Fitness Destinations

Neuromuscular what??? When it comes to the technical terms behind a maximum level of health and fitness, the actual words can seem overwhelming, but I assure you that the meaning behind them is very down to earth!

In a nutshell, neuromuscular coordination is nothing more fancy than your ability to exert both conscious and subconscious control over your muscles and supporting tissues. Actually, everyone already has a very high level of neuromuscular coordination, but you can enhance this "mind-muscle" connection via exercise, thus increasing the benefits.

Benefits of Neuromuscular Coordination

Increased Strength

One of the biggest benefits of neuromuscular coordination is a marked and measurable increase in your level of strength.

There is a common – although incorrect – belief that strength is all about the actual size of a person's muscles. Now, although size does play a factor, the ability to consciously control your muscles is also a very large part of your actual level of strength.

Every movement of the human body is a combination of innumerable processes all interacting with each at a speed and level of communication that is all but incomprehensible. However, just as the saying goes, "practice makes perfect".

The more you practice any given movement, the better your body becomes at executing that movement. Via repetition, your body learns how best to recruit and utilize all of the myriad different processes that power and control that movement.

Simply having large muscles will not do you any good if you cannot control them. Consider the case of someone who has been in a paralyzing accident or has had some sort of brain trauma such as a stroke. Their muscles are no larger or smaller than they were prior to the incident, yet their brain can no longer control some of their muscles, thus causing partial or complete lack of mobility.

Increased Balance

As with the increase in strength that was just discussed, your ability to balance in any given scenario is also increased due to a high level of neuromuscular coordination.

If it takes "x" number of bodily processes in order for you to walk across a parking lot, consider how many processes will rapidly have to come into play if you step on a patch wet, slippery ice and start to lose your balance.

If you exercise regularly – especially core stabilization exercises – your conscious as well as subconscious control over the bodily systems that are needed to keep you from falling will be maximized.

You might still flail around and look silly for a minute as you make the effort, but isn't that better than face-planting onto a dirty, wet, and icy parking lot? 

Injury Prevention

In addition to avoiding an injury in scenarios such as the one above, having a high level of neuromuscular coordination can help you avoid injuries in other circumstances as well.

The act of exercising itself can be an injury-laden activity when not done properly, yet by increasing your mind-muscle connection by exercising properly, you will drastically decrease the chances that you will get hurt while exercising.

By learning how to properly do each and every exercise, you will be training your bodily systems to execute those movements with almost laser-like precision. That level of control has the added benefit of creating internal "alarms" that will go off if you do the exercise the wrong way.

A good example of this is the exercise pictured here, the Barbell Deadlift. It is an incredible exercise for your legs and lower back, but as with all exercises that use the lower back, if you do it wrong, you could get hurt.

However, by learning how to do that exercise the right way, and then practicing proper technique, you will quickly realize the "path" that your muscles take during the movement. If your feet are misplaced, you try to lift too much weight, or you don't keep your head up, your body will let you know by sending a "twinge" or other physical sensation. By recognizing and reacting to that internal alarm, you can save yourself a lifetime back injury.

In addition, there are countless movements that we perform in our daily lives that could potentially lead to injury if we are not in touch with our body via a high level of neuromuscular coordination.

These could include things like bending over to pick something up without properly bracing yourself, lifting heavy objects without activating the right leg and stabilizer muscles, or even just missing a step on a flight of stairs.

Conclusion

Overall, there are many benefits to having a high level of neuromuscular coordination, and there are no drawbacks whatsoever.

Also, if you are going to take the time to exercise anyway, it takes no more time to do your exercises the right way than it takes to do them the wrong way! 

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This concludes Part V of the Health, Diet, and Weight Loss Checklist Series. Feel free to share your comments on this entry, and you may also click here to read the other entries from this series.

Flexibility

Some people get an image of a highly trained athlete such as a professional gymnast or a marathon runner when they think of the word "flexible".

