How Often Should I Workout?

An effective fitness program revolves around understanding the “dose-response relationship” of exercise.  When contemplating an exercise program, we often focus on, “what should I do?”  We must also consider: How often?  For how long?  How hard?  The “dose-response relationship” delineates: What is the proper dose of exercise (the frequency, duration, and intensity) that will elicit the desired response (improved body composition, cardio-respiratory fitness, muscle strength, etc.)?  Analogous to the prescription of a drug, too small of a dose, and no effect is produced.  Likewise, too large of a dose results in toxicity.  Zeroing in on the appropriate dose-response relationship is a paramount pursuit of the exercise scientist.

An Emerging and Important Non-Strength Benefit of Strength Training

Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose is doing some of the most interesting and important research currently taking place in the field of exercisescience.  Dr. Liu-Ambrose's research focuses on the impact of  exercise and specifically, strength training, on brain function.  Her most recent study, published just a few weeks ago in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (and covered in an excellent article by Gretchen Reynolds of the New York Times ( http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/lifting-weights-twice-a-week-may-aid-the-brain/?_r=0), investigates the impact of strength training on "white matter lesions."  Specifically, the study sought to determine whether or not strength training could slow the progression of white matter lesions on the brains of older women.  Researchers divided subjects into three groups: (1) twice-per week strength training; (2) once-per week strength training; and (3) a group who did stretching and balance exercises only.

Will the Real HIT Please Stand Up

At Discover Strength, we often refer to our approach to resistance exercises as HIT or High Intensity Training.  We have used this terminology for the last 10 years and I have employed HIT as a strength coach since 1999.  Recently, the terms "High Intensity Training," "HIT", or "HIIT" (High Intensity Interval Training) have increased in popularity.  Seemingly, if your heart rate is elevated or if there is sweat dripping off your nose during exercise, you are performing a variation of "HIT."  This really couldn't be any further from the truth.

Inspirational Yet Realistic Bod Pod Progress

Karin joined the DS team as a personal trainer in December of 2014.  From the very beginning, she performed a Bod Pod test.  Her progress over the last 9 months is a testament to intelligent body composition improvement.

Two Kinds of Motivation

My psychology or sport-psychology friends would be upset with me because I'm not actually talking about the academic classifications of motivation (intrinsic, extrinsic, fear, achievement, and so on). I'm talking about two, simple manifestations of motivation to reap maximum benefit from your workouts. Both are important. You may master one type ofmotivation while struggling with the other. Both must be nurtured.

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