Resistance training helps make improvements such as skeletal muscle hypertrophy, increased connective tissue amount and strength, increased bone density and increased muscle attachment size. Biochemical changes include increases in phosphocreatine, adenosine triphosphate, muscle creatine and glycogen, which improve muscle energy capacity.4 Resistance training can also increase fat-free weight and decrease body-fat levels. Having additional muscle mass may increase resting metabolism, which plays an important role in increasing energy expenditure.3 All of these changes are beneficial in decreasing the chance for obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and, in older people, the number of falls.

Amount of exercise

Exercise prescriptions for endurance training suggest that clients perform a type of exercise that they enjoy. To improve cardiovascular fitness levels, this exercise should be done three to five days per week, for 20 to 60 minutes, at an intensity of 40 to 85 percent of maximal heart rate.1 Beginning exercisers should begin at the lower end of the exercise prescription and, as they improve, progressively increase the time and intensity. On the other hand, the Surgeon General's Report7 recommends the accumulation of any type of physical activity for 30 minutes daily. This recommendation has been shown to improve health, rather than fitness levels. The type of training to perform, then, should depend on goals.

Exercise prescriptions for resistance training suggest performing eight to 10 exercises at least twice per week.1 Those exercises should include both upper- and lower-body exercises, and should be designed to improve the strength of the muscles exercised. This type of training is different from athletic strength training, power lifting or bodybuilding prescriptions, which are much more inclusive and intensive, and sometimes require training six to seven days per week.

Cardio-resistance training, as described in a recent article,6 is a form of cross training performed three times per week for 45 minutes per session. In this type of training, exercisers perform endurance training for approximately 2.5 minutes, then immediately transfer to heavy resistance exercises, performing eight repetition maximum lifts of each resistance exercise (Table 1). The authors suggest combining upper-body resistance exercise with lower-body endurance exercise to lessen fatigue in the lower body. Using this type of training, the cardio-resistance subjects increased both endurance capacity (12.2 percent) and muscular strength (20 percent) after 10 weeks.

Another example of a concurrent resistance and endurance exercise regimen is presented in Table 2. This regimen can be used for those clients whose goals include increasing muscle mass and strength.

Training order

When performing concurrent resistance and endurance training, most research suggests that resistance training be done first, followed by endurance conditioning.4 Still, the training order is dependent on the client's goals. If the goal is to maximize weight loss while maintaining or increasing fat-free mass, then endurance training should be done first in the exercise session, followed by resistance conditioning. Conversely, if increases in muscle mass and strength are the desired goals, then resistance training should precede endurance conditioning.

Types of gains

Clients may wonder if the gains from one type of training will interfere with the gains from the other. For the average person, this should not be a concern. Whereas single-mode training, such as resistance or endurance training, has been shown to increase muscular strength and aerobic capacity, respectively, concurrent training has been shown to increase both of these traits together, although to a lesser magnitude. In other words, combining both modes of exercise will enable exercisers to maximize benefits and enhance their well-being and health, while minimizing time in the club.

Conclusion

Concurrent resistance and endurance training can be beneficial for clients. With the proper exercise prescription, order and dedication, improvements can be made in fitness level and capacity, and overall health.

REFERENCES

1. ACSM position stand. The recommended quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardio-respiratory and muscular fitness, and flexibility in healthy adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 30(6): 975-991, 1999.

2. Baechle, T.R. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Human Kinetics: Champaign, Ill., 1994.

3. Dolezal, B.A., and J.A. Potteiger. Concurrent resistance and endurance training influence basal metabolic rate in non-dieting individuals. Journal of Applied Physiology 85(2): 695-700, 1998.

4. Foss, M.L., and S.J. Keteyian. Fox's Physiological Basis for Exercise and Sport. WCB McGraw-Hill: Boston, Mass., 1998.

5. Sale, D.G., J.D. MacDougall, I. Jacobs and S. Garner. Interaction between concurrent strength and endurance training. Journal of Applied Physiology 68(1): 260-270, 1990.

6. Sforzo, G.A., F.G. Micale, N.A. Bonnani, M. Muir and J. Wigglesworth. A new training technique: Cardio-resistance training. ACSM's Health and Fitness Journal 2(6): 11-17, 1999.

7. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Atlanta, Ga., 1996.

Donna J. Terbizan, associate professor, and Brett A. Dolezal, assistant professor, are exercise physiologists in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D., performing research in the area of concurrent strength and endurance training.

Baseball I Basketball I Board And Card Games I Cardio Respiratory Fitness I College Sports Camps I Diet and Sport
 FAFSA-Financial Aid Application I Fitness Training I Fencing I Field Hockey I Football I Golf I Gym Training I Sports Helmets Hockey I Lacrosse I Lose Weight I NAIA Conferences I NCAA DI Conferences I NCAA DII Conferences I NCAA DIII Conferences  NCAA Emerging Sports I NCAA Games Rosters I Quit Smoking I Rowing I Running I Scholarship News I Sports Shoes I Soccer Softball I Sports Clothing I Sports Medicine I Sports Training I Steroids I Swimming I Tennis I Volleyball I Weight Training  Wrestling

©  College Sports Scholarships
Contact the Webmaster

Many people find that diets that restrict certain foods and food groups lead to cravings for those forbidden foods.