Avoid Heat Illness During Physical Activity

Over the past couple weeks the weather here in Downingtown, PA has provided some excellent opportunities to get outside to work and play.  Its great to see more and more people every year taking advantage of the great parks and exercise trails we have in Chester County.  Unfortunately, spring is nearing its end as the temperatures and heat index continue to rise.  The good news is that you can still work and play outside!  You just need to take some extra precautions to avoid illness or injury.  Here are some tips I found from the Women’s Sports Medicine Center in NYC to help keep you safe this summer.

• During your first hot weather workouts, cut back on your exercise duration or intensity. Start low and go slow!
• Avoid exercising at the hottest times of the day. Try early morning or evening. Pick a training route or exercise area that provides lots of shade: parks or tree-lined streets. Consider an air-conditioned facility on scorcher days. (see below)
• DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS!
• Monitor your heart rate and slow down if your pulse is higher than your target zone or if you don’t feel good.
• Train with other people when it’s extra hot. They’ll notice if you’re in trouble, even if you don’t.
• Know the symptoms of heat stress: nausea, dizziness, headache, chilling, muscle cramps, extreme breathlessness and a reduction in sweat rate. Stop exercise, get cool and rehydrate.

For more information on exercising in the heat, click on the link below.

Women’s Sports Medicine Center, Hospital for Special Surgery

Great Inspiration from the World of Sports!

I thought this would be a great introduction to embedding video for me.  Enjoy!

 

The Two Most Important Factors in Weight Loss Are…

This has nothing to do with Personal Training, Exercise or Diet… 

A close friend of mine was reading a magazine article in which the author discussed the two most important factors in a successful weight loss program.  I was surprised when she didn’t say the usual “eat less and exercise more”.  Instead, the article had addressed the underlying motivation and psychosocial aspects of successful weight loss.  It was suggested that the two most important factors in successful weight loss are…

INTENT and ACCOUNTABILITY 

To have INTENT means that you have found purpose; the WHY in what you seek to accomplish.  And, ACCOUNTABILITY refers to the support system that you build and surround yourself to hold you to your goals.   

What’s most interesting about these two factors has nothing to do with their novelty; the psychosocial aspects of weight management have been well researched.  Rather, it had to do with their impact.  Many people may assume they have intent when starting an exercise and nutrition program.  Unfortunately, most truly haven’t identified their purpose specifically enough for it to both ignite and sustain the fire for change.  This leads to failure and/or weight regain.  The individual who has identified his/her intent builds a new lifestyle on top of a strong foundation.  So, how to get INTENT?  The best way is to sit back, evaluate your life and visualize what’s important to you.  Do you want to LIVE to see your kids grow up?  Are you sick of being tired all the time?  Are you lacking self-confidence?  Do you want to prove something to yourself or someone else?  Find the passion, ignite the fire! 

The Personal Training profession exists because of accountability.  Its amazing that people won’t make an appointment with themselves, but they won’t miss an appointment with their trainer.  A personal trainer provides a number of forms of accountability, from a scheduled appointment, to the support provided, to the extra effort they pull out of a client.  Unfortunately, accountability can not be completely satisfied by your trainer.  If you want to lose weight you have to make yourself accountability to yourself, your family, your friends and your co-workers.  Any person, place or thing in your life that has the potential to sabotage or support your efforts and your intent must also be held accountable.  The first step in accountability is to inform those close to you of your intent and to request their help.  Who knows, maybe you’ll be an inspiration for someone close to you.

Interestingly, in over 13 years as a Personal Trainer I’ve never seen someone succeed without intent and accountability.   Maybe we should start talking more about these factors in fitness and healthcare.  Instead of telling people simply what they should be doing, help them understand why and then provide support. 

