Tips for Empowering Successful Self-Regulation with a Fitness Program

Tips for Empowering Successful Self-Regulation with a Fitness Program

If you are like most people you probably do not work with a trainer to achieve your fitness goals.  Like most people, you establish your own fitness goals and work towards them without a lot of outside help.  This is referred to as self-regulation by those who work within the fitness industry and a person’s success is the result of how well that individual can adapt and manage his or herself to overcome gaps in knowledge, setbacks, or sometimes injury.  A person can have problems in one or more areas concerning the diet, designing an appropriate exercise program, or with the correct performance of a particular exercise.  There are five different steps in the process of successfully overcoming the challenges: Identifying the Problem, Commitment, Execution, Environmental Control, and Generalization.  The ability to correctly progress through each of these stages will eliminate anxiety can get the fitness program back on track.

Identifying the problem is often challenging when it comes to meeting proper nutritional needs or a well-designed exercise program., whereas pain during the performance of a particular exercise indicates an injury that needs to be addressed.  Injury assessment is easy; when in doubt have it checked out by a medical professional.  But for people trying to change body composition the problem is often and over compensation in order to identify the problem.  Too often, I see people who are not achieving desired results completely scrap a diet or exercise program to start something else entirely or give up.  In reality, small subtle changes to the existing program would be easier to manage and would, long-term, lead to a more improved state of health and fitness.  If you feel like the current program is not cutting it change just one aspect of the program; change your caloric intake, change the number of times per week that you work out, or change the intensity of the exercise program.  Be patient when making these changes.  Make only one change at a time and give it two to three weeks to accurately gauge the effect.  Impatience has caused more people to fail in achieving their goals than anything else, stay committed.

This leads into step two: commitment.  The ability remain committed to a program is directly tied to the goal.  A solid goal is going to be clear: meaning that it is specific, measurable, and realistic.  Goals must also challenge without overwhelming.  Do not make a task so complex that you cannot accomplish it own your own and be open to feedback.  Talk to a professional if you are not sure how to make sure that your goal and program are appropriately related to build your success.  A good goal is going to ensure that you are persistent and focused.  This will keep a person motivated to work through the problems that come up.  The more a person works towards establishing an appropriate goal the easier it is to remain committed because lead to the development of skills that make executing the plan easier.  Focus on improving your knowledge and skills in working towards your goal and increased commitment will naturally follow.  To focus exclusively on the end result is fail through ignoring the lessons that will make the goal reality. It is true in fitness and in life.  Stay the course!  Self-efficacy, the belief in the ability to succeed, directly tied to setting appropriate goals and openness to feedback.  They are the keys to identifying problems and overcoming through commitment.   Commitment leads into increased success in execution.

Execution is the stage at which a person is moving in their own groove and able to regulate their own progress successfully.  There are two keys to successful execution; self-evaluation and self-consequation.  Self-evaluation is easily explained by considering the performance of any exercise.  Anyone who has exercised regularly develops the ability to know whether or not a given exercise was performed correctly.  Performing an exercise correctly feels good while performing it incorrectly is often awkward, if not painful.  Self-evaluation is the ability to know the difference.  Self-consequation is the ability to use self-evaluation to improve future performance.  Self-evaluation is worthless if it is not used as a form of feedback to improve.  The key to doing this successfully on the positive; focus on the repetitions that felt good and use those as the model for future success.  The positive experiences are what are essential for improving future performance.  When going to through the steps of self-evaluation and self-consequation focusing on the negative will only hamper the ability to positively self-regulate.  Being negative will only lead to worse performance so stay positive because positive becomes even better.

Environmental control is probably the most over-looked aspect of self-empowerment.  The environment in which you train must positively support the achievement of the goal or your commitment will suffer.  It sounds simple but most people do not consider this when looking for a facility to use.  Does head-banging heavy metal mixed with screaming and slamming weights appeal to you?  If not, find a different facility, you will just pay for it without using it if the environment makes you too uncomfortable to show up.  Likewise, if you want an indoor play to train for marathons find somewhere that has more cardio equipment than strength pieces or you will never find an open treadmill.  If the environment of the facility does not match your training goals success probably will not happen and neither will generalization.