In truth, although athletes of all kinds need to be flexible to some degree, that doesn't mean that the average person doesn't also need to take part in flexibility training exercises.

Depending on your individual lifestyle, there could be a myriad of different reasons why you would want to be flexible. Everyone from a manual laborer to someone who simply wants to work in their garden can benefit from a decent amount of flexibility.

However, one of the most important reasons for being flexible is to prevent injuries.

Injury Prevention via Flexibility

Although the strength of your muscles is important, you must understand that your muscles are attached to your bones by tendons, which need to be flexible, and your joints are all supported by ligaments, which also need to be flexible.

Your tendons connect your muscles to your bones, and without the minor flexibility that your tendons have, your muscles would not be nearly as effective at powering your activities. That being the case, the more flexible your tendons are, the more you will be able to apply your strength through larger ranges of motion.

Likewise, your ligaments connect all of your bones to each other, and their level of flexibility also greatly enhances the actual range of motion that any given joint is allowed. 

The easiest way to see the relationship of your range of motion as allowed by the flexibility of your tendons and ligaments is to simply stand up, lock your knees, and bend over as far as you can, trying to touch your fingertips to the floor.

People who do not practice flexibility exercises on a regular basis will have a hard time actually touching their fingertips to the ground. During the attempt, however, the tendons that connect your hamstring muscles (back of the leg) to your femur (large thigh bone) will be activated. The more flexible they are, the closer you will be able to get your fingertips to the floor.

Hamstring injuries are one of the most common injuries in many sports, but you don't have to play a sport to be at risk for pulling the hamstring muscles themselves, the tendons that connect them to the body, or the ligaments that surround your knee joint.

The same thing can be said for the shoulder joint, another common area for injury both in and out of the sporting world. The shoulder joint is the most complicated joint in the human body, and its mass of muscles, tendons, and ligaments all work together to support that joint during use.

However, as with your hamstrings, the shoulder joint, or any other joint, the old adage that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link is very true.

At any given joint, the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that connect your bodily tissues and power your movement all work together. If there is an imbalance in any of those areas, it is likely not a matter of if you will get an injury, but rather a matter of when.

Flexibility Exercise Guidelines 

There are many different schools of thought regarding how to properly do flexibility exercises. However, regardless of which point of view that you personally subscribe to, there are some basics that apply across the board.

1. Extreme flexibility exercises should not be done prior to working out. In this case, "extreme" means any flexibility exercise that stretches any given joint to its extreme range of motion. By doing so, you run the risk of "pre-weakening" that joint prior to exercise, thus drastically increasing the probability that you will get injured during the exercise session.

2. You should never "bounce" when doing flexibility exercises. Your tendons and your ligaments only have a certain amount of "tensile strength," which means they can only handle a certain amount of physical stress. If you increase the physical stress on a tendon or a ligament past its present level of tensile strength by bouncing or adding additional resistance, you will get an injury – and a very painful one at that.

In order to increase the tensile strength of your tendons and ligaments, only stretch to the point where you feel a slight pull, and then just stay in that position. By doing that many times over the course of weeks or months, you will build up both the tensile strength of your tissues as well as your level of flexibility.

3. You should practice your flexibility exercises as you are cooling down after a workout or a sporting even. In most cases you should hold each stretch for at least 20-30 seconds.

The easiest way to illustrate why you should stretch out while you are cooling down is to imagine your tendons and ligaments as taffy, or some other chewy candy.

If you hold taffy in your closed hand for several minutes, it warms up and becomes very pliable. You can stretch it in many different ways without actually breaking it. Your tendons and ligaments share that concept of increased flexibility when they are warm, such as they will be after working out.

Now, imagine that you take your taffy in its stretched out position, and you put it in the freezer. Come back an hour later and the taffy has now solidified into the new shape, and it is very difficult to stretch unless you warm it up again.

Your tendons and ligaments are the same way. If you hold them in a stretched position as your body is cooling down, you are doing the equivalent of putting your taffy into the freezer. Although your tendons and ligaments will never be as inflexible or as cold as taffy in a freezer, the same basic concept applies.