Intensity vs. Maximum Strength

Most commonly intensity in Resistance Exercise describes the percentage of weight lifted compared to the amount that could be lifted for 1 repetition or 1RM.  For example, if you could squat 100 lbs. only 1 time your intensity when using 85 lbs for 6 repetitions would equate to 85% of 1RM.  A substantial body of research has been devoted to understanding how best manipulate intensity to achieve specific goals.  Here’s what we know… 

To build endurance and/or to develop a foundation requires an intensity or resistance equal to 40-60% 1RM.  This should allow the beginning lifter to complete 15 to 20 repetitions of the exercise.  It is also an intensity that will help you recover from injury through physical therapy.  Outside of the beginner phase of training or therapeutic intervention this intensity has little value as it is insufficient to build strength and muscle in intermediate to advanced lifters.

An intensity of 60-85% is considered the muscle building range and should allow 6 to 15 repetitions. Its interesting that hypertrophy, or muscle growth and tone is the goal of most people who train regularly yet very few women actually train within this intensity. 

Strength is the factor most affected when intensities over 85% 1RM are used.  This should allow the lifter to complete <6 repetitions.  Achieving this level of intensity is possibly the most important, but again even fewer lifters actually use it.  A recent trend in fitness is “functional” or “performance”-based training, both goals are dependent most on strength. 

Although intensity is most commonly interpreted using these criteria, factors such as fatigue may play an even more important role.  We’ll discuss the role of fatigue tomorrow.

Train with Intensity & find out what you’re made of!

Intensity is the key to effective resistance training.  Have you ever trained so hard you almost lost your lunch…or better yet, you actually did?  Although it is rarely advised to push yourself this hard during a training session, if you’ve never experienced that feeling you are probably NOT training hard enough.  Why do I say this?  INTENSITY in resistance training is as much mental and emotional as it is physiological.  You have to determine those limits and challenge those limits frequently to experience physical transformation. 

In “Strong Enough“, a collection of writings by Strength Coach Mark Rippetoe, the author suggests trying to do 20 squats with a weight equal to your 10 repetition maximum (insert disclaimer here)  Wait a second, that doesn’t make sense…right?  This is the perfect example of soul searching.  You’re allowed a couple seconds of rest under the bar between repetitions, but you can’t rack the bar until you’re done.  If you’ve never tried it, I guarantee that it will be one of, if not the hardest thing you’ve ever accomplished.  If you don’t quit that is. 

Recent research would support that most people would quit long before they hit their limits.  In fact, women who exercise in gyms don’t even lift enough weight to make it worth the $60/month membership fees.  That is…they don’t use enough weight or exercise at an intensity that is sufficient to produce even minimal physiological/physical change.  No wonder turn-over in gyms is so high! 

So…what is the magic intensity…stay tuned

Exercise Intensity Matters!

Of all the principles in Exercise Science intensity is most undervalued and misunderstood.  First, intensity can be described as both the perceived and/or actual effort that coincides with any activity. 

With respect to resistance exercise, intensity is measured as a percentage of the amount that can be lifted one time or 1 Repetition Maximum (RM).  You can also gauge intensity during resistance exercise by determining how close to fatigue or failure each exercise is pushed.  Lastly, by manipulating rest intervals from longer to shorter we prevent the body from fully recovering from the previous effort and thus increase intensity. 

In cardiovascular endurance training, the objective measures of intensity include the percentage of maximum aerobic capacity or VO2max.  More commonly, we use a percent of the heart rate maximum or heart rate reserve, which considers an individuals fitness level by incorporating the resting heart rate.  There are also subjective measures of intensity called Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE).  Intensity can be manipulated in Endurance Exericse by increasing the overall duration, distance covered or the speed at which you cover a specific distance. 

In flexibility training, perceived tension governs the intensity.  It has been suggested that holding a stretch that’s moderately uncomfortable will improve flexibility.  Intensity can also be manipulated by holding for a longer duration, holding a more than uncomfortable stretch, or holding a light stretch. 

With all of these variables its not surprising that people have difficulty understanding what most appropriate.  There is a BEST way to do things.  In the next few posts I will attempt to explain how to manipulate intensity during each of these activities to facilitate your results.