Generalization is a culmination of the previous four stages.  It is the ability to prepare oneself to  identify problems, remain committed to the goal, execute self-regulation, and rise above environmental factors.  This is the point that every person, whether high-level athlete or the casual cruiser on the treadmill, should reach.  It is the point at which clear understanding and success have built confidence to the point that nothing can dissuade from achieving the current desired goal and the willingness to set more challenging goals in the future.  This is where self-empowered success builds upon itself into a pattern of unrelenting progress.

WOW Challenge for the week of 10/09/2012

WOW Challenge Week of October 9, 2012

Equipment Needed: Jump rope, TRX bands, 18 inch platform, 1 kettle ball

Complete for time:

Jump Rope- 2 minutes

TRX Leg Drive- 10 reps per leg

Box Jumps- 10 reps

KB Snatch- 5 reps per arm (30lbs Men and 15lbs Women)

KB Push up and row- 5 reps per arm (30lbs Men and 15lbs Women)

KB Snatch- 5 reps per arm (30lbs Men and 15lbs Women)

Box Jumps- 10 reps

TRX Leg Drive-10 reps per leg

Jump Rope- 1 Minute

TRX pull ups- 10 reps

Box Jumps- 10 reps

KB step-ups- 5 per leg

Box Jumps- 10 reps

TRX pull ups- 10 reps

Jump Rope- 2 minutes

Exercise Instructions:

TRX Leg drive

Set the handles to chest height.  Grab both handles and tuck them underneath the arms so that the handles are positioned under the armpit and next to the chest.  Place one foot 24 inches behind the other with the toes pointed straight ahead.  Lean the upper body forward so that the feet remain in contact with the ground while the body weight is being supported by the handles.  Once in this position pick up the back foot and drive it forward in front of the body.  Bring the knee up as high as possible without losing balance.  Return the foot to its original position behind the body.  That is one rep.  Complete all reps on one leg and then switch legs.

Box Jump

Start in front of the platform with feet shoulder-width apart.  Drop into a squat and explode upwards.  Make sure that both feet leave the ground together.  Jump on to the top of the platform, pause, and jump down

Kettleball Pushup and row

Place the kettleball on the floor.  Drop into a pushup position with one hand supported on the handle of the kettleball.  Perform a pushup.  At the top of the pushup perform a row with the kettleball.  Perform all reps on one side of the body and then switch arms.

Kettleball Snatch

Start in the same position as the KB deadlift but grasp the kettleball with only one hand.  Explode upward, bringing the arm up past the shoulder and extending it straight overhead.  The arm should be fully extend by the time the body is standing straight.

TRX Pullups

Make sure that the handles have been adjusted to chest height.  Grasp a handle in each hand and walk forward so that the body becomes parallel to the floor with the chest directly below the handles.  Keep your feet together and core braced.  Using the muscles of the back and arms pull chest up until it touches the hands.  Pause for one second and reverse the motion.  Remember to stay tight all the way through the movement.

Kettleball Step-ups

Hold the kettle ball at the side of the body next to the hips.  Keep the shoulders back and square.  Step up to the top of the platform using the leg on the opposite of the kettleball. Drive up with the leg bringing the other foot to the top of the platform.  Step down to the floor.  That is one rep.  Complete all reps on one side and then switch sides.

The Health Dangers of Declining Estrogen levels in Women: Exercise Helps!

The Health Dangers of Declining Estrogen levels in Women: Exercise Helps!

A review of Metabolic Dysfunction Under Reduced Estrogen Levels: Looking to Exercise for Prevention from the Journal of Exercise and Sports Sciences, October 2012, volume 40, issue 4.

                When the mortality rate, from natural causes, of a premenopausal woman is compared to a man of the same age the woman comes out less likely to die from health-related problems.  However, this advantage disappears as women age and is almost nonexistent post-menopause.   Recent research is showing that declining estrogen levels are a considerable part for this loss of protection.  Estrogen levels can decline for many reasons other than menopause; poor diet, stress, lack of exercise, hysterectomy, and other surgeries are just a few reasons that estrogen levels can decrease before the onset of menopause.  Unfortunately, lowered levels of estrogen can cause potentially serious alterations to skeletal muscle, bone, cardiovascular, and brain functions.  Most often these problems are treated through estrogen or hormone replacement therapy.   While this remains the most common treatment within the general public many clinical research trials are moving away from hormonal based therapy and looking for alternatives.  This is because there is an emerging body of evidence that suggests hormonal therapy may lead to an increased risk of breast cancer and stroke.

