Resistance Is NOT Futile
If you’re a big Star Trek fan, like I am, you are probably know that there’s a big ongoing debate between those fans who liked the original series (Kirk, Spock, “Bones,” Scottie, Chekov, Sulu and Uhura) and those who prefer The Next Generation (Picard, Riker, Data, LaForge, O’Brien, Worf, Beverly & Wesley Crusher & Troy). I confess I’m in the latter camp. Though my good friend from college, Allan Asherman, the author of The Star Trek Compendium, available on Amazon.com (free plug, there, Allan) and an acknowledged expert on the entire franchise and all things Star Trek, remains loyal to the original cast.
It’s true that the original cast, especially William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, as Captain James T. Kirk and his friend and First Officer, Commander Spok, respectively, defined the entire series. But I personally think that the stories are more compelling, multilayered and complex and the characters and stories more interesting in the second series. Difference of opinion is what makes horse racing (and politics) possible, as I’m fond of saying.
One of the great story lines and most novel “enemies” in the Next Generation Universe is the saga of the Borg. This is an aggressive race of half human-half machine units (ie., cyborgs, Cy-Borgs, get it?), united in a hive mentality, under the ultimate control of a “queen bee,” so to speak. Their thing is that when they encounter another race in space, they conquer and “assimilate” them. That is, they incorporate the unique features of that civilization into their own and turn their members into new borgs. They advise their prey to acquiesce: “Resistance is futile.” That phrase became the tag line of the species.
(Given that Patrick Stewart, the classically trained actor that played Captain Jean Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise-a “Frenchman,” with a British accent-go figure-pronounced this “few-tile” and others “fyoot’l,” this provoked another round of debates among Trekkers.)
Well, the series ended a number of years ago, but that catch phrase remains part of the cultural lexicon, a warning for the soon to be vanquished to spare themselves an ineffectual end, advice to yield, when faced with such overwhelming force.
Today, that same phrase is used, after a fashion, to advise those suffering with knee pain to avoid strength training exercises, for fear that they might worsen the knee pain.
But I’m here to tell you that “resistance is NOT futile.”
In fact, it’s indispensible for eliminating knee pain, once and for all. Resistance is absolutely necessary to grow muscle, increase tone and influence the path of the kneecap, during knee flexion, the source of well over 50% of cases of anterior knee pain.
Whether it’s sitting in the Wall Chair posture, or the classic Horse Stance from gung fu and karate, isometric squats, ¼ squats, modified Hindu Squats, or VMO terminal extensions, whether it’s with free weights, body weight or exercise machines, resistance is what stimulates muscle growth and power. Each of these exercises is especially effective in strengthening the knee as well as its ligaments and tendons, when modified in certain ways to prevent further injury.
I explain it all for you, in great detail, in my completely redone and newly expanded PAIN-FREE PROGRAM & DVD
http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
Combined with a good walking program, and later on, when you can tolerate it, an interval training program, to burn off excess blubber, this program of specially modified knee pain exercises can be further enhanced by the natural anti-inflammatory properties of twice daily doses of my molecularly distilled, ultra pure, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil, DR. BILL’S POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA
http://www.favoriteformulas.com
In my opinion, it’s the best there is. I take it myself, as I actually DO the exercises I recommend AND I’ve prescribed them for thousands of orthopaedic patients over a quarter century of practice. So, I KNOW this combination works, from first hand experience, on both sides the O.R. table. Try it yourself and you’ll see what I mean-FAST relief and bye-bye knee pain!
Til next time, my friend, be well. I’ll talk to you soon. All the best…
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
Dr. Bill
“The Wellness Warrior” TM
