|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
A
common complaint of women is that they just
don’t have time to exercise. The Curves
30-Minute Complete Workout provides the
solution. Our hydraulic resistance strength
training machines allow you to perform
cardiovascular and strength training at the same
time.
For thirty minutes you move around
the circuit, changing stations every thirty
seconds. You need not rush to a class or worry
about a schedule. When you show up, your workout
begins. Just jump in anywhere there is a station
open and move at the same time and in the same
direction as everyone else.
Total
Fitness
A complete workout must include
five components: warm up, cardiovascular
training, strength training, cool down and
stretching. As you begin the circuit, exercise
slowly at each station for the first three to
five minutes. As you end the circuit, do the
same. This allows your body to warm up and to
cool down as you begin and end the
workout.
After you warm up you will begin
to work harder on each machine. The intensity of
a double positive strength training machine
easily elevates and sustains your target heart
rate. As you go around the circuit, you will
move from an upper body strength machine to a
recovery station to a lower body strength
machine and so on. Strength and cardiovascular
training are performed
simultaneously.
Hydraulic
Resistance
The unique features of
hydraulic resistance make it possible to perform
strength and cardiovascular training at the same
time. You will push forward with one muscle
group and pull back with the opposing muscle
group. Gravity neither helps nor hinders the
work. This intensity easily elevates and
sustains your target heart rate. By working
muscle groups that oppose each other, you also
work muscles symmetrically or in balance.
Several of our machines are single positive and
work in only one direction to effectively target
the larger muscle group.
Safe and
Effective
With hydraulic resistance
exercise, you are moving fluid. This is similar
to aquatic exercise, and is inherently safe even
for fragile people. There are no weight stacks
to manage or decisions to be made. In
conventional gyms, up to 85% of injuries occur
during the eccentric contraction (the lowering
of the weight). With a double positive workout
you never lower the weight. You push and pull.
The Curves workout provides a strength training
program that many grandmothers and great
grandmothers can safely do; yet it provides
resistance and intensity levels that will
challenge athletes.
Cardiovascular
Training
Cardiovascular training is
accomplished by working hard enough to elevate
the heart rate to a training target level. The
heart is a muscle and must perform work to get
strong and stay strong. The strength training
machines provide the work that elevates the
heart to its target level. Every eight minutes
you will hear a cue that reminds you to take a
ten second heart rate check. Look for the posted
heart rate chart, find your age in the column on
the left, and move across to find your target
heart rate. The first column (red - 50%) is the
column for people with special health concerns
such as high blood pressure, asthma, pregnancy,
etc. The second column (yellow - 60%) is where
most people will be. The remaining columns are
for those who are more physically fit or
athletic. Working out at your target heart rate
ensures that you are getting a cardiovascular
benefit at a safe yet effective level. It is not
necessary to increase your target heart rate
percentage as you get in shape. As your physical
conditioning improves, you will have to work
harder to raise your heart rate to its target
level.
Burn Body Fat
Sustained
target heart rate activity conditions your body
to access fat for energy. During the first few
minutes of exercise, your muscles will primarily
burn energy in the bloodstream and glycogen
stored in the muscles. As you continue to
exercise, your body will begin to access more
fat stores for energy. Sustained exercise will
continue to burn more fat, and your body will
become more proficient at accessing body fat as
you exercise on a regular
basis.
Optimal Levels
The
thirty-second intervals were chosen because they
are the optimal time for a strength training
set. Your muscles can “sprint” for about thirty
seconds before they begin to exhaust. After an
upper body strength machine, you will move to a
recovery station for thirty seconds, then to a
machine that works the lower body and then to
another recovery station. This means that it
will be a minute and a half before you will be
working an upper body muscle group again. This
is the amount of time that a muscle group needs
to recover and be ready to sprint again. By
alternating muscle groups in this way, you are
able to perform cardiovascular and strength
training at the same time.
Strength
Training
Strength training has long been
the missing link in women’s fitness. Holding a
one-pound dumbbell during an aerobic class was
once considered to be strength training. True
strength training requires that you move a
resistance that is greater than the muscle is
accustomed to. Progressive resistance stimulates
the muscle to stay strong and firm. Increasing
the speed of movement on our machines provides
this progressive resistance. The faster you go,
the harder it is, because you are moving more
fluid though a restricted orifice in the
cylinders. You should move the resistance as
fast as you are able. This assures that you are
“overloading” muscles and achieving the benefits
of strength training.
