I found the following article on the first web site that helped me develop my interest in alternative medicine. http://www.mercola.com/
This information can give you a basic understanding on the different aspects of fitness.
This
information is provided by Mercola.com, the world's most visited and trusted
natural health website. You can keep current on all the exciting new natural
health news by subscribing to the free weekly health newsletter at Mercola.com.
Making
Exercise Safe, Fast, Effective For Any Age, Body or Schedule
By Dr. Ben Lerner
When helping to prepare Olympic athletes for battle, we have
very few weeks and very little time each day. Time always seems to be against
us. However, working with Olympians became great training for working with
non-Olympians. Why? Most everyone feels they have little time for fitness in
today's fast-paced world.
In preparation for life or the Olympics, you need a program
you can quickly put into any schedule, yet is super-duper effective and totally
safe. Injury is not an option for potential medalists or busy people.
This week's column illustrates how to get the greatest bang
for your buck, meaning how to get more from your workouts while spending less
time and optimizing injury prevention.
How to Stand: Perfect Posture = Perfect Technique
All exercise and stretching, as well as all movement in
life, needs to be performed as close to Perfect Posture as possible. God
designed the body using all of the vast, highly technical laws of science,
mathematics and physics in order for your "Body By God" to best deal
with gravity. When maintaining your posture, the muscles, joints and bones are
at their strongest and most stable. This will allow them to be able to
withstand large or repetitive forces without suffering injury.
Perfect Posture
* The head is up
and back so the ears line up over the shoulders, and the arc (lordosis or
reversed "C" curve) in the neck is maintained
* Shoulders are
rolled back in the joints
* Upper back flat
and not arched or humped
* Belly button is
out and hips back so you have an arc (lordosis/reversed "C" curve
like the neck) in your lower back called the "weight lifter's arch"
* Knees are
slightly bent to provide shock absorption
Remember to maintain
this posture during all stretches and exercises. Any exercise or stretch that
calls for a disruption of posture means it is unhealthy, or you are doing it
wrong.
How to Stretch
Due to sitting, driving, working on the computer, getting out
of shape and the effects of gravity, certain muscles get too short or too
tight. This can create an injury during lifting or cause you to develop joint
pain and degeneration over time.
To compensate for the natural muscle shortening that occurs
due to our modern, unnatural lifestyles, stretching is critical to perform
before, during and after every workout.
Short Muscles and Their Stretches
Hamstrings: While standing, put your foot up on a chair or
bench. Keeping perfect posture (head up/shoulders back/weight lifter's arc in
your back), bend down slightly toward your foot, making sure to keep your head
and shoulders up. You should feel a stretch in the back of your leg and calf.
Calves: Stand 2-3 feet away from a wall and lean against it
while keeping your back and legs straight so you are bending forward at the
ankle only. You should feel a stretch at the Achilles tendon and calf muscles.
Chest Muscles/Front Shoulders: Stand by a wall or in a
doorway and put your hand against it at eye level. Move or lean forward, away
from your hand, until your arm is straight and being pulled back enough to
cause a stretch in the chest and shoulder muscles. Change the level of your
hand to below the waist and above your head in order to perform this stretch at
three different angles.
Front of Neck: Roll your shoulders back, pull your chin in
and then roll your head back so you are looking up at the ceiling behind you.
This is done to stretch the front of the neck. The muscles and ligaments in the
front of the neck get tight due to the forward head posture created by driving,
watching TV or sitting at a desk or computer.
Hold all stretches for 10-15 seconds, back off slightly,
take a deep breath in, and then let it out while you repeat the stretch for
another 10-15 seconds. Each time you go back down while breathing out, you
should be able to stretch farther. Do each stretch at least three separate
times to achieve the maximum benefit.
How to Breathe and Count While Lifting
Breathing: Breathe in on the eccentric contraction (while
you are lowering or releasing the weight) and breathe out on the concentric
contraction (while you are lifting the weight).
Counting: Count "1, 2 ... " on the concentric
contraction (when lifting). Count "1, 2, 3, 4 ... " on the eccentric
contraction (when releasing or lowering the weight).
Resistance Training
Muscles placed under "resistance" become stronger,
leaner, and better developed. Muscles adapt to whatever force you apply to
them. Or don't. If you consistently put a strain on a certain muscle group, it
will adapt by getting more physically powerful, have more tone and it will
change its shape. If you consistently do not put strain on your muscles, they
become weaker, flabbier and shapeless.
To be healthy, lean muscle mass must increase and fat must
decrease. While aerobic exercise will cause some resistance to the set of
muscles being used, it is not enough. Resistance needs to be applied throughout
the entire body so you remove fat and increase leanness in all or most of the muscles.
Resistance exercise occurs when you apply sustained or
repetitive strain (resistance) to muscle. The most effective way to create
resistance against the muscles and thus produce predictable results is a
properly applied weight-lifting program.
The Language of Resistance Movement Through Weight Training
The world of resistance weight training brings with it its
own unique and special vocabulary. Such terms need to be defined before a
proper understanding of the weight resistance program can occur. They include
the following:
1. Repetitions (or
Reps): In the vernacular of weight training, a repetition is defined as how
many times you do the specified exercise. If you lift a weight 12 times, that
is 12 repetitions, or "reps."
2. Set: A set is how
many separate times you perform the repetitions of the exercise. For
instance, three "sets" of 12 repetitions is
performing 12 repetitions, three separate times.
3. Failure: Doing
an exercise until "failure" means performing a "set" until
you literally cannot perform even one more "rep."
4. Quick Set
Programs: These allow you to get a workout in for an individual body part in as
little as three minutes. This is the ultimate way to perform resistance
training. These routines can be as simple and as short as you need them to be
in order to fit them into your schedule or level of motivation on any given day
or week. This program can also be performed more or fewer times per week,
dependent on how quickly you desire to make changes to the muscles of your Body
By God. This actually creates the possibility of knowing you will not only
exercise consistently this week, or for the next 90 days, but forever.
Due to the type of adaptation the body must make while
performing Quick Sets, you are able to create significant changes in the
composition (body fat percentage and muscle tone) of a body part within three
minutes.
Busy moms, overworked businessmen and businesswomen, or
students on a tight time schedule can still be extremely effective in their
lives and get in shape all at the same time. Using the Quick Set Programs for
three-minute body parts, many patients, clients and friends -- including me --
have been able to maintain busy schedules, a high quality family life and find
plenty of leisure time while still being in the best shape of our lives.
These routines can be used to increase the intensity of your
workouts, shorten your workout times, and very safely speed up your results.
They are designed so anyone can perform them and make great changes to their
Body By God on any level. Whether you are a retired grandma or an aspiring
Olympian, there is a plan for you.
Types of Quick Sets
Decline Set
* Pick one
exercise and do it for 8 -- 12 repetitions until failure
* Rest 5-6 seconds
* Lower the weight
by 5 -- 20 pounds and do the exercise again for 6 -- 8 repetitions until
failure.
* Rest 5 -- 6
seconds
* Lower the weight
by 5 -- 20 pounds again and do another 6 -- 8 repetitions until failure
Pause Set
* Pick one
exercise and do it for 8-12 repetitions until failure
* Rest 5-6 seconds
* Using the same
weight, do the exercise again until failure
* Rest 5-6 seconds
* Repeat this
process until you cannot do the exercise for more than 1-2 repetitions
Even with exercising
each body part 1-2 times a week, your total time investment can be as little as
4-8 hours of resistance exercise for an entire month. Not much to ask to keep
the only body you will ever have well.
Dr. Ben Lerner,
Dr. Greg Loman and Dr. Rob Schiffman have three of the largest chiropractic
centers in the history of the chiropractic profession. Their organization,
Teach The World About Chiropractic, teaches a high-tech, vitalistic
chiropractic approach to wellness care. They also teach a God-centered
lifestyle through Dr. Lerner's New York Times best selling book, Body by God:
The Owner's Manual For Maximized Living.
To find a
chiropractor they have trained, visit their provider page on their Web site, or
e-mail them.
Another wonderful
group of chiropractors are those associated with the Chiropractic Leadership
Alliance. You can find chiropractic physicians close to you by going to their
site.
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
After meeting Dr. Lerner earlier this year, I'm convinced he
is an authentic leader in the health field. He is incredibly fit and nearly
made it into the Olympics as a wrestler. His passion is to improve other
people's health.
Through his work with thousands of patients he discovered a
proven pathway to build health instead of merely treating disease, which is a
major part of my vision for this Web site.
His book, Body By God: The Owner's Manual for Maximized
Living, is an excellent resource for anyone looking to improve his or her
health through the following principles:
* Maximizing your
life
* Nutrition
* Exercise
* Stress
management
* Time management
Visit Mercola.com for health news and information you can
really use, and sign up for the free twice weekly Mercola e-newsletter today at
www.mercola.com
You can sign up for Dr. Mercola's newsletter at his web site. http://www.mercola.com/
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