4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

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4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Lani Muelrath » Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:31 am

This just up on the blog:

4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: What the research says

I did my best to simplify over 18 sections compiling over 400 research reports in this new document to bring you news you can use.

Looking forward to your thoughts, either on the blog or here!

Lani
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Knut » Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:52 pm

Well done... great job of putting the information into a clear and concise article...

I currently far exceed the minimum recommendations but will probably reduce my time and intensity to once I reach my desired weight. The health benefits have already been enormous...

I lift each body part 2 x weekly... once with high intensity and only 3 sets including warm-up... and once with medium intensity going 5 sets with increasing weight to failure.

Cardio is alternating one day of HIIT, followed by 45 min. of sustained cardio the next day. Repeat. Several times a week I add 30 min. of cardio after dinner.

1 1/2 hour walk in the mountains every day

One day off except for the walk.
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Lani Muelrath » Fri Mar 09, 2012 3:26 pm

Knut wrote:Well done... great job of putting the information into a clear and concise article...

I currently far exceed the minimum recommendations but will probably reduce my time and intensity to once I reach my desired weight. The health benefits have already been enormous...

I lift each body part 2 x weekly... once with high intensity and only 3 sets including warm-up... and once with medium intensity going 5 sets with increasing weight to failure.

Cardio is alternating one day of HIIT, followed by 45 min. of sustained cardio the next day. Repeat. Several times a week I add 30 min. of cardio after dinner.

1 1/2 hour walk in the mountains every day

One day off except for the walk.


Thanks Knut. Sounds like your in a good rhythm. Now I'm doing some research about "active couch potatoes". Apparently even if you get your hour plus in every day but the rest of the hours are spent sitting or lying, your biomarkers start to turn on you as they would on a full-time sedentary. Yes, you get the benefits of your exercise but if you don't break up hours of sitting, mortality increases nonetheless. Early stages of research on this one, but worth taking a look at. I'm putting an article together on same.

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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Knut » Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:44 pm

Looking forward to reading Harold Mayer's research on interval training.

Even though it's been almost 10 years since I worked out in earnest... even with a poor diet my earlier workouts and activity levels appear to be paying off. Have yet to come close to feeling the effects of over training and continue to increase intensity and duration a little every day. HIIT... which I only used on an infrequent basis in the past, have now become center stage and the improvements over regular training have been noticeable... that... and I think I've become less patient at 57 than I was in my prime...

Starting up again was a slow process with forcing myself to work out. Fortunately I've reached the stage where I'm almost as addicted to working out as I was back in the day. Almost have to force myself to take a day off from the gym and settle for a long walk and or easy bike ride.
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Lani Muelrath » Tue Mar 27, 2012 6:17 pm

Knut wrote:Looking forward to reading Harold Mayer's research on interval training.

Even though it's been almost 10 years since I worked out in earnest... even with a poor diet my earlier workouts and activity levels appear to be paying off. Have yet to come close to feeling the effects of over training and continue to increase intensity and duration a little every day. HIIT... which I only used on an infrequent basis in the past, have now become center stage and the improvements over regular training have been noticeable... that... and I think I've become less patient at 57 than I was in my prime...

Starting up again was a slow process with forcing myself to work out. Fortunately I've reached the stage where I'm almost as addicted to working out as I was back in the day. Almost have to force myself to take a day off from the gym and settle for a long walk and or easy bike ride.


Knut, you may also be interested to read my article on hazards of sitting too much -

5 reasons too much sitting is hazardous to your health & what to do about it

This information really has enormous impact on personal and public health. It's possible to be fully compliant with the ACSM fitness guidelines and yet suffer from the side effects of being an active couch potato. In other words, even if we do our workouts for fitness, if we have big chunks of sedentary time we suffer the same downside biomarkers as everyone else who just sits around. So you need both, exercise designated for health and/or fitness (there can be a differentiation) AND movement to break up the sedentary periods.

Which shines a big shiny beam on fitting in short segments of activity throughout the day. Moving 10 minutes every hour makes a big difference, and these can be either cardio breaks, resistance training breaks, and even mixing in standing work instead of sitting. I'm doing a quick overview here but read the article and you'll see what I mean. This research is in its infancy but there is a lot of it all pointing in the same direction - the dangers of 'sedentarism'.

