Stress and Busy Lives

You've probably heard the saying, There aren't enough hours in the day. Well, when it comes to modern life, one thing most all of us are guilty of is trying to squeeze doing more into less time, and this no doubt cause stress. Stress may stem from jobs, finances, family schedules, and even daily commutes. For example, road rage , a fairly new phenomenon unheard of one generation ago, can raise a person's stress level, thus adversely affecting his health. The stress of daily life also can lead people to overeat or eat when they aren't even hungry.

Mental Health

Mental health refers to the health of the mind. Sometimes referred to as psychological health, this includes what a person thinks and feels and the behaviors resulting from his thought processes. Psychologically healthy people tend to possess a positive attitude toward their abilities and life in general. As a result, they are more likely to possess the motivation needed to start and continue a fitness program than those who feel negatively about themselves and their abilities. This in no way means that someone who suffers from a psychological disease, such as depression, cannot become physically fit. While these people may require More encouragement and motivation from their fitness trainers, oftentimes the improvement in their physical health is followed by an improvement in their mental. The feelings of accomplishment and new found physical abilities can help a person to develop a better self image.

The Young and the Young at Heart

You already know that today the baby boomers are the age group that make up the largest percentage of those who attend health and fitness clubs. They want to maintain their bodies and health. Many baby boomers exercise and choose a health diet because they want to age with as little pain and physical disease as possible.This age group has kept personal fitness trainers in such high demand. Gyms and health clubs across the country have vacancies for personal fitness trainers because not enough qualified trainers exist. So you see,this means more job possibilities for you!

At The Gym

Jenna works as a personal fitness trainer at a YMCA. A true social butterfly, she loves to be around people of all different backgrounds. Growing up, she could never sit

Fitness The Gift That Keeps on Giving

When asked why they want to start on exercise program or more healthful diet, many people will say that they want to lose weight. We agree that weight management is an undeniable benefit of, and strong motivational factor for, embarking on a personal fitness program,however, individuals stand to gain much more from their fitness program than just a loss of weight.

Ksokinetic Exercise

In isokinetic exercises, the speed of the movement matches the amount of resistance. The more muscle force you apply, the more resistance you encounter. If you pull harder, you will pull against more resistance.
Equipment for isokinetic exercises includes hydraulic equipment and some electronic resistance machines. Generally, the equipment provides resistance only when your muscles are performing concentric actions, though some electronic equipment also works during eccentric actions.You can get detailed feedback using isokinetic exercises. Also, they seem to work without producing much muscle soreness. However, the equipment is costly and not widely available.

Exercising Muscles

Everybody moves throughout the day, and to move, we use muscles. Dancing, snapping your fingers, waving to your neighbor outside washing his car all of these activities use muscles. However, to build strength in specific muscles, you must be sure to give them appropriate exercise. You can exercise muscles to build strength in three ways.

With isometric exercises
with isotonic or dynamic resistance exercises
with isokinetic

Isometric Exercise

In the previous lesson you learned that isometric contraction occurs when a muscle tries to shorten but shortening is prevented. In isometric exercises, your muscles contract at high intensities but don't change their length. The most common way to get that contraction is to press against an immovable object, such as a wall or a piece of furniture. Your muscles develop strength at that point in their range of motion.

The Body at Rest

Your body digests carbohydrates quickly they're through the digestive system in two hours and then are in use. However, protein requires more effort for your body to digest. Digesting protein takes longer and may divert blood to the digestive system from the rest of the body.That's why when you're out for a bike ride, it's better to eat a banana than a hard boiled egg. It's easier on your body to eat your protein while you're resting.

Going The Distance

To build your endurance, you have to be sure that your body has stored enough glycogen, which comes from carbohydrates.

For most of us, even moderately active adults, the standard recommendation 1.8 to 2.7 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight per day gives us plenty of glycogen. However,people who participate in high intensity activities such as marathons or triathlons may benefit from carbohydrate loading. do you remember learning about carbohydrate loading in a previous lesson?

Building Strong Muscles

You already know that the most important food component the body uses to fuel a workout is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates also help your body use fat efficiently and support the function of the brain and nervous system.About 55 percent to 65 percent of your calories should come from carbohydrates. People who exercise more than one hour every day should be at the upper end of the scale, people who exercise moderately should aim for 55 percent to 65 percent. The easiest way to measure this is to count carbohydrate grams, being sure to take in between 1.8 and 2.7 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight per day.

