Archive for the ‘Exercise and Working Out’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on November 13, 2010
The Fall weather, sometimes winter conditions upon us now–at least in my area — the San Francisco Bay Area —it is the perfect time to try out some indoor exercise. With the weather being unpredictable it is nice to have a class that you can count on. If you can find an indoor class that you can participate in three times a week that is great. It is often recommended to do a type of aerobic or cardio exercise three times a week — depending upon your goals. If you are doing cardio for weight loss or for cardiovascular health it requires consistent and frequent sessions. Sometimes it can be a matter of just having that class available three times a week so when the weather doesn’t cooperate with any other plans you might have you have the option of going to a class.
I believe that you need to find something that you like, no matter what it is be it Zumba, Jazzercise, Cycling, or Kickboxing or a cardio workout that engages your body, mind, and spirit like Nia. Whatever you find that you like you need to do it and not let the weather — the cold-I-want-to-sit-on-my-couch-in-sweats weather — sit you down. What is so great is that you have all of these things available to you. If you live in San Jose or around San Jose anywhere in the Bay Area you have all of the aforementioned classes and more available to you. I myself lead Nia classes three times a week. That alone gives you at least three opportunities for you to move, groove, and get your cardio on.
I look forward to you joining me for at least one cardio session a week! So yes, I am using this post to promote my classes, but I am so excited to have added a third class, I just can’t help it. I had one student say to me, “This is perfect because I was just thinking about adding a third day of cardio to my routine. I am so glad to have three days of Nia.” Perfect timing. I hope you will think of it as perfect timing too and take the opportunity to come to Nia, one day, two days, or even all three days.
What do you do when the weather turns cold? Do you have an exercise you turn to for the cold winter months?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: aerobic exercise, cardio exercise, Cycling, fall exercise class, Jazzercise, kickboxing, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia San Jose, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, San Jose exercise class, San Jose Nia, winter exercise class, Zumba | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 4, 2010
One of my San Jose Nia class students lent me a book*. With all that is going on I haven’t gotten to get into it in depth but I read the beginning and I love it. I was very happy to see that this particular book addressed whole body conditioning.
The author, Eric Franklin (yes, THE Eric Franklin), says that aerobic training is necessary for dancers. Yet, he states that dancers are able to achieve what they do because their training involves presence and awareness. He is talking about the mind body connection. In Nia we call it body mind connection because we go to the intelligence of the body. Either way the idea is that they are both connected and when exercising the benefits are greater when they are working as one.
This book is wonderful because it states much of the same information that is incorporated into Nia. That your state of mind and attitude has an effect on your movements and results. That is just a small example.
It also states the same information we actually apply to personal training. Such as, training specifically for a specific result—the Principle of Specificity. Also it talks about the Principle of Progressive Overload–how you need to increase the intensity in order to improve. But it also advises you to listen to your body and learn to work with it.
I need to spend more time reading it to see what else he has to say. I will definitely do another post on it because it has much more information in it and it is so exciting to see that it mimics so many other things I have learned. It matches up with so much information from other fitness modalities and the information they are saying. It is nice to hear that so many people are recognizing the mind-body / body-mind connection. It has been happening for awhile now, it is just nice that it is getting so “mainstream”. It is exciting to see we are all on the same page—whole body conditioning is better conditioning.
*Conditioning for Dance you can purchase through Amazon, its under “Interesting Reading”.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: aerobic exercise, aerobic training, Body-mind, Conditioning for Dance, Dance conditioning, dance exercise, Eric Franklin, mind body, mind-body exercise, Nia exercise, Nia San Jose, Nia students, Principle of Progressive Overload, principle of specificity, San Jose Nia, whole body conditioning | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 16, 2010
I have said it before that resistance training or strength training has many benefits. I even have posted about it in my Resistance Training Benefits post. But as I see people in my life age I am reminded daily that having strength can also equal independence. Being able to do everyday tasks is a great incentive.
Everyday tasks like carrying the laundry, carrying the groceries, and moving the garbage can full of garbage, all things that many of us might not think about, but we would if we couldn’t do them. So in addition to the health benefits there are also many other reasons to train with weights or resistance.
