Plyometrics: Controlled Impact/Maximum Power

It may sound like the latest Van Damme film, but controlled impact and maximum power are the aims of a training technique called plyometrics. Also known as jump training, plyometrics involve stretching the muscles prior to contracting them. This type of training, when used safely and effectively; strengthens muscles, increases vertical jump, and decreases impact forces on the joints


Plyometrics mimic the motions we use in sports such as skiing, tennis, and basketball. If you enjoy dodging moguls, chasing down groundstrokes, or charging the net, plyometrics might be an appropriate training option as these exercises are designed to increase muscular power and explosiveness. Plyometrics are not, however, for those who are in poor condition or have orthopedic limitations.

A safe and effective plyometric program stresses quality, not quantity of jumps. Safe landing techniques, such as landing from toe to heel from a vertical jump, and using the entire foot as a rocker to dissipate landing forces over a greater surface area, also are important to reduce impact forces.

In addition, visualization cues, such as picturing yourself landing "light as a feather and recoiling like a spring" after impact promotes low-impact landings. When landing, avoid excessive side-to-side motion at the knee. Landing forces can be absorbed through the knee musculature (quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius, or calf muscle) more effectively when the knee is bending primarily in only one plane of motion.

Olympic Secrets

The Eastern Europeans first used plyometrics in the 1970s to develop greater strength and power in their Olympic athletes. They based programs on scientific evidence that stretching muscles prior to contracting them recruits the myotactic, or stretch reflex, of muscle to enhance the power of contraction.

This prestretching of muscles occurs when you perform jumps one after the other. For example, when you land from a jump, the quadriceps muscles at the front of your thigh stretch as your knee bends, and then quickly contract with the next leap. This prestretch enhances the power of the second jump.

Proceed with Caution

Plyometric training has received its share of criticism due to reported cases of injury following programs of depth jumping and drop jumping, which involve jumping up to, and down from, boxes or benches that are as high as 42 inches. The forces sustained from these types of jumps onto hard surfaces can be as much as seven times one's own body weight. However, carefully considering the type of jumps selected for the program, enlisting a coach or trainer for supervision, and gradually increasing to more difficult exercises can make a plyometric program both safe and effective.

Jumps should always begin from ground level, off and onto padded surfaces such as grass or a gym mat over a wood gym floor. These types of jumps are both safe and easy to perform. Other training techniques include jumping over cones or foam barriers, and traveling bounding.

One study found that participants in a well-designed program of stretching, plyometric training, and weight training reduced their landing forces from a jump by 20 percent and increased their hamstrings strength by 44 percent. Both of these factors contribute to reducing an individual's potential risk of injury. In addition, some studies have shown plyometrics to have a positive effect on bone density in younger participants.

Use This Tool Wisely

If you are considering plyometrics, proceed with caution. A sports medicine physician or therapist can advise if this training technique is suitable for you, and may even help you get started or recommend someone who can. But, if improving athletic performance is not a high priority, the additional risk associated with this activity may not be worth the potential benefits. Plyometric training can be a smart addition to a healthy individual's training program as long as it is used wisely.

American Council on Exercise (ACE)

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Warm Up To Work Out

Image by istolethetv via Flickr

You need to wrap a rubberband around a stack of papers. What's the first thing 9 out of 10 people do? You stretch it out to keep it from busting. Hmm...works for rubber bands, imagine what a good stretch could do for you.


Warm Up To Work Out

Suppose you were told that you only had to add an extra five to 10 minutes to each of your workouts in order to prevent injury and lessen fatigue. Would you do it? Most people would say yes. Then they might be surprised to learn that they already know about those few minutes called a warm-up. If done correctly, a pre-exercise warm-up can have a multitude of beneficial effects on a workout and, consequently, overall health.


What Happens In Your Body?

When you begin to exercise, your cardiorespiratory and neuromuscular systems and metabolic energy pathways are stimulated. Muscles contract and, to meet their increasing demands for oxygen, your heart rate, blood flow, cardiac output, and breathing rate, increase. Blood moves faster through your arteries and veins, and is gradually routed to working muscles. Your blood temperature rises and oxygen is released more quickly, raising the temperature of the muscles. This allows the muscles to use glucose and fatty acids to burn calories and create energy for the exercise. All of these processes prepare the body for higher-intensity action.

