What if I am new to working out? Where do I start?
Before you start an exercise program there are a few questions to ask yourself to determine whether you should see your doctor first.
QUESTION YOURSELF
Your first step is to ask yourself how active you want to be. This may sound like a silly question - you're probably planning on doing whatever you're capable of, whether that's a slow walk around the block or a vigorous step class. But if you're of a certain age or have certain cardiovascular risk factors, you may need to see your physician before beginning a program that involves vigorous (as opposed to moderate) aerobic activity.
Here's how exercise intensities are typically defined:
Low-to-Moderate
This is an intensity that can be sustained relatively comfortably for a long period of time (about 60 minutes). This type of exercise typically begins slowly, progresses gradually and usually isn't competitive in nature.
Vigorous
This is an intensity that is high enough to significantly raise both your heart and breathing rates, and is usually performed for about 20 minutes before fatigue sets in.
Are you planning to participate in vigorous activities and are a man over 40 or a woman over 50? You should receive a medical exam first. The same is true for individuals of any age with two or more coronary artery disease risk factors. If you're unsure if this applies to you, check with your physician.
For more questions that are important to ask, download the full article below from ACE Fit Facts.
 Printable PDF
Why are we encouraged to use a heart rate monitor?
Proper exercise monitoring is extremely important in order for you to get results from any workout. Most fitness instructors pose some unique challenges to monitoring your intensity. Without a heart rate monitor, you have only two ways to monitor yourself in a group exercise setting through perceived exertion or pulse palpation. Unfortunately, as we have learned, these methods are usually not very accurate because of miscounting, miscalculating, and misinterpreting exertion level. A heart rate monitor helps you and your HOF trainer make sure you are exercising in your optimal heart rate zone, and adjust accordingly during a workout.
More information on heart rate monitors, including purchase options.
How many times a week should I work out?
Accoring to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), "only one in four U.S. adults get the recommended amount of daily exercise, which is 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days of the week, or 20 minutes of vigorous activity three days per week.
Even worse: Nearly one in three Americans admits they don’t exercise at all.
The culprits? High-stress jobs and an abundance of sedentary distractions, such as cable television and the Internet, according to some experts."
Of course, the amount of exercise that you need depends on your personal goals. In order to lose weight, for example, more time is required than the recommended amount above. To determine what plan is right for you, contact a trainer at HOF to help design a program right for you.
What is more important- cardio exercise or strength training?
In most cases, both cardiovascular exercise AND strength training are important in your overall health plan. Unfortunately, because weight training often results in a corresponding increase in weight due to increased muscle mass, many abandon their strength-training efforts, opting instead for strictly cardiovascular activities. However, researchers suggest combining aerobic exercise with regular strength training for maximum benefit.
What are the benefits of each?
Benefits of Cardiovascular Exercise
Exercise in any form - mild, moderate or intense - is good for you and can help reduce the risk of disease and keep the heart healthy. Cardio exercise helps to burn extra calories and fat.
Benefits of Strength Training
Strength Training helps to tone and build muscles. However, regular weight training does more than just build better muscles, it builds a better, healthier body. Strength training plays an important role in ridding the body of extra weight, as it helps to keep fat-burning metabolism up for up to two hours after strength training exercise.
Several new studies confirm the benefits of mild-to-moderate resistance training, which includes reduced blood pressure, lower LDL (''bad'') cholesterol levels and higher HDL (''good'') cholesterol levels, all of which improve cardiovascular health overall.
Weight training is also believed to improve the way the body processes sugar, which could reduce the risk of developing diabetes.
Another study examined the effect of weight training on osteoarthritis, a common condition among older adults that affects balance and increases the risk of falling.
This study and others confirm that exercise of any kind improves strength, gait and ability to perform activities of daily living among older adults with osteoarthritis, and, in many cases, reduces the pain associated with the disease.
Source: Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, February 22, 2000; Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, (35) 2000; Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2000; 48: 131-138
Do I need to bring anything to class?
HOF recommends bringing a few things to group classes, including:
A water bottle
A Heart Rate Monitor
HOF also recommends eating a small snack about 1 hour before class begins.
Do classes include nutrition advice?
Answer
What is more important to lose weight- exercise or diet?
If you are trying to lose weight, we know that BOTH exercise and diet are important.
However, "in a recent study of 52 obese men with an average body mass index (BMI) of 31, Canadian researchers demonstrated the power of exercise as a weight loss tool.
One group of men dieted, consuming 700 calories per day less than they needed to maintain their weight. Another group walked or jogged on a treadmill at 80 percent of heart rate maximum for about an hour each day, long enough to burn off 700 calories.
After three months, both dieters and exercisers lost the same amount of weight - about 16.5 lbs, or eight percent of their body weight.
Exercisers, however, lost more abdominal fat (4.2 lbs) than dieters (3.3 lbs). Exercisers also did not lose muscle mass the way dieters did (lowering their metabolism), and got the added benefit of improved cardiovascular fitness.
A third study group kept their weight stable by burning off 700 calories per day with exercise, but making up for it with an extra 700 calories of food.
Although these men did not lose weight, they did lose visceral abdominal fat, which may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. "
Source: Annals of Internal Medicine, July 18, 2000; 133, 2, 92-103
|
