Chapter 5 Reading Guide

1. Define physical fitness, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, flexibility, and body composition.

2. How is cardiorespiratory fitness achieved?

3. what are the components of muscular fitness?

4. What happens to muscles, tendons and ligaments if they are not used/not used through their full range of motion?

5. What proportion of US Americans meet the levels of physical activity recommended by federal health officials, according to the CDC? (What is the CDC?)

6. How do most US Americans spend most of their leisure time?

7. List several advantages of exercising, and explain each briefly (pp 109-112).

8. What is "Sedentary Death Syndrome?"

9. What's the best type of activity for building/maintaining bone density?

10. Discuss the principles of exercise. If you need to cut back on exercise for a couple of weeks because of a busy schedule (etc), what's the best way to keep your fitness level up?

11. Use table 5-2 to explain the minimum recommendations for fitness based on the FITT principle.

12. List some examples of aerobic exercises and anaerobic exercises. Explain the difference.

13. How can you calculate your individual target heart range for maximum cardiorepiratory benefit (without using the chart provided)? Does yours fall within the range shown on the chart (fig. 5-5)?

14. Explain the Rating of Perceived Exertion and "talk test." How do the national anthem and "Row row row your boat" help you to figure out the talk test?

15. Why is it a good idea to warm up prior to exercising? Describe a good general warm up.

16. Why is it a good idea to cool down after exercising? Describe a good general cool down.

17. Describe interval training and explain an advantage.

18. Why is cross-training an important part of maintining a regular exercise routine?

19. Discuss the results of three studies related to the benefits of walking.

20. Describe how to ensure that you are jogging correctly, to minimize injury.

21. Why is strength training a great addition to a weight loss and maintenance plan?

22. Talk about how to develop muscular strenth vs. how to develop muscular endurance.

23. Name and identify on your body the major muscle groups.

24. What is the correct way to breathe when strenth training?

25. Have any of the purported performance enhancing aids described by the book been proven to actually enhance athletic performance? Which ones? Are there any dangers or drawbacks of these substances? Describe. Are ANY of the described substances/ergogenic aids free of negative side effects?

26. Compare and contrast static and dynamic flexibility.

27. What are some advantages of flexibility training?

28. Compare static with ballistic stretching. Which is safer?

29. Why is it advantageous to stretch AFTER a workout?

30. Calculate your BMI, waist size and waist-to-hip ratio. What do these three simple measures tell you about your risk of developing certain diseases? What can you do to improve these three measures?

31. "Can a person be fit and fat?" Explain.

32. What are the guidelines for water intake and exercise?

33. Are energy bars "worth it" for most people? What about protein shakes and sports drinks? Keep these in mind as we head into next chapter, and think about the different types of "real" foods that provide the same nutrients with fewer calories and less sugar.

34. Describe several ways to avoid injuries while exercising, including protecting yourself from excessive heat and cold.

Supplemental Lectures- I have very little extra to add to this chapter!

I. The wonder of muscles- I think the book actually downplayed strength training (probably for lack of time and space!). Let me just add a few more points to drive home how beneficial moderate strength training really is. And remember, you don't have to be grunting like a gorilla or popping veins to get the benefits of strength training. In fact, for many people that kind of effort may be dangerous! Follow the guidelines in the book, and follow your comfort level as guidelines. Here's why having muscle tone is beneficial:

>This is one of the best ways to build and maintain bone mass. Especially if you are past about 35 years old... in fact, then it is the ONLY way to build bone mass. After about 35, you will not build bone mass unless you strength train... but you will absolutely LOSE bone mass if you do not.

>Muscles hold joints in place, reducing the risk of general joint pain, and reducing the risk of injury to joints. It is important that you work opposing muscle groups to ensure that the joints are being held in place correctly. If, for example, you work the front shoulder muscles more than the back, you can actually pull your shoulder joints out of whack a little bit. But, if you let those muscles atrophy, you increase the risk of injury and pain! So, for healthy joints, work the muscle groups that hold them in place, and work those muscle groups evenly. And remember to stretch :)

>The book pointed this out, but let me be a little more emphatic about it: muscle cells burn calories!!! Even when you're watching the Simpsons on the couch. They burn a lot of calories, and the bigger your muscle cells, the more calories they burn. Not only that, but RESTING MUSCLE CELLS BURN FAT preferentially. So, while the rest of your body cells may be burning glucose, your resting muscle cells are actually burning fat! Now, as you start to use your muscles, they will switch to glucose for a while. But, if you use them continuously (about 20 minutes or so), they switch back to fat.

>Muscle tone pulls connective tissue in (including fat), so that even if you do not lose any fat tissue, you will look fitter because the underlying muscle is holding the tissue in place a little more tightly.

>Muscles encourage the growth of branched blood vessels, which can be beneficial to blood pressure. Excess fat tissue, on the other hand, encourages the growth of less branched blood vessels, which can be detrimental to blood pressure.

II. Waist-to-Hip ratio

I just wanted to point out that this is one aspect of body composition that is largely genetic. You can control your BMI, for example, by losing or gaining weight to get to what's considered a healthy range. But, where you carry fat is difficult to change. If you carry your fat in your abdomen more than in your hips, legs or arms, your best strategy is to be very careful about staying at a healthy weight and exercise regularly; ie, don't carry excess fat.

Excess cortisol is one factor that can affect this ratio, however, regardless of genetics. Excess cortisol can cause fat to be redistributed in your body, and deposited in undesirable places like the abdomen. There's another good reason to keep stress in check as much as is within your power!