Muscle Fiber Type

Our muscles are composed of two main fiber types. The first type of muscle fiber is referred to as slow twitch fibers and is used heavily during aerobic activity activities that use oxygen and can be sustained for a fairly long period of time. Slow twitch muscle fibers have a large number of mitochondria. Remember,it is those mitochondria that let them generate ATP so efficiently. This, in turn, lets slow twitch muscle fibers fuel the repeated muscle contractions that are used in aerobic activities. Examples of aerobic activity include biking, swimming laps, and jogging.The second main type of muscle fiber is called fast twitch fibers .Fast Twitch Fibers are better suited for anaerobic exercises that require short bursts of intense activity. This is  because they don't contain the amount of mitochondria that slow twitch fibers do,so they aren't as efficient when it comes to generating ATP. Remember, anaerobic activities are performed with insufficient oxygen,and examples include power lifting and short sprints.

Plantar Flexion of The Ankle

Plantar flexion is the movement at the ankle joint that occurs when the toe is pointed. For instance, when the foot is stepping on an accelerator pedal in a car, the ankle is in a plantar flexion movement.Ballerinas and gymnasts frequently have their feet in a plantar flexion movement.

ATP Energy's Building Block

Let's do another quick review.As you learned in Lesson 4, the energy that drives muscle contraction comes from a substance called adenosine triphosphate or ATP. ATP is produced from the glucose in the muscle cell.Although cells can store some small amounts of ATP, a working muscle uses up the stores quickly in two to three seconds. Therefore, the rate at which a muscle produces ATP determines how much energy that cell can produce before it is tired.As part of the process of supplying energy to active muscles, ATP is converted to ATP, which is a lower compound that can be reconverted into ATP .If the muscles aren't working too hard, the cell's mitochondria use oxygen to regenerate ATP from ATP. The mitochondria oxidize fuel in the forms of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, to produce energy, yielding carbon dioxide and water as by products of the process. However, if the activity lasts a longer period of time and is at a certain level of intensity, the aerobic system can't keep up with the demands for ATP. At this point, the body uses different methods for producing energy.We'll take an in depth look at anaerobic energy systems later in this lesson.

FITT Principle

Take a moment to think about what we've discussed in this section. We talked about the type of activity, frequency, duration or time, and intensity.If you take the first letters of frequency, intensity, time, and type, you spell FITT.U sing these four items to create a workout program is called the FITT principle.

What Else Stresses The Respiratory System?

A few minutes ago we mentioned that exercise isn't the only thing that stresses your respiratory system. Anything that gives your body less oxygen to work with will influence how well your body functions. Fortunately, the human body is highly adaptable.Altitude greatly affects your respiratory system because at higher elevations the air contains less oxygen. If you've ever taken a trip to the mountains and felt tired, that's why !Your system is getting a lot less oxygen than the amount it's used to getting. At about 3,900 feet the body starts to make changes to compensate for this lack of oxygen. At first, your rate of ventilation increases this happen at rest as well as during exercise. Although your muscle strength is relatively unaffected, your heart also adapts to the reduced levels of oxygen, increasing its output anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent.

Gas Exchange

When we breathe the air around us the respiratory and pulmonary circulation systems exchange oxygen in the air for carbon dioxide in the blood. The exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen and vice versa is called gas exchange, which you learned in Lesson 4. Gas exchange occurs at the level of the alveoli those buds that cluster around the last bit of the bronchial tree, across the respiratory membrane.

Steroids and Performance

There is a clear relationship between taking anabolic steroids and muscle mass gains. However, whether these gains lead to increased strength or improved athletic performance is less clear. No study to date has demonstrated a Studies fail to show that steroids are able to do many of the things that people take them for including better muscle endurance, improved sprinting abilities, and shortened recovery times following workout.There are side effects that steroids bring on that can adversely influence performance such as unwanted increases in body weight, as well as declines in performance when steroid use is stopped.Furthermore, athletes who participate in team sports may find that the emotional outbursts that accompany steroid use hinder teamwork.

How Much is Right for You ?

The body ensures that its energy requirements are fulfilled before using protein to build and repair tissue. So when the body lacks the energy calories it needs from carbohydrates and fats, it uses protein instead.This means that when a person's overall caloric intake is low, the protein requirements increase to ensure that enough is available for tissue maintenance.
Regardless of activity level or muscle mass, everyone has a daily dietary need for protein. For each pound of body weight, a person generally needs to consume. 36 grams of protein each day. Therefore, a 160 pound person needs to consume about 58 grams of protein each day .To get this answer, simply work the equation. 36 x 160 =57.6.

Basic Muscle Movements

You've seen cartoons or animated stories on TV or in the movie theater. Do you know how complicated it is to create animated pictures? Sixty years ago, a team of artists had to draw millions of pictures to make a certain rabbit chew his carrot and spout wisecracks. Recently, computers have made the process of animating slightly less tedious but no less complicated.Animated movies still are incredibly time consuming to make, sometimes requiring several years.

