SH1623

Exercise

I. Steps in Stretching

Stretch your neck

 Incline your head forward, but do not roll your head from side to side. This is dangerous.
Instead, stretch your neck to the left, right, forward and back, but always return to the
center first.
 Tilt your head with ear toward shoulder, incline your head backward and roll your head
from left to right, then right to left in a 30-degree motion.
 Be sure that while your head is tilted back, you keep your jaw relaxed and even let your
mouth fall open just a bit.
Stretch your shoulder
 Put your arm on your chest.
 Grab your forearm with the opposite arm.
 Pull your arm until you feel your shoulder being stretched.
 Push the arm you are stretching the opposite way in order to contract the muscle if you
feel that your chest is stretching instead of your shoulder.
Stretch your triceps
 Reach up with your right arm.
 Bend your right elbow and put your forearm down behind your head and between your
shoulder blades.
 Reach up and grab your right elbow with your opposite arm.
 Pull your elbow toward your head.
Stretch your scapulae
 Extend your arms in front of you.
 Join both hand together and cross fingers.
 Push your arms further and try to push your scapulae in opposite directions.
 Hold your arm out.
 Slightly pull back your hand down with your opposite hand.
 Repeat with other hand.
Stretch your wrists
 Hold your arm out.
 Slightly pull back your hand down with your opposite hand.
 Repeat with other hand.
Stretch your quadriceps
 Stand up and pull one (1) leg behind you.
 Repeat with other leg.
Stretch your calves
 Put your arms against the wall.
 Bring one (1) leg in towards it while keeping your other leg straight.
 Repeat with other leg.

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Stretch your hamstrings

 Sit on the floor and put one (1) leg out.
 Reach for it and hold for a few seconds.
 Repeat with other leg, and then do it again with both legs.
Stretch your legs fully
 Lay flat on your back and extend your leg out.
 Grab the back of your thigh.
 Pull your legs towards your face.
 Don’t jerk your leg, it may cause an injury.
Do a butterfly stretch
 Sit on the floor.
 Press the soles of your feet together.
 Pull your feet the closest you can.
 Put your hands on your ankles to where your elbows are lined up with your knees.
 Put against your elbows trying to close your legs.
 Push your knees down.
Stretch your lower back
 Lay down.
 Bring one (1) leg onto your chest.
 Repeat with your other leg, and then do it again with both legs.
Stretch your jaw
 Incline your head back, neck your chin on your palm, and pull your jaw open.
 Say “Ah!”
 Grab your chin with your thumb, index, and middle fingers.
 Stretch it left to right.

II. Intensities of Exercise

Light Exercise

 The exerciser is able to walk while exercising. Going for a walk is an example of light
exercise.

Moderate Exercise

 The exerciser feels slightly out of breath during the session. Examples could be walking
briskly, cycling moderately, or walking up a hill.

Vigorous exercise

 The exerciser is panting during the activity. The exerciser feels his/her body is being
pushed much nearer its limit, compared to the other two (2) intensities. This could include
running, cycling fast, and heavy weight training.

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III. Categories of Exercise

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic Exercise has the aim of improving the body’s consumption of oxygen. The word
aerobic means with oxygen. Aerobic refers to our body’s use of oxygen in its metabolic
process (energy-generating process). Most aerobic exercises are done at moderate levels of
intensity for longer periods, compared to other categories of exercise. An aerobic exercise
session involves warming up, exercising for at least 20 minutes, and then cooling down.
Aerobic exercise involves mainly large muscle groups.

Aerobic exercise is generally performed at a moderate level of intensity over a long period.
Running for 20 minutes is an aerobic exercise, while sprinting 200 meters is not. Playing
badminton for 30 minutes is an aerobic activity if the movements of the players are fairly
continuous. Golf, on the other hand, is not seen as aerobic because the heart rate has not been
raised at a sustained level for long enough.

Benefits of aerobic exercise include:

 Strengthen the muscles that are involved in respiration – exercises that facilitate the flow
of air in and out the lungs.
 Strengthen and enlarges the heart muscle. This improves aerobic conditioning – pumping
of blood and the heart rate (lowers the pulse of a person when s/he is resting)
 Tones muscles throughout most of the body.
 Reduces blood pressure.
 Improves circulation.
 Raises the number of red blood cells, which in turn facilitates transportation of oxygen.
 The sleep quality of insomnia patients can improve with moderate exercise, a study
found.
 Improves mental health.
 A study found that exercise reduces migraine suffering.
 Reduces the risk of heart disease and cardiovascular problems.
 Helps improve survival rates of patients with cardiovascular diseases significantly, as this
study found.
 Stimulates bone growth (high impact aerobic exercise), reduces risks of osteoporosis.
 Increases stamina or endurance. Aerobic activity increases the body’s ability to store
energy molecules such as fats and carbohydrates within the muscle.
 Increases blood flow through muscles.
 Improves muscles’ ability to use fats during exercise, thus preserving the intramuscular
glycogen.
 Longer lifespan. People who exercise regularly tend to live longer than those who do not.

