Types of Exercise:
| Anaerobic | Your body utilizes the muscle’s oxygen storage for energy. Once your muscle runs out of oxygen you will reach your muscle’s failure point where no matter how hard you try to utilize that muscle it will not contract. This type of exercise is often referred to as strength training. Strength or resistance training can be done with weights, bands, and your own body weight. |
| Aerobic | Your body utilizes the oxygen you are breathing in with this type of exercise and this form of training involves the use of your heart to get that oxygen into your bloodstream; as a result this type of training is also called cardiovascular training. |
| Flexibility | This is commonly referred to as stretching. Stretching should always be done after your workout and helps with increasing and maintaining your range of motion at your joints. |
· Workout Frequency
o Start with what you can
o Build up to 5-6 days/week
· Workout Duration
o 30 mins for weight maintenance
o 1 hr for weight loss
· Workout Intensity
o Always start at a light intensity and work your way up
o Start with a weight where you can perform 15 – 20 repetitions and at least 2 sets
· Sets and Reps
o Rep = short for repetition, is any motion or exercise that is done repeatedly
o Set = a grouping of repetitions
o Start with 15-20 reps and 2-3 sets
§ Increase the weight when that is easy for you. When you increase Weight or your resistance you will have to decrease your reps to about 8-10 and increase your sets to 3 – 4
§ As these get easy, the next step is to increase your reps to 12 – 15 and decrease your sets to 2-3
§ Once that is easy you will end up were you started, 15 – 20 reps and 2 sets.
· Breathing
o Always make sure you breathe!
o We have a tendency to hold our breath during exercise, especially resistance exercises.
o The ultimate goal with breathing is to exhale during the contraction of the muscle (breathing out when we push) and inhale during the what is called the muscle’s eccentric phase, which is the opposite movement of contraction.
· Form
o Watch yourself! When we concentrate on the muscles that are being used we get much more out of the exercise.
o Always move in a slow and controlled movement, never fast, quick or jolt-like.
o When in the eccentric phase of exercise we still want to concentrate and control the movement. There are small stabilizing muscles along those larger muscles we are targeting that need to be worked as well.
o Always keep your stomach tight! Imagine your belly button is being pulled in towards your spine. This will act as stabilization for your lower back as well as give you an abdominal workout all of the time!
o Hold your stretches for 30 – 60 seconds and hold the stretch! No bouncing!
· Safety
o Always get clearance from your doctor before starting an exercise program!
o Start with a 5 minute warm up at a lower intensity
o Wear tennis shoes and never exercise in sandals
o Make sure you are wearing the proper work out or exercise attire for the type of exercise performed.
o Always incorporate a 5 minute cool down at a lower intensity
o If you feel heart palpitations stop the exercise immediately and contact your physician
o Stop immediately in feeling any pain or discomfort
o Those who have had surgery should not begin any intense exercise for 6-8 weeks post-op and always a good idea to get your doctor’s or surgeons ok before beginning an exercise program
o Always stretch after your workout
· Resources
o American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance
www.aahperd.org
