Living and enjoying life to its fullest is a wonderful goal, and everyone can have it! Health and fitness are a way of life, allowing one to function and perform at his or her best. It is a balance of prescribed exercise, healthy eating habits, preventative health care and effective stress management. The level of fitness helps to determine the quality of life in each individual. We are all in control of how we look, feel and live.

The information contained in this packet is based on sound physiological principles and research. Anyone can follow our concepts and training programs which will help them obtain the most out of life.

We encourage everyone to be patient, use their knowledge, set goals, listen to their bodies and commit themselves to a healthy way of life.

What Exercise Does

The following are some of the benefits of a well-balanced health and fitness program:

ü A healthy appearance

ü Good posture and alignment

ü Fluid, easy movement

ü Stronger joints and firmer muscles

ü An efficient circulatory and respiratory system

ü Lowered risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke

ü Decrease in body fat and/or body weight

ü Controlled appetite

ü Better digestion

ü Decreased susceptibility to injury

ü Fewer aches and pains

ü Improved mental awareness, self-esteem and self-confidence

ü Better handling of stress

ü Improved ability to relax

ü More restful sleep

ü Increased job productivity

ü Help in preventing and coping with depression

ü More energy and vitality

ü Increased ability to enjoy life!

Key Components of Fitness

The body is a complex mechanism and designed for action. It is essential that the heart, blood vessels, lungs and muscles function optimally to be physically fit. Here are the five key components of health-related physical fitness of most concern:

1. Cardiorespiratory Endurance/Aerobic Conditioning is the ability of the body’s heart, lungs, blood vessels and major muscle groups to persist in prolonged vigorous exercise such as brisk walking jogging, swimming, aerobic dancing, rowing, cycling, jumping rope, skating and cross-country skiing. Regular aerobic conditioning may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cardiovascular disease. Cardiorespiratory endurance is a most important component of physical fitness.

2. Muscular Strength is the ability of the muscles to exert maximal or near maximal force against resistance. Stronger muscles protect the joints they surround and reduce the incidence of injury from physical activity.

3. Muscular Endurance is the ability of the skeletal muscle to exert force (not necessarily maximal) over an extended period of time. Strength, skill, performance, speed of movement and power are closely associated with this component.

4. Flexibility is the range of motion of the muscle and joints of the body. It has to do with your skeletal muscles’ natural and conditioned ability to extend beyond their normal resting length. Increased flexibility will enhance performance and reduce the incidence of injury.

5. Body Composition is the relationship of percentage body fat to lean body weight (muscle, bone, cartilage, vital organs). Being overfat, which usually starts in childhood, has a limiting effect on the other components of fitness.

What is Body Composition?
Body composition refers to the relative amounts of water, protein, minerals and fat in the human body of the science of determining the absolute and relative contributions of these specific components. We study it because it is a good indicator of health and fitness. High % body fat is associated with an increased risk of developing health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer and hyperlipidemia. We can avoid all these conditions and increase longevity with appropriate body fat levels.

Essential & Storage Fat
Essential fat is stored in the bone marrow, muscles, spleen, heart, lungs, intestines, liver and kidneys. It is needed for normal physiological functioning of the body. This is about 3% for men and 12% for women.

Storage fat is the fat accumulated in adipose tissue. It functions as insulation, protection against trauma, and can be used as an energy substrate. Men store fat around the waist while women store it around the hips and thighs.

What is overweight?

Generating a negative energy balance with aerobic activity is favorable when it comes to losing weight. This is due to the amount of body fat you will lose. When you create a negative energy balance by drastically decreasing caloric intake alone, you will lose significant amounts of muscle.

There are two common types of exercise-related muscle soreness. Acute soreness occurs during or immediately after exercise. Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) develops 12 hours or more after exercise.

What is Acute Soreness?

Muscle soreness during and immediately after exercise usually is a result of simple fatigue, which is caused by a buildup of chemical waste products of training. When this happens, the fatigue will usually disappear after a few minutes of rest. Once this soreness subsides, you can usually continue exercising without any residual effects.

What is Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness?

When you change your training program, DOMS is common after a workout. When you are used to performing 15 repetitions, your muscles adapt to this style of training. If you suddenly switch to 8 repetitions with a heavier weight, you shock your muscles. Another way that your muscles can be shocked is if you have not done any exercise in 6 months, and you suddenly run a couple of miles. You may feel soreness all over your body the next morning. You may also notice muscle stiffness and weakness. These symptoms are a normal response to unusual exertion and are part of an adaptation process that leads to greater strength once the muscles recover. The soreness is usually the worst within the first 2 days following the activity and subsides over the next few days.

