DEFNINITION of the term EXERCISE

EXERCISE: 1. Physical activity and movement, especially when intended to keep a person or animal fit and healthy. 2. A physical movement or action, or a series of movements or actions, designed to make the body stronger and fitter.

Now that the truth is revealed it is safe to say that many people exercise and don’t realize that they are exercising.  To most people exercise is going to the gym and lifting weights or training on a cardiovascular machine like a treadmill or elliptical trainer, when in fact, almost all activities that include body movement can be considered exercise.  To say the least, there are many forms of exercise. Types of exercise include strength training, cardiovascular exercise, flexibility training, polymeric exercise, calisthenics, anaerobic training, aerobics, athletic, cross-training, full-body explosive, power-lifting, and bootcamp just to name a few. 

Cardiovascular training is exercise where the heart rate is increased for an extended period of time.  Examples of this form of exercise include walking, running, dancing, aerobics, and calisthenics.  People most often perform this type of exercise and don’t realize it.  You can easily boost you daily exercise by just increasing the distance that you walk everyday. 

Strength training is also a very common form of exercise.  Strength training is a form of exercise in which the goal is to build muscular strength.  This form of training usually includes some form of resistance.  Most familiar resistance equipment includes; resistance bands, dumbbells, body weight, kettle balls, strength training machines, and medicine balls.  The goal of strength training is to increase strength by performing body movements with resistance that causes muscles to adapt and get stronger.  Building lean muscle is a great way to increase metabolism.  Most forms of cardio workouts and strength training workouts can be both aerobic and anaerobic.

Aerobic training is exercise that requires the use of oxygen to perform the workload, and anaerobic training is when the use of oxygen is not enough for the training workload.  With aerobic exercise the workload or intensity of the exercise isn’t overpowering the body’s ability to utilize the energy produced when oxygen is taken in by the muscles.  During aerobic exercise the breathing rate will usually increase because the muscles require more oxygen during activity.  Examples of aerobic training include jogging, step aerobics, swimming, walking and almost any exercise that can be done for a prolonged period of time without rest.  Anaerobic training is when the body can’t get oxygen fast enough to the muscles and muscle glucose is consumed rapidly and a build up of lactic acid leads to needed rest.  Examples of anaerobic training include sprinting, heavy weight training, explosive body movements, Olympic power lifting, and forms of cross-training and polymeric exercise.  

Here is a practical example of the difference between aerobic and anaerobic.  If a person performs jumping jacks at a slow pace with low intensity for 5 minutes the lift would be considered aerobic, but if the same person is told do the same jumping jack as fast as they can the person will reach a point in which oxygen is not enough and rest will be required far before the client reaches 5 minutes.

Many people feel that the key to developing a healthy lifestyle starts and ends with adding daily activity and exercise, but the true villain that keeps us overweight is poor nutrition.  Developing a healthy lifestyle must have a solid foundation build on exercise and nutrition combined with a slightly larger emphasis on nutrition. 

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