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STRUCTURING A WORKOUT How often do you do the same old stuff you have been doing for the last two years?
You should be thinking of working out 3 times a week. It may suit you to work harder on Cardiovascular (CV) work one day and concentrate on muscle strengthening another day. The third day may be a shorter combination of each component, or a rotation. You can play with the times too. However the warm up and stretch are important and these timings should be adhered to. Whatever you choose, and we will be adding to the exercises over the next few months to give you a wider choice; it’s up to you to chop and change to make it more interesting and challenging and above all, fun. There are 4 main components to a workout:- - Warm up 6-10 minutes
- Cadiovascular work 15-30 minutes
- Muscle strengthening exercise 15-30 minutes
- Cool down and stretch 15 minutes
- Total time: 51-85 minutes
A warm up is essential and is often overlooked. It prepares the body and mind for the work to come. Try to bring your heart-rate up to 60% - 70% of maximum over 6-10 minutes. Use a scale of 0-10 to gauge where 60%-70% is for you. “0” being no effort and “10” being 100% effort. .This is called working at Comfortable Pace. You should feel that you are working reasonably hard, but can carry on a conversation, albeit in phrases. It is better to underestimate and work up from there, than to overstretch your capacity at this time. The reason for this is that should you start to work too hard, too soon, you will have to pull back, because your body will be using glycogen, which is basically glucose stored in the muscles, rather than fat as fuel. This “fuel” will run our after about 1-2 minutes and will need another 20 minutes to refuel, whereas fat as a fuel will keep you going longer, but at a slower pace. That’s why you get puffed and have to stop if you start off from cold and run like the wind! During this warm up period the hormones will also be releasing synovial fluid, which is the body’s equivalent of WD40. Snynovial fluid lubricates and nourishes the joints and ensures a smooth transition of movement. It can take up to 4 minutes for synovial fluid to be released into the joints. What and Where to warm up? If you go to the gym, a static bike or the treadmill are excellent machines to warm up on. If you don’t go the gym, now is the time for that walk. Put your trainers on, leash up the dogs and go out for a walk with purpose. By this I mean, walk with your whole body, taking deep even breaths and using your arms to help propel you forwards, but slowly does it to start with – this is the warm up. OK, so by now you should be warm and ready for some Cardiovascular work. Cardiovascular work does exactly what it says on the box. Works the heart. This is the hot and sweaty bit. If you are in the gym change machines, so if you started on the treadmill, go to the bike, or rower, or cross trainer and work a bit harder. If you are out walking this is when you need to up the pace a bit. By all means bring your pace to a jog, but a lot of people hate running, so just walk faster, swinging those arms so that you get a whole body workout. Whatever you are doing, you need to increase your heart rate and you should feel that you are working at level 7-9 depending on your fitness level – level 7/8 for the not so fit and level 8/9 if you are used to CV work. The most efficient way of improving your ability is to interval train. This means bringing the heart rate up for a short period and then dropping back again. For example, if you are out walking, take up the pace between two telegraph poles, then drop back to Comfortable Pace for the next 4 poles then up again. If you are on a machine, it’s 45 seconds at increased pace and 90 seconds back at Comfortable Pace. As you improve you should shorten the rest period and lengthen the elevated period of work. Muscle strengthening is an essential component of fitness. Balanced muscle strength will prevent uneven wear on muscles within a group. For example the chest muscles (Pectoralis Major) are often stronger than their counterpart back muscles, (Latissimus Dorsi), causing round shoulders. Strengthening the back muscles will redress this imbalance. Strong muscles give good tone and shape to the body. Balanced strength in the muscles will prevent uneven tension over the joints, thus minimizing the risk of injury.
