Archive for the ‘Training and Exercise’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on May 27, 2010
You have probably felt it but didn’t realize what it was called. DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is the feeling we have after we have exercised, if we have worked the muscle hard or it is not used to moving. It is usually experienced 24 to 72 hours after the workout. It can be severe discomfort on the verge of pain or just slight discomfort. Everyone has different pain tolerances. It is important to identify it as just DOMS and not something more serious. DOMS will disappear whereas if there is an injury it might have to be treated.
DOMS is no longer associated with build up of lactic acid in the muscles. It is now known to be the result of intense eccentric contraction. Often people associate muscle soreness with body building or lifting weights. This association is correct because in order to make a muscle bigger it must be stressed to the point of rebuilding, and most workouts that stress the muscles include eccentric exercise. But also muscles that are not used can get sore when they are used.
As we move through our lives we form movement patterns. Our muscles become used to these patterns. If we were to add weight to our movement patterns it is likely that our muscles could become sore and experience DOMS because we are stressing the tissue. But without the added resistance there is almost no chance of soreness. Think of the last time you helped someone relocate (as in move from one home to another). We ALWAYS you hear people complain how sore they are. The movements they did are normally the same; walking, lifting, bending, etc. But usually when you are helping someone move you are helping them move heavy furniture so there is resistance to the walking, lifting, bending. Even if you aren’t helping with the really heavy items it could be your chore to move the boxes . . . . a lot of boxes so the repetitiveness of that has the potential to cause soreness.
If you move in a way that your body is not accustomed to and/or you use muscles that are not used to be moved, sometimes there is no need to add resistance and there can be soreness. So it is possible for a muscle that is used to experience DOMS if used in a different way or to get sore using muscles we never use.
I have shared with you in the beginning of my blog what I use for muscle soreness. Unless it is seriously painful for me to move, I like to actually work and move through my soreness. I feel that my body adapts quicker if I keep moving. But I am also not an intense body builder and I also move often. When I say keep moving I don’t mean to keep doing the exercise that caused me to be sore, but I do mean to move, and stretch and work it out. Working through it works for ME, for MY body. You have to decide and learn what works for you. Also, each time might be different. If you do a really intense workout and you end up sore you might want to rest a bit whereas if you do a less intense workout you might be able to recognize that moving through it would be best. It is helpful for you to know how best to handle your DOMS by listening to your own body and learning what it needs.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: DOMS, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, Muscle Soreness, lactic acid, body building, weight, eccentric contraction, weight lifting, workouts, resistance workout, resistance exercise | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 19, 2010
Muscles contract. An isotonic muscle contraction is when the length of the muscle changes. The isotonic contraction could be a concentric contraction where the muscle shortens or an eccentric contraction where the muscle lengthens.
As an example, your arm is hanging at your side, when you lift your hand to touch your shoulder that is an isotonic contraction. Your biceps muscles are shortening, pulling your hand up to your shoulder in a concentric contraction, your triceps are lengthening in an eccentric contraction. Lowering your arm the biceps muscles are lengthening in an eccentric contraction and it is actually your triceps contracting in a concentric contraction that is pulling your arm down. But since gravity is helping the triceps don’t have to work very hard.
An isometric contraction is when the muscle contracts but the length of it does not change. For instance, when you sneeze or cough. Your abdominal muscle contracts, but unless you bend into the sneeze/cough the length does not change.
To strengthen the muscles resistance needs to be added to the contraction. Muscle must be challenged and learn to overcome the challenge in order to become stronger. Tension/resistance needs to be added to movement/contraction.
There are many forms of resistance; gravity, weights, bands, tubes, immoveable objects (that you try to push or pull), all of it can assist in strengthening the muscles.
The muscles can gain strength from both the concentric contraction and the eccentric contraction. So lowering the weight after having lifted a weight toward your shoulder in a biceps curl can contribute to strength.
When the muscles contract in a concentric contraction they are pulling on bone. But that is not be be confused with a push workout or a pull workout. Even when you are working your “pushing muscles” your muscles are actually contracting and pulling on the bones to complete the exercise.
Muscles contract, it is the added resistance that makes them stronger.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: concentric contraction, exercise, isometric contraction, isotonic contraction, Muscles, Pull workout, push workout, working out, workout | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 8, 2009
With the Turbo Jam DVD set you get five workouts. Learn and Burn, 20 Minute, Turbo Sculpt, Cardio Party, and Ab Jam.
