Why We Do What We Do
It is most common for people to eat certain foods or exercise a certain way because they "heard from someone else" that this is how you should do it. I'm not saying to discredit what everyone says, but I do believe that when you hear someone explain that you should do _____ type of exercise, you should ask why.
Every person has a different level of understanding. Communication is extremely important. I can relay a message to someone with good intentions yet the message can be received in such a negative way- a way it was not intended. When we ask someone to further explain their reasoning it helps to clear up this miscommunication as well as establish some type of credibility.
Cardiovascular Training
Cardiovascular training is one of the most common forms of training and is usually referred to as "Cardio" or "Aerobics". Usually people tend to do this type of exercise when trying to lose weight or when trying to improve their endurance levels. When hearing these words most people think of spending hours on a treadmill, or envision Richard Simmons creepily standing at your door similar to Jack Nicholson in The Shinning.
So what is Cardiovascular training? According to the American College of Sports Medicine it is, "Exercise that recruits cardiovascular and respiratory systems (heart, blood vessels, and lungs)".
Functions of the Cardiovascular System
- Transport nutrients throughout the body
- Transport deoxygenated blood from the tissues to the heart and from heart to lungs.
- Deliver oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart and from the heart to the tissues
- Remove carbon dioxide and other metabolic waste from tissue.
The respiratory system plays an important role here because it is responsible for oxygenating the blood that eventually reaches our tissues. This is the purpose of breathing.
So when we do cardiovascular exercise, we are asking our body to perform these regular functions (transport blood and deliver oxygen) at a much quicker pace than what it is used to. We begin to see some acute (short term) responses such as an increase of heart rate, sweating, and heavy breathing. As we are working harder, our body must transport oxygen and blood to our tissues to ensure that we can continue with the physical activity. Basically these acute responses are our bodies defense mechanisms trying to regulate and neutralize what is occurring. They try to make up for this increase in work by creating an increase of blood flow to certain working tissues. Overtime our bodies adapt to this new stimulation, making it easier to perform the exercise. These adaptations are some of the reasons why we can run further than we used to after some training.
I will go deeper into how physical activity and exercise manipulate the cardiovascular system and why it is a common tool for losing weight in later postings.
Resistance Training
This is the other most common form of training. Simply put, this is training the muscles to work against some type of force that is restricting movement, or resistance.
There are many forms of resistance training which we won't get into. The common thought here though is strength training. This could include body weight exercises and exercising with weights. We perform resistance training for reasons that include making our bones stronger, strengthening our joints, strengthening and increasing the size of our muscles, rehabbing injuries, preventing injuries, etc.
Diet and Nutrition
Like the other topics, we could spend hours talking about each one. I just want to cover the basics of these topics.
Energy is what allows us to function and do the things that we do. In terms of our bodies, energy is similar to gas in a car. Without the gas, the car will not move or function properly. The calories in the nutrients we eat are what give us this energy.
Nutrients are comprised of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. I will try to make this as elementary as possible and give words that describe each nutrient without really diving deep into detail. We will talk about fuel utilization at another time.
Carbohydrates
- Most common macronutrient used for energy
- Basic form is sugar- Glucose. Simple Carbohydrate = Glucose
- Polysaccharides- Numerous molecules of sugar
- Dietary Fiber is a form of carbohydrate that improves blood sugar
- Stored as Glycogen. Our bodies create a complex carbohydrate = Glycogen
- Quick source of energy
- Glycogen can be restored back to glucose.
- Eating too much can lead to fat storage
- Examples of simple carbs are sugar, breads made with flour, candy, cake, and juices.
- Examples of complex carbs include: Fruits, vegetables, potatoes, rice, pastas, and grains.
- 4 Calories per gram
- According to ACSM, "55-65% of total calories should come from carbohydrates".
Proteins
- Compounds made of Amino Acids (bind together to form proteins)
- Can be made within the body
- Carry nutrients to proper destinations within the body
- Assist in hormone production
- Helps to maintain and grow muscle tissues
- Good Examples: Tuna, Turkey, Beef, Beans, Chicken, Milk, Cheese, and Yogurt.
- 4 Calories per gram
- It is recommended that adults consume .8 grams per pound of body weight and athletes consume anywhere from 1.2-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
- ACSM recommends, "12-15%" of total calories should come from protein.
Fats
- Quick source of energy
- Commonly coupled with oils (Fat and Oils)
- Helps make us feel full for a longer amount of time
- Helps to dissolve certain vitamins
- Can carry necessary nutrients
- Good Fats: Monounsaturated- Improves cholesterol levels. Polyunsaturated- Also improves cholesterol levels. Both of these fats help to decrease the risk heart disease.
- Bad Fats: Saturated- Raises blood cholesterol levels and LDL (bad cholesterol). Trans Fat- Naturally occurring but usually made during the processing of foods. Increases LDL and lowers HDL (healthy cholesterol).
- 9 calories per gram
- 25% of calories should come from fats
Vitamins, Mineral, and Water
- Vitamins help the body function and ensure that bodily reactions occur
- Minerals help with water balance and help with nerve stimulation
- Water acts as a transportation mode of minerals. Also helps to maintain body temperature.
Tying It All Together
We saw that certain foods affect our bodies in different ways and without these nutrients, our bodies will not perform certain functions. It is evident that food is utilized as fuel and without food we simply would not be able to do anything. This is why a balanced diet is important and any given deficiency can cause a number of problems that creates a cycle of even more serious problems.
With this given energy, we see that it allows us to perform physical activity and exercise because our bodies have what they need to do work. With cardiovascular and resistance exercise our bodies are asking us to work harder than what we are accustomed to and so more energy is required. Since our bodies won't lack anything with proper nutrition, we can perform the functions necessary to endure cardiovascular and resistance exercise and have energy available (Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats) as well as ensure that our bodies have what it needs to react to stimulation (Vitamins, Minerals, and water) and will continue with the intended function.
I hope that this was simple and understandable and that those of you who are reading this will use this and apply it to your daily life. I also hope that you continue to further your knowledge and research these topics to help deepen your understanding. In the future, I will explore components of these topics with much more detail and explain how to achieve results using this knowledge.
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