Had an excellent interview with Harold Mayer. Hi will be presenting at ACSM and has another paper coming out about interval training. He makes a clear differentiation between interval training and HIIT. According to his work, HIIT can create more fitness but may bypass health measures - getting more fit does not necessarily getting more healthy. He has more studies planned, specifically on the fitness/vs. health model as well as the effects of EPOC or post-exercise oxygen consumption, which is also seen by Len Kravitz, Phd. from UNM and the American Council on Exercise as playing a role in overall calorie consumption that adds up for us, beneficially, over time.

Lani
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Hayley » Wed May 02, 2012 11:56 pm

Hi Lani,

Thanks for all of your articles - they are very inspiring and informative. I'm quite new to the McDougall program and I'm just loving getting my health back on track after years of restrictive diets. I finally have the energy to live my life. I just wanted to get your opinion on my weekly exercise plan. I am also a dancer, which is why I include alot of yoga/Pilates exercises.

Mon: 30 min jog, 1 hr Pilates
Tues: Ballet class (lots of jumps and anaerobic work)
Wed: 30 min jog, 1 hr yoga
Thurs: Ballet class (includes stretching, ab work)
Fri: 30 min jog, 1 hour Pilates
Sat: 2 hour advanced hiphop class, 1 hr walk with dogs
Sun: 1 hour yoga class

Just wondering what you thought of this plan and if you think I need to add or replace anything.

Thanks!

Hayley
"What a wonderful life I've had! If only I'd realized it sooner."
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Lani Muelrath » Thu May 03, 2012 7:30 am

Hayley wrote:Hi Lani,

Thanks for all of your articles - they are very inspiring and informative. I'm quite new to the McDougall program and I'm just loving getting my health back on track after years of restrictive diets. I finally have the energy to live my life. I just wanted to get your opinion on my weekly exercise plan. I am also a dancer, which is why I include alot of yoga/Pilates exercises.

Mon: 30 min jog, 1 hr Pilates
Tues: Ballet class (lots of jumps and anaerobic work)
Wed: 30 min jog, 1 hr yoga
Thurs: Ballet class (includes stretching, ab work)
Fri: 30 min jog, 1 hour Pilates
Sat: 2 hour advanced hiphop class, 1 hr walk with dogs
Sun: 1 hour yoga class

Just wondering what you thought of this plan and if you think I need to add or replace anything.

Thanks!

Hayley


Thanks Hayley.

It depends on your goals. If you are looking for within the guidelines as published with the ACSM healthy adults, a quick compare puts you pretty nicely in with all requirements - cardiorespiratory (jogs and walks and no doubt the hip hop!), flexibility and neuromotor with yoga and pilates. strength training with the ballet. Are you getting sufficient upper body challenge with the pilates? Throw in a few pushups and planks perhaps and it looks like you're there. Then check for 'active couch potato' details next.

What ballet do you do? Are you in a class? I developed a lot of my Fit Quickies moves from the body-weight sustained moves from my dance training because they're so good at challenging for shape and grace at the same time.

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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Hayley » Thu May 03, 2012 7:13 pm

Thanks so much for the quick reply.

I do ballet in a class (1 hr) - they also include push-ups and upper-body work and lots of jumps which are very challenging for my legs! Pilates is where I feel I get most of my toning/strengthening - I do the advanced workouts that include alot of planks, core strengthening and also butt and thigh work.

I guess my goals are to increase muscle tone (especially in the abdonimal region), flexibility (as a dancer I've never been naturally flexible and always had to work hard at it) and aerobic fitness. I find that I put muscle on quite easily as I already have a low body fat percentage but if I put a little bit of weight on it goes to the abdominals (with McDougalling and jogs though I find that my stomach is already looking more toned).

Thanks for your help and advice.

