Living with no regrets: 10/13/06

Friday, October 13, 2006

The body is an amazing piece of machinery

I do try to push my body to its limits. More often than not it responds with adaptation to the new stresses (i.e. stronger joints, bigger muscles, better movement techniques etc) but once in a while we push too far too fast and we get injured... But all things considered, the body is an amazing piece of creation. I was just reading about bones this week (as part of the fascial network that covers the whole body) and even something as "simple" as bone is really amazing.

If a bone is too damaged, why can't we just replace it with some super strong metal rod? Its really amazing that even something as "Simple" as bone is so awesomely designed. I was reading that bones in science labs are hard like dry wood becuase they dry them out in ovens so that they wun stink and rot.

So all we are seeing is the calcium salts of the bone. Those are hard. and are very strong in resisting compressive force (pushing). BUT if u take a bone and soak it in vinegar for a few days, the acid will eat away the salt and you are left with the "rest" ofthe bone. the softish part that will feel like thick rubber. This is super good at resising tension (pulling). So thats whate makes the bone cool! its strong resiting both stretching and squeezing. And this is just one individual bone... not even talking about how the whole body is one integrated piece... thats yet another masterpiece.