                So how does a decrease in estrogen levels affect the body?  To begin with, there is an increase in body fat levels, specifically throughout the abdominal area.  Generally speaking, and within women who have high levels of estrogen, the female body tends to store body fat in the lower parts of the body while men tend to store it in the abdominal area.  Body fat stored throughout the abdominal area is referred to as visceral fat and is far more dangerous than body fat stored within other parts of the body.  This is because body fat stored within the abdominal area surrounds all of the vital internal organs.  It secretes chemicals that disrupt the natural functions of these organs and will eventually cause major problems up to and including organ failure.  Simply put, this decline in estrogen levels combined with an increase in the presence of visceral fat may alter the hormonal levels within the female body making the woman, hormonally speaking, more of a man than a woman.  Good-bye extra natural health defense benefits through estrogen and hello shorter male life expectancy.  Among the primary causes is an increased risk to insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance.  Both are precursors to diabetes, and while estrogen levels remain high, women are less likely to develop them.

                It is important to note that as estrogen levels decline, a women’s body fat may increase without seeing a major change in the numbers on the weight scale.  As estrogen levels decline so does the ability of the female body to preserve and maintain muscle mass.  As muscle mass declines, metabolism slows down, making easier to gain body fat.  During the years of menopause, without regular exercise to offset the decline in estrogen, a woman can drastically alter her body with an increase in body fat without realizing it because the fat increase tends to happen at about the same rate as the loss of muscle mass.  This results in little to no change with the numbers on the scale.  Thus, a vicious cycle begins, that becomes harder and harder to reverse.

                If this cycle continues long enough that morbid obesity becomes a women’s body another serious complication can arise.  While this does seem to happen in men it is far more common in obese women, leading researchers to believe there is some correlation between declining estrogen and high increases in body fat.  This condition is referred to as Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.  As body fat levels increase to the point of making a person obese the body loses its ability to regulate blood glucose levels, first through insulin sensitivity, then insulin resistance, and finally diabetes.  In similar fashion, obesity caused hormonal changes may shut down the body’s ability to convert stored body fat into energy that can be used.  During exercise and/or with dietary adjustments the body will break down fat cells and release them into the blood as free fatty acids.  These FFAs are transported to the liver where they are converted to blood glucose which can be taken to the working muscles and other organs to be used as energy.  When a person has NFLD the function of the liver is disrupted so that it cannot properly convert the FFAs into blood glucose.  It is called Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease because it is the same liver functionality of someone who has been a lifelong alcoholic.  Yes ladies, declining estrogen levels combined with excessive weight gain may cause you to have the liver of an alcoholic even if you have never had a drink in your life.

                It needs to be understood that estrogen therapy or other hormonal therapy may be losing ground as a safe and effective method of treating low estrogen levels.  Exercise and healthy eating may prevent or help treat these problems.  It is important to note that even among postmenopausal obese women regular exercise led to an improvement in NFLD.  Some women lost weight through diet alone and also showed improvement, although to a lesser extent.  However, only the women who exercised regularly saw marked increases in the levels of estrogen, and consequently, better improvements in overall health.  Most women in this study saw improvements in estrogen levels with longer duration exercise.  Because of this, in the beginning, duration is more important than intensity of exercise.  However, for long term, permanent weight loss intensity must also increase.  For the obese person the first two months of an exercise program should focus on building a base level of endurance through cardiovascular exercise; treadmill, bike, elliptical or any other piece of cardio equipment.  Focus creating the endurance to exercise 30-45 minutes without needing a break.  Once this is accomplished begin to incorporate weight training exercises while focusing on increasing the intensity, or pace, of cardiovascular exercise.  Weight loss happens best at high intensity levels so make it a long term goal to focus on going faster not further.

workout of the week challenge for October 2, 2012

Here is last week's workout from the UAMS fitness center WOW challenge

Equipment needed- 30lb kettle ball for men or 15lb kettle ball for women, 24 in platform, jump rope

Trainer standard: 7 minutes 10 seconds

Complete Two rounds for time

KB Snatch- 5 reps per arm, 30lbs (Men) or 15lbs (Women)

KB Swings-15 reps, 30lbs (M) or 15lbs (W)

BOX Jumps-10 reps

KB Swings-15 reps

Mountain Climbers-20 reps

KB Swings-15 reps

Double-Unders-30 reps

KB Swings-15 reps

Exercise Instructions

Kettleball Snatch

Start in the same position as the KB deadlift but grasp the kettleball with only one hand.  Explode upward, bringing the arm up past the shoulder and extending it straight overhead.  The arm should be fully extend by the time the body is standing straight.

