Forward, Sideways or What?

  Mama Got New Yoga Pants

Are you moving forward, sideways or what ?

Did you know that exercise training is an adaptive process? Of course you did. But do you really ‘get it’ – that your body will adapt to the stress of exercise? Your body will reward you with increased fitness if the stress is above a minimum threshold intensity. Do you want to achieve maximum effectiveness? Then you must consider what factors are involved in the adaptation of muscle to stress and de-conditioning. Such factors include overload, specificity, reversibility, as well as our individual differences.

Skeletal muscle is amazing with regard to its adaptability. If a muscle is stressed within appropriate limits, it adapts and improves its function. For example, weight lifters exercise their arms and shoulders, so their muscles hypertrophy and improve their strength. Larger muscles allow them to accommodate an increased load. Likewise, if a muscle receives less stress than it’s used to, it atrophies. For example, the muscles of a leg with a cast will atrophy in response to not being used.

The purpose of physical training is to stress the body so that it improves its capacity to exercise. Physical training is beneficial only as long as it forces the body to adapt to the stress of physical effort. If the stress is not sufficient to overload the body, then no adaptation occurs.

In other words – don’t get too comfortable. If you keep doing the same workouts over and over with no improvement, you’re not gaining strength or flexibility, etc. Exercise is always a good thing – don’t get me wrong. There are cardiovascular benefits; social aspects – just the mere fact of NOT being sedentary is awesome. But what is you goal? What are you trying to accomplish? If you don’t know. Figure it out.

As always, make champion choices,
The Healthy Habit Lady