FitBits
Exercise ETC's
Review of Exercise Related Research
January 15, 2010
Compiled by Chris Marin o, MS, CSCS
Director of Education, Exercise ETC
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Could Deter Business
The personal fitness industry is one of the most challenging arenas in which to be successful. Can you think of any other business where the client pays you a substantial fee and then performs all the hard work herself? Most successful fitness professionals have spent their careers learning to overcome objections to lifestyle changes including exercise. What if research helped us understand the underlying attitudes and perceptions that fuel self-doubts, such as "I just don’t have the time to exercise?" Understanding attitudes toward exercise may help us become more empathetic towards both prospective and current customers, facilitating the improvement of facility designs and programs to attract and retain overweight customers.
A recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior has shed some light on how overweight and obese persons view exercise and health clubs. Researchers at The George Washington University Medical Center administered a survey to nearly 1600 people of whom approximately 63% were overweight.
Interestingly, the researchers determined that people who are overweight consider exercise to be valuable to appearance and self-image more so than those who are not overweight. Moreover, there is greater intimidation among overweight persons for exercise in general, exercising around younger individuals or those who appear to be more fit, and an aversion to health club salespeople. Overweight women were found to be most embarrassed to exercise.
Surprisingly, a person's weight did not impact whether people are comfortable exercising around those of the opposite sex, get bored with exercise, and find exercise equipment too complicated or simply have the intent to exercise.
Additionally, the researchers reported a linear correlation between a person’s weight and the negative emotions about health coupled with exercising in a health club. In other words, the more overweight a person is, the more likely he or she is to feel negatively about exercise in a health and about their health in general. This is possibly most enlightening outcome to this study for fitness professionals and health club operators. It reinforces the need for health clubs and fitness pros to go out of their way to create a positive experience for overweight customers if they expect to change this perception over time.
Miller, W.C. and Miller, T.A. (2010) Attitudes of Overweight and Normal Weight Adults Regarding Exercise at a Health Club. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 42(1): 2-9.
What's
The Secret to Long Life:
Exercise or Calorie Restriction?
Longevity research recently uncovered a link between restrictive calorie intakes (i.e. below metabolic homeostasis) and increased lifespan in animals. From these studies researchers propose that lower calorie intakes improve cardio-metabolic risk profiles, thus reducing mortality associated with cardiovascular disease, which should product similar results in humans.
In a recent study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers compared the effects of a 25% negative energy balance via diet only or diet plus exercise to determine whether improvements in cardio-metabolic factors could be translated to reduced mortality. Thirty-six healthy persons were divided into two groups. The first group reduced daily calorie intake by 25% (CR), the second reduced consumption by 12.5% while achieving another 12.5% reduction in energy through aerobic exercise (EX).
The researchers assessed a variety of cardio-metabolic risk factors including: total cholesterol, HDL, and LDL, triglycerides, blood pressure, and insulin sensitivity. Additional measurements of aerobic and muscular fitness were collected.
Although both groups showed similar improvements in body weight and body fat composition, the EX group showed greater improvement in all blood chemistry values and in diastolic blood pressure. Moreover, the EX group improved aerobic fitness by up to 22%, whereas the calorie restricted group saw a slight decline in aerobic fitness. Prior research has determined that for every 1 MET increase in aerobic capacity there is a 12% increase in lifespan. In this study, participants in the EX group increased aerobic capacity by 1.6 METs on average, which would translate to just under 20% increase in lifespan.
Although improvements to blood chemistry indicate the potential for calorie restricted diets to improve mortality in human, this study proposes that achieving a similar negative energy balance using a combination of diet and exercise will produce a more significant benefit to long life.
Larson-Meyer, D.E., et al (2010) Caloric Restriction with or without Exercise: The Fitness versus Fatness Debate. MSSE. 42(1): 152-159.
Functional Training vs. Machine Training: Free Weight Squat vs. Smith Squat?
