Health and exercise go hand in hand. Exercise helps in weight management, in releasing endorphins that produce feelings of well being, increases lean muscle mass, helps keep your health insurance premiums down, and allows you to wear really cool clothes. But as our bodies are very complex and sophisticated organisms, our exercise programs need to address the various needs of our bodies. To stay healthy we need a program that includes some form of stretching, strength training, and cardiovascular or aerobic exercise. Attention to all three forms of exercise gives you stronger muscles, including your heart; flexible muscles; stronger bones; and burns fat.
THE ELEMENTS OF A WELL ROUNDED EXERCISE PROGRAM
• STRETCHING involves holding a muscle in a certain position and maintaining that for about 30 seconds.
• STRENGTH TRAINING involves using resistance to contract the muscle to build strength.
• AEROBIC OR CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISE involves using the large muscle groups to increase the work of the heart and lungs continuously for a long duration at a low intensity.
• AEROBIC OR CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISE involves using the large muscle groups to increase the work of the heart and lungs continuously for a long duration at a low intensity.
STRETCHING
There are conflicting studies concerning stretching. But any serious runner or dancer will tell you that stretching is a very important component of exercise. Muscles that are too tight are not strong and create an imbalance in your body that inevitably leads to injury. Stretching maintains the flexibility of muscles and helps prevent injury. There are many ways to stretch and many good books that show different stretches for different muscles. Ballet, yoga and Pilates are excellent disciplines that employ a certain amount of stretching.
There are conflicting studies concerning stretching. But any serious runner or dancer will tell you that stretching is a very important component of exercise. Muscles that are too tight are not strong and create an imbalance in your body that inevitably leads to injury. Stretching maintains the flexibility of muscles and helps prevent injury. There are many ways to stretch and many good books that show different stretches for different muscles. Ballet, yoga and Pilates are excellent disciplines that employ a certain amount of stretching.
STRENGTH TRAINING
To do this exercise one pulls or pushes something that is resisting. Not only does this produce strong muscles, but it helps to strengthen bones. Strength training develops dense muscles which require more calories to maintain. So the stronger you are the more calories you burn. Weight training is probably the most popular form of resistance training. Pilates and yoga are also strength training options. Pilates works with the resistance of spring tension and some yoga poses uses the person's body weight as resistance.
To do this exercise one pulls or pushes something that is resisting. Not only does this produce strong muscles, but it helps to strengthen bones. Strength training develops dense muscles which require more calories to maintain. So the stronger you are the more calories you burn. Weight training is probably the most popular form of resistance training. Pilates and yoga are also strength training options. Pilates works with the resistance of spring tension and some yoga poses uses the person's body weight as resistance.
AEROBIC EXERCISE
Running, biking, and walking are all popular forms of aerobic exercise. These exercises strengthen the heart and burn fat. Aerobic means "relating to, or involving oxygen." Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart, making it more efficient, pumping more blood, an effective circulation booster. The more blood pumped, the more oxygen taken from the blood is supplied to the muscles.
Running, biking, and walking are all popular forms of aerobic exercise. These exercises strengthen the heart and burn fat. Aerobic means "relating to, or involving oxygen." Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart, making it more efficient, pumping more blood, an effective circulation booster. The more blood pumped, the more oxygen taken from the blood is supplied to the muscles.
Now there is some argument and studies that talk about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). This training is considered to be anaerobic exercise. This means "relating to, or involving an absence of oxygen." Studies have shown that this kind of training can augment aerobic exercise. It burns the glycogen in the muscle to maintain high energy bursts of exercise. HIIT involves spurts of high intensity repetitions alternating with low intensity ones. A typical cycle would be 30 seconds of running at 80 % capacity and then running for 60 seconds at 30% capacity. Usually aiming at 6 or 8 repetitions. As with aerobic exercise this should be preceded with a warm up and a cool down. This would not be recommended for someone beginning an exercise program.
All this may seem like a lot of work that will also take a lot of time, but the benefits of health are enormous. There also seems to be a domino effect. People who exercise naturally want to make better food choices. They become more aware of what they eat and other life style choices. A well rounded exercise program can lead to a well rounded life style. That could lead to a very happy life.
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