As an appropriate topic for our first-ever JKFITNESS blog, I thought that “Exercise 101” was fitting.  We all know we need to be exercising, right?  Our doctors tell us that every time we go in for a routine visit.  Our friends talk about going to the gym…or maybe more accurately talk about how much they intend to go to the gym.  At every switch of the channel we hear Dr. Oz, or other well-known physicians in the media, preaching about how to live a healthy life.  So, yes, we all understand that we need exercise in our lives.   First and foremost, it is good for our health…but there are so many other great side effects from exercise that you truly will not understand until you commit yourself to a life-long exercise program.  That’s right folks, I said life-long.  Take a minute….step away from the computer….digest that statement just like you did the cheeseburger you ate for lunch.  Before you read on, I want you to understand that exercise is NOT a destination, but rather a journey that never ends.

I am glad you are reading on….that means that you can comprehend how crucial regular exercise is for your body and for your mind.  But, even before I discuss any of those great effects of exercise, I want to talk about what an exercise program really looks like.  If you are currently exercising, take a minute and think about what you are doing for exercise.  Walking your dog around the neighborhood?  Going to the gym to lift weights?  Doing yoga class twice a week?  Playing softball with the local city league?  While these are all great starting points, let’s talk about what this word “exercise” really means.  To most fitness professionals, exercise means much more than walking or going to the gym to life weights, or doing yoga a couple of times a week, or even playing on a city league softball team.  Don’t get frustrated…get out a piece of paper, write some notes and take action.

A complete exercise program should have a minimum of the following types of training:  cardiovascular, strength and flexibility.  Cardiovascular training is any type of exercise in which you are engaging large muscle groups, in rhythmic patterns, for a long duration of time.  Clear as mud?  Basically what this means is that you are using a majority of your body’s muscles to perform a certain action over and over, for a long time.  Examples would include the following:  walking, running, swimming, hiking, rowing, cycling, spinning, using an elliptical or an upper extremity cycle.  Cardiovascular training is very important for 2 primary reasons:  heart health and weight loss/maintenance.  Without going into the details in this blog, cardiovascular training increases the heart’s function and also is the most effective way to burn fat from your body.  Next, let’s talk about strength training…not rocket science here, but strength training is just that…building strength in a particular muscle or set of muscles.  While there are several different “methods” of strength training, the basic principle remains the same.  Building strength in our body help us perform daily tasks with greater easy and efficiency.  Strong muscles also help protect our joints.  And, oh yeah, strong muscles also make our bodies look lean and sexy.  Finally, let’s take a quick peek at the most overlooked part of an exercise program….flexibility training.  Even people that workout religiously; rarely spend the time they need to on training their muscles to be flexible.  Flexibility training is simply stretching your muscles.  Understandably, exercise puts stress on our muscles, for a good reason (to make them stronger).  But if we don’t give our muscles some TLC (come on folks, this is not an exercise term…just some tender-loving-care), they are going to get mad at us.  Basic stretches will elongate the muscle and make them feel better after a great workout.  Stretching helps to increase the range of motion of your joints, it increases blood flow within your muscles, it can help to reduce stress…and it just flat out feels good.

Congratulations!  If you have read this far….you have first accepted the fact that exercise is a life-long battle.  You have also passed “Exercise 101”!  Armed with an appreciation of exercise and the basic knowledge to be fit…you have hereby graduated from “basic exercise training”!