Kettleball swing

Start with feet shoulder-width apart and the kettleball on the ground in between the feet.  Squat down and grasp the kettleball with both hands.  Stand up, keeping the arms straight throughout the motion and swing the kettleball up in front of the body until it is directly overhead.  Make sure to keep the back arched with shoulders back throughout the motion.  Return to the starting position with the kettleball on the floor.

Box Jump

Start in front of the platform with feet shoulder-width apart.  Drop into a squat and explode upwards.  Make sure that both feet leave the ground together.  Jump on to the top of the platform, pause, and jump down

Mountain Climbers

Get into a pushup position.  Stay in the top of the position and, one leg at a time, alternate bringing the knees up to the chest.  One rep is counted after each knee has been brought up.  This is fast paced.

Double-Under

This is a jump rope technique.  The objective is to jump into the air and complete two rotations of the rope underneath the feet before landing.

Exercise May Help Depression

Depression and Exercise: Why is it not prescribed as a treatment?

                Depression is a complex issue as it encompasses mental, emotional, and physical symptoms.  Like many ailments most people turn to doctors, namely psychologists or psychiatrists, and like most doctors, treatment is considered in the form of medication.  As a trainer, I believe that exercise is all too often under-prescribed, if prescribed at all, as a form of treatment for almost any problem.  I have seen firsthand with several of my clients that regular exercise may improve a person’s ability to live with depression.  Admittedly, exercise rarely accomplishes this on its own.  Often these clients are often using medication and/or undergoing some form of professional counseling.  Yet I have also know of people that utilize medication and counseling that continue to struggle for years seeing little or no improvement.  Unfortunately, little research exists about the effect of exercise on depression.  I would assume that this is because with the field of psychiatry, like many other forms of medical practice, standard operating procedure is to pop pills and schedule a follow up appointment.

                However, research is beginning to show that exercise can often be that “Ace up the sleeve.”  A review of four different studies conducted examining the effect of exercise on depression all showed signs of positive benefits.  Exercise makes a person feel better and, in my opinion, it should not take research to verify this but research makes for common acceptance in the general public.  In fact, exercise has been shown to be an effective method of treatment for mild depression without medication.  One study in particular focused on examining older adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).  This study looked at 156 middle-aged and older adults diagnosed with MDD.  The adults were randomly subjected to supervised exercise, sertraline, or a combination of the two.  The exercise treatment lasted for sixteen weeks and consisted of moderate aerobic activity three times per week.    At the end of the treatment period the improvement was the same between the medication and exercise only groups.  This indicates the exercise may be a positive alternative to treatment for those who do not wish to have medication.  A follow up performed six months after the conclusion of the sixteen week period found that those who exercised only experienced lower rates of depression than those on medications or on a combination of medication and exercise.  In addition to this, only 9% of the exercise participants had relapsed into severe depression while in the medication and combination groups the relapse rate was near 30%.  It is important to note that 64% of the people who exercised in this study continued to exercise on their own during the six months between the end of the study and the follow up.  Furthermore, those participants who reported exercising independently showed a 50% reduction in the risk of depression symptoms.

                This leads into the important discussion of exercise prescription; specifically, frequency, duration, and intensity.  What are the levels needed to see positive results?  Another study put 80 sedentary adults into five groups: low intensity exercise three days per week; low intensity five days per week; high intensity three days per week; high intensity five days per week; and a group that did only stretching and flexibility control.  The results showed that the high intensity exercise reduces depression symptoms by 47% over twelve weeks while low intensity exercise showed a 30% reduction in symptoms.  These results were consistent regardless of whether or not the participants exercised three or five times per week.  This seems to indicate that the amount of energy expended when exercising is more important than the total amount of time spent exercising.

