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The Unbeatable Body
A well trained body has been referred to as an efficient, intricate, unbeatable
machine.  In a study lead by Thomas B. Price, a research scientist with the
Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Yale University took a group of men
with varying levels of fitness and put these men on a treadmill for one hour.

Among these men was a former marathon runner and former Olympian, A
normal average everyday office type 60 year old fit man, and a sedimentary
couch potato type person. Immediately before and after exercise, these men
underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, an imaging tool that
highlights regions of the body's activity, to get snapshots of the circulatory
process that supports energy production.

Their bodies encased in a powerful magnetic field, were subject to short bursts of radio frequency waves. The resulting data detailed views of muscles, bones and vessels. The scan also revealed metabolic changes in the working leg muscles as well.

The former Olympian ran faster and longer and his muscles even generated energy far more efficiently and actually expended far less energy than the others. His Vo2 max reading (indicating the amount of O2 the body uses during exercise) was nearly double that of the 60 year old fit man. The sedimentary individual worked harder to do half as much work As the Olympian, and he was only walking at a fast pace.

The former Olympians degree of fitness generated more energy, far more efficiently and did not need to work nearly as hard. His Oxygenated blood (that his heart and arteries made larger through training) delivered far more O2 to his muscles to power their contractions. His Vo2 max was 76ml. The 60 year old fit mans Vo2 max was 41.9 ml. While the sedimentary persons Vo2 max was 35.3ml.

This study goes to prove that the heart and muscles are somewhat slow in delivering oxygen during the onset of aerobic activity in all three individuals, because the heart is not able to provide enough oxygenated blood at the onset of exercise, breathing tends to be extremely labored until the heart catches up to provide oxygen to the working muscle. The circulatory system of the sedimentary individual at his atrophied present state is not capable of delivering the needed oxygen to the working muscles and ultimately fatigue is the result.
The time it takes to turn genetic predispositions into automatic motion requires a strong mental mind, and we have all been blessed with the genetic predisposition of a healthy physical, psychological, and emotional body.

My point is: Use it or lose it.

Damion Stone


Special Report - an article on 75 year old Gordon Borges, if he
can do it, so can
you, as seen in
Men's Fitness Magazine

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