What are the causes of DOMS?

DOMS is a result of microscopic tearing of muscle fibers. The amount of tearing depends on how hard and how long you work out and what type of training you do. For example, activities in which muscles forcefully contract while they are lengthening tend to cause the most soreness. The lengthening of a muscle is called an ‘eccentric’ contraction. This occurs in activities such as descending stairs, running downhill, lowering weights, and in the downward movements of squats and push-ups.

When the muscle fiber tears, swelling may take place in and around a muscle, which can also contribute to delayed soreness. This swelling increases pressure on the surrounding tissues, resulting in greater muscle pain and stiffness. Eccentric muscle contractions tend to cause both tearing and swelling.

How to prevent DOMS:

Certain tactics may enable you to avoid delayed soreness or keep it minimal. It is important to warm up before you train and cool down completely afterwards. Stretching in between sets is also a good idea.

It's also important to give your muscles time to adapt to your activity. For example, if you have been inactive and your goal is to run 3 miles in 45 minutes, start by simply running a mile, and then add another quarter- to half-mile at each workout until you can comfortably run 3 miles. Then you can start increasing your pace to achieve your goal.

What should I do when I’m sore?

Doing some light cardio at a moderate pace or working out other muscles that are not sore is a good way to deal with soreness. This will increase blood flow to all muscles (including the affected area) which can help to get rid of that soreness.

Other ways of helping soreness include applying ice, stretching, and massaging the affected muscles. There is research supporting the idea that vitamin C may decrease muscle soreness.

Finally, you should wait until the soreness, weakness, and stiffness is gone before vigorously exercising the affected muscle again.

Muscles work by contracting. All muscles cross over at least one joint, (sometimes two) and the action of contracting a muscle causes that joint to move. A good example is the quadricep (thigh) muscle. It originates from the front of your hip (the anterior superior iliac spine), crosses over your knee joint, and inserts (as a tendon), to your shin bone (tibia). The action of contracting your quadricep muscle moves your lower leg forward, as it straightens your knee.

Muscles are the motors of your body. All of their action is due to their contraction. They can do more work if they have greater contractile strength. Contractile strength is greater when the muscles are longer. The longer the muscle, the more work it can do when acting on a joint. Stretched muscles are longer muscles.

Stretching allows greater extension of a joint when moving. For example, if you are a runner and stretch prior to running, your stride will be longer. If the stride remains the same length, then the muscles involved will be doing less work.

Stretching helps prevent injuries. The more flexible a person is, the less the likelihood of a torn or strained muscle. Over time, proper stretching strengthens both ligaments and tendons. Ligaments attach bone to bone, tendons attach muscles to bone.

Stretching promotes faster recovery, since stretching the muscles helps to move toxins and waste products of muscular exertion out of the muscles and into the bloodstream, where they can be broken down and eliminated. Stretching relaxes your body. Relaxing your body allows you to experience less intense negative emotional states.

Muscles that are tight waste energy. Stretching allows you to become aware of areas in your body that are held with undue tension, so you can release them.

Stretching feels GOOD!!! Anyone, at any age, can stretch. It does not matter where your flexibility level is when you begin, as long as you work at it you will improve.

What is Cortisol?

Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced in the adrenal glands (small glands adjacent to the kidneys). The most important roles of cortisol in the human body are regulating blood pressure and cardiovascular function. It also regulates the body's use of protein, fats, and carbohydrates. The excretion of cortisol increases when physical or psychological stress is placed upon the body.

How Cortisol Affects your Training

High levels of cortisol can change the body from an anabolic (muscle building) to a catabolic (muscle wasting) state. In order to keep cortisol levels low, you must keep yourself in a positive mood. Try not to get stressed out over things that can be accomplished without needing to worry. Also, knowing your body well enough can also help you in the battle against high cortisol levels. Be smart when working out or working at a physically active job. Know how your body reacts to certain situations.

How to Lower Your Cortisol Levels

There are many different ways to lower cortisol levels, ranging from coping with stressful events better to taking medicine to fight high cortisol levels. High cortisol levels are normally present in our bodies from the stress that we place on ourselves. To lower your cortisol levels, you must lower your stress.

Eating small snacks or meals throughout the day will give your body energy so that it will not have to rely on muscle tissue for energy. Your energy should come from the food that you eat and fat stores.

Even though cortisol levels are not more important than diet and training, they should still be taken seriously. In the fight for muscle mass, every little thing helps. Lowering high cortisol levels will make your body less catabolic, causing your body to be in a more anabolic state.

 

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