BASIC TRAINING.Q: I'm a 51-year-old handicapped woman trying to maintain a 147-pound weight loss. I was walking two miles a day and have been going to Curves five days a week. I increased my walking to three times a day for three miles a day for five days a week. I can only walk for 30 minutes at a time. When I started walking three miles I gained a pound. Do I really need to take a day off from walking? And would an increase to three miles cause a gain? -- Patty Hewitt, Rosamond A: First I would like to congratulate you for losing 147 pounds. That is an amazing accomplishment. Your body weight is composed of 60 to 70 percent water; the remaining 30 to 40 percent is body fat, muscle, bones, connective tissues and internal organs. It is completely unfair to judge your accomplishments by watching the scale, especially if you are within the range of a healthy weight for your height and age. Weight is only one parameter to assess your training results. I suggest that you also measure your body fat percentage, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, V02 max (also known as an aerobic test or stress test), muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. These measurements can be tested by your doctor and a certified fitness appraiser A person selected or appointed by a competent authority or an interested party to evaluate the financial worth of property. Appraisers are frequently appointed in probate and condemnation proceedings and are also used by banks and real estate concerns to determine the market , and -- taken collectively -- are a much better way to assess your training results. They are also a much better representation of your health, level of fitness and condition of your heart, lungs, circulatory system circulatory system, group of organs that transport blood and the substances it carries to and from all parts of the body. The circulatory system can be considered as composed of two parts: the systemic circulation, which serves the body as a whole except for the , endocrine system endocrine system (ĕn`dəkrĭn), body control system composed of a group of glands that maintain a stable internal environment by producing chemical regulatory substances called hormones. , central nervous system and muscular system. Many people focus on the scale because that is how we have been trained by popular weight-loss diets, celebrities, television shows and the media. But how much you weigh without any other measurements doesn't tell you much. You can gain five to 10 pounds just during your female cycle due to bloating bloating Vox populi A lay term for post-prandial abdominal fullness or swelling . There are so many factors that affect the amount of water that you retain or lose that I can definitely confirm that weight alone does not tell you much. FITNESS TIP I recommend that everyone who is measuring training results invest in a scale that measures your weight, body fat and water levels so you will not be frustrated by weight measurement alone. This type of scale is available at Wal-Mart, Target, Circuit City and various sporting good stores. Two popular companies that make this type of scale are Tanita and Ironman, and the price range is Approximately $59.99 to $119.99. ABOUT THE TRAINER: Jeanette Jenkins Jeanette Jenkins is the founder and president of the Hollywood Trainer fitness company. She studied human kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Jeanette Jenkins is also the host of Lifetime Television's "My Workout:Powered by Podfitness. , founder and president of the Hollywood Trainer fitness company, has a bachelor of science Noun 1. Bachelor of Science - a bachelor's degree in science BS, SB bachelor's degree, baccalaureate - an academic degree conferred on someone who has successfully completed undergraduate studies degree in human kinetics from the University of Ottawa
CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (Jeanette Jenkins) |
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