If I remember anything from my three years of reading chemistry in high school, it got to be Markovnikov’s Rule. The rule states that with protic acid HX’s addiction to an asymmetric alkene, the hydrogen atom in the hydrogen halide forms a bond with the carbon atom in the alkene, bearing the greater number of hydrogen atoms.
Make sense? Yeah, not really, I can’t remember the chemistry of it. So, I googled the definition. But what stuck in my brain was how my chemistry teacher illustrates this empirical rule. He said, “the richer get richer, and the poorer get poorer.”
This wisdom represents another sad truth in life, such as how people can get weaker and weaker, barely able to accomplish what looks like regular daily activity.
The poorer get poorer; the weaker gets weaker
Most people do not enjoy being in pain. So, naturally, we avoid doing something that causes pain.
“My back already hurt; let’s not move so much and pick up heavy stuff.”
“I have an osteoarthritis, squatting hurts, let’s not do that.”
“My luggage is heavy; let’s get the cabin crew to lift it to the overhead compartment.”
“I am weak; let’s protect my weak body and continue to get weaker.”
Why? Because..
“Humans are not physically normal in the absence of hard physical effort.” ~Mark Rippetoe
Admit it! It’s a vicious cycle. The more we accept that we are weak and trying to hide from the hard physical effort, the more vulnerable we get.
Breaking the vicious cycle of getting weaker
Inside the body of a sedentary person, the function screams, “let’s get rid of those muscles!”
Why? Because muscle is an expensive organ for our metabolism, our body is good at managing their business. They see that those slackers barely have any job to do, yet, they receive a high salary. Let’s fire them!
Now you have less muscle mass, and you keep avoiding the challenging task that your body is designed to do. On one fine day, you can’t avoid it; you need to teach your kid to ride a bicycle. Or to move the furniture around. Then again, OUCH! More pain.
The best way to break the vicious cycle of getting weak is to expose yourself to the challenging physical effort. Little by little. Small increments every time. And thus, you will be on the brighter side of Markovnikov’s rule:
The stronger gets stronger.
