Legally fit

If you take any part of the human body out of its place within the main system, in isolation it becomes pretty much useless.

With no organs to pump blood to, the heart isn’t much use at all, and neither are movement-producing muscles without a skeleton to anchor to.

All the organs and subsystems of the body contribute to the miracle of life in one of nature’s most perfect examples of teamwork.

Perhaps this is why some sociologists compare society itself with the human body. The individuals and institutions that form any society all function to play their own parts in a bigger picture of harmony and productivity.

Of course, when talking about any established society one cannot ignore the institutions of law and order. Most of us know better than to challenge the law.

Indeed, we are brought up from an early age to become law-abiding citizens; a state of being to which all good and upright people are expected to aspire.

Happiness and fulfilment for all are the logical consequences of a society filled with such people.

If there were no laws, the strong and violent would reign supreme over the weak and non-violent.

Laws are there to protect us from such people inflicting harm on others. Indeed, some laws even exist to prevent us from harming ourselves.

Others exist to protect the environment we live in, or promote our economic growth.

So what does all this have to do with health and fitness? Well, just like society needs its laws of the state, the human body is subject to a few laws too. These laws are however, govern a very different kind of state; your state of health.

Health and fitness professionals have over the years written their own constitution of sorts. Laws of your state of health can help prevent harm to our bodies, and promote a physical system that may flourish and enrich our lives well into our distant futures.

In a society, if you break the laws of the state you will face the consequences. Depending on the particular law you break, your moment of antisocial madness could land you with a punishment that varies greatly in its severity.

The court of law may hand down anything from a minor fine to a hefty prison sentence, or at worst, depending on where you live in the world, the death penalty.

Tread on the wrong side of your state of health laws and life can be as tough as any court of law. Your sentence might be as little as loss of confidence at the beach, or as large as losing the ability to perform essential everyday functional physical tasks.

You could land a more severe sentence like a chronic or life-changing medical condition, or worse still, death. When it comes to your state of health, unfortunately the death penalty is still in operation wherever in the world you happen to live.

If it all sounds a little scary, then be sure to always stay on the right side of the law. You wouldn’t jeopardise a good place in society by committing murder or grand theft, so don’t jeopardise your own health with the obvious suspects of cigarettes, alcohol, other drugs and junk food.

I’m sure we’re all on the same page so far, so let’s move on to some more of the fitness industry’s state of health laws you might not have heard about.

State of health law chapter one: squat. The squat represents the single most valuable investment of time and effort you could possibly make in the exercise and fitness context. No other exercise will give you a better return on your investment. You can do it with world record weight or just your own bodyweight, and provided you have just a square metre of space, you can do it absolutely anywhere you like.

Any form of squat imaginable will improve your functional strength, core stability, balance, flexibility, and if you perform enough of them, squats will even help you burn body fat.

State of health law chapter two: the bigger the exercise, the bigger the benefits. Compound multi-joint exercises like the bench press or chin-up will produce far more results than triceps extensions or biceps curls. When designing an exercise routine, always favour bigger moves that hit more muscles in less time. Bigger exercises mean more muscle mass targeted, better inter-muscular coordination and balance, higher heart rates and ultimately, more calories burned.

State of health law chapter three: perfect technique. Whether you are riding a stationary exercise bike or performing a clean and jerk, correct technique means your results are optimised and your risk of injury is minimal.

Always ensure you are technically proficient in a given exercise before pushing too hard and you’ll save yourself a lot of grief in the long run. State of health law chapter four: consistency and progression.

The strength of all effective exercise programmes is sealed by the cement of consistency.

Workouts should not be so infrequent that the effects of each workout are lost before moving onto the next, and conversely, not so frequent that adequate time is not allowed between them for recovery and adaptation.

Moreover, the intensity in terms of duration, resistance or repetitions should steadily increase gradually over time in order to facilitate continuous adaptation to new stimuli.

Remember, never break the law, always break a sweat.

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