Stretch out your bodily tissues as you are cooling down, and over the course of time they will eventually just hold that stretched position, rather than reverting back to their former inflexible state.

For an exhaustive database of exercises that personal trainers use to put together flexibility workouts, strength training workouts, and yoga and pilates movements, be sure to check out Fitness Generator.

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This concludes Part IV of the Health, Diet, and Weight Loss Checklist Series. Feel free to share your comments on this entry, and you may also click here to read the other entries from this series.

One of the long-standing and continually debated discussions about weight loss and physical fitness is the question of what type of exercise is the most effective in order to attain a maximum level of health.

Now, the obvious answer is that it depends on what your definition of a "maximum level of health" is. However, for the purposes of this discussion, I will assume that the average reader is simply looking for a reasonable level of health, rather than training for or having goals that are related to a particular sport or profession.

That being said, there are only two types of training that you need to be concerned with, and they are: resistance training (also called weight lifting), and cardiovascular training. Each of those exercise modalities has its benefits, and I will discuss each in detail.

Resistance Training

Resistance training gets its name from the actual act that it describes; utilizing resistance in order to push your body past its normal limits.

However, the fact that you need to bypass your normal limits does not necessarily mean that you have to use a lot of external equipment. Gravity itself can provide plenty of resistance without even having to pick up a set of dumbbells, or use an exercise machine. 

The use of various types of exercise equipment came about as a simple way of making your body go beyond its normal limits, and there is certainly nothing wrong with using various pieces of equipment in your exercise routine.

However, you should keep in mind that the primary goal of resistance exercise is to force your muscles, tendons, and ligaments to do things that they normally do not have to do. Although pushing and pulling on external resistance such as dumbbells, barbells, and resistance bands is certainly a very effective way of doing that, you can often accomplish the same thing doing bodyweight only exercises.

For the purposes of this basic primer on resistance exercise, I won't get into the myriad of different types of resistance exercise. However, if you want to learn more about resistance exercise, I highly recommend the book 'Strength Training Anatomy', which is a compact, yet fact-filled resource that includes over 100 great exercises, as well as explanations on how and why to do them.

One of the most important things for you to remember about resistance exercise when it comes to losing weight is that your muscles help you to lose weight around the clock, even when you are sleeping!

Your muscles are the most metabolically active tissues in your body, which, in laymen's terms, means that they burn the most calories. So, without getting into the science behind how that works, suffice it to say that the healthier your muscles are, the more calories you will burn. That alone is a great reason to do resistance training!

Add to that the fact that resistance training is not just for weight loss. By pushing and pulling on your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, you will force them to become stronger, as well as less prone to damage.

The benefit to this is that as you get older, you won't lose the strength and the mobility that you had when you were younger. It is a well known fact that many of the age-related illnesses and injuries that plague the elderly can be reduced or even eliminated by engaging in proper resistance exercise.

If you continually perform resistance exercise before you get to that age, there is no reason to believe that you will not retain very high levels of both mental and physical capabilities long into your golden years. Translation: No nursing home!

Cardiovascular Training

There is a common misconception that cardiovascular training is the best type of exercise to do if you want to lose weight. Although there are certainly weight loss benefits to be had from doing cardiovascular training, it can actually backfire on you if you do not properly incorporate it into your exercise program.

The reason why cardiovascular training is thought to be so effective when it comes to weight loss is because of the massive amount of calories that you can burn through when exercising. 

However, the human body is much more adaptive to its environment than most people give it credit for, and your body will quickly see through this strategy. Whenever you consistently practice cardiovascular training as your only form of exercise, your body will become very adept at providing energy in order to continue those exercise sessions.

Unfortunately, in this case, being "adept" is not what you want your body to do, because it means that you will not burn off as many calories when doing your cardiovascular training.

When you first start exercising, the new exercise program will be such a shock to your body that you may literally be gasping for air before you are done. However, in a neat little turn of events that applies to resistance exercise as well as cardiovascular exercise, you will experience what is known as the "exercise effect".

