GENERAL FITNESS AT PULSE 8

 

Making sense of the jargon

 

Strength!

 

Strength can be defined as muscular strength, muscular power or muscular endurance.  The maximal force that a muscle or muscle group can generate is termed strength.  This can be determined by a person’s 1RM (1 Repetition Maximum); the amount of weight a person can lift in 1 repetition only!  Muscular power is the explosive aspect of strength, and is the product of strength and speed of movement.  It can be determined through the following equation:

 

Power = (force x distance)/time

 

Muscular endurance is the capacity to sustain fixed or static muscle actions for an extended period of time.  It can be determined simply by the amount of repetitions you can perform at a set % of your 1RM.

 

This kind of training if very important in any training regime.  It will develop muscle, in size and tone, plus increase response rate between muscle and nerves.  Increases in the muscle size (hypertrophy) can work well alongside a program for fat loss.  This is because it is muscle that is responsible for burning the fat in our bodies and without muscle we will simply be storing fat away in the body instead of burning it off and getting that toned body!

 

Strength training is also important for energy stores.  By increasing your muscular mass, you will increase the intramuscular stores of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate - energy), Creatine and Glycogen.  Potential for hypertrophy is very low for women as the levels of testosterone are much lower than in men, so don’t worry ladies….you can still practice good solid weights exercises without being built like a body builder, you will only be toning your muscles more effectively!

 

Why not book in for an appointment with one of our fitness team to get the full concept of strength training and some help with your program!

 

 

Cardiovascular and Endurance training

 

During exercise, oxygen demand in the active muscles increases rapidly.  More nutrients are used.  Metabolic processes speed up, so more waste is created.  During prolonged exercise, body temperature will increase.  In intense exercise your levels of H+ ions will increase, which in turn lower the body’s pH balance and you experience increases in acid in the muscles; this is known as lactic acid.  All these things happen during cardiovascular exercise, so it is important to make sure our body is ready to try and combat these things.

 

Allowing the body system to meet the demands of exercise, we need to see a change in the following things:

 

Heart Rate – we need an increase in this to allow the blood to be pumped more effectively to the muscles.

 

Stroke Volume – this will increase and allow a faster return of venous blood to the heart

 

Cardiac Output – the sheer volume of blood will be pumped out faster and stronger to the areas which is needed

 

Blood flow – the blood will be redistributed to areas of the body which is in greater need for it!

 

Endurance training is important for ensuring your body can cope with the physiological demands you place upon it.

 

Did you know?

Practicing regular cardiovascular workouts will increase heart size and make it more effective in pumping blood around your body! It will also lower your resting pulse rate and blood pressure!

 

Government legislation insist that we exercise at least 5 times per week for 30 minutes per session to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle.  This can be varied depending on your intensity of work and the type of training you perform!

 

Need some more advice and facts? Simply book in with one of our qualified gym team and see what Pulse 8 has to offer for you to keep you moving towards a healthy lifestyle! 

 

 

Sport Specific Training

 

Sport Specific training is a vital ingredient to anyone wishing to become better at his or her chosen sport.  Not only will it give you the edge over others in regards to strength and skill development, but you will also gain important cardiorespiratory adaptations.

 

At Pulse 8 and Nirvana Spa we have facilities for Tennis and Badminton, and our fitness team train a lot of golfers.  We can provide a lot of information on why sport specific training might be good for you.  We can even give you a personal training program specific to your goals of improvement.

 

There are many exercises you can perform in order to gain improvement in your sport.  For example, in tennis, did you know that by training core stability muscles and working on your trunk flexibility would help you with your groundstrokes!  In badminton, you can increase your fitness levels by performing specific cardiovascular exercise to allow you to perform for longer, along with plyometric training to speed up your movements!  In golf, a lot of core stability exercise and specific exercise for your swing will allow you to become more consistent, powerful and controlled with your game!

 

Would you like some more advice?  Book in to see one of our fitness team and gain knowledge in sport specific training.

 

 

Weight Loss and Fitness

 

Overweight and obesity are terms often used interchangeably when in fact they both have different meanings. Overweight is when body weight that exceeds the normal or standard weight for an individual based on height and frame size. Obesity refers to the condition of having an excessive amount of body fat. This implies that the actual amount of body fat or its percentage of total weight must assess or estimated.

                                

A healthy weight would is a weight you physically feel comfortable with and can perform all your tasks and daily needs to the standard you want without leading to any long term medical conditions. Health risks associated with Overweight are:

 

§         Heart Disease

§         Hypertension

§         Certain types of cancer

§         Gallbladder disease

§         Diabetes

 

Obesity has also been directly related to:

 

§         Changes in normal body function

§         Increased risk of certain diseases

§         Detrimental effects on established diseases

§         Adverse psychological reactions

 

However the human body does need a certain amount of fat in order to function properly. Without certain amounts fat your body will start to break down muscle fibres in order to keep the body warm, give you the energy you need and to keep the central nervous system functioning normally.  Males 5% or under would be considered under fat and 10% or under for Females.

 

Exact standards for allowable fat percentages have not been established. However men with more than 25% body fat and women with more than 35% should be considered obese. Men with relative fat values of 20% to 25% and women with values of 30% to 35% should be considered borderline obese.

 

Over 33% of the adult population is overweight, and the prevalence of obesity in children is increasing at an alarming rate.

 

The average person gains 0.45kg (1lb) per year after the age of 25, but also loses 0.2kg (0.5lb) of fat free mass per year, meaning a net gain of 0.7kg (1.5 lb) of fat each year.

 

There are a number of common ways in which we can measure weight and body fat:

 

BMI (Body Mass Index) is frequently used to estimate obesity by dividing body weight in kilograms by the square of body height in meters.

 

Skinfold thickness measurement of the tricep and subscapular is another measurement used to estimate the degree of leanness or obesity.

 

Tanita scales are the most modern and accurate way of measuring body fat percentage. The scales work by passing an electrical current through the body using your body water. Muscle fibres cause more resistance in the current than fat stores and from that you are given an overall body fat percentage as well as other readings including hydration levels, fat mass (kg) and fat free mass (kg). Speak to an instructor and get yourself measured and you can use this facility as many times as you like to help to track progression and achieve your goals.

 

 

A typical weight loss program in a gym would include lots of cardiovascular exercise (burning lots of calories). In order to lose weight your calorie output needs to be greater than your calorie input. A healthy start would be to burn between 300 and 500 calories per gym session 3 times a week.

 

E.g.

 

Treadmill – 15 mins, a steady hill climb program

 

Bike – 15 mins, a random resistance program

 

X-Trainer or Pre-cor – 15 mins, interval training program

 

For best results the highest calorie count will be achieved using the treadmill at medium speed or faster (i.e. not walking) or the x-trainer.

So why not come down to Pulse 8 and have a go on our new high-tech cardiovascular equipment with built in entertainment system to make your workout more enjoyable.

CHANGE YOUR LIFE TODAY…