Why do we call it the “Fitness Room” and not the “Weight Room”?

Good question! Here’s the answer.

Weight Rooms are limited to machines and free weights to increase muscle strength and endurance. A Cardio Room is limited to machines used to improve a person’s cardio-respiratory (heart/lung) endurance. Our room here at HCS includes both cardio and weight machines/free weights—hence, the title “Fitness Room” (some institutions also use the title “Wellness Room or Center”).

Why add weights to your exercise program? Another good question!

Here are just 3 of the many good reasons to add weights to an exercise program:

• 1) Weightlifting directly increases your muscle tone, giving you more muscle mass. It improves your BODY COMPOSITION (one of the five components of physical fitness).
• 2) Increased muscle mass affects your resting metabolic rate. The lean muscle mass you build from lifting needs energy; so, the increased muscle burns more calories. (NOTE: Fat burns ZERO calories!) DID YOU KNOW? Muscle is 3 times as dense as fat!
• 3) Depending on its duration and intensity, a good endurance (cardio/aerobic) workout will elevate your metabolism for anywhere from 1 to 6 hours. (This is a good thing!) However, after a 1 hour weight-training session, by contrast, our metabolic rate remains higher for a full 24 hours, thanks to the huge caloric demands of rebuilding muscle tissue.

Why is it important to warm up properly before I workout?

Failing to complete a proper warm-up may leave you unusually sore and possibly injured after your workout. Warming up before lifting should include at least 5 minutes of cardio activity such as running, walking, or biking, followed by some light weight bearing movement and stretching to ease your major muscle groups into training.

What is the Overload Principle?

You must make the muscle group work harder than it ordinarily does. So, you do repetitions of an exercise for 2 to 3 sets with rest in between, usually until the muscle is fatigued.

What is Progressive Resistance?

When you get to the point where the 12 reps are not tiring your muscle group, you increase the amount of weight you use for each set, but now do fewer repetitions. You then build back up to the 12 reps with the new weight.

What is meant by the “negative” in weightlifting?

When you are doing either a pulling or pushing exercise movement, this is considered the “positive”, when you exert the most force against a weight. The negative is your return to the start position, usually with gravity. Current research shows that an important part of any repetition for increasing strength, size, and flexibility, is the negative portion of the movement. To get the most out of each set, take time to feel the muscle fibers engage and fatigue by going slowly, or “fighting” the negative. (A good rule of thumb is 2 seconds on the positive and 3 seconds on the negative. Remember to exhale on the negative and inhale on the positive.) You may initially decrease the amount of weight you lift, but the results will be worth it!

Why is proper form and technique SO IMPORTANT? So glad you asked!!!

Paying attention to the weight you are lifting rather than proper form can leave you without results and ultimately set you up for injury. Though the poundage you lift is important for strength and size increases, correct form ensures you are moving the joints through their proper range of motion and actually working the intended muscle! Using momentum to complete the last reps (or part of a rep) in a set may boost your ego, but it won’t do anything for your body. Maintain proper form and let your muscles, not momentum, do the work.

FITNESS TIPS from Dr. Kenneth Cooper

1. FITNESS IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION. It must be continued for the rest of your life.
2. YOU CAN’T STORE FITNESS. It’s what you did yesterday that counts, not what you did six months ago.
3. THE OLDER YOU ARE, THE LONGER IT TAKES TO GET IN SHAPE, AND THE MORE QUICKLY YOU LOSE IT.
4. REMEMBER TO WARM-UP BEFORE YOU EXERCISE. But even more important is to cool down after exercise for at least five minutes. Sixty-five percent of severe heart attacks occur during recovery, not during exercise.
5. THERE IS NOTHING KNOWN TO MAN THAT TOTALLY PROTECTS AGAINST CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE, whether it is medicine, surgery or marathon running.
6. If you are running more than 15 miles a week, you are running for something more than cardiovascular fitness.
7. A GOOD EXERCISE PROGRAM IS THE FOUNDATION OF ANY GOOD WELLNESS PROGRAM, but it must be in conjunction with proper weight, proper nutrition and proper supplementation.
8. A PERSON WHO IS PHYSICALLY FIT IS LESS LIKELY TO BE DEPRESSED OR A HYPOCHONDRIAC. He or she has a better self-image, a more positive attitude toward life and fewer somatic (bodily) complaints.
9. THE TOP FIVE AEROBIC EXERCISES ARE CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING, SWIMMING, JOGGING/RUNNING, CYCLING AND WALKING. Among those, just about anyone, regardless of age or gender, can exercise safely and effectively.
10. THE FIRST STEP OF ANY EXERCISE PROGRAM IS TO AVOID INACTIVITY. Collectively, 30 minutes (for adults)/ 60 minutes (for children/teens) of daily activity has been shown to have great health and longevity benefits.
11. WEIGHTLIFTING AND MUSCLE-BUILDING EXERCISES MUST BE DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH, NOT IN PLACE OF, A PRIMARY AEROBIC PROGRAM.