With the Ab Jam you get the jacket saying the workout is 20 minutes. Timer starts it out at 18:53.
Chalene Johnson says it is 10 minutes standing and 10 minutes on the ground. First there is a tiny warm up then the exercise consist of ab movements. Basically you are bending from side to side and bending forward. But if you are just doing the motion and not actually putting the effort of contracting your abs then it is just movement and you won’t get any contraction type of benefit. As Chalene says it is not “leaning to the side, it is crunching”. So you have to bend but make sure you are getting in the isometric contraction.
The movement includes some of the moves that Chalene calls her “Elite Eleven”. The Turbo Tuck and the row are examples. She also gets some squats and balance exercises in there.
I originally purchased this set of DVDs because it claimed to have standing ab work and it does!
With 9:20 left you’re on the floor. She moves the first exercise from standing to the floor, so you are doing the tuck, then traditional crunches. Here you can clearly see the different intensity levels.
The music has changed from dance music to a more middle-eastern flair. Even though the style has changed Chalene manages to get some grooving in there. I am convinced she loves to dance.
Some on the advanced ab work is done with your feet off the floor. Legs straight in the air or legs in “tabletop” (bent at the knee) as they call it in Pilates.
At the 4:00 minutes mark the routine changes and she has the punches included with the crunch.
When the routine has the ol’ hands-behind-your-head-elbows-out-to-the side cross over crunches she reminds you that you are actually leading with your shoulder and NOT your elbow because that is how you really work the abs.
With a little over a minute and a half left you are sitting up and working your abs with your feet off the ground and your knees going to one side then the other.
At about 20 seconds left you do down dog and child pose.
That is the Ab Jam routine in the five workout series of Turbo Jam.
So here in San Jose, where we normally have nice mild weather it has been cold and doing a workout DVD might be an alternative to going out and doing the regular walk, jog, or run. This DVD was not a cardio workout, but, it still getst your blood pumping and has a variety of ab exercises in it.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: ab exercises, Cardio Party, Pilates, San Jose, San Jose exercise, San Jose Pilates, San Jose Workout, Turbo Jam, Turbo Sculpt, workout | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 24, 2009
–Push Ups (So many versions, pick one)
–Squats on BOSU (standing on the rounded side)
–Chest press with dumbbells lying on stability ball
–Wall Squats with stability ball
–Flyes lying on stability ball
–Air bench (“sitting” back against wall)
–Triceps Dip
–Side Step Drill using BOSU
–Triceps Kickbacks using bench
–Calf raises on BOSU (standing on the rounded side)
This is just a generic sample of a push workout. There are so many ways to do push ups you should do them however you safely are able and however best fits your goals.
Squats on the BOSU can also be done standing on the flat side, which would be more of a challenge.
With the chest press and the flyes on the stability ball you are keeping your upper back supported by the ball, but to get a bit of lower body in there and some stability practice your hips are off the ball and level with the floor.
Wall squats can be done with one leg.
The side step drill can be timed.
This was initially created for the exercises to be done in pairs as listed; one set of push-ups, one set of squats, then back to push ups, then squats, then on to the next pairing. But just like the Pull Workout, the weight used, the reps done, the speed in which do it and how many times you do it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
Try squeezing a workout in between all the Holiday Happenings and New Moon risings, even if you have to do it during the twilight hours.
Posted in Training and Exercise, working out | Tagged: BOSU, exercises, Holiday happenings, Pull workout, push exercises, push workout, push-ups, stability ball, Twilight New Moon, workout | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 17, 2009
Recently I was listening to a discussion about Push Workouts and Pull Workouts. One person wasn’t understanding the Push/Pull phrase because technically (as the other person pointed out) all muscles pull on bone to move it. We move because a muscle contracts and pulls the bone in the direction of the contraction so the Push/Pull workout wasn’t registering for this person.
What the Push/Pull Workout phrase means is that the muscles USED to push or pull are being worked. So a push workout would primarily work the muscles in the front of the body and a pull workout would work the muscles in the back. That is just a generalization for some people it helps and some people it doesn’t because it is not entirely accurate. As you know for some muscle groups and for some exercises it is not possible to JUST use one muscle group or one side of the body
A pull workout works “primarily” the lats, back, biceps, glutes, and hamstrings. Where a push workout includes exercises that “primarily” work the chest, shoulders, triceps, quads, and calves. It would typically be done on alternating days.
