To understand how this system and health relate you need to understand how it works in the body. What is the muscular system? It is a body system composed of a network of tissues (cartilages, ligaments, tendons, fascias, joints, etc…) that allows the human body to control movement inside and outside of it. As simple as walking to exercise to activities we do from within the body to survive (Ex. heart beating, lungs breathing, veins returning blood to the heart from the legs=activities we don’t focus or concentrate on when awake or asleep.). Our muscles are divided into groups:
1-Skeletal Muscle: Found in the skeletal system and provides controlled movement. It maintains body movement from our head to our toes=jaw movement, poster, producing heat in the body to simply speaking while you’re standing and so much more. You get the idea that this system plays a vital role in many functions we carry out daily but a lot of times we take this for granted since we use the skeletal muscle for our daily routine functioning that is both voluntary and involuntary.
2-Visceral Smooth Muscle: Found in the digestive tract, urinary tract, and blood vessels; contractions not under voluntary control.
3-Cardiac Muscle: Found only in the heart; contractions not under voluntary control.
Skeletal muscles are organs and do vary in size and shape from long and thin, broad and flat, to bulky masses and some not.
The skeletal muscle is highly vascular. Muscle fatigue and pain result when there is insufficient oxygen delivered to the muscle. Oxygen is the fuel to the human body in making it possible for us to function and survive; without it we can’t live.
You see how important this system is and we need to keep it healthy. Keep your muscular system healthy as a priority in your daily life. By doing this you will not only improve your quality of life, overall, but you will also begin to focus more easily on enjoying what’s truly important in your life. With staying healthy in your life it will increase the risk of you living longer and a more productive one. Prevention of injury to the muscular system and all the systems of the body is the answer to happiness, so start now and the younger the easier and better are the results.
How can you do this, well there are 3 main factors that would highly impact reaching a healthy or healthier muscular system and it’s NEVER too late to get started. They would be:
1-DIET 2-EXERCISE 3-ROUTINELY PRACTICING HEALTHY HABITS
At first it may seem like a challenge but when it gets in your regular routine of daily living it’s a BREEZE. I can say that because I made changes to a degree with better healthier living. If I can do it so can you. It really isn’t that difficult.
Let me first inform you what happens to the muscular system as we get older. We become more inactive from our younger years (meaning sedentary lifestyle with no form of activity) and we are more prone to practice poor healthy habits (including what’s in your diet and how you eat). The reason for this is we are no longer in high school with a higher metabolism or in college as well but working crazy hours on the run with the family and don’t have the time like we did but you end up with the following:
As we get older the tissue that comprises everyone’s muscular system decreases in size and relative strength. When muscle fibers die they are replaced by FATTY TISSUE. This makes the movement of muscles more difficult.
You want to know if this can be prevented? Well YES, it can! The good news is that the effects of this normal declining or atrophying in the muscular system when getting older can be decreased in the severity by exercising regularly. The sooner you get in a regular plan of doing it the easier it will be as you grow older. By staying active always in your years of living you will continue to be muscle toned and build new muscles as well as keep your muscular system happy and healthy with not allowing it to become atone (loose in tonicity of the muscle=little strength if any). So you don’t have to be 15 or 20 or 30 or 40 years old to start this. The longer you hold off on some form of exercise (mild to moderate to intense) the longer it takes to tolerate it and adapt to this being a part of your daily living. Like anything else for most; it may not be easy at first but in time whatever exercise you choose 3x, 5x, or even daily the sooner you will love it and want it in your life. It can range from belly dancing, to gym workouts, to fast walking, to racquetball, to swimming or hiking. Anything beats sitting most of the day or sitting behind a desk for work hours than coming home for dinner followed by TV than sleep. *
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, most individuals should be doing moderate aerobic activity four or more days a week for at least 30 minutes at a time. Aerobic exercise can be defined as that which engages your heart and lungs, so a leisurely walk won’t do it. Keeping your muscles healthy aerobically should also be fun and can be done with others. Hiking is a great example of such an enjoyable activity since walking hills force both big and small muscles to optimally utilize oxygen.
It is much easier than you think. If you are overweight think about getting into your therapeutic body mass index of weight that can take 6 months to even less or for some take a year up to two years. Whatever time it takes to get in your therapeutic range it’s worth the while in getting yourself at a weight that allows you to start exercising=being active. When you reach that point in life it allows you to do so much more with your life than sit on the side lines but instead play on the field with a big view of more enjoyment and activity. Anyone can do it; you just need to have the power and perseverance. The ending results are worth it for one person only, YOU but it will give people around you a positive impact as well. If you have a condition that doesn’t allow you to do the types of activity that I mentioned earlier there is always home remedies from treadmills, using dumb bells in light weight lifting (2.5lbs. to 20lb.), sit ups, just walking around the yard or block or using the pool you may have doing laps. You can figure it out with the help of asking your doctor (For people with any disease/illness or condition it is recommended to go to the physician first to get clearance in getting activities that you’re allowed to do). Always a health fitness coach could give direction but not replace a doctor for clearance in activity).