Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
Any type of activity that places unaccustomed loads on muscle may lead to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). This type of soreness is different from acute soreness, which is pain that develops during the actual activity. Delayed soreness typically begins to develop 12-24 hours after the exercise has been performed and may produce the greatest pain between 24-72 hours after the exercise has been performed.
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Selecting and Effectively Using Balance Training for Older Adults
Balance is key to activities of daily living, performance, fall prevention and independence. Balance can be affected by muscular strength and endurance, as well as proprioception, inner ear function and eye sight. It can be maintained and even improved as we age through practicing balance-specific training exercises. Research has shown that using specific tools in a safe environment can be particularly effective in improving your balance and enhancing your postural stability. Research has also shown that this type of training helps to reduce back, knee and ankle injuries.
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Selecting and Effectively Using Clothing for Inclement Weather
Just because it’s cold and/or storming outside doesn’t mean you can’t be comfortable while exercising. Just choose clothing that creates your own little microclimate. Layering your clothing can allow you to retain just the right amount of heat and provide just the right amount of ventilation. Take the time to add or remove layers as needed, and you’ll stay warm and dry while getting fit at the same time.
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Selecting and Effectively Using an Elliptical Trainer or Stair Climber
Elliptical trainers and stair climbers offer many similar features for individuals considering a fitness machine for their home. Both machines provide the ability to exercise and target the thigh and gluteus muscles. Quality machines of both types provide an excellent alternative workout to running without the high impact on joints and muscles.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Yoga Program
Yoga provides a number of well-documented physical, mental and emotional benefits, including reduced blood pressure, enhanced feelings of relaxation, stress reduction, improved digestion, better posture, increased strength and flexibility and improved balance. Yoga also has been shown to benefit individuals with chronic diseases and disabilities through improved body awareness and orientation, the development of focus and concentration, the encouragement of learning and creativity, and increased awareness of our connectedness to others.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Walking Program
Walking is one of the simplest and least expensive options to increase your physical activity level and improve your overall health. It is a weight-bearing exercise that helps maintain bone density and is easy on joints. Walking at a brisk pace is considered moderate-intensity physical activity, and doing this most days of the week for 30 minutes or more enables you to meet the criteria for physical activity for health benefits recommended by ACSM and the American Heart Association.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Home Treadmill
Treadmills are a popular choice for those who want to engage in physical activity at home. Treadmills may be powered manually or electronically, and you should be sure to try out several treadmills before you buy one. Doing so will allow you to find the treadmill that meets your specific needs.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Stationary Bicycle
Stationary bicycles are a safe and effective means of exercise. They provide low-impact cardiovascular exercise, are generally quiet in operation, and are efficient with their use of space.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Stability Ball
Stability balls provide an inexpensive, fun way to improve core stability, muscular strength, muscular endurance, balance, flexibility and functional fitness. Stability balls were developed in Italy during the 1960s and were first used in rehabilitative therapy by Dr. Susanne Klein-Vogelbach in Switzerland. Stability balls (also known as Swiss balls or physioballs) can help anyone improve his or her fitness, allow a variety of exercises with or without external resistance and can be used to overload the muscles. Stability balls also work the core muscles (abdominals, back muscles, hip flexors and extensors). Because the ball itself is unstable, these muscles are actively engaged throughout each exercise.
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Sprains, Strains and Tears
A sprain is an injury to a ligament, while a strain is an injury to a muscle or tendon. Both can result in significant lost time from sports.
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Selecting and Effectively Using Sports Drinks, Carbohydrate Gels and Energy Bars
Depending upon the length of your workout or competition, performance and endurance are primarily limited by loss of body fluids, drop in blood sugar levels, and depletion of muscle carbohydrate stores. All three can hinder performance. Sports drinks, carbohydrate gels and energy bars can help restore your body’s fluids and carbohydrate levels.
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Selecting and Effectively Using Running Shoes
Running shoes should be selected after careful consideration. With so many brands and styles of shoes on the market today, it is important to find the best fit for your feet and your needs.
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Selecting and Effectively Using Rubber Band Resistance Exercise
Originally used to train older adults in nursing homes, flexible resistance bands now provide exercise options for exercisers and athletes. The more you know about resistance bands, rubberized cords and the machines that use them, the better you’ll be able to choose the method that’s right for you.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Rowing Machine
Rowing is an efficient and effective low-impact exercise that utilizes the arms, abdomen, back and legs to provide a total-body workout. This activity offers the opportunity for a wide range of training from fat burning and aerobic conditioning to high-intensity anaerobic and interval VO2max training. The rowing stroke is a smooth, continuous movement. If you have a history of low back pain, special attention must be given to developing proper rowing technique to prevent injury.
