mindless (or mindful!) working of the physical vehicle. What would the word be for strength training, yoga, martial arts, etc... development?

[ricky]

Hi everyone ....!
No doubt in this ,exercise is really helpful and it has not a single bad effect on our health . Through exercises the risks of diseases are reduced because the body is able to lose fat and the clear the risks of cardiac diseases.

[Marc]

I think living an active life is all that's necessary in terms of exercise. Taking walks in nature and working in your garden is the perfect amount of exercise. If you work a desk job, be consistent with your taking of walks. Also, something such as taichiuan or qigong could do wonders. Thinking of exercise holistically is key.

I personally don't go an "exercise" but work at a zoo cleaning, carrying things, and walking a ton around lots of trees and plants (and furry friends). I feel wonderful and my body just adapts to whatever level of work I need to do.

My step dad was a power lifter and now has joint pain everywhere and has had two knee surgeries. Strenuous workouts aren't natural, and neither is a sedentary lifestyle. Find a balence of regular activity and exercising mind/body/spirit.

For example: I took a walk today with my wife in a forest. I sat down by a pond and observed the relationships of all the different creatures and plants. I exercised by seeing all those things in oneness and seeing the creator. I contemplated the spiritual meaning behind the different facets of nature I observed. All in all, it was a very wonderful, peaceful, and enlightening experience.

I used to work out in a gym and always felt beat-up afterwards and never refreshed. The music, the lights, the artificial setting... It was only focussing on one aspect of me. When I get out in nature, I'm never disappointed. Nature will bring you back to peace and give you the perfect amount of exercise in mind, body, and spirit.

[isis]

exercise useful?

"hahaha" says the enlightened fat@$$ buddha!

[Hototo]

Anything useful. Sure, define the goal first.

---

I'll start. I define health as the freedom to eat anything I want in anyones company I want at any time I want. I'm sure a lot of people here disagree that that is the definition of health....

So yeah. Its a good question but you could stand to have a little detail in it. Like what is health? Long life? Ability to do things? Desire to do things? Awareness that you can do things? Lack of illness?

Your body always tries to remove itself from all situations doesnt it? I mean it has to be fed and coaxed to remain in this situation of existence. What happens if you remove all illness? Would you remove the body?

Anyway, yeah, anything is useful if you first define what you need done and then someone can define for you what you can use for it. You want 8 pack abs and the ability to run 20 miles? Or do you want to live to be 100 or do you want to live to be a billion? Define health.

[Marc]

Health to me is being able to do what you need to do, when you need to do it.

[AnthroHeart]

Ra said that harvest is nigh, so trying to extend your life is meaningless. Or something along those lines.

[Hototo]

Health to me is being able to do what you need to do, when you need to do it.

And what if health indicates not having a Need. As in health being non attachment to needs.

Health huh, such an interesting distortion.

---

Ra said that harvest is nigh, so trying to extend your life is meaningless. Or something along those lines.

I think its more along the lines of activities designed to value the extension of your life over other needs should be devalued, while generally martyrdom, as in too rapid disintegration of your body before its time is also not recommended, that being said you can live in this body for near infinite amounts of time without "harvest" as such.

[Guardian]

Exercise is not useful for losing weight but is useful for longevity. Burst exercise more so than endurance.

[Guardian]

Hey Guardian..
I don't know why you are saying this word exercise is not good for the weight loss..
I disagree with you on this point because I think exercise is one of the best technique to lose body weight and also for the fitness..
Anyway thanks for sharing your experience..

Hi Finder,

Thank you for your response. I am always happy to share my experience with others. It is well documented that exercise does not play much of a role in weight loss.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/10213/...ose-weight

Most people who start exercise also engage in calorie restriction which is the major cause of weight loss, much more than the exercise. A 30 minute jog will only burn 300 calories, and a pound of fat has around 3,000 calories. This means it would take you 10 days to burn a single pound of fat. If you were 60 pounds overweight (say you were 230lb and ideally were 170lb), it would take you nearly 2 years of running for 30 minutes every day to meet that requirement. It's insane really.

Also, what the calorie formula doesn't take into account is that the type of exercise you do adjusts your metabolic hormone profile. A slow jogging type exercise increases cortisol while decreasing growth hormone and testosterone. This is not condusive to burning fat, in fact it does the opposite, it slows down metabolism and makes you gain weight.

So most people who exercise, are actually getting hungrier and eating more calories than if they hadn't exercised at all. Quite the paradox. On the other hand, if you are doing short burst exercise, like sprinting, you will decrease cortisol, and increase growth hormone and testosterone. This is great but even if you are doing the maximum burst exercise, you still haven't addressed the actual causes of obesity - malnutrition, toxicity, and constipation. You will lose far more weight addressing these 3 issues than you will ever lose exercising.

Here is my response from another thread describing why:

There's a lot of evidence now showing that being overweight is actually a symptom of a deeper problem.

The typical healthy person eats until they are full and won't get hungry again until their body needs fuel. Even healthy people with normal BMI's forced to eat 3,000+ calories a day have difficulty gaining weight. The appropriate response in a healthy body is to burn off that extra intake by increasing metabolism.

In an unhealthy person, weight gain becomes a concern. The mechanisms by which weight gain occurs are an insensitivity to leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full) or imbalances with thyroid/adrenal hormones.

It is speculated that the hormones lose homeostasis with nutritional deficiency, excessive toxicity, or an inability to eliminate waste.

In terms of nutritional deficiency the mechanism is clear. Your body will tell you to keep eating until its dietary requirements for vitamins and minerals is met. It's funny to think that an obese person could be malnourished but it is extremely common. A testament to this fact is that by going on a purely organic fresh-squeezed fruit/vegetable juice diet quickly reverses this leptin insensitivity and allows obese people to feel full.

In terms of excessive toxicity, the body needs to eliminate waste. The liver, in order to convert fat soluble toxins into water soluble toxins that can be eliminated in the kidney, requires a series of nutrients and amino acids. This is called phase 2 liver detoxification. If phase 2 isn't working properly, the liver has no choice but to store these fat-soluble toxins into fat stores. Thus, we see the growth of "central obesity". Central obesity is dangerous because it is a signal that you are overloaded with toxins and unable to process them.

Finally, is the inability to eliminate waste. The bowel is our sewage pipe and should be activated every time you eat. If you are not passing a well formed bowel motion 2-3 times per day, your colon is not working well enough. As a result, not only is the waste unable to be eliminated from the liver, but waste from the colon will reenter your blood stream making you more toxic. This is called leaky gut syndrome, or intestinal hyperpermeability. The same occurs with kidney failure, obesity occurs as the body has nowhere else to put the toxins.

So, the solution for weight loss is simple - go on a juice fast and get enemas / colonics. A wonderful documentary called "Fat, sick, and nearly dead" demonstrates the healing power of this protocol on some incredibly sick people.

Hope this helps. Namaste.