The Three Keys to Maximizing Fitness
Nothing matters more in life than proper posture, breathing, and smiling.
Principle #1: build the core with every breath by maintaining proper posture.
But proper posture is hard to maintain. Especially if you were not taught
what it is. Proper posture does not feel right at first (for most people).
When instructed to stand tall, most people put the chin up. But this only
gives the illusion of being taller. To maximize your height you tuck the chin
ever so slightly in which raises the sternum and engages the core.
Principle #2: maximize oxygen inflow and nitrogen oxide production
through deep abdominal breathing – most easily accomplished
nasally with proper posture. This the wisdom of the meditative traditions from the four corners of the earth confirmed by the research of the likes of Herbert Benson,
cardiologist, professor at Harvard Medical School, and the founder of
the Mind/Body Institute at the Mass General Hospital.
Principle #3: Smile (ie. raise the zygomatic muscles ever so slightly)
Attitude is everything. You (in the form of negative thinking) are your
own worst enemy. Use the smile as a mnemonic for “I can” and
“I will” (be my best, play “as if” I were the player I want to be —
Nadal, Federer, WIlliams…..), visualizing that perfect, basket, that
perfect stop spin bounce deep in the court, focusing on the
proper preparation, angle of the body, contact point, follow through,
feeling the looseness, the relaxation, the weight shift, the instant
recovery….
YOUR TURN: What do you do for fitness?