A gradual warm-up:

•Leads to efficient calorie burning by increasing your core body temperature
•Produces faster, more forceful muscle contractions
•Increases your metabolic rate so oxygen is quickly delivered to working muscles
•Prevents injuries by improving the elasticity of your muscles
•Gives you better muscle control by speeding up your neural message pathways to the muscles
•Allows you to work out comfortably longer because all your energy systems are able to adjust to exercise, preventing the buildup of lactic acid in the blood
•Improves joint range of motion
•Psychologically prepares you for higher intensities by increasing arousal and focus on exercise

Where To Begin

Your warm-up should consist of two phases:

•Progressive aerobic activity that utilizes muscles you will be using during your workout
•Flexibility exercises

Choosing which warm-up activity to use is as easy as slowing down what you will be doing during your workout. For example, if you will be running, warm up with a slow jog; or if you will be cycling outdoors, begin in lower gears.

An ideal intensity for an aerobic warm-up has yet to be established, but a basic guideline is to work at a level that produces a small amount of perspiration, but doesn't leave you feeling fatigued. The duration of the warm-up activity will depend on the intensity of your workout as well as your own fitness level.

After the aerobic warm-up activity you should incorporate flexibility/stretching exercises. Stretching muscles after warming them up with low-intensity aerobic activity will produce a better stretch since the rise in muscle temperature and circulation increases muscle elasticity, making them more pliable. Be sure to choose flexibility exercises that stretch the primary muscles you will be using during your workout.

In order to fully reap the benefits of the time you are spending exercising, you must warm-up. Taking those extra few minutes to adjust to increased activity will ensure a better performance from your body and, in turn, will make your workout more efficient, productive and, best of all, enjoyable.


American Council on Exercise (ACE)

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Work Out Chronic Fatigue

Do you have the best of intentions? You know what I mean, you got the oufit and the latest tennis shoes, but the closest you can get to exercise is putting on the DVD and watching it...from the couch. "I'm too tired. I'll just watch it this time, so I know what I'm doing." If you constantly feel fatigued or maybe even ...a little "flu-like" you may suffer from CFS-Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Unfortunately, there's no cure, but the best medicine is the most ironic...EXERCISE. "Expending energy brings about increased energy in return." Read the article below, then sign up for a membership to BeFit4LifeNow.com and let US help you get in gear! After all, you already have the outfit!

Chronic fatigue is more than just feeling tired all the time. For those who suffer from this mysterious syndrome, it can be a constant battle simply to get out of bed in the morning. Symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) include unexplained fatigue lasting 30 days or more; flu-like symptoms such as a sore throat, generalized muscle pains, head-aches, swollen lymph nodes, difficulty concentrating, and sensitivity to bright light. CFS was dubbed the yuppie flu in the '80s and, despite the fact that it has been recognized as a legitimate, often debilitating illness; it is still met with scorn and disbelief.


There is no cure for CFS. For some people, it simply goes away, while others are debilitated by it for many years. Because the cause is largely unexplainable, treatment for CFS focuses primarily on relieving symptoms.

Low Blood Pressure Can Bring You Down

One of the latest theories proposed to explain CFS is that individuals who suffer from this condition also may have extremely low blood pressure. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that 22 of 23 CFS patients also had a disorder called neurally mediated hypotension (NMH). People with NMH get dizzy from standing up too quickly or from standing for extended periods of time, signaling that not enough blood is reaching the brain. When treated for NMH for six months (either with medication or by increasing salt and fluid intake), nine of the 22 CFS patients said that all or nearly all of their CFS symptoms had disappeared; another seven said that their symptoms had improved.

A Novel Approach

But what about those who have normal blood pressure, but still fight persistent fatigue? Here's an interesting proposition: Is it possible to treat chronic fatigue with exercise?

Some researchers think so. A recent review of existing research on CFS explored the possibility of using physical activity programs to treat this puzzling condition. The findings are intriguing, if not conclusive.

Many people with CFS claim that they are too tired to exercise. Measurements of strength, exercise capacity, and muscle function suggest that CFS patients are not much weaker than the controls (people without CFS) they are compared to in research studies. This suggests that their capacity to exercise is greater than they may perceive. But telling someone who feels unable to get out of bed to exercise is probably an exercise in futility.

