People will shop interminably, ask endless questions and spend a lot of money to buy today’s luxuries like big screen TV’s, VCR’s and desktop computers and laptops. And once this sophisticated electronic gear is installed, they impulsively poke at keys and buttons on the chance that they can make it work with little or no reference to the manuals. They learn to live with equipment that functions minimally. It’s of no great concern because they won’t be punished for their indifference.
In a similar way, they shrug off their physical functions. Their hurry-up world has steered them away from the performance of their physical machine so delicately designed for healthy survival on this planet. Let their cars sputter for a moment on the freeway and they waste no time heading for the repair shop. Yet, when they find themselves out of breath after climbing a flight of stairs, they disregard the symptom, preferring not to consult the body’s manual of operation.
They grab pills instead, on the chance that one of them might work. Like their half used electronic devices, their bodies remain at a low level of performance.
We are biologically wired at birth with a warranty of threescore years and ten, but we tend to ignore the fine print with its numerous disclaimers. With proper care and maintenance, we can live far beyond the warranty. When we hit the wrong key, nature makes little allowance for the error. We get stamped with the deficiency, and we have to live with it. If the error is too great we may not live.
We can live longer or die sooner. The choice is ours. We can be either active or sedentary. It has always been the ethic of bodybuilders to plumb the depths of human physical behavior to determine a lifestyle that would ensure optimum function. Truths that have existed since time began have been ignored by modern man. Our forebears must have done the right thing to have handed us the legacy of life. The whole purpose of bodybuilding was to relearn the rules of nature to re-establish of form of life commensurate with the past. Primitive cultures and previous civilizations must have been faced with the same task, and they evidently came through with flying colors.
As bodybuilders, we learned long ago the importance of exercise, a balanced diet, proper rest, mental activity and peace of mind in ensuring a long and productive life. As a rule, bodybuilders going into their 70’s and 80’s today remain functional, healthy and independent. Bodybuilding has always been a form of re-search . The bodybuilding community itself was a great experimental group. We learned a lot by experience. We discovered things for ourselves, not waiting for scientists to do it for us. Today, we enjoy the benefits from both.
We knew you had to be fit to survive. There is no place for weakness. The laws of nature are fixed, finite and unforgiving. Early people had no drugs, or antibiotics to cure infectious diseases. They had to rely on their lifestyles as hard working athletes. Too many of today’s people have grown soft and dependent on scientific cures. Perhaps they live longer, but they have also become victims of incipient diseases due to their modern degenerative lifestyles.
Perhaps the greatest age related loss affecting health and daily activity is the loss of strength and total muscle mass. It comes as no surprise to us that scientists have recently observed the health benefits from strength training from people of all ages. In fact, the older you are, the more significant the health benefits.
With less muscle mass, your metabolic rate is lower, which means you must eat fewer calories to maintain a healthy weight. Which also means you get fewer nutrients and run the risk of becoming nutritionally deficient. Also, making matters worse is the increased need for certain nutrients with advancing age. Thus, the loss of muscle mass in the elderly is particularly alarming.
You can build muscle at any age. The sooner you get started the better. Every decade of your life has pitfalls that can be avoided by what you did previously. The bodybuilding you do today prepares you better for the threats awaiting you in the future.
If you don’t consult the manual and hit the right keys for the precisely functioning human machine presented to you at birth, you face life threatening consequences. I think the bodybuilding lifestyle is precisely what you need to keep your body up and running in perfection to the full extent of your warranty – and beyond.
译文:
健身——让我们摆脱阴霾的生活！
人们无休无止地购物，没完没了地提问， 大肆挥霍地购买时下的奢侈品，比如宽屏电视、录像机和台式电脑、笔记本电脑。 然而一旦这精密的电子设备安装成功后，他们就迫不及待地按下按键或按钮，满心期待能够不依靠参看说明书就能让设备正常运行。 这些设备很少使用。这没有多大关系，因为他们不会因为自己的冷漠而受到惩罚。
类似的是，他们对自己的身体机能也不屑一顾。这个行色匆匆的世界已经驱使他们远离身体正常情况下所能负担的，身体的构造设计如此精妙，才让他们得以在这个星球上幸存。他们宁愿让车子的马达在高速公路上不断发出劈啪声，也不愿浪费丝毫的时间开往修车铺进行维修。甚至，当他们发现自己在爬了一段楼梯后上气不接下气，对此他们也视而不见，不愿意听从“身体操作指南”的意见。
取而代之，他们会服用药物，心想也许其中哪个药丸能发挥作用。 和他们半成新的电器设备一样，他们的身体也维持在低水平的运转中。
生物学上，我们拥有七十年的“保质期”，但是我们忽略了“虚拟打印机”的无数次拒绝。通过细心的护理和保养， 我们的生命期限可以远远超过这个期限。当我们按了错误的健，自然几乎不允许这个错误。 我们生来就有缺陷，因此必须容忍接受它。如果一个致命性的错误可能会导致我们无法生存。
我们能活得更久或者很快死去。选择权在于我们。我们可以生龙活虎或者静坐不动。探究人类身体行为的深度，这一直是健身爱好者的信仰，这也决定了他们的生活方式，来确保身体的最佳运作状态。这个真相早已存在了，但却被现代人忽略了。我们的祖先一定也是如此，并把这珍贵的遗产留给了我们。健身的目的在于重新学习自然的法则，重建与过去相等的生活形式。原始文化和早期文明一定也曾面临过相同的任务，显然他们出色的达成了任务。
作为健身爱好者，我们很早就认识到锻炼的重要性，膳食的均衡，适当的休息,心理活动和内心的平和，这些都能确保我们拥有长久并充实的生活。 通常，健身爱好者在步入70和80岁的时候，身体仍然健朗、生活独立。 健身是一种研究的形式。 健身团体本身是一个很好的实验小组。我们通过体验获得了很多。我们自我探究事物，而不是等待科学家来为我们发现真相。 现在，我们从两方面都获益良多。
我们明白你想要保持健康，活得长久。根本容不得虚弱无力的状况。自然法则是固定不变的。原始人类没有药物或者可以治疗传染性疾病的抗生素。他们只有依靠和艰苦训练的运动员一样的生活方式。当今太多的人已经变得柔弱不堪，过于依赖于科学性的治疗手段。也许他们能活得久一点，但正因为这种退化性的现代生活方式，使他们成为了初发疾病的受害人。
也许随着年龄的增长，体力也不如当年，肌肉也明显减少，影响了我们的健康和日常的活动。伴随而来的结果就丝毫不会令我们感到惊讶，科学家最近发现通过体力训练给年龄层的人们所带来的益处。实际上，年龄越大，锻炼所带来的好处就更为重要。
随着肌肉的日益减少，新陈代谢率也随之降低，这意味着你必须减少卡路里的摄入量，保持一个健康的体重。这也意味着你获取的营养减少了，有营养缺乏的风险。而且随着年龄的增长，某些营养成分的需求也在增长，这使事情变得更为严重。因此，处于老年阶段后肌肉的减少尤其值得警示。
无论多大岁数，你都可以锻炼肌肉。越早越好。生命中每一个十年都会面临意想不到的困难，但是你可以提早预防。今天的锻炼能为将来可能的威胁更好得做好准备。
如果你不参照说明书上的指导，点击正确的按钮使人类这台机器精确运行，那么你的生命将要受到威胁。我认为健身的生活方式正是保持身体始终完美运行所必需的,最大程度地达到保质期,甚至超越这个期限。