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Because you’re a bodybuilder, does it mean that you’re
fit? Maybe. Fitness is more than exercise. It’s a way
of life.
You’ve seen guys in your gym whose development is uneven
who may have one or two bodyparts that lag behind the rest.
Well, unless you make a total commitment to the Weider Bodybuilding
Lifestyle — unless it means more to you than just a
couple of hours in the gym, followed by a protein shake —
you may find yourself in the unhappy position of lagging behind
in one or more aspects of fitness.
All the elements of fitness can he achieved through exercise
and proper nutrition. When we have them all, we think of our
physical state as holistic fitness. Fitness is more than a
physical phenomenon, however. When you are fit, you’re
more comfortable with yourself, more clear of mind, less prone
to anger, anxiety, depression and despair. Fitness is your
best disease preventive. Obesity, stress and depression are
all linked to various diseases. Fitness maintains the integrity
of the immune system. Research in Japan has shown that exercise
can even make you far more resistant to cancer.
If you lack one or more of the necessary elements, you cannot
call yourself fit. We think of all athletes as being fit,
but usually they are not in the true sense of the word. Distance
runners, strong on cardiovascular endurance, have relatively
weak upper-body musculature. They also lack flexibility. Weightlifters
possess bruising strength but lack endurance. Football players
are often overweight.
CARDIOVASCULAR ENDURANCE
Cardiovascular endurance is the most important element of
fitness. It is the ability of the heart, blood vessels and
blood to carry oxygen and nutrients to the cells and to carry
away waste products. Having a fit cardiovascular system lowers
the risk of heart disease. It is the base on which all other
elements of fitness rely.
The muscles, like any motor, combine fuel and oxygen to produce
energy; naturally some waste products result. When a muscle
is exercised, it takes more oxygen from the red cells in the
bloodstream. The blood vessels surrounding the muscle tissue
dilate to allow the passage of more blood. Both the heart
and the lungs step up their output to accommodate the muscle
cells’ need for more blood and oxygen.
Training increases the output of your cardiovascular system
just as it increases the strength and power of your muscles.
Even though you are young and apparently healthy, your cardiovascular
system can be out of shape if you don’t exercise it
routinely. If you regularly engage in endurance sports like
running, cycling, swimming or cross-country skiing, you will
likely have an acceptable level of cardiovascular fitness.
If, on the other hand, a flight of stairs winds you, you are
in need of aerobic training.
If you are under 35 with no record of cardiovascular disease,
it’s probably safe for you to start an exercise program
without a medical examination. In any case, as a beginner
you must start slow and easy, and progress according to intelligent
training procedure.
Aerobic exercises such as swimming and running build a bigger
and stronger heart, the muscle that pumps the oxygen-laden
blood through the body. Muscles can function anaerobically
(without oxygen) for a couple of minutes on energy sources
within the muscle cell itself. Without that capability your
heartbeat and breathing would step up with every movement,
no matter how slight.
When involved in prolonged, vigorous effort, the muscles require
delivery of oxygen. Aerobic training builds the body’s
ability to transport ever larger amounts of oxygen to the
system. Aerobic exercise performed continuously for 20 minutes
or longer creates a “training effect,” a level
of exertion at which your heart functions optimally. Achieved
at least three times a week, this effect will maximally build
the cardiovascular system in the same way a weight-training
program will build the muscles.
You slow down with age, so in order to determine the heart
rate at which you will achieve a training effect, subtract
your age from 220 and multiply the remainder by 80%. For example,
if your age is 40: (220 - 40 x .80 = 144, the heart rate that
you should work up to).
The beginner should start at the lower end of the zone and
gradually work up, regardless of age. The training effect
can also be achieved with less vigorous exercises like walking,
hiking and excursion cycling. Adequate benefits can be achieved
when any of these exercises are engaged in three times a week.
You don’t have to stick with one exercise. You can prevent
boredom by engaging in any or all of them at the recommended
frequency and pace. With the more vigorous exercises like
running or climbing the best pace is one at which you can
breathe easily enough to talk.
While you’re building your cardiovascular fitness, don’t
neglect these other components of total fitness:
STRENGTH
The level at which muscle can exert the greatest force is
called strength. It’s the ability to perform a single
movement through a range of motion against maximum resistance.
It’s the powerlifter setting a world-record bench press.
It’s the baseball player hitting a home run.
There are many ways to build strength. The best and most popular
is the progressive resistance method of weight training. As
the muscle grows stronger, resistance is increased. Maximum
strength and size can be achieved more rapidly doing few repetitions
with heavier weights. In general, 5-6 repetitions on an exercise
against maximal resistance, four sets at least three minutes
apart, with 48-72 hours of recuperation between bouts with
the same exercise, should produce maximum strength for its
range of motion.
ENDURANCE
Power is another word for muscular endurance. It is the time
rate at which work is done by muscle. It is the ability of
a muscle to repeat a movement as many times and with as great
a force as possible for more than a couple of minutes.
Muscle strength and endurance are closely interrelated. The
bicyclist needs power for the thousand-meter race. The linebacker
needs strength to block an opponent and power to catch the
man with the ball heading for the end zone. The very strong
athlete will necessarily also have endurance. The great reserve
of strength allows him to repeat the effort many times before
his strength is exhausted.
Bodybuilders have a high degree of muscle endurance/power.
The key is short-term repetition, done at sub-maximum levels
of strength with increasing resistance over extended periods
of time.
FLEXIBILITY
The ability to use muscles and joints through their full range
of movement is called flexibility. Flexibility enhances movement
and reduces the chance of muscle and joint injury.
No single exercise or sport can make you wholly flexible.
In order to become flexible, you have to follow a regular
routine of slow, gentle stretching. It is a form of exercise
and must be practiced separately, preceded by a brief warm-up
from another activity such as jogging or cycling, and not
as a warm-up for other activities.
Weightlifters are more flexible than runners, and bodybuilders
are more flexible than either of them. A regular bodybuilding
program consists of exercises for all parts of the body performed
through full ranges of motion.
WEIGHT CONTROL
Each pound of bodyfat stores 3,500 calories of energy, more
than enough to run a marathon. The hazards of obesity are
many, yet a certain amount of fat is vital to the body. Fat
pads the internal organs against shock, provides energy for
extended aerobic activity, insulates against the cold, and
helps absorb vitamins that are not water soluble.
Excess fat, however, offers no benefits to the health. Normal
bodyfat accounts for 15% of body composition in men and 19%
in women. More than half the bodyfat is stored just beneath
the skin. Since muscles weigh more than fat, normal weight
charts are poor indicators for physically active people, especially
for muscle-building bodybuilders.
A simple pinch-test can determine if you are too fat. Raise
one arm in a relaxed biceps pose and pinch the skin under
the triceps. If the skin-fold is more than one-half inch thick,
you are clinically overweight.
A reduced daily calorie intake and a regular program of exerise
is the surest way to normalize and stabilize your weight.
Fitness, then, is more than what you do in the gym. It’s
your nutrition, it’s the avoidance of voluntary poisons
(we’re talking cigarettes, drugs and alcohol here, folks),
it’s getting enough rest and enough exercise so you
can achieve fitness in all its elements. In short, it’s
a lifestyle, and it’s a 24-hour-a-day affair. If you’re
not already living it, you’re taking chances with your
health and strength.
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