How Exercise Works
A lot of people go out and exercise, but how many people really know what they’re doing? I’m not talking about their technical knowledge, or if they know what muscle they’re using, what I am talking about is what the body is going through. Often, people run, they bike, they Zumba, and they move heavy things around expecting a certain result. So what is exercise?
Exercise is a science. As I explained in my last post, exercise is a stimulus that is placed on the body to produce a specific change. Seems simple enough, right? But why is it that sometime exercise seems to work for some people some of the time and not for others much of the time? Here are a few things to think about: first, as a stimulus, our body isn’t going to respond unless we provide enough stimulus to cause change. This is because our body has evolved to survive (back in days when the human race had predators, famines to worry about). Our body wants to hold onto any extra energy sources that we put into our body (i.e. excess food) and isn’t going to spend extra energy maintaining any muscle mass that it doesn’t need.
This is why we need to apply enough stimulus to cause our body to change and become stronger. Our muscles can’t tell the difference between working against a weights, or against a beast trying to eat us, it’s all just a stimulus. So in order to cause our body to get stronger, we constantly have to apply more stimulus than than it is used to. Our body responds to an overload stimulus by rebuilding muscle cells so that it can better survive the next stimulus (whether it be an angry bear or a number of reps on the leg press).
It’s pure and simple, in order to make our bodies stronger, we have to apply enough of a stimulus frequently enough so that body believes our muscles are needed.
Found this post interesting? Have any questions? Leave a comment!
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About the author
Dwayne Wimmer founded Vertex Fitness Personal Training Studio in 2001, excited to bring a new concept about personal training to the people of Philadelphia’s Main Line in Pennsylvania. Driven by knowledge and results both, while a strength coach at Villanova University, he worked closely with world class athletes such as Brian Westbrook, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, on strength training and conditioning for optimal performance. Dwayne’s client base extends much further than world class athletes. Along with athletes, he works with adolescents to seniors, and he’s a highly acclaimed and sought out personal trainer who has received numerous awards, such as Best of the Main Line Personal Training Studio and Best Main Line Personal Trainer. A graduate of Missouri Western State University, Dwayne has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education, with an emphasis in Coaching. Aside from personal training, he’s spent time as a physical education teacher, strength and conditioning coach, and a football coach, but has found his passion and home in the fitness industry, inspiring and reaching out to others. As a strong believer in continuing to learn, Dwayne has also taken classes at East Stroudsburg University toward a Masters Degree in Sports Management. He can add author to his list of accomplishments, having created a chapter in the upcoming book The Soul of Success with Jack Canfield, renowned for the Chicken Soup series. To get to the point where he is now, Dwayne has always been thankful for the support of his father, a man who always believed in his mission and saw the need for what it was that Dwayne envisioned. During his free time, Dwayne is an avid motorcyclist who enjoys viewing the amazing landscapes and finding good restaurants to enjoy that are off the beaten path. He also takes advantage of opportunities to travel and experience many other cities while attending fitness seminars and giving presentations about the industry he is so passionate about. As a way to give back to the community that has been a part of his entire life, Dwayne has created Vertex Fitness PUMPED (People United Making Progress through Education and Donations), which provides support to area non-profits through a community-wide outreach effort. At this time, they help three non-profits per year in the Philadelphia area. For more information from Dwayne, you may contact him at (610) 525-6604, dwayne@vertexfit.com
Dwayne,
Outstanding…
Steve Leppert, CFT
PersonalTrainer2000@live.com
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I remember building the leg press machine in the photo. The precursor to the ARX machines. Makes me happy to see that machine is still out there..!
Common issue with the Health Industry particularly that of Gyms in that, In My opinion there seems to be an issue with Gyms that the emphasis is on taking peoples MONEY, making promises that they can’t keep, NO Personal Interaction or FOLLOW UP from Initial person who gains MEMBERSHIP/MONEY and LASTLY NOT TAKING time to show people APPROPRIATE MACHINES for their GOALS. What looks good in a magazine is APPROPRIATE for ALL PERSONS.