This is designed to help you get the most out of your exercise program, to exercise wisely so you can enjoy it over the longrun! ELEMENTS OF EXERCISE To enjoy a safe and effective program, please follow these: Fundamental Components of an Exercise Program 1. Warm-up 2. Conditioning Exercise (body of your program) a. Mode (exercise choice; cardio, strength, etc) b. Frequency c. Duration d. Intensity 3. Cool Down 4. Stretch Following these guidelines with every bout of exercise will allow the body to gradually transition into the main portion of your program, prevent potential soreness, allow the body to take on increasing workloads without ‘overloading’. It will provide for greater flexibility and endurance, while maintaining safety and preventing some injury potentialities. Below is some valueable information as to WHY we want to add the warmup and cooldown phase into our routines! “Warm-up Graduated low-level aerobic exercise is essential for maximizing safety and economy of movement during the cardio-respiratory conditioning phase of an exercise session. The warm-up should gradually increase the heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, dilation of the blood vessels, elasticity of the active muscles, and the heat produced by the active muscle groups. " (YMCA Personal Training Instructor Manual c 2000, page 23) "Cool-down The Cool-down is an integral part of the exercise program. The purpose of the cold-down is to slowly decrease the heart rate and overall metabolism, both of which have been elevated during the conditioning phase. Low-level aerobic exercise, similar to that of the conditioning exercise is recommended. Walking, slow jogging, cycling with little or no resistance, and slow aquatic activity or swimming are good examples. Cool-down helps prevent the sudden pooling of blood in the veins and ensures adequate circulation to the skeletal muscles, heart and brain. Cool-down may aid in preventing delayed muscle stiffness and reduces any tendency toward post-exercise fainting and dizziness. For high cardiovascular risk participants, a gradual decrease in the intensity of exercise is crucial. Sudden cessation of exercise without cool-down may adversely affect cardiac function because a relatively high concentration of adrenaline remains in the blood fromn the conditioning exercise. Sudden exercise cessation also may adversely affect filling pressures of the heart, putting a weak heart at risk. The length of the cool-dwon phase is proportional to the intensity and length of the conditioning phase. A typical 30-40 min conditioning phase at 70% of maximum heart rate would warrant a 5-10 minute cool-down. The aerobic component of the cool-down phase should be followed by several minutes of stretching those muscle groups active in the conditioning phase." (YMCA Personal Training Instructor Manual c 2000, page 23) Enjoy, folks! Gale
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