Health, Fitness, and Nutrition at LiftW8

Archive for April, 2008

What is Fitness?

Fitness describes someone’s or something’s ability to perform a certain function with a high degree of success and efficiency.

Specific fitness refers to the ability to perform at peak performance for one or a few specific tasks. We often refer to specific fitness when we are focusing on optimizing performance for a specific event or competition. Elite powerlifters and olympic lifters focus on specific fitness relative to their chosen events.

Physical fitness, usually refers to any activity involving motion or the manipulation of the body. We usually refer to physical fitness when we are talking about exercising or workout programs.

Why should you be concerned with proper Fitness?

Frequent, dedicated physical exercise is an important component in the prevention of some of the diseases of old age such as cancer, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and back pain.

Exercise is important for maintaining proper physical fitness including healthy body composition (fat mass vs. fat-free mass); building and maintaining healthy bones, muscles, and joints; promoting physiological health; reducing surgical risks; and strengthening the immune system.

Physical fitness is often divided into the following categories:

• Agility
• Balance
• Body Composition
• Cardiovascular endurance
• Coordination
• Flexibility
• Muscular strength & endurance
• Speed

What do you need to know about Exercise?

Exercise is the performance of activity to develop or maintain physical fitness and overall health, and/or honing athletic ability or skill. Exercises are generally grouped into three types depending on the overall effect they have on the human body:

• Flexibility exercises improves the range of motion of muscles & joints.
• Aerobic exercises such as walking or running, focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance.
• Anaerobic exercises such as weight training, functional training or sprinting increases short-term muscle strength.

Physical fitness works best when performed for at least 45 minutes, three days per week. Always remember to include at least 1-2 days off per week for recovery purposes. Proper nutrition also goes a long way in maximizing fitness. Drink plenty of water and eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and protein to insure proper fitness nutrition.

What is Bodybuilding?

Bodybuilding is the process of maximizing muscle hypertrophy, or muscle growth, through the combination of weight training, proper macronutrient intake, and recovery. An athlete that trains for these goals is called a bodybuilder.

In competitive bodybuilding, losely termed a ‘sport’, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their appearance. The criteria that judges use include size, density, definition, and symmetry.

The muscles are revealed through a combination of fat loss, oils, and tanning (or tanning lotions) which, when combined with proper lighting, make the definition of the muscle groups more distinct. Famous bodybuilders include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sergio Oliva, Dorian Yates, Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbu, Frank Zane, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman, and Jay Cutler.

History of Bodybuilding?

The early years of bodybuilding are considered to be the period between 1880 and 1930. Around this time period, bodybuilding was promoted by a man from Prussia named Eugen Sandow. Sandow is now referred to as “The Father of Modern Bodybuilding” by bodybuilding enthusiasts. He is credited as being a pioneer of the sport because he allowed an audience to enjoy viewing his physique in “muscle display performances”. Although audiences were thrilled to see a well-developed physique, those men simply displayed their bodies as part of strength demonstrations or wrestling matches.

Some would even say that this period was the beginning of modern powerlifting. Sandow had a stage show built around these displays, and became so successful at it, he later created several businesses around his fame and was among the first to market products branded with his name alone. As he became more popular, he was credited with inventing and selling the first exercise equipment for the masses.