In March, 100 employees and students of TSU who were the first participants of the project Be Healthy received fitness bracelets in order to monitor and regulate the intensity of their physical activity during the year. By June, the number of participants increased to 167, 75 of them students and 92 employees.
Among them there are both those who have already exercised before, and beginners. Anastasia Kabachkova, Associate Professor of the Department of Sport and Health Tourism, Sports Physiology, and Medicine talked about how to properly increase physical activity, calculate loads, and not hurt yourself.
The first thing is positive emotions
“Physical activity should first of all cause positive emotions, both during training and after,” she noted. “You should choose active forms of exercises after forming a habit: instead of sitting behind a computer, it is possible to start paying attention to improving the effect of trainings.”
In the words of Anastasia Kabachkova, before the beginning of physical exercise, it is necessary to answer the question: “Why do I need physical activity?” because the type of activity directly depends on the goal. For example, if the goal is to diversify a sedentary lifestyle, then it's enough to walk more, gradually increasing the pace, and prefer stairs to elevators. But in order to lose weight, this is clearly not enough.
“The type of training also depends on the state of health, the level of physical fitness, and individual preferences. If previously you did not exercise or had a significant break in your physical activity, if you are overweight or over the age of 45, you need to consult a doctor to determine the optimal physical activity,” she said.
“Once the type of physical activity is selected and the contraindications are determined, you need to determine the time budget that you are willing to spend on physical activity, as well as the format of the classes (independent, individual with the coach, or in a group).”
General rules for training
Both beginners and those who continue to engage in physical education need to monitor three parameters: their state of health (including signs of fatigue), pulse (both during exercise and recovery time), and breathing (frequency and depth).
The expert warns: do not immediately give yourself an excessive muscle loading. Quick results can not be achieved in this way, but uncomfortable sensations, fatigue, overexertion, and even microtrauma can easily occur.
The duration and volume of physical exertion should be gradually increased, focusing on well-being. The type of loads should be changed if there is psychological fatigue (unwillingness to train), trauma (this type of exercise becomes contraindicated), or in the case of incorrect recovery measures (for example, preservation of local muscle pains).
Anastasia Kabachkova recommended, “ In order not to harm yourself, it is necessary to periodically consult with specialists and observe the golden principles of physical activity: the continuity and regularity of the alternation of muscle loading and rest; the gradualness of developing developmental and training impacts; cyclical construction of classes; and age suitability.”
So, according to the expert, the muscle loading should not cause unpleasant sensations, pain (behind the sternum, in muscles, ligaments and joints), or increasing the pulse to maximum values. In addition, the feeling of total fatigue should not last more than 2 hours, and local fatigue more than 12 hours. To do this, it is necessary to conduct a good quality warm-up before the main loads, and after making a pause and doing rehabilitation exercises.
“If muscle pain has appeared, you can use warming ointments, a contrast shower, warm bath, or a visit to the bath or sauna to strengthen recovery measures. But there will be no pain if you are observing the principles of being gradual and systematic,” she emphasized.