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Everyone knows exercise is critical to living a healthy lifestyle. Many of us, however, find it difficult to choose a type of exercise that will best help us achieve our goals, whether we want to lose weight, build muscle, gain strength, prevent bone loss, or increase flexibility. Many medical doctors, naturopathic physicians, holistic health care practitioners and nutrition experts have opinions and strategies to help their patients reach their exercise goals. But what if the scientists at NASA could shed some light on ways to put together an exercise plan to reach your goals?
Intensity and Resistance: The Secret to Results-Oriented Exercise
NASA and its astronauts have been quite busy recently! Besides repairing the Hubble Telescope, NASA has been conducting significant research into exercise.
This exercise research originally started to help their own astronauts with a unique problem: astronauts who spent a long time in space at the International Space Station returned to Earth with significant losses of mass and strength in their muscles and bones. The scientists realized that the reason these highly trained individuals were losing so much of their strength is due to being in zero gravity.
To counter the effects of space on muscle and bone mass, NASA has invested enormous resources in resistance exercise machines like the Interim Resistance Exercise Device (iRED) and the newer Advanced Resistance Exercise Device (aRED). In laymans terms, these devises used a combination of rubber bands and cables to allow the astronauts to do squats and other exercises while in space, mimicking the weight that they would have from gravity were they doing these same exercises at home.
Sounds like a perfect solution. Except…when the astronauts returned home, scientists realized that their muscle and bone loss was equal to what it was before the fancy new machines. These NASA designed exercise devices were not successful in stimulating muscle and bone!
What’s the catch? Why didn’t the machines work? And how does this affect those of us still here on planet Earth?
Natural Health Exercise Recommendations
What was missing from the NASA program was that the exercise machines astronauts used in space provided too little resistance and placed too little intensity on the muscles and bones. This countered the effect of gravity, but it wasn’t enough to just mimic gravity; more intensity was required to really stimulate muscle and bone strength.
On a much less dramatic scale, we can apply this knowledge to our earthly exercise routines. In order to have strong muscles, healthy bones, and enjoy the benefits of exercise, it is critical to use weights with enough resistance and optimize the number of repetitions for each set of exercise.
Here are some holistic health tips for getting the most out of your exercise workout.
Use Heavier Weights:
1. To improve muscle strength and bone density you need to perform resistance bearing exercises such as lifting weights.
2. Lift weights approximately 70-80% of your max. Lifting weights with enough resistance compresses bone cells. This slows bone mineral loss and increases bone density by providing enough force to stimulate growth.
3. Do low reps. Perform 6 to 8 repetitions per set instead of 12 or 15. Complete 2 or 3 sets like this. Lower reps allow you to use more weight to provide the necessary stimulus to muscles.
Increase the intensity:
1. Include explosive exercises such as interval training, sprinting or jumping.
2. Intensity (without overdoing it) is the key to results-oriented exercise.
To sum it up: stronger muscle = stronger and healthier bones = longer and healthier life!
This space-age research confirms what many other studies have shown: if you want to improve your health and increase the effectiveness of your exercise routine, more intense workouts will help you lose weight and gain strength- all in less time. Make sure and consult your physician or naturopathic doctor before beginning your new exercise program. This way you are sure to avoid too much stress on the body or injury. Enjoy a great workout!
Intensity and Resistance: The Secret to Results-Oriented Exercise
NASA and its astronauts have been quite busy recently! Besides repairing the Hubble Telescope, NASA has been conducting significant research into exercise.
This exercise research originally started to help their own astronauts with a unique problem: astronauts who spent a long time in space at the International Space Station returned to Earth with significant losses of mass and strength in their muscles and bones. The scientists realized that the reason these highly trained individuals were losing so much of their strength is due to being in zero gravity.
To counter the effects of space on muscle and bone mass, NASA has invested enormous resources in resistance exercise machines like the Interim Resistance Exercise Device (iRED) and the newer Advanced Resistance Exercise Device (aRED). In laymans terms, these devises used a combination of rubber bands and cables to allow the astronauts to do squats and other exercises while in space, mimicking the weight that they would have from gravity were they doing these same exercises at home.
Sounds like a perfect solution. Except…when the astronauts returned home, scientists realized that their muscle and bone loss was equal to what it was before the fancy new machines. These NASA designed exercise devices were not successful in stimulating muscle and bone!
What’s the catch? Why didn’t the machines work? And how does this affect those of us still here on planet Earth?
Natural Health Exercise Recommendations
What was missing from the NASA program was that the exercise machines astronauts used in space provided too little resistance and placed too little intensity on the muscles and bones. This countered the effect of gravity, but it wasn’t enough to just mimic gravity; more intensity was required to really stimulate muscle and bone strength.
On a much less dramatic scale, we can apply this knowledge to our earthly exercise routines. In order to have strong muscles, healthy bones, and enjoy the benefits of exercise, it is critical to use weights with enough resistance and optimize the number of repetitions for each set of exercise.
Here are some holistic health tips for getting the most out of your exercise workout.
Use Heavier Weights:
1. To improve muscle strength and bone density you need to perform resistance bearing exercises such as lifting weights.
2. Lift weights approximately 70-80% of your max. Lifting weights with enough resistance compresses bone cells. This slows bone mineral loss and increases bone density by providing enough force to stimulate growth.
3. Do low reps. Perform 6 to 8 repetitions per set instead of 12 or 15. Complete 2 or 3 sets like this. Lower reps allow you to use more weight to provide the necessary stimulus to muscles.
Increase the intensity:
1. Include explosive exercises such as interval training, sprinting or jumping.
2. Intensity (without overdoing it) is the key to results-oriented exercise.
To sum it up: stronger muscle = stronger and healthier bones = longer and healthier life!
This space-age research confirms what many other studies have shown: if you want to improve your health and increase the effectiveness of your exercise routine, more intense workouts will help you lose weight and gain strength- all in less time. Make sure and consult your physician or naturopathic doctor before beginning your new exercise program. This way you are sure to avoid too much stress on the body or injury. Enjoy a great workout!
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