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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…
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