Brindabella Farms

Western civilization was at one time a largely unmechanized agrarian society where physical, often backbreaking, work was a given. Today a far more sedentary, indoor culture predominates. For adults to achieve the health advantages of sustained, consistent physical effort requires planning and self-determination. They are confronted by an often confusing array of choices from personal trainers, to the dazzling machines of a local health club, to a wide variety of sports, to specific physical disciplines such as Hatha Yoga and Pilates®. Which way to go?

One way of making choices is to consider the “Seven Elements of Physical Conditioning”. Keeping these in mind, adults can balance their preferred physical activities so that together they incorporate all the elements. No one activity is going to address all of them completely (though Hatha yoga comes close). Furthermore, a variety of physical activities not only engages the “seven elements” across a wider spectrum, but also makes physical conditioning more fun.

The Seven Elements of Physical Conditioning

*MUSCLE TONE Strengthen both external muscles such as the biceps and abdominal groups, and the internal muscles, such as the heart and, especially for women, the muscles of the pelvic floor.

*FLEXIBILITY Can you bend over, knees straight and put your palms on the floor? Flexibility declines dramatically in most teens and continues as the years go by. Yet, body flexibility protects us in a variety of ways. It can be retrieved and improved. If the body is supple, injuries may be less likely to occur. Remember Humpty Dumpty

*BALANCE Balance declines surprisingly in most adults as they move from their late 20's into their 30's. Yet, by practicing daily exercises that require balance such as standing on one leg and then the other for a sustained time, balance can be retrieved and enhanced.

*COORDINATION Some adults accept a lack of coordination as “just the way I am”. Yet, by engaging all four limbs in challenging work that demands equal effort and balance, coordination can be markedly improved. Skiing, rowing, and hatha yoga offer challenges to coordination.

*POSTURE Perhaps ideal posture can be depicted as a dynamic in which the body is in balance with itself. In this posture the heart and lungs function optimally without the burden of slumping shoulders. The spine rests upon itself like a ladder, the neck upright, not pushed forward as one sees commonly in our “hurry-hurry” society. The trunk muscles are upright in balance with themselves back to front and side to side, comfortable, not stiff and forced. The facial muscles and scalp are relaxed. The legs are straight; the knees are not hyperextended. The feet comfortably and evenly support the entire load. Dynamic posture is closely dependent on balance, coordination, flexibility, muscle tone, and breathing.

*BREATHING Breathing sustains life and so much more. Intentional deep breathing releases tension, and efficiently allows the body to take in oxygen and release those waste products that are excreted through the breath. The martial arts use breathing as a way of focusing attention and enhancing strength. An active physical conditioning program always promotes efficient respiration.

*NEUROLOGIC INTEGRATION The human body is a remarkably complex machine driven by a brain that in itself is one of the great miracles of the natural world. In fact, some parts of the body are believed by some scientists to have indwelling brains specific to operating that body part and connected as well to the “main” brain. Physical conditioning can challenge the body neurologically to integrate its many complex systems in a healthy and consistent way. The benefits are manifold: increased complexity of body use, enhanced protection against injury, greater awareness of one’s reality and possibilities, more efficient elimination of metabolic wastes, enhanced symmetry in engaging the body.

Enlisting the “Seven Elements of Physical Conditioning” while remembering to engage the limbs symmetrically and bilaterally at least part of the time provides adults lots of options. Like to play tennis? Great. Just remember that tennis does not engage the body symmetrically; that can lead to some annoying physical problems. Solution? Part of your physical conditioning effort has to engage the body symmetrically. Hatha yoga does that, for example. Are you a jogger? Fine, as long as you address the elements of flexibility and upper body strengthening as well.

Are you a horseback rider? If so, to ride safely and comfortably in this most complex of all sports you will need to challenge yourself with an unmounted physical conditioning program that regularly addresses all “Seven Elements”. Your horse-partner needs a conditioning program that enlists the “Seven Elements” as well.

The “Seven Elements” lighten up the drudgery of physical conditioning by encouraging adults to be creative with their workouts, and put variety in their planning. Make them work for you too!