Muscle Fitness: Basic Principles and Strength

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Chapter 11

• Muscle Fitness Basic Principles and Strength

2
Fitness Pyramid
Rest or inactivity
Exercises for Strength and Muscular Endurance
Exercises for Flexibility
Active Aerobics
Active Sports and Recreation
Lifestyle Physical Activity
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What is Strength?

• The amount of weight a muscle group can lift one
  time.

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What is Progressive Resistance Exercise?

• Exercises you gradually or progressively increase
  the amount of overload you apply to the muscles.

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Muscular Strength Continuum

• Reps-number of consecutive times you can do an
  exercise.
• Set-one group of repetitions.

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Muscle types

• Smooth-involuntary and make up the walls of
  internal organs such as blood vessels and
  digestive organs.
• Cardiac-heart muscle
• Skeletal-attached to bones and make movement
  possible

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Contractions

• Isotonic-muscle contraction that pulls on the
  bones and produces movement of body parts.
• Isometric-muscles contract and pull with equal
  force in opposite directions, so no movement can
  occur.

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Muscle Fibers

• Slow twitch contract at a slow rate and are
  usually red in color. Generate less force but are
  able resist fatigue.
• Fast-twitch-contract quickly and are white in
  color. They generate more force when they
  contract and important for strength activities.
• Intermediate-have characteristics of both slow
  and fast twitch fibers. You use them for
  activities involving both strength and
  cardiovascular fitness.

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Training Methods

• Weight Training
• Resistance training
• Circuit training
• Weight lifting
• Power lifting
• Body building

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Assessing Muscular Fitness

• One repetition maximum-amount of weight that can
  be lifted or resistance that can be overcome in
  one repetition.
• Calisthenics-self-assessing by using exercises
  such as push-ups or curl-ups. They are exercises
  that use your body weight as resistance.

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Absolute vs. Relative Strength

• Absolute-measured by how much weight or
  resistance you can overcome regardless of your
  body size.
• Relative-strength adjusted for you body size.
  The most common method for determining relative
  strength is to divide your weight into your
  absolute strength score to get a strength per
  ound of body weight score.

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Myths and Misconceptions

• No pain, no gain
• Body Dysmorphia
• Muscle Fitness for
• Females
• Muscle-Bound

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Fitness Principles

• Overload
• Progression
• Specificity
• Principle of Rest and Recovery

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Fitness Target Zones for Strength

• See page 188 for guidelines for developing
  muscular fitness for your age group.

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Resistance Training Guidelines

• Use the three S method.
• Exercise through a full range of motion.
• Always use spotters when working with free
  weights.
• Start with a moderate program.
• Do not hold your breath when you lift.
• Avoid overhead lifts with free weights.
• Avoid positions that cause the lower back to arch
  or the wrists to bend backward.
• Never use weights carelessly.
• Never compete when you do resistance training.

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Resistance Machines vs. Free Weights