Hayley
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby slugmom » Mon May 21, 2012 8:55 am

Lani,

how does T-Tapp fit in? I know it combines strength/resistance training and cardio ...

if I was using T-Tapp as a "base" (BWO+ or one half (or the other) of TWO, so ~15-20 minutes per day, 5 days a week) then what else do I need to add to be hitting all the pillars?
- Kim

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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Lani Muelrath » Mon May 21, 2012 7:01 pm

slugmom wrote:Lani,

how does T-Tapp fit in? I know it combines strength/resistance training and cardio ...

if I was using T-Tapp as a "base" (BWO+ or one half (or the other) of TWO, so ~15-20 minutes per day, 5 days a week) then what else do I need to add to be hitting all the pillars?


Slugmom,

It depends on what your goals are and how much of a challenge what you are doing presents to you for resistance. Remember flexibility training as well. Cardiorespiratory over the course of the week should also include sustained, rhythmic activity of the large muscle groups for the duration of the training period, with no stop or start. Strength training specifics depend on your goals as well, such as in strength for sport. I also like to see people do a variety of exercise sequences, within their ability, to achieve optimal progressive results.

Hope this helps you with assessing your current practices to bring them into alignment with your goals!

Lani
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby JOJO1947 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:21 pm

Lani, great article spelling out succinctly what we should be doing for well rounded physical fitness. Thanks. I LOVE resistance training and am currently going through a session of Power of 10 - slow lifting for strength and can I see the benefit. I like to mix it up and keep my muscles in confusion. I love stretching - particularly Resistance Stretching as promoted by Dara Torres as part of her swim program - have a 20 min routine I do almost daily. Went to a 2 day resistance stretching seminar to learn the technique. And I love yoga - try to make at least 2 classes a week - sometimes do the Tony Horton P90X yoga video with my 40yp son which is fun. He's proud of his 'young' Mom! But I HATE aerobic and it's been an uphill struggle even though I know it's critical for my heart and brain. So I finally solved the problem by setting an achievable goal: walk for 30min every day. I'm at the gym 6-7 days a week anyway, so 30 min on the treadmill goes by quickly. I have a treadmill in my home too, and I also have a Labrador retriever so he's always up for a walk. So somedays I walk Harry at 2.5 MPH, or treadmill 4.2MPH on the flat, or 3MPH at 15 degree incline. I may get my HR to 120, or 140 (age 67- RHR 58) or only 100 when I'm out with Harry. But after only 3 weeks of this I feel my aerobic capacity is improving and I feel even better than I did before (which was pretty good.) I've noticed that once I'm on the darn treadmill, I figure I'm there anyway so I might as well put my HR in the most beneficial zone!
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Lani Muelrath » Mon Oct 28, 2013 6:57 am

JOJO1947 wrote:Lani, great article spelling out succinctly what we should be doing for well rounded physical fitness. Thanks. I LOVE resistance training and am currently going through a session of Power of 10 - slow lifting for strength and can I see the benefit. I like to mix it up and keep my muscles in confusion. I love stretching - particularly Resistance Stretching as promoted by Dara Torres as part of her swim program - have a 20 min routine I do almost daily. Went to a 2 day resistance stretching seminar to learn the technique. And I love yoga - try to make at least 2 classes a week - sometimes do the Tony Horton P90X yoga video with my 40yp son which is fun. He's proud of his 'young' Mom! But I HATE aerobic and it's been an uphill struggle even though I know it's critical for my heart and brain. So I finally solved the problem by setting an achievable goal: walk for 30min every day. I'm at the gym 6-7 days a week anyway, so 30 min on the treadmill goes by quickly. I have a treadmill in my home too, and I also have a Labrador retriever so he's always up for a walk. So somedays I walk Harry at 2.5 MPH, or treadmill 4.2MPH on the flat, or 3MPH at 15 degree incline. I may get my HR to 120, or 140 (age 67- RHR 58) or only 100 when I'm out with Harry. But after only 3 weeks of this I feel my aerobic capacity is improving and I feel even better than I did before (which was pretty good.) I've noticed that once I'm on the darn treadmill, I figure I'm there anyway so I might as well put my HR in the most beneficial zone!


