FITNESS & TRAINING PROGRAMS

What is the difference between exercise and physical activity?

EXERCISE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Subset of physical activity: a planned, structured, repetitive movement of the body designed to improve or maintain physical fitness

Any body movement carried out by the skeletal muscles and requiring energy

To improve fitness levels To develop a certain groups/groups of

muscles To control weight To improve posture To strengthen the skeleton To improve blood circulation To manage stress and improve mood To control our weight

Why do we need to exercise?

Train the way you want your body to change

Train regularly Start slowly, and get in

shape gradually Warm up before exercise Cool down after exercise Exercise safely Listen to your body, and

get adequate rest

Try training with a partner

Vary your activities Train your mind Fuel your activity

appropriately Have fun Track your progress

What do you think your training program should have?

1. Make sure exercise is safe for you – if unsure ask your doctor!

2. Decide what you want to train – do I want to be heart fit? – do I want to get muscles? – do I want to lose weight? (fitness tests can help you know your strengths and weaknesses)

Set goals – what do you want to achieve and when

Select the activities you want to do – make it as interesting and fun as you can so you can stick to it!

I’m going to start a training program…what do I do first?

Everyone should perform a warm up prior to each training session

A general activity session where you are training your muscles for your goals

A cool down after any training, relax for 5-10 minutes by stretching, which could possibly prevent soreness

What are the 3 main areas of a training session?

Used to prepare the body for physical exercise Prevents injury from doing strenuous activity

when your body isn’t ready for it. The basic requirements need to be satisfied are: The pulse rate should be gradually raised to

a level approaching that experienced during the activity (doing a slow cardio activity to get the body moving)

The muscles should be stretched so that they are ready for harder work.

The warm-up

The purpose of the cool down is the opposite of the warm up

When the body has been working hard it must allowed to return gradually to its normal resting state

The main two reasons for a cool down (warming down) are:

1 – Reduce your heart rate back to a normal resting one.

2 – Removing lactic acid from the muscles so that we don’t feel too sore the next day.

The Cool Down

A warm up and cool down is essential

The Application of Training Principles

In developing a training or exercise programme we need to consider a few things…

SPECIFICITY OVERLOAD THE F.I.T.T PRINCIPLE

SPECIFICITY - training must be specific to the sport or activity, the type of fitness required and the particular muscle groups. For example, marathon runners will do mostly endurance work (long runs). Whereas, swimmers exercise ‘swim specific muscles’

OVERLOAD - training must be raised to a higher level than normal to create the extra demands to which the body will adapt. This can be done in three ways: - working harder (intensity), training more often (frequency), working longer (duration)

All training programs should include the following:

FREQUENCY - how often. Experts suggest that at a basic level three sessions per week is the minimum frequency that is needed to acquire and maintain a healthy fitness level.

INTENSITY - how hard. For general improvement of health it is essential that the heart rate is raised to between 60 and 85 % of the maximum heart rate (MHR) for a specific age. This is known as the safe training zone. MHR =( (220-your age)*60)/100

The F.I.T.T Principle

MHR =( (220-your age)*60)/100

Calculate your ideal Heart Rate after exercise

TIME - for most people 30 minutes exercise will raise the heart rate above 60 % of the MHR.

TYPE - the type of training activity will reflect the groups or individual’s specific needs – for example if I am a weightlifter I don’t want to run for 2 hours a day…I want to lift weights and build my muscles up.

When I train what happens to my body? IMMEDIATE SHORT-TERM BREATHING – I am taking more oxygen into my body so my breathing

becomes faster.

PULSE RATE – my heart is pumping more blood to my muscles so it is beating faster.

CIRCULATION – blood is moving faster around my body to make my muscles move.

MUSCLES – get more blood flowing into them which makes them more supple and less likely to tear or strain

SWEATING – our body works to cool us and remove bad wastes through our pores. We start to clean our body.

LONG TERM EFFECTS OF EXERCISE

GENERAL WELL BEING - we are able to cope with the demands of everyday living (less stress, better appetite, sleep better)

HEART RATE – our resting rate falls making us generally fitter.

BODY COMPOSITION – our body looks better MUSCLE SIZE – we get defined muscles AN OVERALL HEALTHIER PERSON!!!

How often should I train for what I want to achieve?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjVsTG5_jU0&feature=related