HEART AND HANDS – Chapter 2 SST

“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps – we must step up the stairs.” –Vance Havner

HEART & HANDS

“One Hollows The Clay And Shapes It Into Pots:

In Its Nothingness Consists The Pot’s Effectiveness.” 

By “hollowing the clay” of our bodies to shape them to our desired forms, we open the heart and open the hands, literally and figuratively. We reach in each direction of a stretch because our bodies have become huddled and contorted, compressed and distorted by our daily deeds.

What we do with the “clay that shapes the pot” varies according to our talents, ambitions, vision, instruction and application. We are created equal, barring background, deformities or handicaps. We all have the same flesh and bones that are our substances. We each have our own specific, genetic make-up which makes us physically look the way we do, shapes our muscles, and determines the length of our limbs and the strength of our hearts.  This is the “nothingness” we begin to shape into something greater.

We open the heart, letting calmness and fresh air to enter and expand its chambers. The fats and processed foods constricting its essential movement and basic operations are allowed to release. The pressure on the organs from bad posture, endless sitting, slouching and gravity itself is changed when reaching high, bending low and stretching out flat on the floor. The “nothingness” there is the space between the arms and legs, between the chest and neck and tailbone as the flat earth grounds you and calms the vibrations of the body to a noticeable hum that lulls the body into the “ahh” you are, laying flat on the floor, mimicking Da Vinci’s perfect proportions as you expand in every direction by laying motionless. You arch your body to receive this “nothingness” which really becomes the “effectiveness” your body needs.

Opening the heart and hands to the challenges of the body in exercise movements forms the clay of our flesh. What is taken away, in terms of extraneous equipment and entertainment, are further distractions from the centered focus one needs in exercise. By taking away, we gain.  By using our hearts and our hands we are freed to new levels of improved movement.

We take what we have, and through activity, nutrition and environment we develop our abilities and talents.  We hollow the clay and shape the pots that are our lives. We add more muscle here, take fat away there, add strength, flexibility, and balance and by this gain speed, endurance, power and longevity. Our “effectiveness” comes from developing what we have to begin with.

The effective “nothingness” is the ability to stop thinking during competition and allow the body to perform automatically.  If balance, footwork, stability, strength and flexibility are practiced consistently, play becomes play.  The neuroskeletal system responds to the stimulus put upon it, compensating at various angles, planes and leverages with speed, force and focus.

We all begin with the same set of tools; our bodies that we were born with, our brains and hearts to become whatever we set out to become, and our hands and legs to get us wherever we move toward. We each have “Heart and Hands.”

START WITH THE HEART

The first thing to identify us before birth is the ultrasound of our heartbeat. That is all that defines us. It identifies us as a human in our mother’s womb. That is where we started. The Latin origin for the word “Core” is “Heart”.

As we begin any exercise program or workout regimen we should also start with the heart to make sure it is strong enough to handle the stress we plan to put before it. By learning to target and train the heart for ultimate efficiency, you can increase many areas of the whole physical system by concentrating on just one. The stronger the heart, the stronger the whole system you can build around it. If it is weak, so too will you be.

The benefits of beginning a cardiovascular program are numerous. The first goal is to raise your heart rate through aerobic exercise. Walking exercises your lungs and circulatory system, bringing more oxygen and blood to the brain and heart tissue, which improves mood, alertness, and stimulates the release of endorphins, the “feel good” hormones. By releasing endorphins it combats depression and elevates mood in general, along with well-being and self-esteem through accomplishment, confidence and self –sufficiency.

Walking is also the most available form of exercise, it can be performed virtually anywhere, has the lowest incidence of injury and enhances mobility. Anyone can do it, from the obese 8 year old to the ailing 80 year old. It keeps blood pressure normal, enriches the heart and arteries, lowers cholesterol, increases bone strength and burns excess calories in the most beneficial, least taxing way.

Other positive side effects are that sleep improves and the nervous system gets a workout by stimulating balance and stability when moving your arms rapidly in a rhythmic, cadenced tempo. Once this simple exercise is incorporated into a daily regimen, it often leads to other forms of cardiovascular training.

The maximum heart rate is basically calculated as the number 220 minus your age, multiplied by 70-85% to find your optimal heart rate zone. There are other more precise ways to gauge optimum heart rate, but this is a simple formula that works. For example: a 30 year old would be 220-30 = 190. 70% of that would be 190 x .70 = 133 heartbeats per minute. To exercise in a higher zone, multiply by .80 for 152 heartbeats and let that be the upper levels per minute. The simplest way to check your heart rate is to count your pulse for 6 seconds and multiply that by 10, i.e., 15 pulses x 10 = 150 heartbeats per minute.

Keeping the heart in this zone for a 22 – 33 minute period will begin to show immediate benefits. If it’s too hard to sustain that rate, that’s all the more reason to keep working at it consistently, but at a slower pace. If it’s easy to achieve, try taking it to 85% of your maximum and attempt to sustain that level for 44 – 55 minutes. This is the cardio-effect. This is exercising the heart to handle the workload you plan to put on it with exercise and weights.

Start with the heart. A healthy heart will garner far-reaching effects by burning excess calories and conditioning the whole body to work more efficiently.  Exercising the heart in an aerobic capacity will put the body in motion as well as the blood. The less resistance the body has internally, by keeping a healthy heart system, the more performance you will get out of the graduated aspects of training.

This is the something from nothing the poem refers to; you may not be doing anything more than walking, but by doing it with a plan and concentrated effort, you are effectively causing the body to change by accepting or rejecting the exercise, and compensating further progress.

By beginning with the heart and hands we assure our bodies and minds of exactly what we start with. Going through a week of freehand exercises will get the body acclimated to exercise, will point out weaknesses, imbalances and strengths, and will incorporate a discipline that accepts no exceptions or excuses because the body and gravity are all that’s required to begin.

This is what Nike meant when it said, “Just do it” The effective nothingness is the ability to stop thinking during competition and allow the body to perform automatically. To shape yourself for a particular sport is to fashion your personal vehicle that drives you to your chosen destination.

USE YOUR HANDS

Use the equipment necessary for every sport and activity that you currently have and always will have, YOUR BODY.  Use your bodyweight as its own resistance when you begin a strength training program. Once you learn how to add repetitions and sets to a foundation based on good form, you’ll learn how to build a program that disciplines your body in every area, alleviating weaknesses and building strength upon strength for better athletic performance, better health, longevity and lifelong activity. And you’ll learn how to get all you need from the environment already available to you.

A step, a floor, a pull-up bar, a chair, a resistance ball, a track, a gym, a pool, a park, a playground all offer areas where a little knowledge, imagination, discipline and commitment can increase your level of fitness 110% from where it currently is.  Sometimes the simplest training can teach us the most about our bodies. A push up teaches us uniformity, balance, strength, discipline, pacing, endurance, stability and a way to see measurable gains on a timely basis. As long as you have your hands you can build upper body strength.

Deliberate, repetitive, identical, one-right-after-the-other–moves, train the muscles and also the neuroskeletal system. Begin with as many repetitions as you can, until you can perform 11 perfectly. By holding the contraction and extension fully, you’re sending serious signals to your nerve fibers. You’re giving your muscles a predetermined “groove.” The shape they take is determined by your will, vision and ability to concentrate fully in each repetition.