Kenneth Gardner
WE VARY widely in our health and fitness status, motivation, goals and needs. Thus, a clear understanding of our individual differences is necessary if our exercise prescription is to effectively meet our needs.
During the boom years of the aerobic movement, cardio-respiratory conditioning was often the only type of exercise for many people. Very little conditioning was done for flexibility, muscular strength and endurance. This was actually the reverse of the situation prior to the aerobic era when muscle strength was pre-eminent to the detriment of exercises for the heart and lungs. Now a comprehensive approach has emerged with attention being given to both cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal fitness.
Cardiorespiratory exercise is the foundation of any exercise prescription in that most of the health benefits related to physical activity are associated with dynamic, whole body continuous sustained activity. In order to realise the full benefits of regular exercise the development of physical fitness is one of the several important components.
We are now exercising more than at any other time in our modern era. Exercise is suddenly prestigious. However, with the prestige have come some real problems. Excessive exercise appears to be the newest tool in that endless search for the fountain of youth. Some of us, allured by the information overload and perhaps overacting to health problems, job dissatisfaction and a fear of growing old, have tended to regard exercise as a panacea. The idea that more is better can cause us to take a good thing and carry it too far.
OVERUSE SYNDROME
Many of our sports medicine findings have reflected the results of such excessive physical and exercise activities. The list is swelling really fast. The muscles, joints and supporting ligaments and tendons respond very poorly to excessive exercise, especially activities that involve too much high impact, explosive routine. Many orthopaedic injuries develop due to the overuse syndrome or from exercising too hard for too long. Many of us experience pain in our joints because of the overuse syndrome. The weight bearing or articular surfaces of the bones in these joints are covered with articular cartilage. This cartilage absorbs shocks, prevents direct wear on the bones, and modifies the shapes of the bones to ensure a better fit.
The capsule is lined internally by a thin vascular synovial membrane which secretes synovial fluid into the joint cavity. The synovial fluid provides nourishment to the articular cartilages and lubricates the joint to minimise the damage to the bone. Injury or irritation from excessive exercise causes profuse secretion of synovial fluid that causes evident swelling.
Typically, there are several ligaments which join together the bones in a joint. Ligaments are tough and practically non-elastic. Their function is to bind bones together to prevent dislocation of the joint and to limit the kinds and ranges of movement. If constant stress is applied to the ligaments they can lengthen gradually to the point of destroying their function of maintaining the integrity of the joint.
Numerous factors contribute to the stability and integrity of joints. With the variety of joints that are involved in the use of the arms and legs, it is critical that exercise is done in accordance with the proper mechanics to avoid injury and maximise efficiency. Exercises should adhere to the correct protocol of intensity, frequency and duration to reduce the impact of injury where accidents override precaution.
Kenneth Gardner is an exercise physiologist at the G. C. Foster College of Physical Education; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
