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Health is Science - Fitness is Fun! 843 / 681-6161
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Don Foxe, M.Ed.
Exercise is Medicine
Longevity Is Not A Sport For The Young
Aging is a sport that just keeps getting harder to win. You have to have endurance, strength, and speed. You have to have a strategy, know when to swing, and know when to take one for the team. Injuries occur, and the opponent (age) pounds away at your weaknesses.
Thankfully, as we get older, science keeps coming up with ways to keep us younger.
One thing we know today is that exercise is key to remaining active, feeling good, and keeping most of the age-related medical issues at bay. New methods of exercising are also making it easier for older people to stay active in the workout room, too.
When we talk about functional strength, we mean that we have developed the strength necessary to do those things we need to do – from hitting a golf ball or playing a game of tennis, to getting up and down out of chairs and carrying groceries. The exercises designed to help our functional strength most are compound exercises. Compound exercises work multiple muscles across more then one joint. Dips, and squats are examples of compound exercises. Most older people are not going to do squats and dips and such, partly because we need the assistance of exercise stations, and mostly because they scare us.
However, because of how important they are, many compound movements are quickly replacing old-fashion linear movements on exercise machines in newer health clubs and fitness centers across the country.
Many older Americans still call all fitness equipment “Nautilus”, even though Nautilus is just one brand. Unfortunately many older Americans have not used strength equipment since Nautilus was one of only a very few manufacturers. Coming into newer fitness facilities, they are faced with new technology and new brands. Fortunately for them, the new strength equipment is not only easier to use, it is also easier on joints, and provides more functional strength.
Some new brands on the market, such as FreeMotion Fitness, have moved to a new system. FreeMotion Fitness equipment combines the comfort of seats and backs, with the movement of dumbbells by using cable attachments. These pieces are often easier to understand, because there are no seat and back setting adjustments. Simply get on and go. The cable method allows an exerciser to use both sides independently, move through a natural range of motion, and increase the functional component by standing as opposed to sitting while working out. Older exercisers still have the “safety” of a machine, and the ease of a circuit, but now receive the added benefits that come from functional strength training.
Functional strength training simply means that the exercises you perform during your workouts at the gym are more applicable to your life. Using muscles in combination, or having to stabilize with some muscles while another group of muscles actually lift the weight is much more “real.” When working in the yard, playing a sport, or even carrying groceries to your car, muscles work in combination.
Older strength equipment often isolated a muscle or muscle group, and many allowed you to lift and lower the weight only in a straight line. Since joints rotate and revolve, twist and turn, forcing them into straight lines could often cause injury. Equally, since joints and muscles must work together, strengthening muscles in a manner that was not typical of how they worked with the joint could lead to injury of the muscle, during the workout, or later, when actively involved in a sport.
Athletes have always preferred free weights to machines, because free weights (dumbbells especially) allowed for natural movements between the muscles and the joints, and forced stabilization by other muscles. The exercises replicated the sport more closely.
Most people find free weight training intimidating. The “safety” and “security” of machines, plus being able to simply follow a circuit of stations is much easier to accomplish than designing and following a free weight program.
Now machine manufacturers and exercise science have started to combine their resources to create stations with movements more attuned to how the musculature of the human body functions.
Some companies, like Cybex and Body Master have bi-lateral systems. With these machines, each side moves independently of the other side, just as your arms and legs move, instead of both sides moving regardless of which side is lifting (or lifting more). Others, like Magnum, have bi-angular stations, where the motion of the arms (or legs) follow an arch, more typical of a natural movement. Some have both options.
Some new brands on the market, such as FreeMotion Fitness, have moved to a new system. FreeMotion Fitness equipment combines the comfort of seats and backs, with the movement of dumbbells by using cable attachments. These pieces are often easier to understand, because there are no seat and back setting adjustments. Simply get on and go. The cable method can allow an exerciser to use both sides independently, move through a natural range of motion, and increase the functional component by standing as opposed to sitting while working out. Older exercisers still have the “safety” of a machine, and the ease of a circuit, but now receive the added benefits that come from functional strength training.
When looking for a place to work out, make sure the equipment is designed to provide YOU with your best workout. Also, make sure the trainers are aware of how their equipment works (regardless if it is new technology or old school) and that they can provide you with a safe and effective program.
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BCH&F Offers Several Exercise Options.
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Free Weights - Magnum & FreeMotion Strength Equipment
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