| For
decades, people have been donning sweaters after heavy exercise.
The name sweater, in fact, has obvious origins. The sweater began
as a means of keeping the body warm and covered once it had become
hot and sweaty. Unless
exposure to inclement weather is a problem, or the individual
has particular reasons for putting on a sweater at the end of
a hot workout, the sweater myth is just that. Under normal temperature,
weather, and other conditions, the sweater simply prolongs the
body's hot state. That helps not at all.
Some stiffness can,
of course, result from exercise. But wearing a sweater is not
the way to prevent that. Stiff ness usually has its sources
in the body¡¦s condition¡Xor lack of it.
The advice that counsels
moderation in launching a fitness program or in starting new
phases of it has a sound basis in physiology. The purpose is
to avoid excessive fatigue. Muscular fatigue is defined as stimulation
of a muscle or group of muscles beyond their ability to recover.
A second type of fatigue affects the entire body. Known as physical
fatigue, this form can be regarded as normal after physical
exercise if it does not suggest undue stress.
Keep in mind that
a flexible plan may call for adjustments under different circumstances.
It may indicate sometimes that it is best to terminate the day¡¦s
activities. On other occasions, it may require elimination of
some exercises and continuation with others.
- Your
knee begins to bother you. You drop the exercises calling for
knee exertion and retain those that don¡¦t.
- You get
a "stitch" in your side. Because it hurts continually,
you decide to downplay those exercises"for that day"that
produce or exacerbate the discomfort.
- While
running in place, you find yourself troubled by shin splints,
those pains along the sides of the shin bones. You stop running
and turn to something else.
Flexibility can exist
alongside dedication to a program. As common sense dictates,
the individual should sometimes slow down or blow the whistle
completely on some exercises. Even Napoleon retreated now and
then.
Another important
principle should be noted: the individual will build and take
to a fitness program most readily if he believes it will do
him some good. And if he has faith and confidence in it, he
is likely to stay with the program over the long run.
Three stages of fitness
have been identified. The individual who stays with an intelligently
devised program moves through beginning, intermediate, and advanced
stages. These have been termed by some authorities the low,
medium, and excellent stages or phases. Some experts add a fourth
level: the elite stage at which a person finds himself able
to take part in highly competitive and demanding athletic activities. |
