April Article
Frequently Asked Questions In Fitness Facilities
By Bev Hillman
Vancouver Personal Training
Every day I am faced with a multitude of fitness related questions on topics that range from losing weight to rehabilitating injuries.
This article will address some of the more popular questions clients have been asking, provide information for others as well as dispell some myths.
Q: When is the best time to stretch, before or after a workout?
A: It is not a good idea to stretch before exercise. That's when the muscles and tendons are cold and vulnerable to pulls and tears. It's important to perform a five to 10 minute lower-intensity warm-up such as walking, easy cycling or low-impact movements before you do any type of stretching.
A much better time to stretch is after a workout when your muscles are warm and your tissues are better prepared to be elongated. Think of it as thanking your muscles for the work they have done.
Q: Should I train my abdominal muscles every day? What is the optimal number of repetitions?
A: According to Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D., Chief Exercise Physiologist for the American Academy on Exercise,
you should treat your abdominal muscles like any other muscle group, which means you shouldn't train them every day. Your abdominals, like all of your other muscle groups, need recovery time between workouts. Performed correctly, 10 to 25 repetitions, for one to three sets of abdominal exercises provide a more than adequate training stimulus. If you can perform more than 25 repetitions of a abdominal exercise, you are most likely performing the repetitions too rapidly or with improper form. As with any resistance training exercise, you ideally want the last few repetitions to be difficult to complete. You can increase the challenge and intensity of abdominal exercises by using added resistance, moving more slowly or performing the exercises on a slant board or exercise ball so that you head is at a lower elevation than your legs.
Q: Is it true that I am only burning fat when I am doing aerobic exercise? What am I burning when I am doing weight training?
A: You are always burning fat. The difference is that during higher levels of activity, your are burning a greater number of calories and therefore a greater volume of fat. During muscle conditioning you are burning a lower volume of calories and fat in comparison to say, a long-distance run. But with weight training you are developing muscles, and since muscle uses fat for fuel, the more muscle you have the better able you are to burn fat 24/7.
Q: How do I get rid of these flabby arms?
A: One of the biggest exercise myths is that you can lose fat in an area of the body by strength training or exercising that specific body part. The truth is that "spot reducing" does not work, because we cannot dictate from where our bodies will decide to oxidize fat, nor can we change fat into muscle. Doing tricep press-downs will not decrease the amount of fat we have on the backs of our arms any more than doing crunches will decrease the amount of fat we have on our stomachs. It will however, strengthen and tighten that muscle.
As we age, our skin becomes less elastic and thus conform less to our arms. So "Flabby arms", are somewhat a product of age. Any exercise that decreases body fat percentage will help lose fat on the arms, just as it will help lose fat from other areas of the body.
Stay tuned for more Q & A's next month.
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