The exercise effect is nothing more than your body realizing that the trauma of exercise is going to put a physical stress on it, so it adapts to the activity by doing things such as making muscles bigger or more dense, and improving your level of cardiovascular endurance.

The exercise effect is a wonderful thing, but when it comes to cardiovascular training, the exercise effect will quickly mean that you will not burn as many calories by doing the same cardiovascular activity at the same level of intensity.

In other words, during your first month of exercise you might burn 300 calories by walking 3 miles, but whenever you do that same activity during the second month, you might only burn through 200 calories. Those are only approximations, but they do illustrate the way that the body's adaptive systems work.

This is why people who get all excited about losing weight by taking an aerobics class quickly plateau and stop losing weight even though they are still going to the aerobics class on a regular basis.

Also, don't forget that even though cardiovascular training can be an effective part of a health and weight loss program, one of the best reasons to do cardiovascular training is for the benefit of strengthening your heart and the rest of your cardiovascular system.

There are endless studies that prove conclusively that consistent cardiovascular training can do everything from keeping you disease free, to actually sustaining your life by a measure of years! 

How do you combine Resistance Exercise with Cardiovascular Training for maximum benefit?

The simple answer to this question is that you need to do both types of exercise. Neither resistance training nor cardiovascular training alone are going to give you all of the health, fitness, or weight loss benefits of doing both forms of exercise.

For the average person who is just looking to lose weight or enhance their level of physical fitness, combining resistance exercise with cardiovascular training is very simple. Here are some basic guidelines:

1. If you are going to do both types of training during the same exercise session, always do your resistance training first. This causes your body to burn through carbohydrates that are stored in your muscles, meaning that when you follow up your resistance training with cardiovascular training, you will burn through a much higher percentage of stored bodyfat during the high-calorie burning cardiovascular training session.
2. If you can split up your exercise sessions into 2 different parts of the day, always do your cardiovascular training session in the morning before you eat anything. This has the same effect as doing resistance training before cardio, which means that you will burn through a much higher percentage of bodyfat. Then, you can do your resistance training later in the day when your muscles are powered up by the heathy foods that you have eaten during that day.
3. Never exercise to the point of total exhaustion. If you push your muscles, tendons, ligaments, or your heart into the red zone, something will invariably snap. Believe me, this happens! I've worked in gyms where people got carried out on a stretcher on their way to the morgue. Listen to your body and don't overdo it!
4. Always modify your workout routine. No matter how effective your resistance training program or your cardiovascular training program is, your body will adapt to it. That doesn't mean that you always have to lift bigger or exercise longer, but it does mean that you have to change the type of exercises that you do, the time that you spend doing each activity, and the intensity that you exert when you exercise.

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This concludes Part III of the Health, Diet, and Weight Loss Checklist Series. Feel free to share your comments on this entry, and you may also click here to read the other entries from this series.

It is important to make an honest assessment at this time of what resources you are going to have available for your health and weight loss efforts, because failure to do so will likely cause you to meet with less-than amazing results later on down the road.

One of the most common reasons why people stop exercising or eating healthy foods is because unexpected circumstances in their lives cause confusion and scheduling issues which normally lead to a rapid decline in compliance with their program.

Time

Time, although free, is the most valuable asset that any of us have. However, it is very easily squandered, and if you do not properly plan the use of your time, you will all but ensure that you will not get the desired results from your program.

The time needed to live a healthy lifestyle includes any time spent actually exercising, but it also includes several other time expenditures that are not so commonly recognized:

• Driving time to and from a workout facility
• The time it takes to change from street attire into workout clothes
• Time to properly cool down and stretch out after a workout session
• The time it takes to prepare, package, and/or transport healthy meals
• Time to pick-up/drop-off children, or other family obligations that are affected by your exercise program
• Time to get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night

After looking at a list like this, and then adding in your own ideas about time-consuming tasks, you may already be starting to believe that it is simply not possible for you to take the time needed to be healthy. 

