WEEK THREE

	Becoming a More Active Person
	Benefits of Exercise
	Components of a Workout
	Energy Expenditure During Exercise
	
	Becoming A More Active Person

   One hundred years ago, physical activity was an unavoidable part of everyday life. Walking was the primary means of transportation. Work was more physical. Food was less readily available and harder to prepare. Today, inventions such as the automobile, elevator, telephone, and television, have made work and leisure hours more sedentary. The price paid for these modern conveniences has been a heavier, less fit society.

   Increasing daily physical activity is the first step on the road to reversing this trend. Increasing your activity level can burn extra calories. It is not enough to make you fit, but increasing your activity level is an important supplement to a regular exercise program.

   In order to become more physically active, examine your present habits. Then replace some sedentary pastimes with more active ones. Here are some suggestions.

	1.	Take an exercise break during television commercials by walking around the house, doing toning exercises or jumping rope.

	2.	Try walking to work, school, the grocery store (invest in a shopping cart), church or a friend's house instead of driving. Driving part way and walking the rest will help also.

	3.	Try a new, more active hobby or resume a former one such as square dancing, kite flying, camping or gardening.

	4.	Instead of using power tools and appliances such as a powered lawn mower or an electric mixer, can opener or pencil sharpener use hand tools.

	5.	After an hour of office work, reading, housework or studying perform stretching exercises.

	6.	At work use the rest room or water fountain on floor above you or below you.

	7.	At home answer the phone or use the bathroom that is farthest away.

	8.	Instead of watching television this weekend visit a zoo, local park or museum.

	9.	When shopping, pass up parking spaces close to the store. Instead, park at the far end of the lot.

	10.	Walk to the store for the newspaper instead of having it delivered.

	11.	Get a dog to take on walks/runs.

   The new activities may prove to be relaxing and rewarding. Plus, over time, they represent a substantial increase in energy expenditure that can mean easier weight management for you.
Increasing Your Activity Level

   Using the suggestions in this handout and any other original ideas you can think of, try to increase your activity level in four ways in the upcoming week. For instance, if you work on the fifth floor, take the elevator to the fourth floor and walk the remaining flight of stairs, every work day next week. (The following week take the elevator to the third floor and walk the remaining two flights of stairs.)  This would qualify as one change.

   There is space below for you to list the four ways in which you increased your activity. Fill this out and if you are part of a support group be prepared to turn this in and to discuss any new ideas you had with the group. 


	I increased my activity level by:

   1. 	______________________________________________________________________

   2. 	______________________________________________________________________

   3. 	______________________________________________________________________

   4. 	______________________________________________________________________




	Name  ______________________________


Benefits of Exercise

   Aerobic exercise is a crucial part of long-term weight management. Moderate aerobic exercise on a regular basis, such as brisk walking, 30 minutes a day, 5 or 6 days a week:

1.	Burns extra calories during the exercise session. A 200pound person walking at a 3.5 mph pace (that's a mile in just over 17 minutes) burns over 200 calories in 30 minutes.

2.	Helps burn extra calories after the exercise session. Resting metabolic rate is elevated for 2040 minutes and perhaps even longer after exercise.

3.	Reduces appetite. Surprisingly, moderate exercise has been shown to depress appetite.

4.	Improves cardiopulmonary functioning. Your heart and lungs will work more efficiently allowing you to do more with less effort.

5.	Lowers high blood sugar levels. Regular exercise increases the body's sensitivity to insulin. This is a plus for people with diabetes and people who have above normal levels of blood sugar.

6.	Improves mood. Many formerly sedentary individuals have reported decreased depression and an improved sense of well-being after following a regular exercise program.

7.	Raises the level of HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol that is protective against heart disease) in your blood.

   8.	Helps to lower blood pressure.

9.	Makes your weight loss fat loss. Exercise helps prevent loss of muscle tissue during periods of caloric restriction.

   So much for reasons for exercising. Now list below your 4 favorite reasons for not exercising. (Examples: No time; I don't like sweating; look what happened to Jim Fixx).

   1. 	________________________________________________________________________________
   
   2. 	________________________________________________________________________________
   
   3. 	________________________________________________________________________________
   
   4. 	________________________________________________________________________________
   
   
Components of a Workout

   Every exercise session should have three phases: a warm-up period, an aerobic phase, and a cool-down period.

   The warm-up period is designed to prevent injury. During the warm-up, you should walk, jog, or move in place easily, swinging your arms and generally "loosening up."  You can also do stretching exercises. By preparing in this way, you will raise your heart rate above its resting level and increase blood flow to your muscles. This will increase the temperature of your muscles and help prevent muscle pulls and other injuries when you start to exercise more vigorously.

   Once you have finished your 510 minute warm-up, you are ready to begin the aerobic phase of your workout. The three things that must be considered in designing the aerobic portion of your workout are the frequency, intensity, and time (or duration) of the exercise. Think of the word FIT to help you remember these three important elements: F for frequency, I for intensity, and T for time. In order to develop cardiovascular fitness and reap the benefits that accompany regular aerobic exercise, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends exercising 35 times per week at 6090% of your maximal heart rate, for 1560 minutes.

