Page 1 of 6 Unit 2: Active Living Lesson 5 - Strength Training Label your Assignment as: PE10U2L5 Introduction In today's lesson, we are going to look at the many benefits to be gained by participating in a weight training program. When some individuals think of weight training, they think of people who have big muscles lifting heavy weights. This is not always the case. Depending on your personal goals, many different types of weight training programs may be set up. Lesson - Benefits of Strength Training Designing your own personal weight training program can be very difficult to do and traditionally is the responsibility of a professional or personal trainer to do so. Many, if not all gyms will have certified personal trainers that can get you started on your own program. Just explain to them your goals and aspirations, they will surely set you up from there; with nutritional guidelines, a weight routine, and knowledge of how to perform each exercise. OK, so what, you designed a weight training program for yourself. Now you may ask yourself what's the point? Why do I need a weight training program? Why do I need to work out? Well, let me introduce to you some of the benefits of weight training. Improves muscle tone and endurance - weight training can be used as a means to increase muscle's ability to sustain prolonged activity, this will increase muscle tone. Increased muscular strength - Weight training can be used to increase muscle strength. This is beneficial to everyday life as well as in sports. Builds stronger bones - Any exercise which puts stress on your bones will increase bone density, weight training bring one of the best activities for this. This can help delay the loss of bone mass that makes you vulnerable to injury. Injury Prevention - Besides weak bones, muscle weakness and imbalance as well as joint intabilty are common causes of injury. Weight training can help correct these problems
Page 2 of 6 Reduces Back Pain - Lower back pain is usually a result of weak back and/or abdominal muscles. Poor posture can contribute to back problems. Weight trianing can improve both strength and posture. Spot Training is possible - There is no such thing as spot reduction; losing fat in a specific area of choice. However, wieght training can isolate muscles or areas of the body one wishes to strengthen and tone. (You only strengthen what you use). Increases Metabolism - Muscle is a very active tissue that requires a lot of energy, therefore, when you increase muscle mass you increease the amount of energy (calories) that will be expended both at rest and while performing activity. The rate at which your body produces and expends energy (metabolic rate) is increased. Fat Control -People who increase muscle mass through weight training use more calories all day long, thus are less likely to accumulate fat. Positive Effects on Pregnancies - Pregnant women benefit from weight training through the maintenance of improved posture, increased strength makes for easier performance of daily activities, control of wright gain, and improved digestion. Pregnant women who exercise are also better prepared to deal with the feeling of stress, anxiety and depression. Prevention of Musculoskeletal problems - Some people are at higher risk for stress fractures. This risk can be lessened through weight training. Lowered Risk in Developing Breast Cancer - Studies have shown that women who exercise regularly have a reduced exposure to estrogens (female sex hormones that stimulate the appearance of secondary female sex characteristics). It has been shown that over-exposure to these hormones play a role in the development of breast cancer. Decreased Risk of Disordered Eating, Amenorrhea, and Osteoporosis - Amenorrhea (loss of menstrual cycle) is associated with very low body fat in women. A nutritious diet combined with exercise or proper weight training can prevent it. Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones in a humans body become so fragile that they have a great chance in breaking. Exercise that is weight-bearing in nature, benefits bone health by stimulating bone formation; strengthening muscles that move bones; and improving strength, coordination and balance, which help reduce risk of falls and bone injuries. Since weight training helps to improve body image, it decreases the risk of disordered eating since one is more likely to be satisified with their body. Positive Body Image - Strength training helps to increase muscle tone and makes one feel better mentally and emotionally. This leads to a positive body image.
