Fitness relates to the biological evolution of mankind to adapt to his environment for survival purposes. Exercise is a form of stress which initates these adaptive mechanisms. Exercise can be tailored to hit specific fitness components or energy systems, but over specialization leaves one vulnerable to injury, a compromised autoimmune system and other disadvantages.
The human body has 3 available Energy Systems:
The body converts fat, protein, and carbs to glucose (a simple sugar). Glucose is the used to create the body's energy currency, Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP powers all our cells.
Different muscle fibre types access differing energy systems:
Phosphocreatine Energy System
A limited supply of pre-prepared compounds, stored in muscles and the liver ( we only have approx. 10 sec supply at any point). Manufacturers tout creatine supplmentation, which theoretically could allow an elite athlete to train at a greater intensity level. Unfortunately it is doubtful whether many of these synthetically produced powders can be absorbed, sotred or used by the body. Regardless any potential benefit would only be noticed by elite athletes.
Aerobic Energy System
Powered by glucose, it's the slowest, but ultra efficient, converting all glucose to ATP without the lactic acid build-up (long term access, depends on fuel stock and endurance conditioning of individual).
Anaerobic Energy System
Also powered by glucose, but without the need for oxygen, it is faster but less efficient than the aerobic system. At intense levels, It can only be sustained by muscles groups for 60-90 seconds. It culminates in a "burning sensation" within the muscles, as lactic acid builds up. This point of failure is termed the **"lactic threshold" of an individual.
A body can through training be conditioned to rapidly remove this metabolic waste build-up, provided the intensity drops slightly. This is most efficiently accomplished through short but occassional intense interval training sessions.
**The scientific explanation ...
The lactic threshhold is however a misnomer, in that it is now accepted that it is an ionic disturbance, rather than a lactic build-up, which induces muscle failure during intensive activity. Ionic pumps (Na+ ions polarize the sacrolemma of nerves, CL- ions aid repolarisation along the sarcolemma, Ca+ pumps affect muscle contraction in sarcoplasmic reticulum) maintain the homeostasis of cellular ionic concentrations. When these pumps malfunction, this causes cellular membrane depolarization (i.e. inexcitability), and so muscle weakness.
motor skills (forms of co-ordination orchestrated in the brain - agility, balance & presision movementsl)
muscle strength (from training the nervous sytem to recruit muscle fibres)
cardio vascular (shifting of gases and fluids around the body)
power (the ability to apply the force rapidly - enhanced by plyometric training)
speed
muscle size (hypertrophy)
muscle endurance
Changes
Fortunately, no matter what our current state or genetic heritage, we are able to improve our energy systems and physcial conditioning in all these areas, by working with the bodies natural ability to adapt to the stressors placed upon it. In a addition an understanding of the new science of epigenetic can also be applied to suppress undesirable, or express more desirable genetic traits.
On a practical level what this means we can make dramatic changes:
Improved nutritional habits result in much higher and constant energy levels. We also develop a more aesthetic appealing body shape through altering body fat & muscle mass ratios. Biologically this makes us more attractive to others, more importantly our mental attitude and hormone linked mood patterns improve.
Through corrective myofascial techniques and training in movement patterns, we can remodel the collagen in our fascia. The fascia is the sling which holds our body together. It envelopes the organs, muscle and bone. A great analogy would be to compare it to cling-wrap, linking everything in the body, with the muscles which are attached to it altering the tension across our bodies. The bones sitting in the fascia react to the tension by altering their position. Returning the fascia to it's natural positioning allow for fluid, energy efficient movement and a graceful posture.
We can dramatically influence our physical performance levels through improved neural programming (muscle recruitment and co-ordination). Simply put, by teaching the nervous system to communicate with all our muscle fibres, we are able to blend infinitely complex movement patterns with effortless accuracy, and at amazing speeds.
Thoughtful movement repetition results in superior muscle conditioning. By purposefully training to cause targeted adaptation in parts of our bodies tissues we can become stronger, faster, more powerful and draw on greater levels of stamina
Through the application of a force, we can increases bone density, enabling our frame to cope with greater compression loads..
This is an old and boring topic to be frank. But It needs to be addressed. Yes, we are hit with contradictory information from all angles on a daily basis. It is easy for an uncontested assumption to land in our heads and influence our decisions. But it needs to be made clear that women cannot ordinarily pack on muscle like male or female bodybuilders (people who dedicate their lives to accomplish this, some with the aid of purchased hormones). Women simply DO NOT have the hormone profiles to naturally accomplish these levels of muscular development.
You can only look better and improve your general health by training movement patterns against resistance. Apart from this fact, gym based CV training and marathon running are not the most effective,or most natural methods of loosing weight and shaping a physique (which sadly most people nowadays focus on).
I relay this information once more, knowing this will inexplicably still be doubted. So as reinforcement of this very simple fact ...
Should Women Train with Weights?
Ageing
The generation of sex hormones at the age of puberty
allows the average male's skeleton to be fully developed by the age of 25 years. In females
the figure is 18 years. On a cellular level however, there is a lifelong
replenishment program under way, on the various cell types within us. In fact we now know that every cell in your body is replaced at least once within a 12 month period.
This is another reason why epigenetic research is so useful. These cells are being replaced according to genetic code found in our DNA, however the body only reads and expresses code which the body has labeled "on". We can thus turn on and off genetic code by altering the chemical environment surrounding our cells (and in theory through forms of electromagnetic radiation). What this all means is that your diet, the patterns of thought we indulge in, as well as the types of stress you place your body under, affect what genetic code is expressed when these cells are renewed. Some of these changes even become inherited by our future offspring.
Not all
of these maintenance processes are greatly reduced over time. The evidence appears to show that we are still able to train at great intensity in later life but that recovery time between the training reduces. The phrase
"you're only as young as you feel" is not far off the mark.
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