Step Three... Exercise

                                                  “Everything is hard before it’s easy”

 

Exercise and nutrition are the easiest parts of this whole series. In fact… exercise and nutrition are just the “Tip of the Iceberg.”

You might be thinking, “How could exercise and nutrition be the easiest parts?”

Let me explain. Exercise and nutrition are objective….they are measurable via the scientific method. We can test what happens when you stress the body in a specific way… and predict the outcome.

Pseudo fitness experts can argue, give their opinions, make outlandish claims, and provide their own “scientific” findings, but in the end, science gives us the real answers.

Exercise:

Before we begin, I need to start with the physiology of exercise. These terms will be of great value when I recommend a training regimen. I don’t want to tell you what to do…I want you to understand the reason for your new success… and to appreciate the power of scientific knowledge.

I once heard a coach say, “Oh the redundancy of specificity.”

What he was referring to was a specific type of training that successful elite athletes participate in.

Athletes utilize what’s known as the SAID Principle.

Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand

The body becomes what you do… if you run, you maximize your cardio vascular fitness… If you lift weights (in the 1-6 rep range), you build strength… if you sit on the couch……… I’ll let you figure that one out.

Within the SAID Principle there are two main components; Specificity and Overload.

~ SPECIFICITY

Training effects are very specific to the type of exercise performed and to the muscle fiber types involved.

Let’s start with Muscle Fiber Types:

~ Slow Twitch fibers (ST)… (Fatigue resistant, endurance high, prefer fat for fuel at moderate intensity, small in size, and large mitochondria and capillaries) Used during aerobic training.

~ Fast Twitch a fibers (FTa)… (Greatest potential for hypertrophy (growth), glycogen and fat preference for fuel, moderate endurance) Used during bodybuilding/fitness type training.   

~ Fast Twitch b fibers (FTb)… (Greatest contractile force, glycolytic preference for fuel, fatigues quickly) Used during power type training.

~ Types of resistance training: (Weight training)

~ High Reps (13-20+ reps): When you lift with high repetitions, you get little strength, but more endurance. Each repetition doesn't require that much strength, so your body doesn't require increased neurological efficiency or increased muscular size. It does require more endurance, because you are asking it to work over and over again. This type of training stimulates the Fast Twitch a fibers (FTa) and the Slow twitch Fibers. The FTa fibers can begin to take on the characteristic of the ST (i.e. reduction in size to become more efficient).  

(Note: Strength training greatly enhances aerobic performance by preventing injuries and providing a “Kick” at the end of a run. However… aerobic training compromises strength training and decreases the size of hypertrophied muscle. I’m not suggesting “no cardio”… I am suggesting if your goal is a lean tone body and increasing resting metabolic rate, do cardio training in moderation.)

~ Medium Reps (6-12 reps): When you lift with medium reps, you get some strength, but not as much. Your body responds by increasing muscular size (hypertrophy). Due to the amount of weight being used and the number of repetitions, this type of training does more damage to the muscle fibers, therefore increasing size via adaptation. This type of training stimulates the Fast Twitch a fibers (FTa).

~ Low Reps (1-5 reps): Generally, exercising for low reps emphasizes muscular strength and neurological improvements. That is, your body gets physically stronger, and learns to activate your muscle fibers more efficiently to let you lift more. This type of lifting stimulates the Fast Twitch a fibers (FTb).

 ~ Cardiovascular Fitness: (Cardio/Aerobics)

Aerobic literally means "with oxygen", and refers to the use of oxygen in muscles' energy-generating process.  Aerobic exercise includes any type of exercise, typically those performed at moderate levels of intensity (70% of max. heart rate) for extended periods of time… to an intense program which maintains an increased heart rate.  In such exercise, oxygen is used to "burn" fats and glucose in order to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the basic energy carrier for all cells.  Initially during aerobic exercise, glycogen is broken down to produce glucose, but in its absence, fat metabolism is initiated instead. (This is one reason I suggest doing cardio after weight training for 20 min) 

There are various types of aerobic exercise (walking, running, biking, elliptical, swimming, aerobic classes etc.).

There are many benefits to cardiovascular training… Strengthen your heart and cardiovascular system… Improve your circulation and help your body use oxygen better… Increase energy levels so you can do more activities without becoming tired or short of breath… Increase endurance…Lower blood pressure… Improve balance and joint flexibility… Strengthen bones… Help reduce body fat and help you reach and stay at a healthy weight… Help reduce stress, tension, anxiety, and depression… And boost self-image and self-esteem

 ~ OVERLOAD

For Neuromuscular adaptation to occur and improve your performance, continual overload of the energy systems (strength, hypertrophy, and cardio) must be utilized.

(I don’t want to get too deep into the physiology of energy systems, but I will list them here for later discussion)

1. ATP-PCr system (Strength)

2. Glycolytic system (Hypertrophy)

3. Oxidative system (Cardio)

So … How do we get started?

The first step is this question … What’s your goal?

After defining your goal, have a fitness professional prescribe a program that is specific to help you reach it in the safest, quickest way possible.  If you’re not sure what your goal is, maybe this will help…

Let’s look at the 4 components of fitness:

~ Body composition

~ Cardiovascular Fitness

~ Muscular Strength

~ Muscular Endurance

A complete fitness program should include each of these four components. Depending on your goals, you may spend more time in one component to maximize your efforts. (I.e. goal strength… spend more time lifting weights)

~ Body composition is the relative proportion of fat to fat-free tissue in the body. The most common reason to test body composition is to assist in tracking the amount of weight, or percent of fat an individual loses over the course of the exercise program to achieve a desirable goal or target weight. Body composition can be assessed in many ways including by taking skin fold or circumference measurements at different sites of the body.

(Body fat is more a reflection of your diet than any specific type of exercise)

~ Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) reflects the functional capabilities of the heart, lungs and muscles relative to the demands of the specific exercise such as in running or cycling. True measures of CRF require maximal exertion along with collection of expired gases. If this is a test you’re interested in, I would contact the UT Tyler Kinesiology department.

~ Flexibility refers to the degree to which a joint moves through a normal, pain-free range of motion.  This can be a determining factor in the performance of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) as we age. A reduction in tissue elasticity and deterioration of joint anatomy with age has been shown to decrease flexibility and may lower the performance in ADLs, which can decrease quality of life.

~ Muscular strength and Muscular endurance training can elicit benefits in increased strength, lean tissue mass, increased metabolism, injury prevention, and bone density. Muscular strength can be assessed by using a Repetition Maximum (1-RM, 5-RM or 10-RM) test on a variety of different exercises that involve major muscles groups.

Muscular endurance testing might include timed tests, where the exerciser has to perform as many repetitions of a given movement as possible in a specific time period (i.e., 1 minute of curl-ups or push-ups). Results from both muscular strength and endurance tests can assist in recommending proper intensities and loads for strength training exercises.

Ok….these are the basics that will be discussed as we work together to develop a program to reach our goals!

Stay tuned!