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Here, we will review some basic concepts and principles that can help you establish a personal exercise routine, in order to lose weight, develop muscle, and relieve stress.
Regular clients see the first link below to reorder or access the Best Health info center. Estimated reading time, about ten minutes.
Contents: The Two Main Types of Muscle Conditioning; Benefits of Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise; Basic Principles of Exercising Aerobically and Anaerobically; Important Points.
The Two Main Types of Muscle Conditioning.
There are two main types of exercise, defined by how long the activity can be sustained, as well as the fuel source and energy pathway used by the working muscles. These two classes of exercise are called aerobic and anerobic.
Aerobic Exercise: Aerobic means "with oxygen". Exercises of an aerobic nature involves any activity that can be sustained for greater than three minutes. With aerobic exercise, muscles obtain energy through the Krebs cycle, an energy pathway that requires oxygen in order to completely process the carbohydrates and fats "burned" by the working muscles. Though carbohydrates (and even proteins) can be oxidized or burned in the Krebs cycle, sustained aerobic activity is fueled mainly by fat.
Anaerobic Exercise: Anaerobic means "without oxygen". Exercise of an anaerobic nature involves activity that can be sustained for less than three minutes. With this type of exercise, muscles obtain energy through several different pathways, the two most important being the creatine phosphate and glycolytic systems. Glycolysis is the main energy system for exercises lasting more than thirty seconds. Glycolysis relies on carbohydrates exclusively.
The two classes of exercise are linked however, since the anaerobic glycolytic pathway is used to start off exercise, and to fuel activity that's too fast for the aerobic Krebs cycle to accommodate. Further, the waste products generated by the anaerobic systems are cleaned up and "burned" more completely by the aerobic system, which again, requires oxygen to complete the cycle. This is why you breath hard after doing anything that is too fast or intense for your aerobic system to handle.
Benefits of Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise
Aerobic Exercise: Since prolonged aerobic exercise is fueled mainly by fat, blood lipids and stored body fat may be positively affected by aerobic exercise. HDLs, the so called "good cholesterol" may be elevated by regular aerobic exercise. Note however, that fat is twice as energy dense as carbohydrates and proteins. As such, if you want to exercise for weight loss and are significantly overweight, aerobic exercise alone may not be effective (See the Knowledge Link : "Basic Weight Loss Principles" below).
Aerobic exercise also improves and increases blood supply to muscles and helps the heart to work more efficiently. Your heart will eventually be trained to pump more blood with less overall effort. Your resting heart rate may thus be decreased by one beat per minute for every 1-2 weeks of regular aerobic training.
Further, resting blood pressure may also be improved by aerobic exercise, as can insulin sensitivity and bone mineral density.
Anaerobic Exercise: The stress imposed by resistance exercise can stimulate muscle toning and development through protein synthesis and carbohydrate replenishment. The clean up and recovery of muscles that follows anaerobic training (the removal of acids and the replenishment of glycogen etc.) occurs for hours and sometimes days after training. This process requires energy, much of which is derived from fat. As such, the increased metabolism associated with anaerobic training can burn fat for many hours after cessation of training. Further, the increases in muscle tone and mass achieved through training will provide more metabolically active muscle tissue, which can increase overall metabolic rate, at the expense of fatty tissue.
Both types of exercise can bring the "fight or flight" reaction, that's induced by the stress response, to a physical conclusion. In other words, they help to relieve the negative effects of emotional stress....
Basic Principles of Exercising Aerobically and Anaerobically.
Note that unless you have sophisticated equipment or a personal trainer, developing an exercise routine will take a little trial and error effort....
Exercising Aerobically: First, get medical clearance. Always warm up before exercising. To warm up, you can do the exercise itself at a much lighter pace than you would use to train. Once you start to exercise, you can use your heart rate to measure your exercise intensity. Exercise intensity is a good general measure of the productivity of your training. The age adjusted maximum heart rate is a good, general measure of your exercise intensity. The age adjusted maximum heart rate is based on a population average, and is calculated by subtracting your age from 220. Exercising at 60% of that difference for 20 to 30 minutes, three times a week, can induce the beneficial training effects mentioned above for aerobic exercise. (Note: Because it is based on a population average, the age adjusted maximum heart rate may be variable by + or - 12 beats per minute. As such, a 20 year old, who would have an age adjusted max heart rate of 200, could take 60% of 188, if the effort based on 60% of 200 is too intense; or 60% of 212, if the effort is not challenging enough. Or, he/she could use 60% of some value in between, as individual differences dictate....)
Exercising Anaerobically: Again, get medical clearance, and warm up before exercising. Select a group of exercises that works every major muscle group through at least one set (group) of 8-12 repetitions, with the last few repetitions being difficult to complete. Control the weight throughout the movement. Never snatch, bounce or let the weight fall through a movement. Control both the raising and lowering of the weight. Perform the exercises 2-3 times per week.
