To improve the way we not only train our bodies to be fitter and stronger but also to simply maintain a healthy lifestyle, it is important that we have a basic understanding of how our bodies work and how we can easily cause ourselves problems by not looking after it properly.
The human body is a very complex machine that with a little effort will function and perform as it should for a very long time. Not one part of the human body works in isolation. Each part of our body works like a complex set of cogs that turn together and because of this, each of these parts relies on the next to function properly. If one part of the body is not working as it should then other parts suffer as a result.
Our muscles for example require the oxygen in the air to function and without this oxygen the muscle will die. To get the oxygen to where it needs to be we rely on a healthy flow of blood around our body and it is the heart that provides the pump to do this.
The blood being pumped by the heart however can only be oxygenated if we are able to extract the oxygen from the air. It is the lungs that are the link in the chain and without them functioning properly we aren’t able to extract the oxygen we so desperately need.
Most people however are guilty of taking the human body for granted and do not give it the care and attention it deserves.
Only when we pollute our systems with unhealthy food and unhealthy habits, compounded by not exercising our lungs and muscles do we see the consequences, which unfortunately for some people can prove to be too late. The negative effects of smoking and drinking excessive levels of alcohol are well known but still account for many deaths every year in the UK.
By understanding how our body functions and the damage we can do it, we can learn that looking after it properly isn’t actually all that hard.