That is certainly not the case, however, and if you are truly committed to a healthy lifestyle, there is always a way to fit everything in. If you need some great tips on time and material management, you will find plenty of useful information at sites like The Ririan Project, and Lifehack.org.

Be sure to search through the archives – both of those sites are packed with great information! 

Facilities

The question of facilities that will assist you on your quest for better health and fitness can include any or all of the following:

• If you are going to workout at a gym, you need to find a gym that is in your area and that fits your needs
• If you are going to workout at home, find a place with plenty of open space, or where open space can be created quickly and easily. If you make it hard on yourself, you'll end up never working out.
• If you have children that you will be tending to around your workout schedule, you'll need to arrange for child care, or schedule workouts when the kids are not an issue. Many fitness facilities have in-house child care centers.
• Another facility issue is the question of food storage and preparation. Does your office or place of business have a refrigerator, a microwave, or maybe a blender? If not, be sure to make whatever arrangements are necessary so that you can stick to your nutrition program. 

As with the issue of time, managing your available facilities can seem like a daunting task at first, but it really isn't that difficult if you apply yourself to coming up with creative solutions.

Equipment

Depending on what you came up with as far as the facilities that you will use to support your healthy lifestyle, you will likely need to get access to certain types of equipment as well.

• If you are going to be working out at gym, then most of the actual exercise equipment that you need should be there. However, a sturdy pair of workout gloves and a spill-proof water bottle should always accompany you to the gym.
• Most people are motivated by music, or they practice time management by listening to informative or empowering audio programs while they workout. You can get a decent MP3 player or other audio device for a reasonable price that will easily suit your needs.
• If you are going to be working out at home, you will need to get some exercise equipment. You could go "all out" and spend several thousand dollars on cardio equipment, weight benches, etc., but that is not necessary. You can get plenty of cardiovascular training without a lot of equipment, and a basic set of dumbbells, an exercise ball, and a workout mat will be plenty of equipment to get your home gym started.
• In addition to exercise equipment, you can get as fancy as you want to with workout attire, although the only real "needs" when it comes to exercising are a sturdy pair of cross-training running shoes and some small towels to wipe off the sweat. If money is not an object, you can of course get a fancy new workout wardrobe, although that money would actually be better spent on a good heart-rate monitor.
• In the kitchen, your nutrition program will likely include meals and drinks that need to be portable. Get a decent blender and some resealable plastic containers and you will be all set.

Most people get into a comfortable groove with their exercise and nutrition program, and they get used to using certain types of equipment and preparing certain types of meals. Again, it's really not that hard once you get yourself set up.

Education

Okay, you've got your time, equipment, and facilities all set up, and you are ready to go! Now what? Do you have any idea what you are doing?

Another big reason why people don't get great results from their fitness programs is because they either go way overboard with their enthusiasm, yet don't see enough immediate results so they quit, or they get hurt because they didn't really know what they were doing.

Exercise and eating right are not difficult concepts, and anyone can learn the basics. You could just read through the April archives here at Fitness Destinations and get more than enough information to get you started. I transferred several years worth of fitness articles, exercises, and fitness tips onto this site in the month of April alone! Other resources that could help out include:

• A personal trainer
• Internet research – a limitless supply of information
• Friends, family or co-workers who HAVE been successful. There is very little point in listening to someone who is overweight when you are looking for weight loss advice.
• Exercise databases – check out Fitness Generator
• Nutritional data  – check out Nutrition Generator or Nutrition Data

Wherever you decide to get your health and fitness education from, make sure that you always listen to your body above all else.

Also remember that just because something worked for someone else doesn't necessarily mean that it will work for you. Always experiment with whatever systems work best for you, and don't spend any time worrying about what other people are doing.

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This concludes Part II of the Health, Diet, and Weight Loss Checklist Series. Feel free to share your comments on this entry, and you may also click here to read the other entries from this series.