Strength coaches and personal trainers are in constant disagreement over which is the "better" squat, a free standing free weight squat or a squat using a Smith Machine. Proponents of the free weight squat claim greater function and performance improvements because they anticipate greater demands on stabilization. In contrast, Smith Machine advocates support greater safety and improved loading capacity, which should translate into increased muscle recruitment and greater strength.
Canadian researchers recently put both to the test using Electromyographic feedback to determine muscle activation patterns for each squat form. Six college-aged men and women participated in the study, each having prior experience with strength training. Each person completed 1 set using an 8 RM (repetition maximum) resistance for both the free weight squat and Smith Machine squat. Researchers recorded EMG for seven muscles: tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris, lumbar erector spinae, and rectus abdominus.
Compared to the Smith Machine Squat, participants measured greater activity in the gastrocnemius (34%), the biceps femoris (26%), the vastus medialis (49%), and vastus lateralis (25%) while performing a free weight squat. Interestingly, EMG for the trunk stabilizers, rectus abdominus and erector spinae, were similar. In total, EMG was 43% higher for the free weight squat.
Based on this research
it appears the free weight squat has greater potential for strengthening
muscles involved in stabilizing the knee and should thus be considered
for populations who are at risk for knee injury or for individuals looking
to optimal strength gains. Moreover, this study contrasts previous
studies that have reported strengthening of the knee extensors using the
Smith Machine.
Although the free weight squat may be the preferred exercise for optimal
strengthening, there remain drawbacks to its use. First, carriage
of a bar of sufficient resistance across the shoulders may compromise
shoulder health. Additionally, the Smith Machine allows for placement
of the feet forward of the body, thus reducing knee flexion angles
when the thigh reaches parallel.
Studies such as these are always an opportunity to remember that research is only half the battle. Selecting the appropriate exercise based on muscle recruitment, while considering the safety of loading the movement and potential biomechanical inefficiencies that a client may present requires you, the trainer to be adaptable.
Schwanbeck, S. et al (2009) A Comparison of Free Weight Squat to Smith Machine Squat Using Electromyography. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 23(9): 2588-2591.
Fire Up Those Glutes
Over the past few years, industry leaders have emphasized preparatory activation of the gluteal muscles to enhance both injury prevention and training effects. Awareness was heightened as a result of research which determined poor gluteal recruitment subsequent to lower extremity injury, and from the teachings of the late Vladimir Janda who suggested the gluteus maximus is reciprocally inhibited by a tight psoas as is found in the anterior pelvic posture distortion. Although this is not revolutionary information, it has yet to be integrated into the fitness culture on a broad scale as pieces of the puzzle are still coming together. For example, researchers have yet to determine the most effective movements and loading characteristics through which to optimize glute muscle recruitment. The most recent study looked at the effectiveness of closed-chain exercise in recruiting gluteus medius (GM)
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic measured EMG in the GM in five closed-chain weight-bearing exercises to determine which is most effective. The GM is both an abductor and adductor of the hip, giving it a primary role in stabilization when standing on one leg. Recent evidence links poor GM function to ACL injuries, IT Band syndromes, and patellofemoral pain, the most common form of chronic knee pain in adults.
Twenty healthy young men and women with no history of lower extremity injury participated in the study. Researcher collected EMG readings from the GM during 5 activities: bilateral standing, single leg standing on a stable base and on an Airex pad, and a single leg squat both on stable footing and on the Airex pad.
As expected there was greater GM activity when the individual moved from a bilateral to single leg stance. However, the EMG recordings for both squatting and standing on the stable and unstable surfaces were similar. Although the authors reported a trend towards greater activation on the Airex pad it may not be appropriate to speculate that an unstable surface is any better than a properly loaded single leg squat to improve hip stability. Regardless, this is the first study to report the GM EMG during dynamic functional movement patterns.
Previous studies have determined isometric closed-chain activities to be more effective in activating GM when compared to open-chain exercises (i.e. side lying leg lifts, or standing hip abduction). Based on this information, fitness professionals should include more single leg exercises if they wish to improve hip stability.
Krause, D.A., et al (2009) Electromyographic Analysis of the Gluteus Medius in Five Weight-Bearing Exercises. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 23(9): 2689-2694.
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