Exercise for Energy

Still, physicians such as Dr. Neil Gordon, author of Chronic Fatigue: Your Complete Exercise Guide, view exercise as a form of medication and an integral part of rehabilitation from CFS. Exercise programs for people with CFS are not much different than any other comprehensive exercise program. Cardiovascular, strengthening, and range-of-motion training should all be addressed. The primary difference is the pace and degree of progression. CFS patients need time to build their strength and adapt to the increased demands of exercise. And, as with any other physical condition, CFS patients should consult with their physicians before beginning an exercise program.

Exercise Your Options

People with CFS feel limited by their condition to enjoy the benefits of an active life. But as anyone who exercises will tell you, expending energy brings about increased energy in return. The same may hold true for individuals who are plagued by the unexplained exhaustion of CFS.

By: American Council on Exercise (ACE)

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Teens, Fitness, and You

With all the pressures teenagers have to deal with today, it's no wonder so many are in trouble. Statistics show that teen suicide and teen pregnancy are on the rise, as is the firearm-homicide rate for teens. Smoking among teens is en vogue, and two-thirds of eighth-graders report that they have tried alcohol. Unfortunately, only about 38 percent of them get enough exercise - which means the other 62 percent are setting themselves up for a sedentary life and all the problems that come with it.


Now is the time to change these statistics. Research has shown that kids who play sports, or are physically active, are less likely to have these problems. But getting kids to exercise is no easy task unless you're willing to spend time with them and learn to speak their language.

Quality Time, Quality Talk

The #1 thing you can do to help teens get active is to be a good role model. Live the life that you advocate; show them that being active can be fun, and they will follow your example. Let them know that being physically active does not necessarily mean going to exercise classes or playing sports, although these are two great options. Hiking and camping, body surfing and playing Frisbee, or paddleball are activities the whole family can enjoy. Because they're having so much fun, teens will hardly realize that what they're doing is actually good for them.

Teenagers can participate in just about any fitness activity, whether it is weight training, mountain biking, or martial arts. Many gyms are lowering their age requirements and offering family memberships and discounts to reach the younger market. Organized sports also are an excellent means of improving socialization and developing discipline and teamwork skills.

They're Listening - What Do You Say?

The number-one thing you can do to help teens get active is to be a good role model. Live the life that you advocate; show them that being active can be fun, and they will follow your example. Let them know that being physically active does not necessarily mean going to exercise classes or playing sports, although these are two great options. Hiking and camping, body surfing and playing Frisbee or paddleball are activities the whole family can enjoy. And, since they're having so much fun, teens will hardly realize that what they're doing is actually good for them.

Teenagers can participate in just about any fitness activity, whether it be weight training, mountain biking or martial arts. Many gyms are lowering their age requirements and offering family memberships and discounts to reach the younger market. Organized sports also are an excellent means of improving socialization and developing discipline and teamwork skills.

Competing with the Negative

It's not easy to get your message of good health and fitness across when you're competing with the lure of television and video games. That's why it's so important to appeal to a teenager's sense of fun and need for social interaction. Whenever possible, include others, such as their friends, in your fitness activities. Encouraging a teenager (or an adult, for that matter) to become more active can be discouraging, particularly when they seem to be tuning you out. At some point, that encouragement may become counter-productive. Instead, continue to serve as a role model for an active lifestyle and perhaps they will one day follow your lead.

The most important thing you can do for today's youth is to help them value their lives. Being healthy and fit will put them in touch with their bodies, increase their self-esteem, and help them to establish a desire to set personal goals. Bottom line, however, is that in order to get anyone to exercise, teenager or not, it has to be fun. Teenagers aren't likely to do something just because they're told it's good for them. But with your support and encouragement, you can help put them on the path to better health that lasts a lifetime.

In Sugar Land check out our Youth fitness Partner Athletic Revolution Tell them BF4LN sent you! to get special discounts
 
by the American Council on Exercise (ACE)

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So, You Want To Spot Reduce? Here's How...

Besides launching millions of sit-ups, leg lifts, and torso twists; the desire for a toned and taut physique has sold a long line of exercise devices of dubious worth. Countless inventions, such as vibrating belts and gut-busting contraptions, have claimed to miraculously tighten and tone our trouble spots.
But the miracles we were expecting never materialized, and our spots remained unreduced.

