Personal Trainer Newsletters
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| Newsletter - July 2002 by Mandy Sosnowski In this issue: * Stretching * Featured HealthMax Pro Exercise - Plie* * Exercise Myths * Featured Recipe ***Stretching*** As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, I wanted to give some recommendations on stretching. Any well- rounded fitness program has three main components. Physical activity, like treadmill walking or cycling, is the first component. Strength training is the second component. Stretching is the third component. All three are very important and are listed in no particular order. As we age and become increasingly inactive, we not only lose muscle mass, but we also lose flexibility. Our muscles, tendons, and ligaments become less stretchy, and this decreased flexibility can lead to pain and stiffness, as mentioned last month in regard to back pain, and an increased incidence of injuries. Tight muscles pulling on other joints or muscles cause increased pain and stiffness. Low back pain is one example. Another example is knee pain experienced by some women. Women with tight inner thigh muscles may experience pain due to tension being caused by the inner thigh muscles twisting the femur bone towards your midline. The tibia stays straight and the femur is twisted inward and this causes pain and tension in the knee. Stretching the inner thigh muscles and loosening the tension that is causing the twist can alleviate this pain. Inflexibility can also increase your risk for injuries. Suppose you slip on some ice on your front stoop. You reach for the railing to catch yourself, and as you do that your arm is pulled back behind you as you continue to slide forward. The more flexible that shoulder is, the less likely you will be to tear something during that fall. The arm can be stretched farther behind you before an injury occurs. Okay… so you want to add stretching to your routine. The best time to stretch is when your muscles are warm and more pliable from being used. Think of gum or silly putty. When they are cold, if you try to stretch them they will break into two pieces. When they are nice and warm, you can stretch them MUCH farther without any breaking. Keeping this in mind, it is probably not a good idea to stretch right when you get out of bed. Research has shown that MORE injuries occur when stretching is performed before an activity then if no stretching is performed. If you are going to be doing something drastic to your muscles like sprinting or power lifting it is important to warm up and stretch prior to completing your activity, but if you are going for a walk or a nice jog, save the stretching for after. It is important to stretch all your major muscle groups. These are the muscles that are exercised if you do all of the “Basic Exercises.” But, stretching can be performed after any activity that uses most of your body. If you have walked and it isn’t your scheduled day to strength train, you should stretch after your walk. Always stretch at the very end of your workout. With this is mind, you should be stretching three to five days per week, but stretching can be performed every day. Each stretch should be held for 15 to 30 seconds without bouncing. Flexibility is the first place you will see results when you start your exercise program. Stretching is immediate gratification, unlike strength training which needs recovery time. It is also the first place you will feel the effects of discontinuing your workouts. If you haven’t already done it, consider adding stretching to your routine. It doesn’t take long and you will feel great because of it! ***Featured HealthMax Pro Exercise*** Plie’* The muscles being used in this exercise are the adductors (inner thigh), hamstrings (back of upper leg), quads (front of upper leg), and gluts (butt). This is a great compound exercise. A compound exercise is an exercise that works more than one muscle group at a time. You are hitting almost your entire leg with this one exercise. When the plie’ is combined with other leg exercises, you will get a great lower body workout. To do this exercise you need to remove the bench from the machine, adjust the bottom cylinder to 1, and adjust the top cylinder to the desired intensity level. Begin the exercise standing facing the HEALTHMAX PRO pad. Your hands should be gripping the outer handles on the Y bar, at shoulder level, with your palms facing forward. Your feet should be spread very wide with your toes pointing out and your torso should be straight up. Lower your butt towards the ground until it nears to level of your knees, pulling the handles down with you, as your hands stay at shoulder level, then return to the starting position. The concentric part, or more difficult part of this exercise is on the way up. So you should have the resistance set so that you feel it when you are bring the handle up. The resistance is making it even harder for you to come back to the starting position. If you were doing this exercise without the machine, gravity and your body weight would be the resistance. It is important not to let your knee bend to the point where your knee is past your foot. In other words, you don’t want your knee bending past 90 degrees. You can increase your risk for knee injury if you allow your knee to be put in that position. If it is bending past that point, spread you legs out farther. It is also important to keep your torso upright. Dropping your chest forward can put your back at increased risk for injury. You’ll notice that this exercise has an “*”. This means it is an advanced exercise and should not be performed by beginners. Beginners, you can just look forward to this exercise in the future. ***Top Ten Exercise Myths*** 5th Myth: Losing pounds on the scale is the most important thing. The most important thing is losing body fat. The loss of body fat may cause a reduction in pounds on the scale, but muscle weighs more than fat. If you are losing fat and gaining muscle, you might see an increase on the scale. The best way to tell if you are getting leaner is if your clothes are fitting better. If you are gaining pounds on the scale and your clothes are fitting tighter then you are most likely gaining fat. If you are gaining pounds on the scale or staying the same, and your clothes are fitting better, then you are mostly likely losing fat and gaining muscle ***Featured Recipe*** Vegetable Dip (This recipe can be made fatty or not fatty, it is up to you. Also be aware that Bon Appetite is basically MSG, if you know anyone who is allergic.) 1 8 ounce cream cheese OR 8 ounce sour cream ¼ cup mayonnaise 3 or 4 green onions and tops (chopped) 2 teaspoons dill weed 2 teaspoons parsley flakes 2 teaspoons Bon Appetite OR Beau Monde Cream mayo and cream cheese or sour cream together. Add the rest of the ingredients. Serve with cut up raw veggies. It tastes the best if it is made 24 hours ahead of time. |
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