This type of workout could be seen as a functional type workout since when you think about it we do a lot of pushing and pulling. Think of grocery shopping, who has not had to yank a cart out of a row of carts, then pull the groceries out of the cart once they are bagged, then push them into the back of the SUV, then pull them out again. Pull, push, pull, push . . . . Its a very functional workout.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: exercises, functional exercises, functional workout, Push pull workout | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 12, 2009
Today is “whatever” Thursday, I wanted to find some pictures to post, but nothing really struck me. I have thought about it all day and I couldn’t come up with anything. Then I thought of lists. People are always posting lists. In fact, my last post was somewhat of a list; a list of benefits of resistance training. On my short drive after class from Santa Clara to San Jose, I decided to post ten of my favorite exercise in no particular order:
1) Dumbbell Chest Press (especially on a stability ball)
2) Upright Row (on one Pilates DVD I have she calls this the “Zip Up”)
3) Lat Pull Down with Alternating Backward Lunge
4) Tricep Kickback (with a dumbbell)
5) Standing Tricep Pushdown
6) Heel Raises
7) Wood Chops
8) Bent-Over Row
9) Bicep Curl
10) Sit-ups (on the BOSU) (she did NOT just say that, oh yeah, I did)
Of course, I love Nia for my aerobic (cardio) workout and with that I get a lot of these same motions as some of my favorite exercise, but this is just a list of some of my favorite exercises I like to do with equipment and/or weights.
Comments? Questions? What are your favorite exercises? What do you like to include in your workout?
Share your list.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: aerobic classes, aerobic workout classes, Backward Lunge, Bent-Over Row, Bicep Curl, BOSU, Cardio classes, cardio workout, dumbbell, Dumbbell Chest Press, Dumbell Chest Press, exercies classes, exercise, exercise equipment, favorite exercise, Heel Raises, Lat Pull Down, list of exercises, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia workout classes, Pilates DVD, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Pilates, San Jose Workout, Santa Clara exercise, Santa Clara Nia, Santa Clara workout, Sit-up, stability ball, Standing Tricep Pushdown, Tricep Kickback, Upright Row, Wood Chops, Zip Up | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 10, 2009
Resistance Training has many benefits. I say resistance training because the resistance may be any force the body has to overcome. It does not have to be weights, it can be bands, springs, or even your own body weight. In addition to doing something that you like you want to train according to your goals.
Some of the benefits of resistance training:
- Increase in strength, power, and endurance in the muscles
- Increase in size of the muscle
- Increase in lean mass (or maintained lean mass)
- Increase in the tone of the muscles
- Increase in metabolism
- Increase in bone density
- Increase in energy
- Improvement in the body’s muscle to fat ratio
- Improvement in mood
- Improvement in Insulin Sensitivity
and
- can assist in lower your resting blood pressure
- can assist in preventing sarcopenia
- can assist in lowering your resting heart rate
I met up with a friend today in San Jose at the gym we had a nice workout. We played with some of the equipment and managed to get a great set of exercises in. It is nice to be reminded of why resistance training is important.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: blood pressure, bone density, endurance training, hypertrophy, muscle to fat ratio, power training, resistance training, resting heart rate, San Jose excercise, San Jose Gym, San Jose training, San Jose weight training, San Jose Workout, sarcopenia, strength training, toning muscles, training, weight training | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 13, 2009
Know what a BOSU is? It is a piece of exercise equipment. Picture a stability ball, you know those round ones full of air that you can sit on? Picture that cut in half with a plastic “cap” on the flat side. It is very versatile. It can be used for a variety of exercises and it can be used on either side. The flat side can be placed on the ground so you are working on the rounded side or you can place the rounded side on the ground and do your work on the flat side.
Either way–depending on what you are doing–you are going to be challenging your stabilizing muscles in addition to the muscles you are exercising. That is a great way to get more muscles working during your workout, burn more calories, and make you a more strong and stable body.
You can stand on either side (the flat side or the rounded side) and do dumbbell work: biceps curls, shoulder presses, upright rows, lateral and rear deltoid raises, bent over rows, etc.
