Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘muscle endurance’

Core & Light Weights

Posted by terrepruitt on July 28, 2021

Recently I asked my students what they would consider their goals in our classes. Currently I teach gentle yoga, Nia, and stretch via Zoom. The majority of the response was they wanted to work on strengthening their core and working with light weights. So . . . that is what we are going to do.   While we work on core strength and stability in yoga and Nia we don’t use weights.  About the same time I asked my students this I had a conversation with a friend who reminded me of the term Sarcopenia which can be defined as “a type of muscle loss that occurs with aging and/or immobility.”

Muscles need to move in order to stay mobile and they need to be challenged in order to stay strong. There is ultimate truth in the saying, “Move it or lose it.”

There are basically three types of increased strength changes that can happen to muscle it can get stronger, in can gain more endurance, or it can get bigger. These changes are not exclusive of the other, but generally there is a focus on one because they are done in different ways.

We are going to do a quick class (30 minutes) primarily working the core isometrically and work on endurance in the arms and shoulders. This is going to be a five week series, while some people will be dropping in I am going to design the class in a progression. I still may make some tweaks but basically we will be using light weights and moving pretty fast.

We had a little demo class a couple of weeks ago and we decided we liked it so we are moving forward. For now it is only scheduled for the month of August but we will see how it goes. I have been wanting to do this for as long as I can remember so I am excited to actually be doing it.

I am also very excited to help people. I have experienced that being able to move with comfort, ease, and having a little bit of strength makes life so much more enjoyable. Have you ever had a sore back or an injury to a hand, arm, foot, or leg? You may have experienced some challenges during that time. Being able to move and have the strength to do so is so important to one’s quality of life so I am excited because I think of this as me helping people have better lives. YAY!

More information about the upcoming class can be found on my site http://www.HelpYouWell.com, you can click here to go to the specific page.

Do you have weights in your fitness routine?

Posted in Misc, Muscles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Seventh Day Of Our Month Of Planking

Posted by terrepruitt on March 7, 2013

Here we are day seven of our month of planking.  Are you finding that your muscle endurance is greater now?  Depending on how you are doing it, you might have two more days until you add time.  I will be adding 10 seconds on Sunday.  During the week I added five, so Sunday I am going to add 10.

I am also going to get my mirror out before I add time on to check myself.

How about you?

Posted in Planking | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Have You Planked Today (Day 5)

Posted by terrepruitt on March 5, 2013

Fifth Day Of Our Month Of Planking.  Well, what is your report?  If you are just learning the plank it is ok to do it for really short periods.  Then as you get stronger, build up your muscle endurance you can do it for longer.

Remember to keep your spine straight and everything; head, belly, hips, knees all in alignment.  Also remember to breathe.  The habit is to hold one’s breath, but muscles and your brain need oxygen, so breathe!

Still with us?

Posted in Planking | Tagged: , , , , | 5 Comments »

Getting What You Want

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »