Muscular Strength and Flexibility

• Body has more than 600 muscles

• Disuse vs. Use

• Atrophy vs. Hypertrophy

Benefits of Resistance Training

• Fat loss and weight control• Improved personal appearance• Get stronger and reduce risk of injury• Strong, healthy bones• Stay healthy

• Increases muscle mass/decreases fat• Increases muscle strength and endurance• Increases metabolic rate• Increases bone density• Improves balance• Improves mobility and range of motion• Improves reaction time

Health Benefits of Resistance Training

• Fat loss, weight control and weight maintenance• Increased metabolism• Increased calorie burning during workout• Increased calorie burning after exercise• Lowered resting blood pressure• Lowered risk of diabetes, heart disease, and some

types of cancer• Improved blood lipid profile – raised HDL

Health Benefits of Resistance Training(cont’d)

• Decreased risk for osteoporosis; increased bone mineral content

• Improved structural and functional integrity of tendons, ligaments, and joints

• Increases insulin sensitivity• Combats depression• Aids sleep• Improved posture• Enhanced physical activity experiences• Improved personal independence• Improved self-image, self-esteem

The Importance of Resistance Training

“Recent research suggests that the single most important step to not just retard, but to reverse the aging process, is strength training.”

“It is a myth that the older adult or elderly lose their ability to respond to a strength training stimulus. … Strength levels have tripled in well controlled and designed strength studies using older adults and other studies have shown strength improvements as high as 200 percent.”

Source: Brooks, Douglas. Effective strength training : analysis and technique for upper body, lower body, and trunk exercises. Mammoth Lakes, Calif. : Moves International, 2001.

Muscular Strength

• Definition: the maximal force that a muscle or muscle group can exert in a single contraction

Resistance Training and Aging

• Loss of muscle mass with age, result of inactivity– 50% loss in muscle mass from age 20 to 90

• Leads to decreased quality of life– Inability to carry out every day tasks

• Muscle mass can be increased with training– Hypertrophy is not limited by age

Types of Resistance Training

• Dynamic – involves concentric and eccentric contractions, may be isotonic or isokinetic– concentric – muscle shortening

– eccentric – muscle lengthening, cause of muscle soreness (DOMS)

• Static (isometric) – muscle contractions, but no movement– Causes an increase in blood pressure

– Specific to joint angle

Free Weights, Machines and Circuit Training

• Free weights– Inexpensive and space efficient– Resistance changes throughout range of motion– Mimics everyday life– Develop joint stability– More difficult to isolate target muscle(s) – technique and form are

critical

• Machines– Maintain resistance throughout range of motion– Does not require spotting– Must adjust the machine to fit the individual– Isolate target muscle(s) well

Free weights, machines and circuit training

• Circuit Training:– Combination of resistance training and cardiovascular

endurance training

– Continuous activity, maintaining target heart rate for 30+ min.

– Increases muscular strength and endurance as well as cardiovascular endurance, but not as well as training specifically for those benefits

Exercise and Age Continuum

death birth

Cardiovascular EnduranceTraining

Circuit Training ResistanceTraining

Atherosclerosis and other factors in CV disease develop early in life, therefore, CV training to reduce the risk of CV disease is important at this stage. Duringour middle years we are often pressed for time, working and raising families. Inorder to maintain range of motion throughout the body and continue to reduce therisk of CV disease, circuit training seems most appropriate. Finally, quality of life in our last decades is often reduced a result of decreased mobility. Resistance training can help combat this problem maintaining muscle mass and flexibility.

Principles of Resistance Training

• Stress-Rest

• Specificity (SAID)

• FITT

• Symmetry

• Contraction Control

• Ceiling

• Progressive Resistance Overload

• Maintenance

• Reversibility

• Stress-Rest– One day of exercise followed by one day of rest to

allow body to recover– Optimal rest is 48 to 72 hours between workouts for

same muscle group

• Specificity (SAID)– Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands– Only muscles used in the exercise will adapt, and they

will adapt to the specific demands imposed– Low reps, high resistance = increase strength and size

• ( >3 sets and < 10 repetitions)– High reps, low resistance = increase in endurance

• ( < 3 sets and > 15 repetitions)

FITT• Frequency

– Depends on type of exercise

• Intensity– Based on 1 RM (repetition maximum)

– Mostly trial and error

– Depends on training goals

• Time/Duration– 20+ min (ACSM)

– Depends on individual program

• Type of Exercise– Cardiovascular, strength, endurance, flexibility

• Symmetry– Overall balanced development of body; body should be trained as

a whole unit– Muscles aid in support of a joint; if more developed on one side,

likelihood of injury increases – Functional and motor fitness – strength development should be

considered along with cardiovascular and stretching/flexibility components

• Contraction Control– Raising and lowering of weight must not involve momentum to

ensure work is done through muscular contraction– Reduces risk of injury

• Ceiling – As fitness level increases, strength and endurance increase– As the potential/genetic fitness level is approached, increases in

fitness level decrease; participants will plateau and become bored– Address through temporary training pause, change of exercises,

decrease in intensity to rest body

• Overload– Muscles must be subjected to greater resistance than they normally

encounter, by increasing the weight

– 5% increase

• Maintenance– Once training effect/goal has been reached, maintain fitness level

through reduction in training frequency; workouts 2x per week instead of 3x a week

– Intensity and duration must remain the same

• Reversibility – Benefits of training will be lost at 1/3 the rate gained; e.g., training

effect of 1 month will be completely lost after approx. 3 months

– Loss of training effect is eliminated by following the Maintenance Principle

Ergogenic Aids

• Definition: Substances, techniques, or treatments that theoretically enhance physical performance in addition to the the effects of normal training

• Protein supplements, creatine, ginseng, chromium, steroids, growth hormone, etc.– Generally speaking there are no magic pills and

scientific evidence is often lacking. The most effective performance enhancers often are illegal and/or have serious side-effects

Flexibility

• Definition: the range of motion at a joint or series of joints

• Influenced by 3 main factors:1) Bony structure of the joint

2) Amount of tissue around the joint

3) Elasticity of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that cross over the joint

Other Factors Influencing Flexibility

• Age– Tendons lose elasticity with age

– Range of motion declines in the mid-20s for males and at about 30 for females

• Gender• Physical activity and type of activity

– Physical inactivity has a greater influence on the loss of flexibility than age

Types of stretching

• Ballistic– Oldest type of stretching– Makes use of repetitive bouncing movements– Virtually abandoned by almost all experts in the field due to safety

concerns• Static

– Very effective, relatively safe, popular method of stretching– Involves passively stretching a muscle to the point of mild discomfort– Holding time recommendations vary from 10 to 60 seconds; 20-30

seconds per stretch is normal• Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF)

– Stretching technique involves partner actively stretching participant by combination of altering contraction and relaxation of both agonist and antagonist muscles

– Potentially more effective in producing greater flexibility– Usually involves 10 second push phase, followed by a 10 second

relaxation phase, typically repeated several times

Guidelines for Safe Stretching

• Warm-up first, 5 – 10 minutes: this will decrease risk of injury

• Stretch after workout – contrary to popular belief, stretching before a workout does not decrease risk of injury

• Stretch should feel uncomfortable but not painful• For static stretches - hold stretch for 20 – 30

seconds• Stretching daily is best

Stretching – Other Considerations

• More flexible individuals do not necessarily have less incidence of injury

• More flexibility may actually lead to more injury because joint integrity is compromised

• Greater flexibility may impair performance in sports that do not require a high degree of flexibility – e.g., running

• Intense static stretching may reduce maximum force production

• Persons participating in sports that require more than average flexibility – gymnasts, dancers, figure skaters – will experience performance benefits from stretching

Stretching – Other Considerations(cont’d)

• Improved flexibility helps prevent back and other orthopedic problems

• Individuals with muscular imbalances and postural problems can benefit from stretching

• Stretching maintains flexibility which would otherwise decline with age or inactivity due to injury

Low-Back Pain

• Affects 80-90% of adults• Causes:

– Excess body weight– Weak abdominal muscles– Weak and inflexible hamstrings– Poor posture– Lifting objects incorrectly– Work or sports related injuries– Diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis– Sedentary lifestyle

• Prevention– Strengthen abdominal muscles and improve hamstring flexibility!