M I N D   Y O U R   L A I C  F M

                                                                 A.N. Mukherjee

  

Let me first elaborate the caption of this article –

LAIC   Lungs Air Intake Capacity
F     Flexibility or Suppleness of the Joints

M    Muscle Tone

The first consideration as to why the air intake capacity of the lungs is so important for our cardio-vascular system to function effectively?

Normally throughout the day our habitual respiration is quite shallow, hence there is hardly any deep breathing activity due to the long period of our inactive life style.

The lungs have about little over 4 ltr. of air intake capacity and consequent to our habitual shallow breathing, hardly about 1/2 ltr. of air we breathe in and breathe out, sequel to which, for a prolong underutilization of the lungs its air intake capacity gradually reduces day by day.

The reduced air intake capacity leads to occasional bout of breathlessness or gasping for air even when the person does a little exertion like climbing stairs or brisk walking for a short distance. The said symptom is quite discernible in military or police recruitment centres. The candidates are required to expand their chest at least 5 cm/2 inch (measurement recorded between fully exhaled and then fully inhaled stages).The candidates will be disqualified at the first instance if they fail to measure up to that standard.

The failure of the candidate indicates his inability to undertake an arduous and intensive physical activity essentially required in this career. Hence maintaining a healthy air intake capacity of our lungs is sine-qua-non for a healthy heart.  (Please read my previous article “Must You Strengthen Your Heart”).

The large air intake capacity of our lungs ensures larger volume of oxygenated blood available in our circulatory system.

In view of the above a regular aerobic activity viz. brisk walking, jogging, swimming, skipping etc. will be very helpful for the cardio pulmonary workout.

The lungs are in effect twin balloons that have a porous lining to absorb oxygen needed for body’s energy generation. The more they can inflate the more oxygen they can absorb. Regular aerobic activity improves the elasticity of the lungs which allows them to inflate with greater ease.

A well-known 40 year Research Project in United States called Framingham study investigated the link between exercise and heart disease. It concluded that sedentary people were over five times more likely to die from heart disease than those who practice even moderate level of exercise into their weekly routine.

FLEXIBILITY OF JOINTS

Maintaining a flexible body is as important as keeping cardio vascular system in good condition. Every joint of our body has a certain range of movement; as we grow old, our range of movement of the joints gets reduced causing the joints becoming more and more stiff, over and above, inactivity/under activity and obesity also largely contribute to the stiffening of our joints, due to which the desired blood circulation to the respective joints gets substantially impaired and our body becomes the victim of various pains like arthritis, gouts, osteoarthritis, lumbago etc.

To avoid the above mentioned illness, one has to maintain the flexibility of the joints which can be effected by regular practice of stretching exercise that is to perform Yogasanas or free hand exercise, dancing, gymnastics, calisthenics etc.

Basically the movement of our joints is effected by our neuromuscular activity without which any movement of our joints is absolutely impossible. A paralytic person cannot move his/her limb due to neural disorders. Similarly one cannot stand up without any support if his/her leg muscles are not strong enough to help in the process of standing. Hence the movement of our body essentially needs neuromuscular support; therefore at least 10-15 minutes of stretching exercise performed daily ensures the muscle to become more elastic and supple; as a consequence the joints become mobile. The increased suppleness will improve body’s posture and help prevent stiffness and injury.

Our body’s defense mechanism is essentially dependent on our lymphatic system; the transportation of the lymph fluid all over the body largely depends on our physical activity along with the white blood cells and antibodies. Our body effectively fights out infections keeping us much less prone to various diseases.

MUSCLE TONE

The muscles of our body get stronger and well toned when they are regularly made to work against some resistance, inversely they get weaker when they are underused, as such a regular weight training or resistance training or strength training (all being the same) will have to be incorporated along with other physical activities like aerobic activity (jogging, brisk walking etc.) and stretching (Yoga, free hand etc.).

The resistance training can be performed without even using gym equipment like dumb bell, bar bell and the likes; of course these equipment are essentially required for the body building activity. Whereas to make the muscle tone up one can use one’s own body weight for creating necessary resistance against the movement of the body. For example, while performing sit up, pull up, push-ups, stair up, squatting etc. the weight of the body is being used as resistance, thereby challenging the strength of the respective muscles and the muscles get stronger increasingly. The strong muscles are more receptive to insulin as it boosts the number of insulin receptors in our system. (Insulin is like a key and the receptors are like a lock).

Hence resistance training helps control effectively the blood sugar chemistry in our body. In view of the above it is extremely important to be mindful about body’s fitness criteria as follows –

1.       Weight of the body – should be within Body Mass Index (BMI) range i.e. within 19 to 25.

2.       Measure of the Waistline – should be less than 40” for men and 35” for women.

3.       Air Intake Capacity of the Lungs – should be minimum 2” expansion of the chest.

4.       Flexibility or Suppleness of the Joints.

5.       Developing Stronger Muscle Tone.

One can live up to the above mentioned criteria only being aware of LAICFM and acting religiously on it.

Bibliography

1.       Get Fit, Feel Fantastic, by Dr. Michael Perring

2.       Stopping Diabetes in its Tracks, by Dr. Richard Laliberte

3.       The Complete Guide to Stretching, by Dr. Christopher M. Norris.