FAQs on Training
Before you get started on any routine, keep a few key points in mind:
Warming Up
Warming up pumps
fresh, oxygenated blood to your body, thus raises its temperature and increases the
heart rate. This provides
a maximum oxygen supply to the body and helps to eliminate the waste products
of exercises from the
working muscles.
Warming up properly also helps to protect the body from becoming overstressed, prepares it for the demands
of your vigorous training, and reduces the chances of injury, such as a sprain or strain.
There are a lot of ways to warm up. Common methods are short sessions of cardiovascular training prior to
the workout such as treadmill, exercise bicycle, and doing the cross-trainer.
Also, some people prefer to
warm up by doing the weights themselves. Before engaging in
their first set of exercise, they do light
movements
with weights or machines, until their bodypart
if ready for more strenuous exercise later on.
Warming up is even more important before heavy
training sessions because you are about to subject
the body to greater stress. Until the body gets
into gear after warming up, then you are more capable of
lifting weights wih greater comfort.
Certain
common injuries in the gym are also caused by not warming
up adequately.
A cold muscle is more prone to injury than a warm one. In addition, the performance of muscles during
resistance training routines is partly dependent on available blood flow,
and blood flow is enhanced with
increased temperature and consequent blood vessel dilatio, thus showing
the importance of warming up.
Stretching and Flexibility
Stretching is one of the most negelected areas of the workout. Muscles, tendon, ligaments and joint structures
are flexible. They can suffen, limiting your range of motion, or they can stretch, giving you a longer ranger of
motion and the ability
to work your muscles in greater effect. Stretching also makes your training safer.
Overextension of a tendon or ligament can result in a strain and sprain and seriously intefere with your workout,
but if you stretch the areas involved first, the body wil adjust as resistance pulls on the structures involved.
It is recommended that you hold your stretching positions for a few seconds or more, rather than bouncing
off the position, which will lead to injury. Static stretching is more intense and it involves stretching a muscle to
its furthest point and maintaining that position.
Flexibility is the ability to move a joint smoothly through its complete range of motion. It is one of the main components
of
physical fitness and is believed to be important for optimum health. Flexibility exercises have been prescribed for
the relief of menstrual disorders, general neuromuscular tension, and low back pain. A certain amount of flexibility
is needed for body movement; conversely, lack of flexibility restricts movement.
To increase one's flexibility, one must;
• stretch the muscle more than usual (but within tolerance limits)
• holding a stretched position for longer than is normal
• increasing the number of stretches.
It takes several weeks of regular training to produce improvements; for maximum benefit flexibility exercises should
be performed on a daily basis.
To develop overall flexibility, different stretching exercises using each of the major
muscle groups must be performed.
Calculate your Body Mass Index. ( BMI )
Other fitness tips from us
Exercise has many benefits.
The great thing about it is that you don't need much to get the benefits.
Even just a few minutes a day can improve your health, well-being and help you:
Some motivations to exercise:
Remember, there are many more reasons to exercise than not to. So why not get started today? Contact us
for a free consultation or sign up with us now!