What's Wrong with Spot Reduction?

Where did we go wrong? In our efforts to tone our bodies, we neglected the most important factor: fat. Exercises such as crunches or leg lifts improve the tone and endurance of the muscles, but they don't burn fat. When we do exercises that elevate the heart rate such as bicycling, walking, or aerobic dance, the body will draw upon its fat stores for energy.

Alternative Solutions

Eating a low-fat diet and following an exercise program that combines aerobic activity and strength training is the key to changing the shape of your body. In addition to burning calories through aerobic activity, strength training will increase the amount of muscle which burns even more calories. But many people shun the idea of intensive exercise, scared off by the idea of five-mile runs, barbells, or aerobic classes.

Thankfully, any aerobic activity that elevates your heart rate can help you burn fat and take off unwanted pounds. Many experts recommend doing at least three sessions of 20 minutes of aerobic activity per week. Ideally, for long-term weight control, you should engage in at least four sessions per week for 45 minutes each time.

For instance, these enjoyable alternatives to traditional aerobic exercise are effective fat burners:

•Mountain Biking

•In-line Skating

•Walking

•Country Line Dancing

•Hiking

•Martial Arts

•Boxing

•Cross-country Skiing

•Downhill Skiing

•Water Sports


In addition to these activities, which can be done solo or with friends and family, take advantage of the wide variety of fitness tapes currently on the market. You can learn everything from martial arts to swing dancing. Choose an activity because it interests you, not because it is touted as a great workout.

A few things to keep in mind when starting any new activity:

•Don't start out too hard or too fast - you may injure yourself or quit before enjoying any benefit.

•Always concentrate on enjoying yourself, rather than on what a particular exercise might do for you.

•Keep your exercise comfortable and only increase intensity after your body becomes accustomed to new activity levels.

•And always check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program, especially if you're over 40 or have cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or a family history of heart disease.

A Final Word About Toning Exercises

Just because exercises like leg lifts and crunches won't budge the fat, does not mean they are not beneficial. Unlike some aerobic activities, these exercises can strengthen and tone specific muscles of the body. The best way to shape up is to incorporate strength and toning exercises with aerobic exercises. Before you know it, you'll be on your way to looking and feeling better.

by American Council on Exercise (ACE)

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Weight-loss Plateaus and Pitfalls

It's kind of like running into a wall - that feeling you get when, after a few months on a weight-loss program, you suddenly stop seeing results. This is called hitting a plateau and it is not uncommon. In fact, unless you continually update your program to reflect the changes your body has already experienced, you can almost be guaranteed to plateau at some point along your journey toward reaching your goal weight.
Weight-loss Woes

The first thing you should do upon hitting a plateau is try to determine the cause. Could you be eating more calories than you think? Research shows that most people underreport the number of calories they eat - it's not that they're lying; they just don't know how to make an accurate assessment of how much they're eating. And even if you're eating fewer calories than before you lost the weight, you could be eating just enough to maintain your current weight at your current activity level. It is important to keep in mind that as you lose weight, your metabolism slows down because there is less of you to fuel, both at rest and during activity. So, while a diet of 1,800 calories per day helped you lose a certain amount of weight, if you've hit a plateau, it could be that 1,800 calories is the exact amount you need to stay at your current weight.

Exercise Your Options

This leaves you with two options: Lower your caloric intake further or increase the amount of time you spend being physically active. The first option is less desirable because you may not be able to get sufficient nutrients from a diet that is very low in calories, and it is difficult to stick to it for very long. It is much better to moderately reduce calories to a level that you can sustain when you reach your goal weight. The same is true for exercise. Trying to exercise for several hours per day to burn more calories is a good way to set yourself up for failure. Not only does this type of regimen require an enormous time commitment, it is hard on the body, making you more susceptible to injury and overuse syndromes.
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The human body is an amazing piece of machinery, capable of adapting to just about any circumstance or stimulus.

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To help balance the intake with the expenditure, a good rule of thumb is to multiply your goal weight by 10 calories per pound, and add more calories according to how active you are. Again, be realistic. Don't attempt too much in an effort to burn more calories. Instead, aim for 30 minutes of moderate activity most of the days of the week and, as you become more fit, gradually increase the intensity and duration of your exercise sessions. Choose activities that you find enjoyable, whether that be in-line skating, step classes, or even mall walking.