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Anaerobic Exercise

The aim of anaerobic exercise is to build the power, strength, and muscle. The muscles are
exercised at high intensity for short durations. A short duration usually means no more than
about two (2) minutes.

Anaerobic means without air. Anaerobic exercise improve our muscle strength and our ability
to move with quick bursts of speed. When thinking of anaerobic exercise, think of short and
fast or short and intensive. Anaerobic exercises include: weight lifting, sprinting, intensive
and fast skipping, interval training, isometrics, and any rapid burst of hard exercise.

Oxygen is not used for energy during anaerobic exercise. During this types of exercise, a by-
product-lactic acid is produced. Lactic acid contributes to muscle fatigue and must be used
up during recovery before that muscle can be subjected to another anaerobic session. During
the recovery period, oxygen is used to give the muscle a “refill”—to replenish the muscle’s
energy that was used up during the intensive exercise.

Overall, anaerobic exercise uses up fewer calories that aerobic exercise. The cardio vascular
benefits of aerobic exercises are greater than the cardiovascular benefits of anaerobic
exercise. However, anaerobic exercise is better at building strength and muscle mass, while
still benefitting the lungs. As you build more muscle you will burn more fats, even at rest.
Muscles burn more calories per unit volume than any other tissue in the body. A muscly
person burns more calories than a non-muscly person, even if while he/she is resting.

Anaerobic exercise offers the following benefits:

 The exerciser gets stronger.

 The exerciser experiences growth in muscle mass.
 Strengthen bones.
 Strengthen and protects the joints.
 Helps control bodyweight.
 The exerciser can withstand a greater buildup of lactic acid and other wastes substances,
and can eliminate them more rapidly.

Agility Exercise

Agility training aims to improve a person’s ability to speed up and slow down, change
directions while maintaining balance and control. In tennis, for example, agility training helps
the player maintain control over his/her court positioning through good recovery after each
shot. A crucial skill in tennis is to be able to position yourself in the court so that you can hit
the ball to the maximum effect. Agility does not only help the tennis player get o the ball
more effectively and set up for a better shot. It also gives him/her better balance in order to
hit the ball.

Agility training is practices extensively by people who practice certain sports where position,
coordination, balance, and the ability to suddenly change posture and speeds are essential.

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IV. Steps in Achieving Long Term Success in Exercise

 Remember why you started.

People start exercises for many reasons: weight loss, health, vanity, the doctor told them
to do so, and to recover from an illness. Keep remembering why you started and this will
help keep you motivated.
 Do everything at your own pace.
Humans tend to be competitive animals. This is great for the winner, and those who come
second or third. However, being competitive in the wrong way can kill motivation. If you
have to compete, compete with yourself. Compare your performance today with your
performance in two (2) weeks’ time. Check your weight, heart rate, blood pressure – then
take it again in about three (3) weeks and see the difference.
 You have to like it.
For long-term success, the activity has to be something you enjoy. There are so many
activities to choose from. Perhaps there is an activity you really enjoyed when you were
a child.
 Join a club with a friend.
If you join a fitness club or exercise with a friend, you may enjoy the sessions more. Some
people prefer not to have the stress of someone else around. This depends on you.
 Experts can be very useful.
A study found that exercise and behavioral intervention improves fitness and lowers
systolic blood pressure.
 Variation
Every week, change your exercise program. This is important for your motivation and
also best results. The body improves faster of you change your program now and again.
This does not mean you have to change walking/running to something else. It could mean
you have to changing your speed and distance, and pacing yourself in a different way,
perhaps altering your route.
 Be realistic about your goals.
Some people are motivated by goals, others find them stressful. If you need goals, make
sure they are realistic and work towards them.
 The longer you keep it up, the longer you will continue to do it.
Even if you find it a bit a chore at first, remember that after a few weeks it will really
become a habit.

References:
Cavill, N., Roberts, K., & Rutler, H. (2012). Standard Evaluation Framework for Physical Activity Interventions. Oxford: National
Obesity Observatory.
Hoeger, W. & Hoeger, S. (2014). Lifetime Physical Fitness and Wellness: A Personalized Program. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.
Hoeger, W. & Hoeger, S. (2013). Principles and Labs for Physical Fitness, Ninth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
Benefits of Stretching. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in depth/stretching/art-20047931?pg=1
How to Stretch. Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Stretch
Why is Exercise Important? Retrieved from http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise/questions-answers/why-is-exercise-
important.htm

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