fitness

Altitude training is utilized by many endurance athletes. The athlete trains for several weeks at a high altitude of greater than 2,400 meters or 8000 feet above sea level. The reason endurance athletes train at high altitudes because the air is sometimes said to be “thinner.” At every altitude, the air we breathe always contains the exact same percentages of oxygen and other gases. The beneficial training effect occurs because the partial pressures of these gases are less at higher altitudes resulting in poorer gas exchange at the alveoli of the lungs.

In 2018, 30.3 million Americans were diagnosed with heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Approximately 647,000 people die of heart disease every year in the United States. One in every four deaths is due to heart disease. Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease, which kills 385,000 people annually. Each year 825,000 people have a heart attack, with 605,000 having a first heart attack and 325,000 having a second or additional number of heart attacks.

Aspects of body composition such as amount and distribution of body fat as well as amount and composition of lean body mass are now understood to be important outcomes in adults, infants, and children. Body composition is a key component of health for both individuals and populations. A perpetual epidemic of obesity in adults and children demonstrates the importance of body fat measurements for health short and long term. Body composition measurements predict body fat from body parameters and measurements.

Catabolism or catabolic means the breakdown of complex molecules to simpler ones with release of energy or destructive metabolism. Catabolism is the process of transforming chemical fuels such as glucose into energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate or ATP. Catabolic hormones include epinephrine, cortisol, and glucagon.

Anabolism and anabolic means the synthesis of complex molecules from simpler ones with the storage of energy or constructive metabolism. The processes produce growth and differentiation of cells, increase in body size, and involve synthesis of complex molecules. Anabolic hormones in the human body include testosterone, insulin, growth hormone, and Insulin-Like Growth Factors or IGF. These hormones promote tissue growth. Resistance training promotes tissue growth in part by increasing these hormones.

The following question has been asked to me many times. If an individual is doing both resistance training and cardiovascular exercise, which one should be done first? For body composition, it makes little difference. Resistance training depletes glycogen stores, so it makes sense to train it first to begin burning fat at the very beginning of the cardiovascular session. When the cardiovascular session is completed first, aerobic metabolism is reached at approximately ninety seconds. The ATP-PC system lasts about ten seconds. The net result is eighty more seconds of fat burning.

Vibration platforms have been proven to increase circulation, flexibility, strength, and power. These platforms provide mechanical stimuli which make the muscle spindle proprioceptors respond as it was being overstretched by eliciting a neural impulse for the muscle fiber to contract. This response is what provides so many benefits. Vibration is a tremendous workout. The slight stretching of vibration allows the muscle fiber to contract thirty to sixty times per second. The vibration increases circulation, flexibility, strength, hormone production, collagen production, and lymph drainage.

Maintaining normal blood sugar values is very important to overall health. Normal blood sugars are between eighty and one hundred twenty milligrams per deciliter. A blood sugar of seventy milligrams per deciliter will make a person feel extremely hungry. Under seventy is considered hypoglycemia, meaning low blood sugar. Blood sugar over one hundred twenty for an extended time is referred to as hyperglycemia or high blood sugar.

For decades, the dietary recommendations to combat heart disease were high carbohydrates, low protein, and minimal fat. This approach has contributed to an incredible number of Americans having obesity, diabetes, and other chronic disease. Most healthcare professionals and health enthusiasts are starting to realize this high carbohydrate prescription is probably not the greatest idea. Many throw out the terms glycemic index and carbohydrate count to simplify dietary recommendations. Some say that if you eat too many carbohydrates or the wrong carbohydrates a person will become obese.