Another means for getting you off the plateau is strength training, which has been shown to be very effective in helping people manage their weight because the added muscle helps to offset the metabolism-lowering effect of dieting and losing weight. Muscle is much more metabolically active than fat; therefore the more muscle you can add, the higher your metabolism will be.

Get Off the Plateau
If you've stopped losing weight, the key to getting off the plateau is to vary your program. The human body is an amazing piece of machinery, capable of adapting to just about any circumstance or stimulus.

By shaking things up a bit and varying your program by introducing some new elements, you'll likely find yourself off the plateau and back on the road to progress in no time.

by American Council on Exercise (ACE)

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The Remarkable Health Benefits of the Humble Pomegranate

The humble pomegranate is yet further proof of why the Mediterranean diet is being hailed as the healthiest diet in the world.

For many centuries these rather unexciting and overlooked fruit have grown on fences all around the Mediterranean area and have been a seasonal part of the diet just taken for granted. However, recent research has uncovered some almost miraculous health benefits of pomegranates from which the people of the Mediterranean area have been unwittingly benefiting.

First, they have a marvelous ability to not only protect against atherosclerosis, i.e. the thickening of arterial walls which can cause heart attacks and strokes, but to actually reverse this thickening and thus return your arteries to a more youthful state. This is something that no drug on the market today is capable of.

Another health benefit of pomegranates is that they have the ability to lower blood pressure in addition to which they can effectively reduce your levels of bad cholesterol and help to increase levels of the good cholesterol.

One of the other health benefits of pomegranates will be of interest to men with problems of impotence as this is often caused by atherosclerosis as the resulting thickening of the blood vessels affects blood flow in all areas of the body. In fact it is not uncommon for narrowing of the arteries to only be diagnosed as a result of a man consulting his doctor over impotence problems. The exceptional effect that the powerful antioxidants found in pomegranates has is to improve blood flow in all areas of the body and thus dramatically lower the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and impotence.

Other recent research has uncovered evidence of the cancer protecting and even treating abilities of pomegranates, particularly in relation to prostate cancer although there is also some suggestion that the same benefits may extend to breast cancer. A substance in this remarkable fruit has been found to reduce the levels of PSA (prostate specific antigen,) high levels of which are a marker of how well a patient has responded to conventional prostate cancer treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy etc. One study of prostate cancer patients discovered that 80% of the men receiving pomegranate juice daily reduced the rate at which PSA increased dramatically. In addition there was a marked decrease in the proliferation of prostate cancer cells and an even greater increase in the rate of apoptosis, or cancer cell death.

Even in men without prostate cancer it is important to keep these PSA levels low as you age because their elevation is a precursor to cancer and can also contribute to benign prostate enlargement which affects many men as they age and causes much discomfort.

Although there has been no direct human research as yet into the protective action of pomegranates viz a viz breast cancer this type of cancer is akin in some ways to prostate cancer and certain in vitro studies have been very promising. With pomegranate extract inhibiting breast cancer cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis in the laboratory.

The general antioxidant effect of pomegranates is three times greater than that of either red wine or green tea and they should definitely be included in everyone's diet.

Pomegranates tend to have a fairly short season and do not store very well. However if you want to make the most of the health benefits of pomegranates all the year round then buy them when they are in season and therefore plentiful and cheap and freeze them.

The easiest way to prepare pomegranates for freezing is to cut them in half, immerse them in a deep bowl of water then break the segments apart prying out the seeds. The seeds will sink and the pith and skin will float. Skim this off the top and then strain the seeds, pat dry on a clean tea towel, and freeze in polythene bags excluding the air. On defrosting pop them in your juicer. Alternatively you could juice them first and then freeze the juice.

Heart attacks and strokes are the number one killer for men and women alike in the western world,so if you are only going to adopt one element of the healthy Mediterranean diet then I think they should definitely be top of your list. The incredible effect pomegranates can have on not only maintaining a healthy heart, but their ability to even reverse some heart disease makes this so. No doubt as more research is done into the health benefits of pomegranates they will be found to have many other advantages.
 
by Ruth Polak

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