Register your product warranty online at: www.BHFitnessUSA.com
Questions regarding warranty and parts call: 636.634.2217
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Register your product warranty online at: www.BHFitnessUSA.com
Questions regarding warranty and parts call: 636.634.2217
TRAINING GUIDELINES
TRAINING GUIDELINES
Exercise is one of the most important factors in the overall health of an individual. Listed
among its benefi ts are:
• Increased capacity for physical work (strength endurance)
• Increased cardiovascular (heart and arteries/veins) and respiratory effi ciency
• Decreased risk of coronary heart disease
• Changes in body metabolism, e.g. losing weight
• Delaying the physiological effects of age
• Reduction in stress, increase in self-confi dence, etc.
There are several components of physical fi tness and each is defi ned below.
STRENGTH
The capacity of a muscle to exert a force against resistance. Strength contributes to power
and speed.
MUSCULAR ENDURANCE
The capacity to exert a force repeatedly over a period of time, e.g. it is the muscular
endurance of your legs to carry you 10 km without stopping.
FLEXIBILITY
The range of motion of your joints. Improving fl exibility involves the stretching of muscles and
tendons to maintain or increase suppleness, and it provides increased resistance to muscle
injury or soreness.
CARDIO-RESPIRATORY ENDURANCE
The most essential component of physical fi tness. It is the effi cient functioning of the heart
and lungs.
AEROBIC FITNESS
Is an exercise of relatively low intensity and long duration, which depends primarily on the
aerobic energy system. Aerobic means "with oxygen", and refers to the use of oxygen in the
body's metabolic or energy-generating process. Many types of exercise are aerobic, and by
defi nition are performed at moderate levels of intensity for extended periods of time.
ANAEROBIC TRAINING
Is an exercise intense enough to trigger anaerobic metabolism. This means “without oxygen”
and is the output of energy when the oxygen supply is insuffi cient to meet the body’s long
term energy demands. (For example, a 100 meter sprint.)
OXYGEN UPTAKE
The effort that you can exert over a prolonged period of time is limited by your ability to
deliver oxygen to the working muscles. Regular vigorous exercise produces a training effect
that can increase your aerobic capacity by as much as 20 to 30%. An increased VO2 Max
indicates an increased ability of the heart to pump blood, of the lungs to ventilate oxygen,
and of the muscles to take up oxygen.
THE TRAINING THRESHOLD
This is the minimum level of exercise which is required to produce signifi cant improvements
in any physical fi tness parameter.
OVERLOAD
This is where you exercise above your comfort level. The intensity, duration and frequency of
exercise should be above the training threshold and should be gradually increased as the
body adapts to the increasing demands. As your fi tness level improves, the training threshold
should rise. Working through your program and gradually increasing the overload factor is
important.
PROGRESSION
As you become more fi t, a higher intensity of exercise is required to create an overload and
therefore provide continued improvement.
SPECIFICS
Different forms of exercise produce different results. The type of exercise that is carried out
is specifi c to the muscle groups being used and to the energy source involved. There is little
transfer of the effects of exercise, i.e. from strength training to cardiovascular fi tness. That is
why it is important to have an exercise program tailored to your specifi c needs.
REVERSIBILITY
If you stop exercising or do not do your program often enough, you will lose the benefi ts you
have gained. Regular workouts are the key to success.
WARM-UP
Every exercise program should start with a warm-up where the body is prepared for the
effort to come. It should be gentle and preferably use the muscles group to be involved
later. Stretching should be included in both your warm-up and cool down, and should be
performed after 3-5 minutes of low intensity aerobic activity or calisthenic type exercise.
WARM DOWN OR COOL DOWN
This involves a gradual decrease in the intensity of the exercise session. Following exercise,
a large supply of blood remains in the working muscles. If it is not returned promptly to the
central circulation, pooling of blood may occur in the muscles.