Jojo,

Well - exemplary! Your variety - and attitude - are impressive. And you set a good example for addressing the cardio issue. There is no replacement for sustained, rhythmic activity for benefiting body, heart, and brain - even though there is a big push for CrossFit type workouts that yes, challenge your muscles and get your heart rate up - but elevated heart rate is only one of the important elements of cardio. Heck, you can hold just put your hands over your head to get your heart rate up but that doesn't translate to cardio.

Thanks for sharing!

Eat, move, be!

Lani
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Gershon » Sun Apr 13, 2014 3:44 pm

Image

Lani,
Thanks for a great article. I found the report online here: [url]file:///C:/Users/gary/Downloads/Quantity_and_Quality_of_Exercise_for_Developing.26.pdf[/url]

It looks like you did an excellent job summarizing it.

I average 10 miles a day walking at 3.5 mph. I seldom take a day off, as I tend to lose motivation if I miss a day. Besides, I swore off using the car unless necessary, and I walk most places. I don't know what my heart rate is when I walk, but I assume it's giving cardio training since my resting pulse keeps going down. Right now, it's around 53. I'm 60 years old with no physical problems. I'm 6'0" tall, weigh 179 pounds and I'm going down to 162, which is the weight I was when I graduated college. That will give me a BMI of 22.

I've never been into strength training, and I never stretch. I'm a writer, and I have an app on my computer that shuts off the keyboard for 7 minutes after 20 minutes of work. I use that time to houseclean, so that solves the sedentary problem.

There are two questions:

1. Would using the trekking poles during my daily walks give enough strength training for my arms? Keep in mind, there would be about 10,500 reps per arm each day.
2. My excess weight is concentrated in my stomach. Would sit-ups cure that or would it just create muscle under the fat?

Thanks,
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby Lani Muelrath » Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:05 pm

Gershon wrote:Image

Lani,
Thanks for a great article. I found the report online here: [url]file:///C:/Users/gary/Downloads/Quantity_and_Quality_of_Exercise_for_Developing.26.pdf[/url]

It looks like you did an excellent job summarizing it.

I average 10 miles a day walking at 3.5 mph. I seldom take a day off, as I tend to lose motivation if I miss a day. Besides, I swore off using the car unless necessary, and I walk most places. I don't know what my heart rate is when I walk, but I assume it's giving cardio training since my resting pulse keeps going down. Right now, it's around 53. I'm 60 years old with no physical problems. I'm 6'0" tall, weigh 179 pounds and I'm going down to 162, which is the weight I was when I graduated college. That will give me a BMI of 22.

I've never been into strength training, and I never stretch. I'm a writer, and I have an app on my computer that shuts off the keyboard for 7 minutes after 20 minutes of work. I use that time to houseclean, so that solves the sedentary problem.

There are two questions:

1. Would using the trekking poles during my daily walks give enough strength training for my arms? Keep in mind, there would be about 10,500 reps per arm each day.
2. My excess weight is concentrated in my stomach. Would sit-ups cure that or would it just create muscle under the fat?

Thanks,
Gershon


Gershon,

Sounds like you have developed quite a system for staying active! Nice work. I'm impressed with the auto-shutoff on your computer.

Trekking poles will give you some modicum of upper body challenge, though a muscle activity that can be kept up for such an extended amount of time as on a trek would qualify more as cardiovascular exercise than upper body strength training.

Situps do not target abdominal fat. Your body pulls from fat stores all over the body as fuel, so you cannot spot reduce the fat. That would be a function of calorie deficit.

Lani
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Re: 4 pillars of the ideal workout schedule: From the ACSM

Postby JOJO1947 » Mon May 12, 2014 10:10 am

Lani, wanted to give you a progress update.................... I posted here in October and included my hate for aerobic workouts. But I have persisted. My RHR was 58 then, and it's 53 now. And I've upped the speed at which I jog and it's impossible to get my HR up to 140, which it would almost always hit during the last interval. Sometimes it only gets to 126-130! Just from those numbers I know my heart is pumping more efficiently, and oxygen utilization by the muscles has improved. So a) I still hate it b) I love what it's doing for me and c) I'm now hooked! :)
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