There is a pyramid of repetitions in a set which has been scientifically worked out to be of maximum benefit for different types of muscle strengthening. We are looking at Endurance Training. This will increase muscle mass to improve posture and strength, but will not encourage bulking up. Endurance training involves repetitions of 12-15 in each set; 2- 5 sets with a break of 30-45 seconds between each set. If you are using weights, you should be able to complete each set without loss of technique. The following exercises are designed to hit all the important muscle groups. No special equipment is required. I have found these exercises popular because of their versatility. Having said all that, next month we are going to take a closer look at functional training which will involve more specific exercises. SQUATS: Target muscles, quads, (front of legs), hamstrings (back of legs),gluteals (buttock muscles), core muscles (muscles from the pelvic floor to the diaphragm including the tummy and back muscles.)
• Have your feet hip width apart
• Make sure your buttocks touch the chair
• Ensure that the knees stay behind the toes, check as you go down
• Keep the movement even. The return is as important as the downward movement
• If this is too easy, pick up some weights. Weights can be cans of baked beans, water bottles filled with water, or pebbles to increase the weight. The bigger the bottle, the heavier the weight!
• If 12 repetitions looks a daunting prospect, try 4, 6, or 8 and build up from there. It is better to do 2 small sets than one large one. Most people seem to keep better technique that way. PRESS UPS Targets chest muscles and arm muscles.
• Start with wall press ups
• Then progress to all fours making sure you keep your head in line with your spine
• Then progress to ankles crossed
• Then progress to full press ups
• If that is too easy, try coming down to 90 degree angle with the elbows, raising one arm horizontally off the floor, keeping the hips straight, then lower to 90 degree and lift the opposite arm.
• Keep the repetitions to small sets, as stated above, even one press up well done is better than 6 half achieved efforts The idea is to teach the body good, safe technique, which won’t be achieved if the exercise is incorrectly performed, because the body tends to remember the first way we do something. It is therefore important to go for good technique first and build up from there. TRICEP PRESS Targets the back of the arms and the chest and shoulder muscles.
• Keep buttocks close to the chair with knees bent
• Progress to straight legs
• Progress to single legs
SIDE LYING PLANK: Targets the core muscles, emphasizing the muscles of the waist and back muscles.
• Lie on your side
• Come up on your forearm
• Keep your legs straight and the weight on the floor-side foot
• Raise your opposite arm up to the ceiling
• Hold and count to 10
• Change sides and repeat
• Increase the count as you get more competent
The trick with these exercises is to build up your sets at your own pace. Give yourself time. Try doing a set of each exercise and then going back to do the second set. Try doing two sets of each exercise and then moving on the next one. Try any combination that makes it more interesting and challenging for you. You may find it hard to fill the time limit to start with, make that a challenge too.
Cool down and stretch. Take a few minutes, 3-5, to walk round the room to bring your heart rate back to normal. The fitter you are, the quicker this happens. A cool down stops the blood from pooling. If you stop too quickly, the blood tends to pool in certain areas which can make you feel faint. STRETCHES
How often do you take time to stretch properly? Stretching encourages the muscles to lengthen out after the workout. This in turn will encourage the growth of the new muscle tissue along the entire length of the muscle. Exercise breaks down muscle tissue and the subsequent 24-48 hours is the time when the muscle regenerates to cope with the new demands that have been made on it. Muscles that are tight will have a restricted range of movement and thus a greater tendency to become injured. If you can’t comfortably stretch to reach something, you are going to tear the muscle tissue in the attempt. Flexible strong muscles will produce up to 19% more power. Stretching also helps to stop the build up of lactic acid often called Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Stretching also makes you feel good and is a lovely way to finish a work out. The following stretches can all be found on my web-site www.theresamwright.com I would suggest that the you look at “Stretches Without Ball” and download the following - Pecs
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Glutes
THERESA M WRIGHT
Theresa holds the Premier International Diploma in Fitness Training and the London School of Sports’ Massage Diploma in Sports’ and Remedial Massage. She has her own gym and clinic outside near Newbury, Berkshire. A mother of 3 teenage boys, she understands the difficulties of juggling job, family and exercise into the demands of the new century. She enjoys tennis, cycling and power walking with her dogs.
Theresa M Wright
Personal Trainer
Remedial Massage Therapist
Private gym and clinic
Newbury
Berkshire
Tel: 0118 9710255
Website: www.theresamwright.com
e-mail:
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