                If exercise is not something that is currently a part of your lifestyle check with your doctor to see if it may be useful in helping to treat depression.  Start with this basic goal: 30 minutes of exercise three days a week.  One a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not moving at all and 10 being so intense passing out is a real possibility, the intensity should feel like it is in the range of 4-7 to see positive benefit.  Lower intensity will have minimal, if any benefit, while higher than 7 may be such intense exercise that it cannot be repeated frequently enough for long term improvement.

WOW Challenge from the week of September 25

WOW Challenge Week of September 25, 2012

Complete 4 rounds for time- 2 DBs, 1 KB, 24in jump platform, TRX bands

Trainer standard:  13 minutes 44 seconds

Exercises

Squat-Jumps 1 rep

Burpees 2 reps

DB squat press 3 reps 50lbs (M) 20lbs (W)

Pushup-rows 4 reps 50lbs (M) 20lbs (W)

Hip Thrusts 5 reps

Box Jumps 6 reps

TRX Pushups 7 reps

KB swings 8 reps 40lbs (M) 20lbs (W)

Long Jump 9 reps

Plank 1 minute

Exercise Instructions

Squat Jumps

Start with feet shoulder-width apart and drop down into a squat.  Explode upwards and jump into the air

Burpees

Start with the feet shoulder-width apart. Drop into a squat placing the hands on the ground and shoot both feet backwards so that the body is in the position of the top of a push up.  Bring the feet up to the chest, lift hands off the ground and stand up

Dumbbell Squat-press

Hold two dumbbells of equal weight on both shoulders.  Standing with feet shoulder-width apart drop into a squat then return to standing.  Once standing perform and overhead press.  Return the dumbbells to the shoulders and repeat.

Push up and row

Place two dumbbells on the floor.  Drop into a push up position with both handles supported on the handles of the dumbbells.  Perform a push up.  At the top of the push up perform a row with the dumbbells.  Alternate arms on the row for each push up.

Hip Thrusts

Lie flat on the floor on the back.  Place hands out to the sides of the body.  Keeping the legs straight lift the feet until directly above the hips.  Point toes at the ceiling and lift the hips off the floor.  Lower, keep feet up, and repeat.

Box Jump

Start in front of the platform with feet shoulder-width apart.  Drop into a squat and explode upwards.  Make sure that both feet leave the ground together.  Jump on to the top of the platform, pause, and jump down

TRX Pushups

Set the handles six inches off of the ground.  Grasp the handles with the body in a pushup position.  Lower the body to the ground and return to starting position.

Kettle ball swing

Start with feet shoulder-width apart and the kettle ball on the ground in between the feet.  Squat down and grasp the kettle ball with both hands.  Stand up, keeping the arms straight throughout the motion and swing the kettle ball up in front of the body until it is directly overhead.  Make sure to keep the back arched with shoulders back throughout the motion.  Return to the starting position with the kettle ball on the floor.

Long Jump

Start with feet shoulder-width apart. Lower into a squat and explode up and forward.  Jump as far as possible, landing with feet shoulder-width apart.  Immediately drop into another squat and repeat.

Plank

Get into a push up position and drop the elbows to the floor so that the forearms are flat on the ground.  Stay up on the toes and hold the position with weight distributed over the shoulders

Severe obesity

Severe Obesity: Evidence for a deranged Metabolic Program in Skeletal Muscle?

Journal of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Volume 40 (4), October 2012, p 204-210.

A Review and Summary

            There are many health complications associated with being obese and, I believe, that as an understanding of how damaging obesity is to the body, medical science is just beginning to scratch the surface.  To this point most of the research has focused on understanding and managing health risk factors such as the levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, and triglycerides to name a few.  To my knowledge, few research studies have been conducted to understand the efficiency with which obese people metabolize or ‘breakdown’ stored body fat to be used as a source of energy.  This study had a very broad scope and not all of the information included in this particular study will be discussed here.  Specifically, this review will be focused on the findings regarding fatty acid oxidation, which is one of the energy systems used to break down body fat.