       Frequency		35 X/week
       Intensity		6990% of your maximum heart rate as prescribed
       Time			1560 minutes

   Maximal heart rate is the heart rate you reach when you are exercising at the highest workload possible for you. It can be determined exactly through an exercise stress test, or maximal heart rate can be estimated. You should not try to exercise at or near your maximal heart rate. You would find even 85-90 percent of your maximal heart rate to be a very uncomfortable level.

   After the aerobic phase of your exercise session, it is absolutely necessary that you cool down. When you are exercising aerobically, your heart rate is well above its resting rate. Also, the muscles you are using are helping get blood back to your heart. When you abruptly stop exercising, your heart continues to beat rapidly and your muscles no longer assist in getting blood back to your heart. Blood may pool in your legs and cause you to feel lightheaded. This also puts extra stress on your heart that can be dangerous. Therefore, ALWAYS COOL DOWN AFTER EXERCISING. NEVER STOP ABRUPTLY.

   Your cool-down should last at least five minutes. To cool down, you can perform the activity you were doing aerobically, at a much lower intensity. For instance, if you were bicycling, you can cool down by pedaling easily for at least five minutes. After five minutes, you should check your pulse. If you are under fifty years of age, your pulse should be under 120 beats per minute following five minutes of cool-down. If you are fifty years of age or older, cool down at least five minutes until your pulse is under 100 beats per minute before you consider your workout to be over.

   You should not take very hot showers or baths or sit in a hot car or room following vigorous exercise. This too can put stress on your heart and circulatory system.
   Remember, for each exercise you should:
1.	Warm up for 510 minutes.
2.	Exercise aerobically for 1560 minutes at 6090% of your maximal heart.
3.	Cool down for at least five minutes until your heart rate is: less than 120 beats per minute if you are under fifty years of age, or less than 100 beats per minute if you are over fifty years of age.?

Workout Quiz

   Without rereading this handout, decide if each of the statements below is TRUE or FALSE. Then check to see if you remembered the proper way to structure a workout.

_____	1.	It is important to warm up before exercising to reduce the chance of injury.

_____	2.	The intensity of a workout can be judged using your heart rate.

_____	3.	To stay in good condition, you need to exercise aerobically at least three times a week.

_____	4.	Once you are finished exercising aerobically, it is dangerous to stop abruptly.

_____	5.	If you are over fifty years old, you should cool down until your heart rate is under 100 beats per minute.

   If you thought each of the above statements was true, then you understand the correct way to structure a workout.
   
   
Energy Expenditure During Exercise

   There are many valid reasons why one should exercise; one such reason is to burn fat.

   While our emphasis has been, and will continue to be, exercise for the purpose of improving, maintaining, or restoring cardiovascular health and fitness, we cannot overlook the relationship between an excess (over 20% for men and over 30% for women) of body fat and a number of chronic health problems. With this information in mind, let us consider exercise as being of direct value toward cardiovascular health and of indirect value toward health in general by assisting in the reduction of body fat.

   If we place exercise intensity (how hard we work) on a continuum from Low through Moderate to High, there would be a point somewhere between Moderate and High that is known as the anaerobic threshold. As you are working out, if you can comfortably carry on a conversation with yourself or a friend, you have not yet reached the anaerobic threshold. If you find it difficult to carry on such a conversation then you have crossed that threshold.

   In terms of body fat loss, here is the importance. Before you reach the anaerobic threshold your body is using a near-perfect blend of fuel, 50% fat and 50% carbohydrate. As you cross the anaerobic threshold (you begin to "huff 'n puff") and your demands for oxygen are not being adequately met, the fuel for your workout becomes a blend of approximately 20% fat and 80% carbohydrate.

   The story gets even better. If you walk one mile (say in twenty minutes), your energy expenditure is approximately 100 Kcal. If you walk/jog one mile (say in ten minutes) your energy expenditure is approximately 102 Kcal.

   There is more to the story. As you walk your mile you are burning about 50 Kcal fat and 50 Kcal carbohydrate. As you walk/jog your mile you are burning about 21 Kcal fat and 81 Kcal carbohydrate. Therefore, for purposes of body fat reduction you actually burn about 29 Kcal more fat walking your mild (at an intensity level below the anaerobic threshold) than walking/jogging your mile (at an intensity level above the anaerobic threshold).

   Keep in mind that the above deals with the value of exercise in reducing body fat by using body fat as fuel. This in itself is of considerable importance as we are reminded that a loss of one pound of body fat results in a reduction of one mile of vascularization (blood vessels). This causes a significant reduction in demands placed upon your "pump."  For other purposes, such as improving cardiovascular fitness and functional capacity one must at times approach or go beyond the anaerobic threshold. However, as we continue to learn more about the role of exercise in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease we are finding that exercise of moderate intensity is effective in normalizing blood pressure, reducing total cholesterol, increasing HDL, controlling appetite, maintaining lean mass/muscle tone, and just making you feel better!