After age 20, most of us lose about a half pound of muscle a year. By the time we’re 65, we will have lost 25 percent of our peak strength. Aging plays a part in s muscle mass, but it does not have to be as severe. If you want to keep doing what your doing—be independent–it is good to put a little muscle into it. A way to keep the muscles you have or build some is to work them two to three times a week. Working your muscles does not have to be with weights, but it does have to be resistance. Anything that you have to exert force to move. It helps you stay young and independent.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: excert force, exert force, resistance training, resting heart rate, staying young, strength training, toning muscles, training, weight training | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 28, 2010
So what is it you want? Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to build strength? Do you want to run a marathon? Do you want to be able to lift a 15 pound weight 100 times? Do you want to touch your nose to your knees? Whatever you want, whatever your goal the best way to reach it is to train for it specifically.
There is a principle of specificity. If your goal is to run a marathon running ten miles every day is not going to get your body ready for the 26 miles that make up a marathon. If you want to build up strength lifting a 15 pound weight 50 times a day will not build strength. You actually have to give your body what it needs in order to allow it to reach your goal. You must train the specific physiological system.
Losing weight requires your body to burn more calories than you consume. Not that doing that is always easy, but that is the simple fact. How you burn the calories is up to you. If losing weight is your primary goal then your options for burning calories is almost limit less.
If you want to build strength, then the key is to use more resistance than you can presently move. This type of goal usually has some limitations, but still, there are a lot of options out there that will enable you to build strength. There are several factors to take into account, but once you have those things accounted for you can go from there.
Running a marathon takes a lot of training, but eventually if you are planning on participating in one you would be better prepared if you included some 26 mile runs in your training. As I mentioned previously you can’t run for 10 miles — even if it is everyday — and expect to be able to complete 26 miles during the marathon.
If it is muscle endurance you want, then you need to train your body in that manner. Doing cardio for a hour or lifting the heaviest weight you can lift a couple of times will not allow your muscles to grow accustom to the repetitiveness required for muscle endurance. Likewise, if you want to become flexible enough to be able to touch your toes or touch your nose to your knees, jogging three miles a day will not help you reach that goal. Specificity, that is how you get what you want. That is how you reach your goal–work the specific system specifically.
So what is it you want? And what type of activity are you doing to get it?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: build strength, endurance, flexibility, how many miles in a marathon, how to lose weight, jog, lose weight, marathon, muscle endurance, principle of specificity, resistance training, run, specificity, strength | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 12, 2010
So I mentioned, in the old days we were taught to static stretch before exercise or working out. But research is showing that this is not really keeping people from getting injured and might actually do the opposite of what we used to think. It is not the best way to ready a muscle for a workout.
The best way is movement. Get the body moving. There are two types of warm-ups and many ways to do either. The first is just a full body warm up something like easy jumping jacks, or jumping rope, or jogging in place, or lunges. This gets the heart pumping, and the blood to the entire body. The other type is more exercise specific, say you were warming up before a golf game, then you would just mimic the movements you would do while you were playing golf but at a slower pace and a lower intensity level, and stretching the muscles in a dynamic stretch. If tennis is the exercise gently swinging the racket and/or hitting a few balls get the body ready for the task it is about to undertake. The dynamic stretch is where we are extending the muscle but gently as it moves, whereas a static stretch is stretching the muscle and holding it.
Whichever method you choose the idea is to gently warm up the body and the muscles. Movement is the best way to get the body ready to move. The practice of static stretching before a workout is being proven to do the opposite. It is stopping the body’s motion. Moving the entire body or concentrating on the muscles are about to work is now the preferred way to warm up before a workout.
In Nia classes we warm-up doing both methods to get the entire body warm. We might start the Nia workout using one body part – dynamically stretching – as we sense the music, but most often, by the time the first song is over we have warmed up the entire body; muscles, lungs, and heart. The blood is starting to move in preparation for the get moving portion of the workout. Nia also employs a bit of stretching in the cool down and floorplay to assist in giving the body a well rounded workout.
