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Lead Stories: Wednesday, November 19, 2008

What is interval training?

Posted December 29th, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Jamal Walker

Section: Running & Training, Training Tips, Health & Fitness, Exercise

To become stronger and faster, athletes use a technique called interval training, in which they exercise very intensely, rest and then alternate intense bursts of exercise and rest until their muscles start to feel heavy. Intervals are a fixed number of repeats of a fixed distance at a fixed pace with a fixed recovery time.

There are two types of intervals: long and short. A short interval takes less than 30 seconds and does not build up significant amounts of lactic acid in the bloodstream, so an athlete can do lots of repeat short intervals in a single workout.
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Exercise for weight loss

Posted November 5th, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: Running & Training, Health & Fitness, Exercise, Weight Loss

When people start an exercise program, some lose a lot of weight, while others lose nothing.

An effective exercise program for weight loss should be 1) continuous, 2) use all of your major muscle groups, 3) include one intense workout a week for each muscle group, and 4) be done on land, rather than in the water.

Stop-and-start exercises, such as lifting weights, do not require that you use your muscles continuously enough to burn a lot of calories. Those that use just one muscle group, such as doing situps or pushups, won’t help you to lose a lot of weight because the stressed muscle groups tire quickly so you can’t exercise very long. Read the rest of this entry »

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Exercise Prolongs Life

Posted October 21st, 2006 at 11:30 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise

Dr. Todd Manini of the National Institute on Aging reports that:

“Higher levels of activity energy expenditure and physical activity were associated with a lower risk of death. ”

“Compared with the third of individuals with the lowest activity energy expenditure, those in the highest third had a 69 percent lower risk of death.” (JAMA, June 2006).

This study was far more dependable than previous studies because, instead of using a questionnaire, researchers measured how active a person was by measuring the metabolic end products of activity. They used a doubly-labeled water method that directly measures carbon dioxide production over an extended period, the most accurate estimate of energy expenditure.

If you are inactive, you should check with a cardiologist who will do a stress test. If you pass, you should start an exercise program. If you fail, you should work with your doctor to correct the problem and then start an exercise program. Read the rest of this entry »

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