The Intensity
Should Be On the Machines
You must work
the machines with intensity. Remember that the
speed of movement determines the amount of
resistance. Strength training achievement
requires you to move resistance which is 60 to
80% of your maximum lifting ability. Moving more
slowly on the machines means you move less
resistance and you may not achieve the full
benefits of strength
training.
Hesitation Method to Lower
Heart Rate
If you find that thirty
seconds of working hard on the machines elevates
your heart rate above your training level, you
should hesitate at each machine to lower your
heart rate to an appropriate level. Simply sit
on each machine and wait for five seconds before
you begin to work. Five seconds is about 16% of
the thirty seconds, which means that you will
reduce the amount of work being performed by
that percentage. If five seconds does not bring
your heart rate down enough, hesitate for ten
seconds. Hesitating, rather than slowing down on
the machines, ensures the resistance necessary
for strength training while keeping your heart
rate at safe levels.
Benefits of
Strength Training
Strong muscles provide
the support for joints and vertebrae that keep
your body stable and working properly. Bone
density increases as a result of load bearing
activities. If you are strength training as you
lose weight, your body prioritizes muscle tissue
and burns more body fat. By protecting muscle
mass as you lose weight, you are more likely to
reach your weight loss goals and to maintain
them.
- Rules of Resistance Training
Have
your Curves instructor teach you these
rules:
- Move across the midline of the muscles being
worked
- Keep elbows and knees within the plane of
motion
- Move the full range of motion without
locking the joints
- Go fast enough to get adequate resistance
- Keep it simple
You Won’t Look
Like Arnold
Don’t worry about gaining too
much muscle. Most women do not have the
testosterone levels necessary to gain a lot of
muscle. You also have a preset genetic potential
to have a certain amount of muscularity. If you
are new to strength training, you may gain three
to five pounds of muscle rather quickly, but
further gains will slow down once you reach your
potential for muscle gain. If your body fat
percentage is high, you have fat striated
throughout the muscles (much like chuck steak).
As you burn body fat, you will find that your
muscles will become leaner and may look smaller,
even though they have become firmed and
toned.
Exercising Every Day
We
recommend that you utilize the Curves workout
three times per week due to the need for muscle
recovery from strength training. If you desire
to work out every day, modify your workout every
other day by moving the machines more slowly. By
working on the machines more slowly, you will be
moving a resistance that is less than 50% of
your maximum lifting ability. This should still
elevate your heart rate to its target zone and
provide a cardiovascular workout, but be below
the threshold for strength
training.
Recovery Stations
We
recommend that you “move lively” on the recovery
stations, but that means different things for
different people. If you are in poor shape or
your joints are fragile, you should simply walk
in place. If you are in great shape, you may run
or even dance. Be sure to stay on the board and
not step on and off. Keep your movements under
control. The level of intensity on the recovery
station will not affect your heart rate a great
deal. Lowering your heart rate back to your
target level will be accomplished by reducing
the work on the machines. Do not use dumbbells
while on the recovery stations. If you feel that
you need them, you are holding back on the
machines where the real work is
performed.
Stretching
Always
end your workout with stretching. Your
instructor will teach you how to follow the
Curves stretching poster. It takes less than
five minutes to move through all of the
stretches. You perform a static stretch by
isolating the muscles around a specific joint
and extending those muscles completely. Hold the
stretch for seven seconds and then extend the
muscles further. Being careful not to bob or
bounce, just hold each stretch for a total of
fifteen seconds. A static stretch is the safest
way to stretch, and is done at the end of the
workout when the muscles are warm. Stretching is
important because it helps to maintain range of
motion and the integrity of the joints. Be sure
to take time at the end of each workout to
perform this fifth component of a complete
workout.
Core Exercise
Program
The Curves workout provides the
key components for optimum health:
cardiovascular training, strength training and
stretching. With hydraulic resistance, the
machines will provide greater resistance as you
become stronger and more physically fit. This
means that the circuit will continue to provide
the work necessary to elevate your heart rate
and overload muscles. You will never outgrow the
intensity of the Curves workout. This 30-Minute
Complete Workout may be viewed as “basic
training” for an active lifestyle. It will give
you a strong heart, strong muscles and flexible
joints. You will then be able to take the
stairs, walk your errands, and run and play with
your children and grandchildren. You’ll be able
to do the things that an active lifestyle
requires. |
|
| | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
