Mar 20 2024 - Boot Camp Leading

 

I am trying to find out the best leadership styles for exercise classes.  I am thinking about those Peloton ads where people are screaming various encouragements.  I don't find any articles on the topic directly other than a youtube title 60+ minute Scream Sesh / Full Cycling Class.   I am wondering about this as there is an increase of raised voice yelling in my various exercise classes at the Y.  there is also the demand that the class participants count down repetitions of various moves.  And there's the demand for "louder" and "can't hear you".   People screaming when working out is another topic.  Is it normal to scream in the gym?  is a question.  There are etiquette answers and then there is an academic article.   Here's the summary:  People experiencing strong feelings of fatigue during exercise sometimes subconsciously yell to refocus their efforts and, thus, maintain exercise performance. The present study examined the influence of yelling during high-intensity exercise by analysing cardiorespiratory reactions and integrated electromyography (iEMG) changes in the vastus lateralis during a cycle ergometer test. Here's the conclusion:  Yelling enhances the peak O2 pulse and VO2 and maintains CO2-exclusion efficiency during high-intensity exercise. It may enable maintaining muscle activation without stronger EMG signals being required during high-intensity exercise. So maybe our instructors yelling at us is them getting tired, and we're there for the "ride".   This picture is the Lincoln Leapers.  We don't do that in exercise class.

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Oct 18 2022 - Mobility Routines

 

Our extraordinarily fit instructor in yesterday's exercise class told us to go look into Mobility.  And then she demonstrated by holding a bar horizontally with both hands up above her head and reaching up over behind her head and bringing it down behind her back.  It was strange.   So what are Mobility Drills?  These are exercises that are specifically geared towards training your range of motion around joints. They involve actively moving, contracting and relaxing muscles through the joints range of motion.  Some of these may isolate, while others involve multi-joint movement patterns.   Mobility is more complex than flexibility: "To speak scientifically, mobility is “proprioception” – our perception and awareness of our body’s positions and movements. Mobility training, then, includes a range of exercises designed to increase your range-of-motion, control muscles surrounding each joint, and help you move more actively. Flexibility, on the other hand, is the stretching and lengthening of our muscles. When you can increase the stretch and length of your connective tissue, you can help your body through a full range of movements without causing injury, stiffness and pain."  That distinction is  from evofitness.com Here are a few of the routines in this link HERE.  Child’s Pose to Downward-Facing Dog Frog Pose to Deep Squat  Chest and Shoulder Opener  Hitchhiker Hamstring and Hip OpenerArm and Shoulder Circles Hip Circles Aren't these names for exercises curious, interesting, or even alarming?  Go check out the unlimited names for fitness classes  and routines - people are creative and there seem to be lots of people involved in this area. Here are some silly fitness class names: Power Hour. Curls n' Crunches. Fab & Fit & Fun. Abs Fab / Fab Abs. Walk this Weigh. Wishful Shrinking. Move it, Shake it, Lift it. Why so many ideas?  Think FITBIT/Smart Watch - it wants you to create nicknames for your workouts.   This is Chrysanthemum time at all the botanic gardens.  Here's the Longwood Gardens' Thousand Flower Tree - one Chrysanthemum plant!  The spider mums are from last year's show in Hamilton.

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Sep 20 2022 - The existential Woo-Hoo

 

To grunt and scream or not to grunt and scream, that is the performance question:  a Shakespearean Hamlet existential soliloquy for athletes. There's that yelling in exercise class when an activity is completed.   Mostly it is one or two female instructors at the Y doing Woo-Hoos and pumping fists in the air.  These are loud and exclamatory.   I got to wondering what it was about.   I looked up the definition and it says that these are considered traditional exclamations of triumph or vindication.   We're not doing extraordinary work in these classes.  We're not competing to win.  So what would make someone want to declare 'victory'  after a (small) exercise segment is completed?  These may be answerable or unanswerable questions, like Hamlet's. What came up in the article feed that is  more interesting is when it comes to grunting and screaming before physical exertion. One article says that a quick yell or grunt before an exercise may increase strength, according to researchers from Iowa State University.   "While the proper technique can only be taught by an expert, forcefully expelling air in the form of a quick yell or grunt may help stabilize your core and have the same affect on force production and strength, Welch says." Another article says that scientists don't know exactly why a sharp yell or grunt gives people that extra oomph when they do things like lift weights or swat at a tennis ball, but it's probably related to a communication signal from the part of the brain that controls breathing to the part that controls muscle function, said O'Connell. As for the Woo-hoo's in the gym, my sense is that we're in the age of showing off through loud exclamations.

These are the Lincoln Leapers at the Festival of Arts.  They are amazing in performance.  Can you imagine us skipping like this in exercise class?  It might give rise to grunting and yelling.    Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

May 17 2022 - And on to Aquafit

 

There's a lot of jarring of the joints in exercise classes.  Jumping jacks, skipping, running are essential parts of cardio classes.  I decided that I would give aquafit a try starting in January 2022.  Our Y is only 10 years old, and it has amazing facilities, including an excellent swimming pool.  Aqua aerobics are much easier on the joints and muscles given the support of water.  There is a greater range of motion allowed because of the lower impact of gravity.   There seems to be emphasis on calories burned in articles describing the benefits of a water aerobics class, so how many calories would we burn in a work out class? Take our Wednesday HIIT (high intensity interval training) class.  It follows a pattern of 20 seconds of intense burn followed by a 10 second rest.  It consists of a circuit of different exercises so there's lots of variety. While our classes are 45 minutes, a one hour class is said to burn between 600 to 900 calories.  That seems like a lot. In comparison, my guess is that our cardiomix class burns the most calories as there are no intervals off.  The articles say 600 calories for a cardio class.  And our water aerobics? Water aerobics is expected to burn between 400 to 500 calories per hour.  Ours seems to be a gentle sort - aimed at the seniors in the pool. I'm now at the 5 month mark of doing aquafit two times a week.  And the promise is accurate - there is a definite  increase in strength in arms and legs -the pushing and pulling against the weight of water is excellent resistance training. As I check out the calories burned in a typical exercise class, it is very funny that exercise programs have strange and very noticeable names.  The example that got my attention: "The Insanity workout "  It involves bodyweight exercises and high-intensity interval training.  Insanity workouts are performed 20 to 60 minutes at a time, 6 days a week for 60 days.  Who would produce something called an Insanity workout? Beachbody with their Battle Tested Programs.  That's who.   A double daffodil in the garden. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

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