Proper exercise can improve muscle tone and elasticity, enhance cardiovascular efficiency, and reintegrate neuromuscular (mind/body) communication.   Also, reintegrating neuromuscular communication is just as important to your health and fitness as the other two.

Your brain is your body’s “command center.”  It “talks” and “listens” to every area of your body.  Most of this two-way conversation is “top secret.”  That is, it’s all subconscious.  Your conscious mind is completely unaware of the subconscious messages that send precise instructions to particular muscles on how to find that itch on your ear or how to move your arm and fingers to scratch the itch.  And you don’t give any thought to stretching or contracting particular muscles at a certain speed and intensity in a specific sequence so you can turn over in bed.  Even if you concentrate on precise movements, such as learning to ride a bicycle or play the piano, you concentrate on the results of neuromuscular coordination, not the process.

In general, activity in the right hemisphere of the brain controls the left side of the body, and activity in the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body.  So, repetitive exercise is most effective when movement alternates between the right and left sides of the upper body and lower body.  This is the best kind of exercise to help balance your internal communication systems.

Walking properly is an ideal exercise for reintegrating internal communication.  A brisk rhythmic stride with arms swinging comfortably at your sides does more than exercise muscles and stimulates your cardiovascular and respiratory systems.  The synchronized swinging of the right-arm-left-leg followed by the left-arm-right-leg mimics the pattern four-legged animals use to walk.  It also is the pattern pre-toddlers use in the important natural developmental process of crawling.  Since walking is much easier on full-grown knees than crawling, follow the lead of our four-legged friends.  Even though you’re upright, when you are out for your evening stroll, walk, or jog, make sure you coordinate your arms with your legs.  That way, you’ll get the neuromuscular integrating benefits of crawling, which will give your nervous system a chance to balance internal communication systems and body rhythms.  Re-toning your body’s natural rhythms is equally as important as toning your muscles.

Link to Morter March Monday rebroadcast.