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Anaerobic fitness is the force component of fitness in general, which also
contains at least two other essential components: aerobic fitness (the part of
cardio-vascular resistance) and joint mobility. Speed and skill are native
qualities and they are not very relevant for the health state – which is the
main concern in mass fitness, the one meant to keep the body in good shape.
The purpose of anaerobic training programs is developing the force, the
fortifying of the body or the muscular mass. There are situations when only
force or muscle fortifying is intended. The typical example for these situations
is given by the sports organized in categories, in which physical force (with
the interdiction of going over a certain limit of weight) is tested. Growth of
muscular mass determines increase of force and fortifying of the skeletal
muscles. In this case, the fitness programs are very similar to body building
trainings, without being followed by the spectacular, yet dangerous changes,
specific to body building.
The purpose of anaerobic fitness is uniform, balanced and harmonious
development of all the muscles, without ignoring their functionality. This last
idea is important for making a clear difference between fitness and the
tendencies, many times narcissistic, manifested by body building practitioners.
The sportsman who takes up fitness wants to be able to and is able to do
something with his muscles, more than showing them in contests or in different
other occasions and places (disco, swimming pool, clubs, etc.).
One of the important characteristics of anaerobic fitness trainings is the
use of general programs, during which all or almost all the muscles are worked
out in one training session. In body building the programs are divided and
trainings are focused every time on one, two or at most three groups of muscles;
while in fitness one training can be focused on a certain area, but it does not
exclude the other muscles, which will benefit, directly or indirectly, of at
most one exercise for each group of muscles. This way, the programs are not
excessively long; they take an average of one hour and fifteen minutes; thus the
catabolic faze is avoided; this usually appears in very long training sessions
(two hours or even more).
Another modality of reducing the time of training is doing super-series whose
object is to train two antagonistic groups of muscles (chest and back or biceps
and triceps, etc.). Thus, for each group of muscles must be performed a series
of exercises, without a break in between; the break is taken only at the end of
this double effort. The programs can also contain triple series or even
giant-series (more than three exercises one after the other). The intensity of
the training can be considerably increased: many muscles can be trained in a
short time.
The weekly frequency of the training remains the same (three sessions); so
the aerobic phase can be covered in the free days. If only three or even two
weekly sessions are possible, mixed programs can be adopted: after the anaerobic
fitness, always done at the beginning of the session, 15-20 minutes of aerobic
fitness are added for balancing the two phases (anaerobic and aerobic). In this
case, also, training must not take longer than one hour and a half; otherwise
the phase of catabolic processes is initiated – a phase in which muscles
'self-cannibalize'.
Anaerobic fitness is recommended to all somatic types, with specific
differences of modality of training.
In the cases of ectomorphic and mezomorphic types, all the series (3 or 4)
performed on the same machine must be finished, and then the machine and the
group of muscles which is trained must be changed at the same time. This system
is also called 'workshop training'.
In the case of the endomorphic type (the overweight), circuit training is
preferred: the group of muscles trained is changed after every series and the
whole circuit must be repeated three or four times. This type of training
consumes more calories because an aerobic component is introduced by not having
breaks between series and slightly increasing the cardiac frequency.
Growth of muscular mass through fitness programs can't exceed one weight
category (5-6 kg), but they do not misbalance the other motion parameters.
About The Author
Gaby Munteanu is a fitness trainer, with over 15 years experience, and editor
at http://www.healthfitnessworld.com. HealthFitnessWorld.com - Health, Fitness, Body
Building, Weight Loss, Nutrition - Articles and Resources.
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