Page 3 of 6 Improved Productivity - Increased strength means that less effort is required to go through the day's routine and one will have more energy therefore allowing them to be more productive. Information about Strength Training Men and women of all ages can increase their strength by more than 50 percent just two months after beginning a strength training program. Initial improvements may be due to improvements in technique and balance. Physical changes in the muscle start after about six weeks. This is called hypertrophy, which means an increased muscle size. Most people have difficulty putting large amounts of muscle on their body because of their body type. There's a good chance you won't get big muscles even though you'll get stronger and more defined. In lesson 2, you learned about the principle of overload. If you don't use enough weight or resistance in your strength training routine, little will happen with regard to increased muscle size or strength gains. Also, if you take a break for a couple of weeks from a strength training routine, the muscles will shrink...this is called atrophy. Use it or lose it! :-) Setting Up a Strength Training Program Definitions: Repetition - the number of times you perform a specific exercise in a row. Example: 10 reps (repetitions): means you will perform that exercise 10 times in a row. Set - the number of times you will perform those repetitions. Example: 2 Sets: means you perform the exercise twice in separate durations. (2 X 10) -- 2 sets at 10 repetitions. There is not a special formula that is used to determine the amount of weight you should lift. Rather, you need to work within a specific framework or number of reps until your muscles are tired. If you are a beginner, you should not attempt to find out what your repitition maximum is. (1-repetition max is your ability to lift the most amount of weight you can for a given lift). There is a high risk of injury using this method. Instead, it is better to lift too little weight than too much to determine your starting point. If you are doing more reps with a given weight than you would like to do, you can easily bring the number of reps down by increasing resistance. How many repetitions Everyone should work at an exercise until they fatigue. Fatigue is the point somewhere between 6 and 20 reps at which you can't do another
Page 4 of 6 repetition with good form. If you're just starting out, the number of reps to fatigue you should complete should fall between 15 and 20. As your strength improves, after four to six weeks you may want to aim for 12-15 reps. Eventually to maximize your strength and muscle size gains, drop down to 6 to 12 reps. You'll have to increase the weight you're lifting to drop down to this lower number of reps. Try not to compare yourself to others. When you can easily complete more than the number of repetitions that you are striving for using a given weight, it is time to increase the amount of weight you are lifting. As long as you are working at an intensity that is challenging to you, you will see significant gains in strength. How Many Sets Initially, one set of exercise will get you strong, and minimize the amount of time you have to spend lifting. After about three to six months, you can add more sets of exercises if you want to go to the next level in strength fitness. Number of Exercises At a minimum, choose 8 to 10 exercises that hit all of the major muscle groups in your body. This leads to equal development in all of your opposing muscles. For example, if you only do arm curls (biceps) and chest presses, you will wreck your posture and probably look quite silly. Workout Length The minimal commitment you need to make to enjoy the benefits of strength training is twice a week for 20 minutes per workout. This would allow time for 6 to 20 reps performed to fatigue, one to two sets of exercise for each major muscle group in the body (8 to 10 exercises). You should rest a day between strength workouts to allow your muscles to recover and avoid injury. This does not mean that you cannot exercise the next day, but just take a break from strength training. Exercise Order Perform exercises for big muscle groups first, followed by smaller ones. For example, complete an exercise for your chest and back before you exhaust your shoulder and arms. This makes sense because if the small muscles can't contribute to a movement, they become the weak link in an exercise using big muscles. However, if you are doing a full body workout with 8 to 10 exercises, the muscle group you start with is not important. You can begin with your lower body, followed by upper body exercise, and then switch to the abs or back. This allows the body part you just exercised to recover while you work another area. Lifting Technique Correct lifting technique should be the focus of your workouts. This
Page 5 of 6 allows your muscles to adapt progressively to the demands you're placing on them and lets you learn how to perform exercises correctly before you lift heavier weights. When you are performing an exercise, the key is to lift with control. Spend two to three seconds lifting a weight in a steady controlled motion followed by three to four seconds lowering the weight. Make sure that you complete each exercise that you choose to do using a full range of motion to avoid injuring your joints and muscles and maintain flexibility. Breathe Correctly Don't forget to breathe! Holding your breath can cause your blood pressure to rise higher than it should and put unnecessary stress on your heart. If you can, try to breathe out when you begin a strength exercise. Breathe in as you return the weight to resting position. Conclusion As you can see, many benefits are to be gained by regularly lifting weights. If you stick to a regular routine, you'll be amazed at how quickly you will notice results...suddenly a weight you once struggled with will seem easy to lift. Try to incorporate some weight lifting into your weekly PE routine and enjoy the benefits that go along with it! Assignment Your assignment is to design your own personal weight training program. Here's what you need to include: 1. A description of 10 different strength training exercises for different muscle groups in the body. Note: do not simply name the exercise but explain how it is performed. 2. Identify which muscle group each exercise addresses. Use the Internet to research what types of exercises are out there and what muscle groups each exercise focuses on. Example: Leg Extension -- this works the thigh (quadriceps), so you could use this exercise when working on the legs. 3. How many repetitions of each exercise will you do? Explain why you chose this number. 4. How many sets will you do of each exercise. Explain why you chose this number.
Page 6 of 6 5. What days of the week will you complete this routine? 6. What is your program designed to do? (Eg...based on the exercises that you chose, the number of reps and sets), what part of your functional fitness is your program designed to focus on? You may want to use these internet links to help you. There are many more out there. Web Sites: The Exercise & Physical Fitness Page http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/strength.html Weight Training Exercises http://www.nutristrategy.com/weighttrain4.htm Beginners Weight Training Program http://www.netfit.co.uk/beginners-weightweb.htm Total Marks = 20 Rocky View Virtual School - 2005