Physical exercise is the performance, which is usually done in order to develop or maintain good physical shape and to increase overall health state. It has very important role in preventing several diseases such as cancer, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
There are three major forms of exercises:
- Flexibility exercises - these includes several exercises made for improvement of muscles and joints range of motion.
- Aerobic exercises – exercises for the improvement of cardio vascular strength and endurance. Most common examples are simple walking on the air or running.
- Anaerobic exercises – group of exercises made for the increasing of the short-term muscle strength. Most common is definitely a weight lifting.
There are many more sub-types of exercising such as high-density exercise, high-intensity interval training, isometric exercise, resistance training and agility training!
Benefits of regular physical exercising
The fact is that regular physical activity provides enormous health benefits. It affects almost every part of human functioning, including both physical and psychological health!
Several studies have showed that regular physical activity:
- reduces the risk of heart disease (13.5 million Americans have coronary heart disease)
- helps lower high blood pressure and cholesterol (50 million people have high blood pressure)
- protect you from developing certain cancers
- helps prevent osteoporosis
- Alleviates symptoms of depression and anxiety and many more diseases.
- prevent symptoms of diabetes (8 million Americans have diabetes)
It also relieving symptoms of insomnia and prevent obesity. Although many think that regular exercises can only make a person tired, it is opposite! Exercise can only increase overall body energy and raise your threshold for pain. Another health benefit of resistance training is improved bone health.
Anatomy of the muscles
Muscle is the contractile tissue of the body and its primary role is to contract and produce force and cause some kind of motion or spasm!
Some of them are necessary for the survival such as heart muscle, which contracts involuntary or continuous movements of the bowels called peristalsis!
In generally, there are three types of muscles in out bodies:
- Smooth muscles – they are located mostly in internal organs and blood vessels.
They cannot get tired and their contraction is very slow. They belong to the group of muscles called involuntary muscles
- Skeletal muscles – they are under influence of our will and we can control their contraction. They are connected to the bone with tendons and mostly control our skeletal movement. Unlike smooth muscles- these kinds of muscles can get tired
- Heart muscle - a special kind of muscle, which cannot be identified with previous two types. It does not get tired and it is involuntary!
Like any other tissue in our organism, muscles are also made of cells, but special kind of cells called muscle fibers. The muscle cell is filled with special kind of structures called myofibrils. Myofibrils are divided into sarcomeres, which are made of actin and myosin and thanks to them- contraction is possible.
There are approximately 650 skeletal muscles in the human body which together account for about 40 % of a human's weight and of course, they are divided in certain groups.
Human muscle groups, by their localization are:
- Head & Neck Muscles
- Upper Extremity Muscles
- Back Muscles
- Thoracic Muscles
- Abdomen Muscles
- Pelvic Muscles
- Lower Extremity Muscles
They can also be divided by size - vastus, maximus, longus, minimus and brevis; shape - deltoid, rhomboid, wide, teres, trapezius or action – abductor, adductor, flexor, extensor, and elevator!
Exercises for abdominal muscles
All abdominal muscles can be divided in those that support vertebral column and muscles that form abdominal wall. The biggest muscle in this group is definitely a rectus abdominis or “six pack” muscle! The abdominal workouts will strengthen your lower, upper and oblique abdominal muscles. There are currently over 200 different abdominal exercises but there are some that are practiced most frequently such as
- Hip role exercises – where the parson lies on the back and then rolls legs with bended knees left and right
- Normal sit-ups – most common exercise for abdominal muscles.
- Bridging – person is lying on back and then holds up
Exercises for back and chest muscles
Pectoralis major is a powerful and biggest chest muscle, with its primary function to adduct the hand to the body! It attaches from your chest bone to your arm.
There are many exercises for this muscle group because well-developed chest muscles are responsible for a great overall appearance. Some of them are Barbell Bench Press, Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover, Butterfly, Chest Cable, Crossover, but the most common is simple Bench Press.
Back muscles are one of the biggest groups of muscles in human body.
The erector spine group of muscles on each side of the vertebral column is a large muscle mass that goes from the pelvis to the head. Their primary role is extending the vertebral column to maintain erect posture.
Most common exercises for this group of muscles are:
- Behind-neck Pull Downs- it is about holding a bar above head and then slowly pulling the bar down toward your head, slightly arching your head forward.
- Close-grip Front Pull Downs- it is done while the person is sitting when the bar should be brought down to your chin
- Dumbbell Rows- Dumbbell should be grabbed with one hand and then, with arm fully extended toward the floor, slowly bring the weight up using elbow and your big leg muscles
Muscles of the upper extremities
The muscles of the upper extremity include
- Those that attach the scapula to the thorax -trapezius and serratus anterior.
- Those that attach the humerus to the scapula - pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, deltoid, and rotator cuff muscles
- Those that are located in the arm or forearm- triceps brachii, biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis.
Best exercises for this group of muscles are:
- Standing Barbell Curls - This exercise is a basic movement that works the biceps and forearms. Moving only your forearms, bicep strength is used to curl the barbell up to shoulder level
- Standing Dumbbell Curls – Person should stand with feet shoulder width apart. Dumbbells should hang at arms length on each side of body and elbows should be kept close to torso at all times.
- Preacher Curls- Moving only forearms, bicep strength should be used to curl the barbell up to shoulder level.
- Triceps Dumbbell Extensions- dumbbell should slowly lowered the in an arc motion behind head until the elbow is at a 90-degree angle. Then it should be slowly lifted in an arc motion back to the starting position.
Muscles of the lower extremities
There are many muscles that have at least one attachment on lower extremities but the largest muscle mass belongs to the posterior group, the gluteal muscles.
Muscles that move the leg are located in the thigh region and upper leg region in generally.
Biggest muscle is the quadriceps femoris, which is made of four different muscles! Most common exercises for this group of muscles are:
- Squats
- Hack Squats
- Leg Presses
- Leg Extensions
- Hamstring Curls
How to know when to stop
Although, exercises have many beneficial effects on overall human health, but too much exercises can be harmful and even dangerous!
Proper rest and recovery are very important to health as exercise, otherwise the body will be in permanently injured state and it will not adapt to the exercise.
Without proper rest between repetitions, the chance of stroke or other circulation problems increases significantly.
Over-exercising does more harm than good, when we talk about running. Excessive running can cause one condition called rhabdomyolysis- damage of the muscle fibers! People that exercise daily for many years, develop some kind of addiction on it. This mechanism still is not explained completely, but the fact is that most of them develop feelings of depression and agitatition. Most believe that this is due to withdrawal from the natural endorphins produced by exercise.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine, it is recommended having a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on almost every day of the week! Moderate-intensity means slight but noticeable increase in breathing and heart rate.
The breathing
Although, no one really thinks about it! The breathing is one of the most important aspects of good and healthy exercises! This is because the oxygen uptake must be on maximum and should follow the body’s needs!
Exercises and weight reduction
Physical activity helps to reduce body fat by building muscle mass and improving the body's ability to use calories. 30 minutes of daily exercises combined with calorie intake calculations and control can result in wanted weight loss. Most people are able to loose more then 30 pounds during the year of regular exercises and keep them off for good! Approximately, 400 calories are burned during 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercises!
Exercises and mental functions
Beside the fact that regular exercises can help relieving symptoms of depression, agitation and anxiety that most of the people experience daily. Exercise helps the brain to maintain high level of concentration by increasing the blood and oxygen flow to the brain and increasing chemicals in the brain that help cognition and creation of new brain cells!