Combining the Two; If you have an hour of exercise time, you can warm up, perform your aerobic workout, then perform your resistance exercises. Or, you can perform one type of exercise in the morning and another in the evening before going ro bed. Or, perform aerobic training on one day and anaerobic training on another. Combining the two in some form can facilitate weight loss more so than one exercise type alone.....
Important Points
1) Get medical clearance before embarking on an exercise program.
2)Warm up before working out. This should include stretching the muscles you intend to workout, after doing a mild sweat producing warm up. Never bounce through a stretch. Just hold the stretch at a point of slight discomfort for 30 seconds.
3) For aerobic workouts, get a means to measure your heart rate. A watch with a second counter will do. Place your first two fingers on the carotid artery under the tip of your jaw and count the number of pulses within a 10 second interval. Multiply that mumber by 6 to get beats per minute. Once your activity level gets your heart rate up to your target heart rate, continue at that pace, if you can, for 20-30 minutes.
4) Once you get to a point in your training where the same pace consistantly fails to elevate your heart rate to target levels, you have induced a training effect, and can either increase your pace to once again reach target levels; run longer at the same pace; or continue the same routine to maintain the improvements you achieved up to that point.
5) For anaerobic workouts, get a book or a video that describes or demonstrates the details of proper form, then warm up and stretch before you exercise.
6) Select a weight that you can move, using proper form and technique, through 8-12 repetitions, with the last 2 reps being nearly impossible to complete.
7) When the 8-12 reps become consistantly easy to perform, you've gotten stronger and can either increase the weight such that you can only move it for 8-12 reps once again; add an additional set (group) of repetitions; or just continue with the same routine to maintain the gains you've achieved up to that point.
8) Keeping a record of how long you ran at your target heart rate, or how many times you lifted a certain weight, can help you to progress by giving you a mark you can try to surpass, just a little, each time you workout. Make sure you record your results as soon as possible, before you forget.....
Visit my award winning Best Health site by clicking on the first link below, for a free newsletter that provides breaking research on exercise, diet, weight loss, health, and building personal wealth. There are also unique nutritional supplements available through the site, researched and developed by the oldest nutritional supplement company in the world. This company has over one hundred years of experience in human nutrition, and is currently the largest research organization in the world dedicated to human nutrition! This company, Royal Numico, recently acquired both GNC and MetRx, but develops a seperate line of nutritional products through the Unicity Network, that are distinct from those two well known supplement chains. These products are specifically formulated to support activities such as exercise and athletic performance; weight loss; sexual performance; brain fucntion, and other productive human activities. There are also products especially formulated to help manage chronic, diet related disorders such as elevated blood cholesterol, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and more! Patents have been obtained for many products, including the weight loss and cholesterol management formulas. Additionally, products specifically designed to meet the unique nutritional needs that occur throughout the life cycle, helping to PRVENT the onset of the aforementioned diet related diseases, are available as popular client choices. Remarkable, natural skin and hair care product packages are also popular choices. All can make wonderful gifts. Any questions, email me through the site, or review the Customer Service Section, by visiting the Best Health site and clicking on the link at the bottom right corner of the page....
Essential Supplements for Regular Exercise.
B vitamins are absolutely essential for the oxidation or burning of carbohydrates and fats to fuel anaerobic and aerobic exercise. B vitamins are also critical to the recovery processes that follow exercise training.
Similarly, vitamins C and E keep exercise induced metabolic wastes to a minimum, facilitating recovery processes still further. These vitamins may help to decrease any exercise induced soreness, making workouts more enjoyable.
Unfortunately however, the average American diet does not provide sufficient amounts of the above micronutrients, due to habitual underconsumption (e.g., infrequent meals and fast food diets), or to losses from foods during preparation. Some of the important B vitaimns and C are water soluble and vulnerable to heat, making them easily lost in hot water and steam during cooking. Though many of us still get enough vitamins and minerals to avert the onset of nutrient deficiency diseases, we often don't get enough to prevent diet related diseases, such as osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.
Calcium is another nutrient that is sorely lacking in the avergae American diet. Calcium is essential for muscle contraction, and along with magnesium and other minerals, can help to prevent the onset of osteoporosis, when consumed in high enough quantities on a daily basis. Similarly, increased intakes of anti- oxidant nutrients such as vitamins C, E and beta carotene, can help to prevent the development of atherosclerosis.
Note that exercise increases the daily requirement of many micronutrient vitamins and minerals. Of course, a well balanced diet should form the foundation of a health promoting diet and exercise strategy...
About me: I am a professional Biologist with over 20 years of personal and professional experience in seeing how exercise, proper diet and nutritional supplements can make a significant, positive difference in promoting health.
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