What Role Does The Nervous System Play?

10,000 steps per day is a popular recommended target of activity, yet most people in developed countries struggle to achieve that target. In people who have the misfortune to suffer from osteoporosis, bones do not merely become thinner, they begin to look more like Swiss cheese as they lose their density. These osteoporotic holes in bone become filled with fat, as does the bone marrow. The results were surprising. Contrary to current theory, Rubin claims that large signals, such as those created by a foot hitting a pavement, are not the best signal for bone. However, there are physiological thermogenic responses that are within the range of intensity and frequency of Rubin’s vibration. Floris Wuyts at the University of Antwerp takes a calculated guess that the basic frequency of shivering may be around 5Hz with harmonics up to 30Hz.20 Another example is that of restless people. Have you noticed that they tend to be thin? As their legs twitch at a high frequency, they are burning calories and producing energy as heat. This is a hot new field as more researchers are exploring how this form of vibration works. For instance, an exciting new finding is that it stimulates an increase in the number of stem cells. The question remains as to how the body perceives this particular mechanical stimulus and how it is translated into a bone response.

The Pain To Seem Purposeful

Is loading, as when standing on the platform, necessary? What role does the nervous system play? Is the effect on bone local? Would this treatment benefit a paraplegic with spinal cord injury, a stroke patient, or someone with cerebral palsy? Is the response localized to the legs? There is much that remains to be discovered. From birth, gravity guides our development. As body weight and mass increase, muscle, bone and other structures adapt and strengthen their size to meet mechanical demands. When my son was seven years old, I took him to a new pediatrician who suggested we cut back on what he ate because his weight was slightly above the range for his age. If I were taller, I would be thinner! Even as an adult, you can demonstrate the value of standing taller by consulting one of the many body mass index charts available on the Internet. Say your height is 5’8 when you stand straight, but only 5’7 when you stand in your everyday relaxed posture. Most men aged 45 to 65 are able to hold it up for two to three minutes, most women for 90 seconds. This gives you a rough idea of your gravity fitness. Refer back to this baseline gravity score as you make lifestyle changes and get healthier, and retake the test from time to time to measure your improvement. Here is a chart showing the typical durations that a group of men and women of different age groups can keep holding a particular weight before muscle fatigue makes them drop their arm. The weight was held in the subjects’ dominant arm, which was stretched out to the side at shoulder height. Always remember that you are not measuring yourself up to what others can do, but how you improve against your own starting score.

The Sweetest Sound

Another assessment you can make before you start is to have someone carefully measure your height, weight, and waist and hip measurements. Look at yourself naked in a mirror from all sides. Where you see folds, make a mental note to eliminate them. Now pull yourself up straight, with shoulders pushed downward and tummy tightened. That was not difficult, was it? That is the way you can look all the time. Now, the next time you look at an advertisement of women who have lost weight on some magic diet, notice their posture in the before and after photos. In some, the only change you may detect is how they stand, but the impression given is that they look thinner. Now stretch your arms up straight over your head, keeping your shoulders down. You look even thinner. Hold that image, too. That is the way you want to end up looking. As you get healthier, be sure to check your image often.

Welcome To The Good Times

It is a great way to get positive feedback! It will give you a fuller picture of your overall wellness and provide a benchmark against which to measure how much you are improving in various related health areas as you make better use of gravity. Together with physical activity, these form the foundation of a healthy body and mind. But you may well ask, What does gravity have to do with these factors? Gravity ties in with everything. For example, have you considered that adequate sleep in a horizontal position provides energy and is just as important as the things you do upright? Sleeping upright or even sitting up, as you may have experienced during an overnight flight, is not nearly as refreshing as lying in bed. Pay attention to the quality of your sleep and make sure you get enough of it. What do you regularly do that uses gravity? For example, how many hours a week do you spend doing housework or yard work? Do you go out of your way to climb two or three flights of stairs instead of taking an elevator? When at work or when shopping, do you park a little distance from the building’s entrance, even if closer spaces are available? Do you leave your car in one place and run a number of local errands on foot? Next, think when and where you have the opportunity to modify your habits. Instead of working through your coffee break or using the time to sit and have a snack, why not take a brisk walk around the building? If you pop into the grocery store to pick up just a few items, how about collecting your purchases in a handheld basket instead of wheeling a cart through the store? Muscles are contracting, bones are stimulated. Your heart rate increases every time you get out of a chair.