Exercise Information

Elements of Exercise


Warm up

Warming up before exercising has physiological and psychological benefits. If you begin vigorous exercise without warming up, it can stress muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and the heart, which can lead to serious injury. It's also difficult to mentally prepare yourself for a hard workout if you don't gradually ramp up your level of activity. And it shouldn't take long. All you need to do are some light exercises that gradually increase your blood flow and muscle temperature.

Frequency and intensity

If you're interested in the health benefits of exercise, you should aim to exercise at least three times per week at about half your maximum capacity.

The best way to judge your exercise intensity is by comparing your exercising heart rate with your maximum heart rate, which you can estimate by subtracting your age from 220 beats per minute and multiplying the resulting number by 65%. (Or just fill in the blanks: 220-age x .65 = half your maximum capacity, in beats per minute.)

When you're exercising, check your pulse, count how many times your heart beats in 10 seconds and multiply that by six to get the number of times it beats in a minute. Compare that number to the one you worked out with the formula above.

Cool down

Just as it's important to warm up and prepare yourself for physical exertion, it's also important to cool down by gradually reducing your exercise intensity. When some people suddenly stop exercising, blood pools in their legs, leading to fainting and possibly heart problems. You should take about 10 minutes to cool down, or as long as it takes for your skin to return to its normal temperature.

Overload, specificity and progression

In order to improve your physical fitness, you must constantly place higher demands on the appropriate body parts. The principle of overload simply means that the body responds to increased demands by adapting, which can help you improve your aerobic fitness, muscular strength and flexibility.

The principle of specificity is even more appropriately named, and simply means that the body adapts specifically to specific types of training. So, if you want to increase your aerobic capacity, do aerobics and if you want to improve you muscle definition, do weight training.

When the body adapts to exercise, after training that involves overload and specificity, it becomes more capable of performing. That improvement is progression. If you've been running five miles a day and feel ready for six, for example, you're progressing.

When considering whether to progress by employing the principles of overload and specificity, you should base your decision on your fitness goals and how your body feels, not on others' performance. Everybody is different, and judging yourself against others is rarely fair or wise.

Thank You,
Joel Mosley
jmosley@BodyScienceUSA.com
http://www.BodyScienceUSA.comhttp://www.buildingmorethanbodies.com/


MORE RESOURCES:

CDC: Doctors Increasingly Prescribe Exercise
WebMD
9, 2012 -- A new report from the CDC shows that more patients are getting prescriptions for exercise from their doctors. In 2010, 1 in 3 adults who saw a doctor or other health care professional was advised to increase their physical activity as a ...
Study: Doctors only advise 1 in 3 people to exerciseUSA TODAY

all 2 news articles »


USA TODAY

Study: Tai chi helps ease symptoms of Parkinson's
USA TODAY
NEW YORK – The ancient Chinese exercise of tai chi improved balance and lowered the risk of falls in a study of people with Parkinson's disease. Fuzhong Li, AP The ancient Chinese exercise improved balance and lowered the risk of falls in a study of ...
Slow movements of tai chi helped with balance, reduced falls in Parkinson's ...Washington Post
Tai Chi Makes Parkinson's Patients Steadier on Feet, Study SaysBusinessWeek
Tai chi may help balance in people with Parkinson'sReuters

all 158 news articles »


BBC News

Bold Alligator: 19000 troops amphibious exercise
BBC News
Bold Alligator, an international training exercise involving upwards of 19000 troops, has been under way since the beginning of February and is taking place across Virginia and North Carolina. US military officials say it is the largest ...
Combat Cargo steps up for Exercise Bold AlligatorDVIDS
Libya Lessons Learned Drive Huge Amphib ExerciseAOL Defense
Marines storm US beaches in training exerciseCBS News
The Associated Press -Newsroom America
all 281 news articles »


NORAD to conduct exercise over Washington region early Thursday
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — NORAD is planning an exercise in the Washington region The North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct a series of training flights on Thursday from 3 am to 5 am Exercise Falcon Virgo is designed to hone NORAD's intercept and ...
^..6530< AP-DC--NORAD Exercise,69WBFF/WNUV Baltimore
Training Flights Set for Early ThursdayPatch.com

all 4 news articles »


New York Magazine (blog)

Exercise-Video Giant Anchor Bay May Now Split With Komen
New York Magazine (blog)
Insiders tell Vulture that Anchor Bay Entertainment, one of Hollywood's largest producers and distributors of women's fitness, dance and exercise videos, is "submitting lists of new charities…to replace [long-time beneficiary] Komen," even after ...
Exercise Video Behemoth Considering Pulling Support from KomenJezebel

all 358 news articles »


Fars News Agency

Envoy: US Unable to Exercise Threats against Iran
Fars News Agency
Sajjadi said on Wednesday that Iran's response to any probable military adventurism will be very tough and far beyond expectations striking US targets worldwide. He told reporters that Iranian armed forces have full access to the US targets worldwide ...
Dwindling Time, Rising Tension Make Iran Top FearNPR

all 905 news articles »


MannKind Announces Exercise In Full of Over-Allotment Option and Completion of ...
MarketWatch (press release)
... including 4687500 units sold pursuant to the full exercise of an over-allotment option previously granted to the underwriters (with each unit consisting of one share of its common stock and a warrant to purchase 0.6 of a share of its common stock).

and more »


Earthquake exercise promotes awareness
Cleveland Daily Banner
by GREG KAYLOR, Banner Staff Writer Hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans took part in the critical exercise to raise awareness in case a catastrophic quake were to hit the Southeast. Millions of people in the Central zone also took part.

and more »


Department of Defense

Exercise Delivers Eye Care, Medical Capability in Africa
Department of Defense
8, 2012 – A small-scale medical exercise under way in Tanzania is having a big impact on the local population and building strong bridges between the US and Tanzanian militaries. Army Col. (Dr.) Darrel K. “Casey” Carlton, an ophthalmologist serving as ...
U.S. Army Africa leads medical team to cure blindnessDVIDS

all 3 news articles »


Senior leaders unite during seminar at Exercise Cobra Gold 2012
DVIDS
CAMP SURANAREE, Thailand – Senior officers from more than six countries convened at a Senior Leaders Seminar at Exercise Cobra Gold 2012 on Feb. 8 to discuss strategic topics and share lessons learn from real world experiences. According to Maj.
US-led Military Exercise Cobra Gold 12 Commences In ThailandBernama
Thailand to host US-led military exerciseChina Daily
Joint Thailand-US "Cobra Gold" DrillNTDTV
Marines.mil (press release) -GlobalPost (blog) -Channel News Asia
all 30 news articles »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006