My wife and I were recently watching a webinar about healing cancer by Chris Wark. In one of the modules he said that movement is the signal to the body to live. I’ve had similar thoughts but I really liked the way it was articulated. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. While there are probably many ways in which this is true, I came up with four major ways in which movement signals life in the body.
1.Circulation
This one is probably the most obvious and the most talked about so I won’t go into much detail. Your blood delivers needed oxygen to the cells in your body. The more you move, the more your heart beats and the more circulation you get to your body. Without blood, you simply die.
2. The Lymphatic System
As I recall my high school biology class, I remember learning things like genetics, some basic anatomy, and the circulation system but we never talked about the lymphatic system. I suppose it could have been mentioned but there was no particular emphasis placed on it. However, now that I am older and have seen loved ones close to me battle with various types of cancer, I’ve learned more about the lymph system and how important it is. The lymphatic system is a network of tubes that carries white blood cells throughout the body. The system attacks and carries out any harmful bodies such as toxins, bacteria, dead cells, waste, etc. This plays a huge part in our immune system and our body’s ability to keep us alive and well.
I knew that the lymph was moved through the body by movement much like blood, but what I didn’t realize was that lymphatic flow is powered exclusively by muscle movement. This was a huge “AHA” moment for me! There are many reasons why movement is important but this one might be at the very top of the list for me!
The lymphatic system is much like modern day sewer systems. They take all the nasty stuff out of our homes and transport it to a place where it can be taken care of. Conventional exercise will help get the lymph fluid moving but if you only exercise once per day, every few days, or once a week, then that fluid is not moving and all the dangerous particles in your body are accumulating. That would be like us only turning on the sewer system once for a few minutes each day or even once per week! Imagine all that human waste sitting in your house waiting to be carried out! I think you’d rather have the waste system run regularly.
Although I’m not aware of any studies on lymph flow and range of motion, I would imagine that a deeper range of motion would make a difference too. For example, if you sit in a deep squat rather than on a chair, you are going to be using more of your body and thus creating more flow of lymph fluid. Imagine a plastic bag with some water and some sand that has settled to the bottom. If you bend the bag a little bit some of the sand is going to disperse but if you bend the bag all the way over it is going to disperse the sand more than if you just bend it a little bit.
3. Adaptation
One of the many amazing things about our bodies is that they are incredibly efficient machines. They are constantly and quickly adapting to our habits and our environments. Atrophy is an example of this. If you break your arm and wear a cast for a certain amount of time then your arm weakens. This is basically your body getting the signal that the arm is now useless. Since it is such an efficient machine, it allocates its resources somewhere else where they’ll be used. Obviously, a cast is useful when necessary to give us time to heal, but it is a good example of how quickly our body adapts to a lack of movement. When we move, it sends a signal that that part is important so the body maintains it.
The body only adapts to the standard at which we set. If we constantly pursue the easiest or most comfortable possible environment, then we are setting the bar at the lowest possible standard. It’s crazy to expect our bodies to be strong, resilient, and functional when we set the lowest possible standards for them!
4. Bone Density
I grew up with a very rigid concept of bones. I figured that since they are rigid and solid they just are what they are and there is no changing it! Since my youth, I’ve learned that bones are so much more dynamic than I thought! They are constantly growing, changing, and regenerating. Our bones are the basic structure of our bodies and are meant to take on larger loads. When you put loads on your bones, they feel a little bit of stress and that is the signal to your bones to get stronger. Your bones are adapting to their environment. Again, if you set your standard at the lowest possible point, your bones will adapt to that and be weaker than they could be. If you want to develop good strong bones, move more!
You may have heard the phrase, “sitting is the new smoking”. But really, sitting isn’t necessarily the problem. It is the whole sedentary lifestyle that we have in our society. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to end this post and head outside to play with my kids!