Jan/100
Fitness 101 Basic Exercise and Fitness Terms
by Pamela | January 28th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Today wraps up the official Fitness 101 series. I would like to think I bring you good information every week, but hopefully this series has filled in some of the basics for all the beginners out there.
I wanted to end the series with some basic terms and definitions. There is a lot of jargon that gets thrown around in the fitness world and many of us, me included, forget that we are not born knowing these terms. I wanted to give you a list of common terms so you can be a little more confident in the gym or with your trainer. This is by no means a complete list of everything you need to know, but I find that these terms are used very frequently. It should give you a good start to in building your fitness vocabulary.
- Rep: Short for repletion, a rep equals performing an exercise one time. Example, if I have completed the full motion of a bicep curl 10 times, than I have completed 10 reps.
- Set: A set is all of your continuous reps of an exercise. Using the above example, I did 1 set of bicep curls that consisted of 10 reps.
- Super set: Doing a set of one exercise back to back with another exercise. To keep my example going, I could superset a bench dip with the bicep curl by immediately starting the bench dips after my last bicep curl, without resting in between. A tri set is the same concept but with 3 exercises instead of 2.
- Concentric phase: Force is produced to overcome the weight and the muscle shortens. This would be the lifting portion of the bicep curl.
- Eccentric phase: Force resists the movement as the muscle lengthens. This would be the lowering phase of the bicep curl.
- Circuit training: A workout routine that involves performing sets of several difference exercises with little or no rest in between.
- HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training): A form of cardio training that involves cycles of high intensity bursts and low to moderate intensity recovery. The ratio is usually 2:1. For example, a HIIT routine on a stationary bike might be a 5 minute warm up followed by 7-8 cycles of 30 second sprints and 60 second moderate intensity cycling and then a cool down period.
- Steady state cardio: Some form of cardiovascular exercise (walking, running, cycling, etc) where you keep a steady pace and rate of exertion for the bulk of the workout.
- Warm up: Period of metabolic adjustment from rest to exercise. You do not want to go from resting to sprinting, you need to transition. You might walk on the treadmill at 3.0-3.5 miles per hour for about 5-10 minutes before running or sprinting.
- Cool down: Period of metabolic adjustments from exercise to rest. The opposite process from what was described above. When running you do not want to just stop and sit down, you need to transition. After running, you might walk at a moderate to brisk pace for 5-10 minutes.
As I said, this is not meant to be a complete list of all the terms you will ever need. As you progress you will start using more advanced techniques and will add more terms to your fitness vocabulary. Think of this, as the name says, as your 101 Vocab list. Learn these first to build your solid foundation. I also welcome your questions. If you have a question about these terms, or anything about health and fitness, send me an email or post to our Forums page.
Jan/103
Fitness 101 Eating for Health and Fitness Part 2
by Pamela | January 21st, 2010 at 11:53 am
Last week we talked about how much to eat. As promised, today we will talk about what you should eat.
Let’s start with the basics. Your foods basically contain 1 or more macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein and fat. These macronutrients do different things in the body and provide differing amounts of energy. The energy (calories) for each group is as follow:
- 1 gram carbohydrates (carbs) = 4 calories
- 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
- 1 gram of fat = 9 calories
Your body needs all of these macronutrients to perform difference functions. Carbs are the first choice for energy in the body and get easily converted to glucose, the fuel for cellular life. Carbs need fats to help them burn and your cells need fats to be able to use certain vitamins and for other cellular functions. Protein is the building block for muscle and muscle repair. What I want you to remember is that each of these is necessary and none of these categories should be looked at as forbidden or bad.
How much of each of the macronutrients you need is a subject of much discussion and controversy. There are certain diet trends that demonize one or more of these groups. Like I have said before, diets are temporary. You should be focused on how to eat to live. To live you need a balance of each of the macronutrients from quality sources.
I often tell my clients to start with a 50/25/25 split. Their calories should come, roughly, 50% from carbs, 25% from protein, and 25% from fat. This is based on my experience and study. Everyone is different, so I also tell them this is a starting point. Depending on their activities and how their body reacts, this ratio is subject to adjustment. For example, an endurance athlete will need more carbs to keep glucose available to the body. So their carb ratio might go up while their protein ratio might go down. Again, everyone is different.
The other key is how you get these calories. While it would be nice to think that 250 calories in a donut is the same as 250 calories in a chicken breast, but that is not how it works. Think about the foods I just mentioned. When you eat a donut for a meal, how do you feel? More importantly how do you feel and hour or two later? Now think about eating those 250 calories in a chicken breast. How would you feel after and a bit later? The sugar in the donut will probably make you jittery and an hour later you’re sleepy and hungry again. The chicken breast is going to make you feel fuller and keep you from getting hungry longer.
When you plan your meals (you are planning right?) you need to keep in mind the quality of the food you are eating. Look for foods that are minimally processed and rich in nutrients. You want high volume for your calorie buck as well. If I get 450 calories for dinner, what combo of foods can I get for 450 calories that will make me full and keep me full? In a way it is a blend of quality and quantity.
Last week I asked you to start a food journal. I want you to continue your assignment by analyzing your food journal, if you haven’t started to do so already. Use a calorie book or one of the great online tools to find out how many calories you eat each day and what your ratios are of carbs, protein and fats in your daily diet. Where are you compared to the recommendation I made? What changes are you going to make? Share with me, I love to hear your stories!
Be sure to read all of the Fitness 101 series!
