That's my grandmother and she bought that blanket at Walmart, on sale, with a coupon, and paid with exact change. I've always admired her durability because she comes from a generation that walked everywhere and maintained a healthy suspicion of doctors and hospitals. She's had no joint replacements, beat cancer twice, and for extra exercise, she pumped an old exercise bike, holding a flashlight to see the speed dial. It was her brain that slowed her. She has dementia, a problem with processing info you or I don't have to think about. Her short term memory is smoked, reminding me of a dog, just as excited to see it's owner come back from emptying the trash as it is after waiting all day. Chances are, you'll see at least ninety, so it's time to consider if there's a way to keep this computer from crashing.
With the body, we're geniuses in certain respects, monkeys with nail guns, in others. We transplant hearts, lungs, and kidneys, but our understanding of the brain falls short of being able to treat it's maladies. As I, and science, seek to prolong your life, the brain has other ideas. It tends to deteriorate faster than the body, which consistently shows it has the capacity to last over a hundred years. So why is the brain crapping out?
Inactivity.
Hand eye coordination deteriorates rapidly if not used consistently. And it may already be happening to you. Get out a pen and paper and write your name with your non-dominant hand. Feel weird? Well if we know that left-right asymmetries in the body are warning signs that proper movement is being compromised, why wouldn't that hold true for the brain?
Should you be able to write as easily with your left than your right? I don't know. But there is a way to incorporate the brain into exercise, and another way to keep that brain active all day.
One way is to get off of machines. As a matter of fact, get off of anything that allows your brain to check out. Every exercise should force your brain and body to work together. Holding on to handles while doing cardio not only burns significantly less calories, it does nothing for balance. Next, stop training on two legs. Very few activities require both your feet on the ground. Even walking is a single leg exercise. Leave two feet training to the kangaroos. You should be as strong and balanced as possible on one foot.
Remember, balance is about timing, not strength. It originates from the brain, so training balance isn't as effective as developing better motor control. Motor control is the brain's ability to communicate with the rest of the body. Within our motor control system lies proprioception, your brain's ability to know and control where your extremities are at any given time. Also of note is the vestibular system, your inner ear. It's filled with liquid and lets the brain know the second the head or torso lean forward. Counterbalancing this system is imperative when trying to balance or things go haywire.
(From a standing position, lift your left foot, keeping it right next to your right foot, but not touching it. Now try to touch your right foot with your left hand. Did the left foot move back? Probably. Because the brain needs to counterbalance the head leaning forward. Which is why people don't generally have tight hamstrings, they have tilted hips. That makes the brain think you're falling forward with every step. The brain turns on the hamstrings to counter the tilted hips. Good luck yanking on those things in yoga, or anywhere else for that matter, because until you fix the hip tilt, no dice on looser hams).
It's important to train stabilizers for what they're intended to do, stabilize. The inner and outer thigh machines are perfect examples of how these stabilizers are being trained incorrectly. The glute medius abducts the leg. Or does it assist the core in managing the quad's and glute's ability to move the leg away from the midline of the body? I say the latter. So does strengthening a muscle responsible for stability make sense? No. This muscle needs to help the brain manage hip abduction. It is not a prime mover, and it's a poor candidate for generating power. The brain needs this muscle to be faster, not stronger, and single leg training is the only way to achieve it.
Muscle systems are designed to have both accelerative and decelerative properties. Without deceleration, you don't walk down stairs, you fall. You're a car with no brakes. That's why some people hate the hike down a mountain. For them, it hurts. You can't accelerate your way down, you have to manage gravity's pull all the way down. To check deceleration of the hip stabilizers, try hopping to one side and landing on one foot. Land and quiet that foot as quickly as possible, and do not hop to the opposite side until that foot is completely quiet. That's deceleration. If you can't quiet the foot quickly, you have a deceleration deficiency in your program. If you can quiet the right and not the left, you have a left/right asymmetry and that needs attention ASAP.
Outside the gym, be aware of any asymmetries and combat them by using the non-dominant side as much as possible. Carry groceries, drive, shower, beat your kids, with the non-dominant side, to improve motor control. Sometimes, I'll cook a whole meal with my left hand (I'm lefty) in my pocket.
Program plateaus are a necessity. Otherwise, you can't tell when a program expires, and they all expire. They only have so much to give; about eight weeks. That's when adaptations to imposed demands dry up, and results halt. Then you'll need a new program that addresses a new, specific goal, like balance. It's also important to be able to measure or quantify your goal along the way. Short term, measurable goals, permeate every well thought out program. Goals need to reflect an improvement of day to day activity outside the gym. Unless reports of improved movement, decreased pain, or increased performance, accompany a given program, it's time find a better one.
Try not to blindly follow a program without specific intent. Know where you want to be eight weeks from now. Once you incorporate the brain into your workouts, you'll get a better sense of what it really means to be connected to your body. The brain never thinks in isolation, it moves the body, not the glute medius for reps of 30 with the pink rubber band.
This type of training is the genesis of a more holistic approach to exercise...
One I hope you'll adopt.
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