            Before getting into the specifics of this study’s findings a basic understanding of how the body provides itself with energy during exercise.  This process is far more complex than described here, but for the sake of simplicity only the very basics of the process will be discussed.  Inside of every individual muscle cell is a naturally occurring biochemical compound call ATP-Cr.  The energy released from this compound causes muscular contraction during exercise.  This compound is a stored form of energy that the body keeps supplied within the muscles ready to be used at a moment’s notice.  However, the body is only capable of storing enough of this compound to fuel about 15 seconds of intense physical activity.  It takes a rest period of 45 seconds to one minute for the muscles to restore the levels to be driven through this primary energy system.  If physical activity is to continue longer than 15 seconds energy for this ATP-Cr compound must be restored from another source.  This is accomplished through what it called the glycolytic system which manufactures the ATP-Cr compound by breaking down the glycogen within the muscle cell.  Glycogen is the name given to the amount of glucose stored within muscle cells.  This process is a little slower than the initial ATP-Cr system.  Exercise supported by this energy system cannot be maintained at as high of intensity as the first system. Furthermore, the muscle cells can only store enough glycogen to support about 2 minutes of exercise.  This lead into the third and final energy system; fatty acid oxidation.  Again, this energy system is about replenishing the ATP-Cr levels within the cell, and yes, as the name suggests, it does this through the breakdown of stored body fat, converting it into fatty acids which are transfer to the liver.  At the liver, the fatty acids are converted into glucose, which travels to the muscle cells and becomes muscle glycogen.  This glycogen is then used to make more ATP-Cr.  As you have probably guessed from the description this process is even slower.  In fact, it is the slowest method of providing the muscles with energy and it only comes into play when the first two systems have run their course.  Again, because this is slower the intensity of exercise that can be maintained is lower than that which can be achieved through the two previous energy systems.  This oxidation system really only comes into play during slow pace, endurance events.  Energy from this system will support the body for up to two hours, depending upon intensity, before the body must consume calories to continue having adequate energy levels.

            It is time to focus on the research findings of the study.  The purpose of this study was to identify whether or not there is a difference in the efficiency of the use of the fatty acid oxidation system between obese people and those of healthy body weight.  This was accomplished through using three groups of people: healthy weight, BMI averaged 23.8; obese BMI average 30.2, and severely obese BMI average of 53.8.  The method used for this was to measure the amount of carbon dioxide released from the muscle cells of the rectus abdominus during exercise.  Carbon dioxide is a chemical by-product of muscular contraction.  The rate at which it is produced can be used as an indicator for the efficiency of energy production within the muscle cells.

            One of the most interesting findings from this study is that there was no difference in the efficiency of fatty acid oxidation between the groups of healthy 23.8 BMI and obese people of the 30.2 BMI group.  So, it would seem that the bodies of those who are obese, but only just heavy enough to be considered obese, can metabolize body fat for energy just as well as those that are of healthy BMI, provided that the obese group exercises.  However, the severely obese, 53.8 BMI group, on average, used this fatty acid oxidation at a rate approximately 60% less efficient than the other groups.  Or, it can be considered that the severely obese group metabolized body fat with only 40% of the efficiency that the healthy and obese groups.  It should be noted that after these initial findings the study conducted intervention assistance using nutritional counseling, exercise counseling, or a combination of both.  The group that underwent both the exercise and nutrition counseling saw the greatest improvement through weight loss and improved fitness.

            So how does the affect structuring an exercise program for the severely obese to maximize weight loss?  Start by understanding that any exercise is better than no exercise. Slow duration, low intensity, endurance exercise is not the most efficient way to lose weight but for those who are severely obese it is generally the safest and easiest way to begin.  Start by focusing on building up the endurance until you are able to 30 minutes of continuous cardiovascular exercise without needing to stop to rest.  After reaching the 30 minute mark start strength training.  Perform this on any cardio piece; treadmill, bike, or elliptical.  For strength training, perform one set of an exercise for the back chest, shoulders, arms, and legs.  Focus on learning the fundamentals of the motion.  After two weeks complete two sets of each exercise and add a third set after one month.  Workout Twice a week with weights for the first month and perform cardio four days per week.  Starting in the second month add a third weight training session each week.  This is a basic plan meant to lay a foundation to build upon.  Gradually increase the cardio by 5 minutes a week until you a performing a full hour of cardio.  The weight loss will be slow with this program, especially without strict control of the diet.  Remember, at the beginning of the program the purpose of exercise is to improve physical endurance and the ability to move so that the body is prepared for more intense exercise later.