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Return to Play -- A Coach's Guide
Injuries are a common occurrence for those who exercise. Whether it is tendinitis or an acute traumatic injury, many injuries require restriction of and/or change in your exercise program. The amount of time away from exercise varies according to the type of injury, severity of injury, body part involved and other situational factors. Depending on the type and severity of the injury, you may experience pain, swelling, stiffness, weakness or decreased range of motion.
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Pre-Participation Physical Examinations
The pre-participation physical examination (PPE) is an important step toward safe participation in organized sports. The purpose of the PPE is not to disqualify or exclude an athlete from competition, but rather to help maintain the health and safety of the athlete in training and competition.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Personal Trainer
A qualified personal trainer can help you safely start and maintain an effective exercise program. A personal trainer will understand your fitness goals and help you achieve them. Trainers can be a great source of motivation and encouragement, as well as a resource for the latest objective health and fitness information. A trainer can also help you fit exercise into your schedule and teach you how to make the most out of your time in the gym.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Pedometer
The pedometer is a device about the size of a small cellphone that typically attaches to the belt or waistband and is designed to count walking or running steps. Some new pedometers are also capable of counting steps while placed in a shirt pocket or in a bag, as long as it’s held snug to the body.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Medicine Ball
Medicine balls provide an effective means of improving muscular power, endurance and functional fitness. Anyone can use medicine balls to help improve their fitness. Medicine balls are used in a variety of settings – in health clubs to accommodate the health and fitness goals of novice exercisers and by advanced athletes to achieve sports-specific conditioning goals.
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Exercising Your Way to Lower Blood Pressure
Hypertension, defined as a chronically elevated blood pressure greater than 140/90 mmHg, affects nearly 75 million Americans. If left untreated, hypertension can dramatically increase your risk for heart attacks, strokes and peripheral arterial disease. Exercise not only improves the workings of the cardiovascular system, but can lower blood pressure as well. The key to maximizing the benefits of exercise is to follow a well-designed program that you can stick to over the long-term.
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Selecting and Effectively Using Hydration for Fitness
Water is the most essential component of the human body as it provides an important role in the function of cells. Important functions of water include transportation of nutrients, elimination of waste products, regulation and maintenance of body temperature through sweating, maintenance of blood circulation and pressure, lubrication of joints and body tissues, and facilitation of digestion. More than half of the human body is composed of water, and it is impossible to sustain life without it.
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Selecting and Effectively Using Home Weight Machines
There are many well-documented health and fitness benefits associated with building and maintaining muscle mass. Finding a convenient, affordable fitness facility can present barriers that may prevent a person from participating in weightlifting exercises. Some people prefer to set up a home gym, and this brochure will explain what to look for in home weight machines.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Heart Rate Monitor
Heart rate can be used to monitor how hard you are working during an activity (i.e. exercise intensity) and to track changes in fitness level. The heart rate monitor (HRM) provides a convenient method for measuring and recording heart rate during exercise.
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Selecting and Effectively Using Free Weights
Using free weights as part of an exercise program can be a safe and effective means of improving strength and fitness for all ages and fitness levels. Free weights provide a stimulus for muscle/fitness development, which can improve your health status, increase muscle size, enhance muscle strength, improve power and endurance, and increase bone strength. Increased muscle strength can especially have a positive impact on quality of life for older adults.
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Exercise-Induced Asthma
Many people confuse being out of shape with having exercise-induced asthma (EIA). Because the symptoms of EIA are similar to poor fitness (shortness of breath and a tight feeling in the chest), it can be difficult to tell the difference between them. The symptoms of EIA may deter people from exercise; however, it’s a controllable medical issue.
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Selecting and Effectively Using a Health/Fitness Facility
The health/fitness facility should provide a variety of equipment and programs to meet your personal fitness goals and interests. First, be sure to establish your exercise/fitness goals before talking to personnel to see if they provide the programs and equipment you seek.
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The Female Athlete Triad
The Female Athlete Triad is a health concern for active women and girls who are driven to excel in sports. It involves three distinct and interrelated conditions: disordered eating (a range of poor nutritional behaviors), amenorrhea (irregular or absent menstrual periods) and osteoporosis (low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration, which leads to weak bones and risk of fracture).
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Reducing Sedentary Behaviors: Sitting Less and Moving More
There is strong scientific evidence that says frequent moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise during the week plays a significant preventative role in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some cancers. The human body, with approximately 640 muscles and 206 bones,
is made to move. Yet, hi-tech advances in civilized societies within the last 50 years have created an environment that promotes sedentary behaviors.
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Concussion in Sports
A concussion is an injury to the brain where force causes the brain to move within the skull. A person does not need to lose consciousness or have hit their head to suffer a concussion. All athletes and non-athletes, regardless of age, who are suspected of a concussion must stop
playing in practice or competition immediately.
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