You should realize that there are several
types of exercise and that each fills a individual need. It's also important to
make out that while we all share the same minimum daily requirement for
exercise; different "doses" of physical activity may best suit
different individuals, and then should know which types of exercise is the most
appropriate for you. Exercise physiologists classify exercise based on how your
muscle fibers are put to work and how your heart and movement respond to that
work. But physiology won't help you find your way through the maze of exercise
programs that may point you to a gym, a track, or a yoga class. To get where
you belong, consider five distinct types of exercise in more practical terms.
Strength training (also known as resistance
exercise) builds muscle mass and power and increases bone calcium content and
strength. Strength training uses free weights, resistance machines,
calisthenics, or rubber tubes and metal springs to improve muscles and bones.
Flexibility training is an important
complement to resistance training. As muscles grow stronger, they get staffer,
tighter, and shorter. Age takes some of the spring from elastic tissue, making
muscles, tendons, and ligaments stiff and tight. Stretching will help; it
improves flexibility, thus reducing the risk of injury and improving
performance and function during exercise and daily life.
Exercises for balance are often overlooked.
Indeed, smooth and graceful young athletes have no need for activities devoted
to building balance and improving coordination. But check in with them again in
a few years. Age takes a toll on balance, but special exercises can help. Good
balance and coordination will help you glide through exercise and sports
participation and will substantially reduce your risk of falling.
Speed training doesn't have a chapter in
this book. It's an important tool for competitive athletes who need to attain
maximum acceleration and speed, but it can do more harm than good when it comes
to health. Unless you are training for top-level competition, there is no
reason for you to push your body to its oxygen-deprived anaerobic maximum.
Still, we can learn an important lesson from the men and women who coach top
athletes. They use a technique called interval training, whereby the athlete
alternates periods of maximum effort (sprinting, for example) with periods of
modest intensity (jogging or walking, for example). If you're like most of us,
there is no need for you to sprint—but you can build your endurance by varying
the intensity of your exercise, jacking it up for a time, and then throttling
back to recover before repeating the cycle. You'll also benefit from varying
you activities and by alternating longer or harder sessions with shorter or
easier ones.
You need resistance training for your muscles
and bones, flexibility training for your muscles and joints, and balance
exercises for your coordination and equilibrium. But how about your heart and
circulation, your metabolism, and your muscular endurance? To improve these
vital functions, you need dynamic or endurance exercise. Until now, that's
meant aerobic training. The doctrine of aerobics calls for you to put your
large muscle groups to work continuously in a rhythmic, repetitive fashion for
prolonged periods of time. The goal of these types of exercise is to push your
heart toward its maximum without actually putting your pedal all the way to the
floor. In practice, that means raising your heart rate to 70 to 85 percent of
maximum and holding it there for twenty to sixty minutes. Long-distance
running, swimming, and biking are prime examples of aerobic exercise, so aerobic
training is the best way to improve cardiopulmonary fitness, and it's an
excellent way to promote health. On a personal note, it's what helped me
overcome a heritage of cardiovascular disease and premature death some thirty
years ago, and it's been a boon to thousands of people who run for their lives.
Without disputing the merits of aerobics, we should consider an alternative
approach. These types of exercise are not as good at improving the
cardiovascular fitness that athletes prize so highly, but it's a great way to
improve health.