You can lie on either side (the flat side or the rounded side) and do dumbbell chest presses, supine triceps extensions, curls, crunches, and sit-ups to name just a few.
Using either side you can do push-ups, mountain climbers, or add it to your burpee.
With push-ups you can either put your feet on it or hold it with your hands.
They can also be used for cardio work. They can be jumped on and off of, they can be used for lunges, or as I mentioned before, they can be used for mountain climbers and burpees.
I think they might be a favorite of personal trainers because there is so much you can do with it.
To me they are a little easier to store than a stability ball because they take up less space, but unlike a ball they won’t really challenge your muscles just by sitting on them. But as I mentioned above you can use them for a lot of different exercises and they will add an additional challenge to almost any workout routine. I think I have see them in the Target by my house in San Jose, so I am sure you can buy them at Targets or stores where they sell sports equipment/exercise equipment.
As with any exercise equipment you use and as with any exercise you do–caution is required.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: exercises, San Jose Workout, San Jose exercise, workout routine, San Jose Personal Trainer, BOSU, exercise equipment, stabilizing muscles, stability ball, strong body, stable body, dumbbell work, crunches, sit ups, push-ups, exercise routine, San Jose Target, Target, sports equipment, San Jose trainer | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 6, 2009
I always say that people need to find an exercise they like and do it. This is really important because if you like it, you are more likely to do it consistently. Hopefully your favorite exercise is aerobic. If it is not, and you are interested in being healthy, then you have to buck up and do something aerobic anyway, whether you like it or not. The heart is a muscle and it needs exercise just like all of our other muscles. Our respiratory system benefits from aerobic exercise.
From the American Heart Association website:
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the No. 1 killer in America.
- Lack of physical activity is a risk factor for coronary heart disease.
An aerobic activity or what is now being called “cardio” is required for cardiorespiratory fitness. Cardiorespiratory fitness is the most important factor when it comes to living a long and high quality life. How well your lungs and heart function affects everything you do. The better your lungs and heart are at getting oxygen rich blood to the parts of your body that need it, the better you will feel and be able to move.
And according to Science News:
- Persons with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness have a lower risk of all-cause death
And this post kind of ties in with my previous 30 Minutes Per Day post, but I am trying to emphasize getting your heart pumping. I also wanted to point out that doing so — getting your heart pumping — does not require jumping or impact of any kind. You can get your heart rate up by just bending down at the knees and coming back up fast enough and long enough to get your heart working. Impact is not required, but intensity is.
A lot of people don’t like to do “cardio” because it is boring or uncomfortable, but it does not have to be . . . again . . . find something you like. There is all kinds of stuff out there. If you are reading this and are wanting something new or different to try in the area of cardio and you want some ideas, contact me and we can do some brainstorming. There is something out there that you will love.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: aerobic, Aerobic Activity, aerobic exercise, American Heart Association, cardiorespiratory fitness, Cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, exercise, No. 1 killer in America, physical activity | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 4, 2009
Serious. Do it. Every day. It is a great exercise. Get down on the floor and get up again. Over and over. At least 10 times. For some of you it might be easy, fine then, make it challenging, put a book on your head, hold a glass of water, chew gum, don’t use your arms, do it on one leg, who cares, just make it an exercise for you that challenges your body and your brain. That way your brain will be trained and it will know how to get up.
If it is already a challenge, then do it. And do it again. Start off however you can. Use a couch, a chair, a person, a cane, a dog, whatever . . . .just get down, and get up at least five times. Keep doing it every day until you can do it more and without help.
Whether it is a challenge or not, while you are doing it, think about it. Think about what muscles you are using to get up. Try to get down on the floor differently every time, think about all the different muscles you are using. Also, try getting up differently, thinking about all of those muscles.
No, this will not increase the size of your muscles, for some of you it won’t even tone them, but if you try to make it a challenge it will challenge your muscles. Balance and being able to get up are a key part of health that we just either don’t think about or we take it for granted. But it really is a great exercise, right up there with the push-up, but maybe more functional.
Of course this is just ONE exercise of many that I believe qualifies as a functional exercise. And for a lot of you it should not be your only workout, but for some it might be a start and a good start.
Posted in Training and Exercise | Tagged: challenge, exercise, functional exercise, get down, Get up, muscle challenge, Muscles, workout | 6 Comments »
Terre Pruitt