So where are you in the warm up arena? Do you participate in the latest idea for warming up? If you move to warm up what type do you do, the general or the exercise specific?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: best type of stretching before workout, floor play, jogging, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia Movement, Nia workout, warm-up, Warming-up | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 10, 2010
When I was young the thing to do, what we were taught to do, before exercise was to stretch. Static stretching, moving into a position that stretches the muscle, then hold it for about 30 seconds. The idea was to stretch every muscle in the body, from the top to the bottom or the bottom to the top. This was considered a proper warm-up. This was the correct way to get our bodies ready for exercise. This we were told would prevent injury. Research and knowledge has changed that.
With advances in exercise technology and body knowledge, it is now a popular belief that this type of stretching, static stretching could actual harm the muscles or in the very least keep them from operating at their peak. Some researchers believe that stretching before exercise actually causes the muscle to contract and tire, therefore not perform as efficiently.
A study done by the University of Nevada found that athlete’s muscle strength was decreased by as much as 30%. If a muscles strength is decreased you are either going to be able to do less or injure yourself trying to do more than you muscle is able to do at the time.
So many of us have been taught to warm up this way for so long it is difficult for us to let go and to move on to the correct way to warm up. This type of stretching — static stretch — is best left for the purpose of improving flexibility (and strength in the case of asanas) and is best done after a workout (unless it IS your workout as in the case of a yoga). What type of warm up do you do? Do you stretch before or after a workout?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Misc, stretching | Tagged: asanas, exercises, improve flexibility, static stretching, strength, stretching before workout, workout, Yoga | 6 Comments »
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 Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: body building, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, DOMS, eccentric contraction, lactic acid, Muscle Soreness, resistance exercise, resistance workout, weight, weight lifting, workouts | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 20, 2010
Some of the reasons behind Bay Area National Dance Week is the hope that the Bay Area will celebrate all the different forms of dance; to have the Bay Area be a place where people who love dance can learn, enjoy, and participate in all types of dance; to show that the Bay Area understands that dance is a part of an area’s identity and pride; to let the Bay Area demonstrate that dance is more than just fun and exercise, it is a large part of humanity, a part that helps define us.
The dance community in the San Francisco Bay Area, being one of the country’s largest, is offering hundreds of free classes and events.
There are going to be free Argentine tango classes, jazz dance classes, hip hop classes, hula classes, fire dance classes, Samba classes, modern dance classes, aerial classes, belly dance classes, Zumba classes, ballet classes, yoga classes, Nia classes, and more! There will also be performances and many other events.
The studio where I teach in San Jose will be celebrating Bay Area National Dance Week 2010. Several instructors are welcoming students to attend for Free, from April 25 – May 1.***
Sunday, April 25:
Three separate classes are free
Monday, April 26:
Six separate classes are free* including Nia
Tuesday, April 27:
One class
Wednesday, April 28:
Three separate classes are free* including Nia
Thursday, April 29:
Four separate classes are free*
Friday, April 30:
One free class
Saturday, May 1:
Two separate classes are free
*some classes are free to new students only, please see my site for more information, or contact me if you have any questions.
I hope you can make it to one of the free classes being offered. Plan your week. Get your workout on! Get your dance on!
***(04/21/10) Some classes have actually been added and the end date at the studio now matches the National Dance Week, Sunday, May 2, please see my site for the added classes. Thank you.
2013: (My site no longer contains information regarding the 2010 Bay Area National Dance Week, but you can see my site for Nia Class Schedule).
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: aerial classes, ballet classes, Bay area dance classes, belly dance classes, fire dance classes, hip hop classes, hula classes, modern dance classes, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, Samba classes, San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Yoga, San Jose Zumba, Zumba, Zumba classes, Zumba San Jose | 4 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 Exercise and Working Out | 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 gets your blood pumping and has a variety of ab exercises in it.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: ab exercises, Cardio Party, Pilates, San Jose, San Jose exercise, San Jose Pilates, San Jose Workout, Turbo Jam, Turbo Sculpt, workout | 2 Comments »
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