Professional Boundaries

Like an auto body shop, your job as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist is to work with your client's body.
 Just as you're pulling into a parking spot, you child spills a cup of soda in your lap, and you get distracted. You accidentally bump into the parking meter and dent your car's front  fender.
When you take it to the body shop to fix the dent, that's exactly what you expect the shop to fix the dent. You don't expect the shop's employees to improve your concentration or warn you against drinking soda in the car. Their job is to fix your car and only your car .As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you will be in a slightly different position because you will work with people, not objects. When your clients come to you, you know that a lot of what you address in their bodies may be caused by events in their lives. For example, your client may feel frustrated because his child spilled soda in his lap, and he dented the front fender of his car. As you see how tense his shoulders are, he may tell you he's angry at his child's carelessness.Your responsibility as a personal fitness trainer is to increase his range of motion, for example. Although it is perfectly acceptable for you to share basic relaxation tips for instance, stretching and breathing exercises it is not within your scope of practice to advise your client as to how to deal with his anger unless you're a licensed psychologist or psychotherapist. he has come to you seeking a specific kind of help personal fitness training. Let's take this situation one step further by acknowledging that this client is also your next door neighbor. When you get home from your training session that day, you discover that his child has told your son, Dad hits me when he gets angry. Now the situation is more complicated. What are your responsibilities as a personal fitness trainer? What are your responsibilities as a neighbor, both to your client and to his son? To resolve these issues, it's crucial to understand the nature and pitfalls of dual relationships and where your boundaries professional, legal, and personal lie.

Biceps Brachil

The biceps brachii muscle, usually just referred to as the biceps,is a superficial muscle located on the anterior arm. Remember, superficial means on or close to the skin or surface of an organ. You're familiar with this muscle as the one most people think they are flexing when they want to show off their arm muscles! Little do they know, right? Remember that it is the joint that does the flexing.As we mentioned earlier, the biceps muscle gets its name from the fact that it has two heads bi means two, and ceps means head and that each head of the muscle originates in a different place.The muscle fibers converge and have one point of insertion.An important distinction of the biceps is that, although it is the biggest muscle of the anterior arm, the biceps doesn't attach anywhere on the arm! You can see the shape and location of the biceps in Figure 18-7.

In addition to  its role as an elbow flexor, the biceps also is a player in flexion of the shoulder joint together with the anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, and the coracobrachialis coco-brake which you learned about previously. The biceps works as an antagonist to the triceps brachii muscle group at both the shoulder and elbow joints. You'll learn about the triceps in the extensor group of muscles.

The Heat of The Moment

When exercising outdoors or in a warm environment, clothing should be light weight, porous, and loose fitting. Light colors reflect sunlight best, helping to keep an exerciser cool.Wearing a light colored hat to protect the face from the sun while also avoiding the absorption of excess heat through the heat can be a big help.
Sunscreen should be used when exercising outdoors regardless of air temperature to prevent both sunburn and skin cancer.Waterproof garments should be avoided during exercise as these prevent the evaporation of sweat and can easily lead to overheating.

There's a Chill in the Air

When exercising in a cool climate, it is best to dress in layers that can be removed to control body temperature throughout a workout. The clothing layer closest to the exerciser's skin should pull away sweat and allow it to pass it through the fabric. Wool and polypropylene are two good materials for these purposes.Special jackets can be worn on windy days to provide protection from the wind and keep exercisers warm.Wearing a hat prevents heat loss from the head, while gloves or mittens protect against frostbite.

What Are Elliptical trainers?

Elliptical trainers have taken the fitness industry by storm in recent years thank to the low impact, weight bearing aerobic workout they provide. These machines offer an efficient, high intensity workout without endangering delicate or injury prone joints. Elliptical trainers require the lower body to move in a way that combines cycling with stair climbing as the feet move in a special egg shaped elliptical pattern without ever leaving the footpads. The upper body also can be incorporated, which makes the workout resemble a walking or running stride even more.

Row,Row Row Your Rowing Machine

Not only do rowing machines provide an excellent cardiovascular workout, they also improve muscular endurance in the arms, back, and thights.This makes them the machine of choice for many exercisers. Most rowing machines allow the exerciser to vary her workout intensity by adjusting the angle of the rowing arm and level of rowing resistance.How fast a person rows, as well as the workout length, affects workout intensity.Proper rowing form requires the feet to be fixed on the front part of the machine with the arms, back, and legs contributing to a smooth rowing motion. Start clients at a low intensity and resistance blevel, encouraging about eight to 10 rows a minute to warm up the muscles. After a five to 10 minute warm up, rowing rate should be increased to between 15 and 30 strokes per minute for about 15 to 30 minutes. As a client's fitness level improves, workout intensity gradually is increased.

