Muscular Fitness

1. Muscular Fitness

2. Definitions Strength—The ability of a muscle to produce force, often represented by the 1-repetition maximum. Muscular endurance—A muscle’s ability to produce force over and over again. Power—The amount of work performed in a given amount of time, often considered the product of strength and speed.

3. KEY POINT Strength refers to a muscle’s ability to produce force. muscular endurance refers to a muscle’s ability to keep on producing force. powerrefers to muscle’s ability to produce force quickly.

4. Benefits of Strength • Improved physical performance in sport, recreational activities, and everyday activities • Protection from injury • Increased resting metabolic rate • due to an increase in muscle mass • Maintenance of bone mineral density • Improved sense of well-being

5. KEY POINT When you improve your strength, you can: Improve your physical performance Protect yourself from injuries Increase your resting metabolic rate Prevent or minimize bone density loss Help yourself look and feel good

6. Four Principles of Building Strength Overload—To increase strength, we must tax our muscles beyond their accustomed loads. When muscles produce high levels of force time and time again, they respond, over time, by becoming larger (hypertrophy). (continued)

7. Four Principles of Building Strength Specificity—Your strength-training program must be specific to your overall exercise objectives. Individuality—You should evaluate your fitness level and your exercise goals on a personal level. We all have different potentials and we all have different goals. Be yourself! (continued)

8. Four Principles of Building Strength Reversibility—When you stop overloading your muscles, your strength and muscular fitness will gradually return to their pre-exercise levels. “Use it or lose it,” but remember that you won’t lose it immediately. Atrophy= shrinking of the muscle

9. KEY POINT Our bodies respond very specifically to exercise. Only the muscle fibers that we activate during a training session can increase in strength. Certain fibers are recruited only when force production is high. You must include heavy-resistance exercises in order to recruit all your fibers.

10. Types of Muscle Action Isometric Althoughmuscles produce force, there is no movement (for example, pushing against an immovable object). Push-up Frozen biceps curl at 90 degrees (continued)

11. Types of Muscle Action Isotonic Muscles produce force and change their length in the following ways: Concentric: Muscle shortens (contracts) and overcomes external resistance (for example, your biceps when you lift an object from your waist). Eccentric: Muscle lengthens (extends) because its force is less than the external resistance (for example, your biceps when you lower the object back to your waist). (continued)

12. Types of Muscle Action Isokinetic Muscle produces force and its length changes at a constant rate (usually seen only with computerized equipment in rehabilitation settings). Ex: knee surgery

13. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness DOMS is an inflammatory response to exercise. It occurs because of minute tears in the muscle fibers. No permanent damage occurs and the soreness goes away in a few days. DOMS can occur 24-48 hours after exercise.

14. Training Routine (FITT) Frequency—How often you work out. Intensity—How hard you exercise (how heavy a weight you lift). Time—How long you exercise (how many exercises, sets, and reps you do). Type—The selection of exercises.

15. Signs of Over-training Extreme muscle soreness Weight loss without trying Increase in illness Loss of appetite Constipation or diarrhea Unexplained drop in physical performance

16. Training Techniques— Hints for the Weight Room Split Your Routine Rather than 1 set of 10 reps of 10 exercises three days a week, try 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps of only five exercises two days a week and the other five exercises on another two days. Use Partner-Assisted Lifts Have a partner help with the concentric portion of a rep or just help you past a “sticking point.”Ex: spotter for chest press (continued)

17. Measuring Strength and Muscular Endurance 1-RM (1 repetition max) • How much you can lift, with good form, only once. • A measure of strength for each muscle group. • ALWAYS use a spotter when lifting • heavy weights! (continued)

18. Measuring Strength and Muscular Endurance 8-RM or 12-RM • How much you can lift, with good form, only 8 or 12 times. • Measures muscular endurance. • Useful for describing the intensity to use in training.

19. Progression— How Fast, How Far? What to Expect • Expect rapid initial gains followed by slower gains and the occasional “plateau.” • Remember that how fast and how far you improve is related to your genetic ability, your starting point, and your commitment. (continued)

20. Cross Training • Using different activities to reach • one goal. • We run, cycle, and swim to improve cardiovascular function. • We lift free weights, use machines, and do plyometrics for strength. • We perform curl-ups, sit-ups, and crunches for the abdominals.

21. Definitions Flexibility—The range of motion (ROM) a person can achieve at any joint through any particular movement. Passive flexibility—ROM you can achieve when someone moves a body part for you. Active flexibility—ROM you can achieve when you move body parts yourself using your own muscles.

22. Benefits of Flexibility • Improved physical performance in sport, recreational activities, and everyday activities • Protection from injury • Joint ROM is influenced by genetics, • age, gender, activity, and stretching.

23. Stretching to Improve Flexibility Static Stretching • Stretch a muscle as far as possible (reach the end of the joint’s ROM) and hold. • Recommended method —it’s safe, effective, and doesn’t require a partner. • Active (no assistance). • Passive (partner stretches the muscle for you). (continued)

24. Stretching to Improve Flexibility Ballistic Stretching • Muscle is stretched by contracting • opposing muscle group. • bouncing action, not recommended, • risk of injury. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) • Requires a partner to passively stretch the target muscle and to resist you while you attempt to contract the opposing muscle. • Recommended as very effective, but does require a partner.