Jan/100
Fitness 101 Eating for Health and Fitness
by Pamela | January 14th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Welcome to part 2 of my Fitness 101 series. Last week I mentioned a sixth element of health and fitness - nutrition. You have to fuel your body adequately for exercise and activities of daily life. The key word in that sentence is adequately.
Most people simply eat too much and eat foods that are of poor quality. For this series, I want to get down to the basics of those two things: how much you should eat and what you should be eating. Keep in mind there are many opinions on this subject, so I am going to try to stay as much to the facts as possible. If I do venture into opinion, I will be sure to point it out clearly for you.
Let’s talk about calories in first. You often hear that to lose weight you need to cut calories. The usual equation is to cut 500 calories per day which equals 3500 calories a week. 3500 calorie deficit = 1 pound of weight loss. Simple enough, right?
The problem is this theory holds true if you are eating calories that equal maintaining your weight, that your current calories in balance to your current calories out. For most people that is not true. Most people are not holding steady, they are instead watching the scale creep up and want to do something to stop it.
For this formula to hold true, you first need to know how many calories you should be eating to maintain your current weight. The most accurate way to do this is also the most difficult. There are laboratory tests that can be done to measure your metabolism and tell you how many calories you need. You can also buy self monitoring devices (like the bodybugg
Your BMR is the calories you need to do nothing. It supports basic body functions, no daily activities or exercise. Think of it as the calories you would need to sleep all day. Once you know this number, you can make an estimate of your daily needed calories based on your daily activity level and body composition. I use the Harris Benedict Formula and you can find an easy to use calculator on the Tools page of my web site. You will need to know your body fat level. The reason for this, which is not included in some other formulas, is that the more muscle you have the more calories you burn. Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue. So two people with the same weight could have different calorie needs if they have different levels of body fat.
Now that you know how much you need to support your current weight, you can subtract from that to create a calorie deficit. A couple of things to remember, you do not want to eat less than your BMR and you don't want to cut too drastically. Doing so will actually slow down your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight. To create your deficit do so through a combination of cutting calories (200-300 to start) and increased activity. Also, everyone is different. Like I said the formulas are estimates. If you are eating at a certain level and not seeing a change, you may need to slightly decrease calories (just not below your BMR or too drastically) or increase your activity level.
Next, week I will continue this topic with the some basics on macro-nutrients to help you decide what to eat. Meanwhile I want to give you some homework. I want you to start a food journal. As far as your nutrition goes, it is the best way to get the real picture on what you are eating. You can do it in a notebook or use a computer based tool. I belong to a community online called DailyBurn (hello all my Motivators!) and they have an excellent nutrition log tool. I highly recommend it. Let me know what ah-has you get after starting a food journal.
Be sure to read all of the Fitness 101 series!
Jan/104
Fitness 101 Elements of Physical Fitness
by Pamela | January 7th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Starting a fitness journey can be overwhelming. You may know where you want to go, but you don’t know how to get there. You may not even be sure where to begin. I always say the best place to begin is the basics, getting your core concepts down before you go too far down the road.
In January, every Thursday the post will be entitled “Fitness 101”. My intent is to give you basic information to help you start your journey. I want to share foundational concepts of physical fitness, nutrition, terminology, etc. My hope is to give you a good start and inspire you to learn more. While the information may seem very basic to some, for others this may be the first time to see this information since high school health class. I don’t know about you, but for me that was awhile back.
Today, I want to start with the basic elements of physical fitness for health. The components and definitions I am sharing come from the ACSM’s Health Related Physical Fitness Manual.
First let’s define physical fitness. You will find many different definitions but here is the one I like best, from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports:
“Physical fitness is the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness without undue fatigue and ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and meet unforeseen emergencies.”
I like this definition because it really touches on why most of us start a fitness journey. We want to look better, feel better, not be winded after two flights of stairs and have the energy to chase around children on the playground all day. Most of us won’t ever be bodybuilders or professional athletes. We simply want a better quality of life.
Here are the 5 components that make up physical fitness, as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine:
- Cardio respiratory endurance: The ability of the circulatory system and respiratory system to supply oxygen during sustained physical activity.
- Body Composition: The relative amount or percentage of different types of body tissue (bone, fat, muscle) that are related to health.
- Muscular Strength: The ability to perform activities that require high levels of muscular force.
- Muscular Endurance: The ability of a muscle group to execute repeated contractions over a period of time sufficient to cause muscular fatigue.
- Flexibility: The ability to move a joint through its complete range of movement.
It is important to remember that all of these elements are important to health and physical fitness. One mistake I often see in new exercisers is forgetting one or more elements. Someone may decide to run 4 days a week, but neglect exercise for muscular strength. Or someone lifting a lot for muscular strength may eat a lot and disregard the need for a healthy body fat level. All of the components are important and work together for your health and fitness.
Let me give you an example. Low back pain is huge issue in our society and is one of the top reasons people seek medical help. Low back pain can be caused by a number of issues, including injury. It can also be related to poor physical fitness. It can be caused by excess weight (body composition), weak core muscles (muscular strength and endurance), and tight hip flexor muscles (flexibility). To improve fitness, health and quality of life, all of the things mentioned should be addressed. Again, everything works together.
As you move forward on your journey, I want you to remember each of these elements and make sure you include each one in your plans. Remember, 150-300 minutes of physical activity is recommended for health and wellness. Divide those minutes among resistance training (at least twice per week), cardiovascular training (running, cycling or dancing are great examples) and stretching activities post workout or as active rest (for example, yoga). If you do this, and pay attention to the unmentioned but equally important element of nutrition, you will be well on your way to health and fitness.
Be sure to read all of the Fitness 101 series!
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