Bring on The Stair Climbers

The stair climber is a type of aerobic equipment found in most gyms.Most of today's stair climbers are electrically controlled and provide a variety of workout intensities as they vary step speed, step depth, and resistance level. Many also offer structured workouts at the touch of a button with warm ups and cool downs built right in.

These Shoes Were Made for Walking or Jogging or Running

Perhaps the most popular form of aerobic exercise equipment is the treadmill, which allows exercisers to walk, jog, or run in place.Nearly anyone can benefit from a good walking program, and clients who desire a low intensity workout, are oldre than age 60, or are over weight are the best candidates for this type of aerobic activity. The injury rate of those participating in a walking program is low compared to other forms of aerobic activity, and when walking is done at five miles per hour or faster it can burn nearly as bmany calories as jogging or running.When done at a more moderate pace, walking burns about 50 to 60 percent of the calories burned when running.

The Older Adult

As the baby boomers age, being young get older all the time. Now more than ever, aging adults not only pursue recreational activities, such as gardening and golf, but also participate in highly competitive sporting events, including triathlons and weightlifting.

Exercise is the best way to prevent many of the degeneration problems that occur naturally with age.You already know that, as we age, muscle strength decreases and aging bones are more fragile because they have less bone mineral content and are more porous.

Resistance training programs increase muscle strength,muscle mass, bone mineral density, and general abilities such as mobility. Through exercise, older adults can improve exercise performance, decrease their likelihood of injury, and improve their well being .A low intensity strength training program produces modest improvements in strength, a slightly more ambitious training program can produce strength increases in adults that are the same as or greater than you'd see in a younger adult.

Post Pregnancy

Exercise also is important after a woman has a baby.It not only helps women lose weight, but it also increases circulation and can help relieve the depression some women experience after giving birth.

While most doctors recommend their patients wait to resume exercise until six weeks after delivery, there are a few exercises that are OK to do before then, assuming you had a normal, uncomplicated delivery. For example, kegel exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor and bring blood flow to the area leg stretches and head and shoulder raises are good ways to ease back into exercise.If you've had a C-section, it's likely you'll have to wait  the full six weeks before doing any sort of exercise.

Once your doctor has cleared you to Begin more intense exercise, you might consider setups, crunches and reverse crunches to get your midsection back in shape.Walking, jogging, swimming, aerobics classes, and yoga also are popular forms of post pregnancy exercise.

Pregnancy

Women do one thing that men can't, no matter how hard they may try .Women give birth.Currently it is believed that a well designed exercise program benefits the mother greatly and poses on risk for the baby.In general,exercise may make labor and delivery easier if for no other reasons then a woman who exercises is more familiar with her body, has experienced sweaty discomfort before, and delivery faster, as well.
The changes a woman's body undergoes during the stages of pregnancy include.
First trimester drop in energy levels, increased progesterone in relation to estrogen levels, and acute nausea Second trimester uterine activity, weight gain, decrease in blood pressure, increase in blood volume Third trimester profound weight gain, increase in spinal curve, joint discomfort Pregnant women should not perform exercises that require them to lie on their stomachs after the fourth month. Women in their third trimester may find some forms of exercise logistically difficult to perform.

Here are some basic guidelines to use while working with pregnant women.
Exercising regularly is better than exercising once in awhile.But listen to your body.If you're not feeling well on certain days, don't push yourself.

The Shoulder Rotator Cuff

Most people who exercise have shoulder pain at some time or another. The structure of the shoulder joint itself is to blame for some of this pain .Like the hip, the shoulder is a ball and socket joint, however, the hip socket is deeper, which gives it more stability.The hip socket is deeper, which gives it more stability.The benefit to the shoulder's shallow socket is increased mobility. Watching a few softball pitches in slow motion will give you a whole new appreciation for the mobility of the rotator cuff. Also, thinking back to our calculations about torque and levers, remember that the long arm segments can apply huge force to the shallow shoulder socket. For a person with average length arms, 10 pounds held straight out creates 45 pounds of force at the shoulder.The muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the shoulder have a lot of work to do. Keeping the shoulder blades or scapula down and in as you perform upper body exercises gives the shoulder girdle good support. You'll learn more about the shoulder region in an upcoming muscular focus lesson.

Obesity Issues

You know that obesity puts a client at a higher risk for several health conditions.Therefore, it is essential that the personal fitness trainer asks clients to obtain physician clearance.Besides the health risks that obese clients face, these individuals also may encounter greater difficulties in engaging in exercise as a result of their body size.Obese clients often have decreased joint range of motion and are more likely to suffer from joint trauma during activity. By making exercise modifications the personal fitness trainer can increase client comfort. For instance,if a client's body size prevents him from using certain resistance machines comfortably, the personal fitness trainer can employ hand weights, rubber tubing, or medicine balls as an alternative source of resistance.