Healthy Nutrition? yes... Great body? Yes...Is it possible to still be unhealthy?

[Selmanito]

I have been reading up on Taoist techniques for rejvenating the blood and bone (Bone Marrow Nei Kung by Mantak Chia) and have got me wondering some things.

According to the book above, fitness athletes and bodybuilders etc train so hard to achieve high fitness levels and always aim for the best nutrition, yet still only live just as long as the average person.

The book says that the reason for this is the rest of the body gets so overused that the organs have to give in someday. Meaning that the person/athlete in question can achieve perfect muslce and nutrition, yet still not improve his/her organ system/blood and bones.

It all seems to make sense to me (to an extent), but i am sure the Tao exercises written in that book arent the only ways to rejuvenate the organs/blood/bones in order to achieve perfect health.

I would love to hear what other have to say regarding this. How much do you agree with this? And would you know of methods of internal organ rejuvenation other than of the Tao?

PS: The book i have warns to not try the exercises without an instructor of the universal Tao, otherwise it is at the readers own risk and may cause severe health problems and even be fatal???

[PianoManGidley]

I was under the impression that certain alternative medicines, such as acupuncture, massotherapy, and herbal medicine, can help improve such things. But I haven't researched any of these in depth (except that my boyfriend is studying massotherapy himself).

[seanner689]

Originally Posted by Selmanito

According to the book above, fitness athletes and bodybuilders etc train so hard to achieve high fitness levels and always aim for the best nutrition, yet still only live just as long as the average person.

Bodybuilders generally don't train for high fitness levels; their primary goal is getting their desired physique. This often involves steroids, hgh, and extreme dieting, both in the off season where they typically put on excess fat to maximize muscle gain, as well as leading up to the contests where they diet down to unsustainable levels of bodyfat in order to look good for the day or two they are being judged.

Also, bodybuilders carry more mass on their frames. I just wiki'd Ronnie Coleman (8 time mr olympia), and his weight varies between 296 and 325 pounds, at 5'11. According to BMI, he is morbidly obese.

Also, best nutrition is subjective, but I'm sure many people on this site choose to be vegitarian or vegan partially because of health reasons. There are very few vegitarian bodybuilders ... again, their diet is designed to meet their goals of packing on muscle, which doesn't have to equate to being healthy.

[Technicolor Tim]

Originally Posted by Selmanito

According to the book above, fitness athletes and bodybuilders etc train so hard to achieve high fitness levels and always aim for the best nutrition, yet still only live just as long as the average person.

Most fitness people and bodybuilders eat lots of crap, just look at how protein powder is made, for instance. It's garbage. Also, there is drug use, other silly supplement use, and other aspects to the fitness / bodybuilding lifestyle that are far from beneficial to health.

VERY few people in the western world are consuming enough natural foods, most of what we eat is processed foods (remember that cooking is also a form of processing, and it's not a very good one). And people wonder why get so much cancer and heart disease, why we're fat, and why diabetes has absolutely exploded...

What the fitness folks don't do, though, is sit on their assess. That's a good thing, but it's no more than what we were made to do from the beginning.

[Jennihul]

I don't think athletes and body builders are good examples of how fitness and healthy living can contribute to longevity.

The abuse themselves severely to stay in a state that is optimal for the sport they do, not necessarily for a natural human being.

Besides, they see countless examples of athletes just like themselves that push it to the extremes for so many years and then fall apart. So mentally, they have an image of their fitness being temporary and ultimately destructive and that is a very powerful mental image to hold.

Jennifer