Warming Up and Resistance Training: A Guide to Fitness

Posted on Oct 11, 2024 in Physical Education

Warming Up

Purpose

Joint exercises are performed before any physical activity to prepare the body and achieve the following:

  • Avoid injury
  • Increase heart rate
  • Increase respiratory rate
  • Increase muscle length for optimal performance
  • Increase body temperature

Types

  • General: Prepares the entire body.
  • Specific: Targets muscles used in the subsequent activity.

Means

Flexibility exercises, strength exercises, coordination exercises, and career-specific exercises can be used. A good warm-up incorporates a variety of exercises with increasing intensity.

Venous Blood and Resistance

Venous Blood

Venous blood contains no oxygen (it has already been delivered to the tissues). As blood passes through capillaries, it becomes deoxygenated.

Resistance

Resistance is the quality that allows us to sustain an effort for as long as possible. It impacts the circulatory, respiratory, muscular, endocrine, and excretory systems.

Circulatory System Effects

  • Greater capillarization
  • Heart hypertrophy (increased heart size in aerobic endurance, anaerobic exercise, and wall thickness)
  • Decreased heart rate
  • Strengthened myocardium

Aerobic Resistance

Aerobic resistance (with oxygen to cells) is the ability to endure physical activity at a certain intensity for as long as possible (from 3-4 minutes). It involves oxygen spending and debt-oxygen equilibrium.

  • Pulse rate less than 150 ppm
  • Fatigue as exhaustion of reserves (fat and carbohydrates) and decreased blood sugar

Anaerobic Resistance

Anaerobic resistance (without oxygen to cells) is the ability to maintain an internal effort as long as possible. It involves oxygen debt.

  • Higher energy expenditure
  • Fatigue when the body uses glucose reserves for lack of other reserves
  • Appearance of soreness due to lactic acid accumulation

Peak Resistance

Resistance is at its peak between 28 and 30 years of age. It declines after that.

Methods to Measure Aerobic Endurance

  • Cooper Test: Run for 12 minutes and measure the distance traveled.
  • Course-Navette Test: A buzzer indicates when the runner must be at either end of a 20m course. Speed increases each minute.
  • Burpee Test: Perform the following exercises as many times as possible: stand straight, squat, plank, push-up, squat, stand straight.

Methods to Measure Anaerobic Endurance

  • Ruffier Test: Take 3 pulse readings during a 1-minute squat exercise (P1 = rest, P2 = after effort, P3 = 1 min after effort). Calculate the Ruffier index: (P1 + P2 + P3 – 200) / 10. 0 = excellent, 1 to 7 = good, 8 to 13 = regular, 14 to 20 = poor, and above 20 = very poor.

Improving Resilience

  • Allow enough time for development as it improves the respiratory and circulatory systems.
  • Combine aerobic and anaerobic work.
  • Aerobic exercise alone increases the heart’s internal cavity, while anaerobic exercise alone increases the thickness of the heart walls at the expense of internal cavity volume.
  • Work resistance in order: aerobic and then anaerobic (for the reasons above).

Resistance Training Systems

1. Continuous Training

  • Run at an even pace for a prolonged period (30-45 minutes) at moderate intensity.
  • Maintain a pulse rate between 130 and 150 ppm.
  • Develops aerobic resistance.

2. Fartlek

  • Continuous running with frequent changes in pace.
  • Pulse rate varies between 130 and 230 ppm.
  • Develops aerobic and anaerobic resistance.

3. Interval Training

  • Relatively short-distance running at a high pace.
  • Intersperse periods of active rest (flexibility exercises, breathing).
  • Pulse rate never drops below 120 ppm.
  • Develops anaerobic resistance.

4. Circuit Training

  • Perform joint exercises one after another at maximum speed.
  • Include 8 to 12 exercises for different muscle groups.
  • Two types: time-based (maximum repetitions in 1 minute) and repetition-based (set number of repetitions).

Flexibility

Definition

Flexibility is the ability to achieve the maximum degree of extension in a movement. It decreases with age and women are generally more flexible than men.

Types

  1. Muscle Elasticity: The ability of a muscle to recover its original shape after being deformed.
  2. Joint Movement: The ability to move a joint. There are three types of joints:
    • Diarthrosis: Highly mobile joints.
    • Amphiarthrosis: Partially mobile joints.
    • Synarthrosis: Immobile joints.

Factors Affecting Flexibility

  • Heredity: Some individuals are naturally more flexible than others.
  • Sex: Women tend to be more flexible than men.
  • Temperature: A warm muscle is more flexible.
  • Muscle Volume: More muscle mass can reduce flexibility.
  • Adipose Tissue: Fat accumulations in the abdomen can restrict front and side bending in the trunk.

Measuring Flexibility

  1. Deep Flexion Test (Krauss-Weber Test): Stand with bare feet apart, join index fingers, and reach back as far as possible. An apparatus with a tape measure is often used. Avoid bouncing or imbalances.

Improving Flexibility

  • Sport specialization can improve flexibility.
  • Methods:
    • Active: Use scales and rebounds.
    • Passive: Stretch with the help of a partner. Stretching: 1. Easy stretch with moderate tension for 10-30 seconds. 2. Point of tension stretch for over 2 minutes, no need to hold your breath. Do not feel pain, as pain indicates damage.