My muscles are burning--it must be a good exercise, right?
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Azdak
Posts: 8,281 Member
A key technique used in infomercials for a new "fitness" device is to take the device into a crowd and invite random people to try it out. The viewer is then shown a series of testimonials saying "I could really feel this working" or "my (legs, abs, butt, etc) muscles were burning so I know it really works." Even without an infomercial, some people come to the same conclusion when they try out a new device, a new exercise, or a new class. If you try something and it makes your muscles fatigued, or burn, or sore the next day, it must be effective, right?
Not necessarily. Exercise training effects are very specific. An exercise movement will recruit the muscle fibers necessary to meet the demands of that movement. If one does the same movement over and over, some muscle fibers may became highly trained, while others nearby are trained only a little or not at all. If you engage in a movement that has different demands, then different muscles are recruited and others are activated in different patterns. If the movement is different enough, the muscles may become quickly fatigued, or if it is different and more intense, one might feel a burning--and then fatigue. However, this is an ACUTE response to the immediate demands of the movement--it only means that, at that moment, you were asking these muscles to do more than what they were used to doing. If they weren't doing much of anything before, then it doesn't take much to overload the muscle and cause fatigue.
Fitness (strength and cardio) improvement occurs as a result of the SYSTEMATIC APPLICATION OF A PROGRESSIVE TRAINING LOAD. The body always tries to maintain "homeostasis"--an internal, stable equilibrium. So it will adapt to a training load--but ONLY to the specific demands of that load. Once it adapts, it reestablishes equilibrium and no further adaptation takes place.
So when you are evaluating any fitness product--any device, any shoes, any class, any movement--you have to ask: what is the resistance method? is the resistance method designed so that it is applied effectively? And, most importantly--CAN THE RESISTANCE BE PROGRESSIVELY INCREASED? If the answer to the last question is "NO", then this device, product, etc is probably going to be ineffective and not worth the money.
Even though you may "feel" different muscles working when you do the movement or use the device, if there is no progressive overload, your body will quickly adapt to the "load" and you will no longer see improvement. Of course by then, the "return window" has expired or you just don't bother to send it back, or the power of auto-suggestion makes you think it's YOUR fault that you aren't doing better.
This is especially true of machines that use only body weight as resistance--and use only a small part of the body--and that use a dynamic movement such as gliding, rocking, or a spring mechanism to assist the movement. It is also true of products that contain an inherent “instability” that causes muscles to initially work “differently”, but provide no way to change the instability pattern or increase resistance.
Often the manufacturers will show you "EMG studies" that show the muscles being activated. That's a time-honored smokescreen. All that shows you is the immediate response--it doesn't show the level of resistance and it can't show whether or not there is a training effect.
Examples of these types of products include: Leg Magic, most infomercial ab machines, most "thigh" machines, and “tone up” shoes. (Although some people just find the “tone up” shoes really comfortable—that’s a different issue).
This does not mean that ALL new movements or exercises are ineffective--far from it. Doing a variety of exercises that activate different muscle groups or works them in new ways is important--as long as you can progressively increase the resistance. In that case, if you do a new lifting movement that results in fatigue/burning/soreness, that is often a good thing. That might mean it's an area you may have been neglecting.
Not necessarily. Exercise training effects are very specific. An exercise movement will recruit the muscle fibers necessary to meet the demands of that movement. If one does the same movement over and over, some muscle fibers may became highly trained, while others nearby are trained only a little or not at all. If you engage in a movement that has different demands, then different muscles are recruited and others are activated in different patterns. If the movement is different enough, the muscles may become quickly fatigued, or if it is different and more intense, one might feel a burning--and then fatigue. However, this is an ACUTE response to the immediate demands of the movement--it only means that, at that moment, you were asking these muscles to do more than what they were used to doing. If they weren't doing much of anything before, then it doesn't take much to overload the muscle and cause fatigue.
Fitness (strength and cardio) improvement occurs as a result of the SYSTEMATIC APPLICATION OF A PROGRESSIVE TRAINING LOAD. The body always tries to maintain "homeostasis"--an internal, stable equilibrium. So it will adapt to a training load--but ONLY to the specific demands of that load. Once it adapts, it reestablishes equilibrium and no further adaptation takes place.
So when you are evaluating any fitness product--any device, any shoes, any class, any movement--you have to ask: what is the resistance method? is the resistance method designed so that it is applied effectively? And, most importantly--CAN THE RESISTANCE BE PROGRESSIVELY INCREASED? If the answer to the last question is "NO", then this device, product, etc is probably going to be ineffective and not worth the money.
Even though you may "feel" different muscles working when you do the movement or use the device, if there is no progressive overload, your body will quickly adapt to the "load" and you will no longer see improvement. Of course by then, the "return window" has expired or you just don't bother to send it back, or the power of auto-suggestion makes you think it's YOUR fault that you aren't doing better.
This is especially true of machines that use only body weight as resistance--and use only a small part of the body--and that use a dynamic movement such as gliding, rocking, or a spring mechanism to assist the movement. It is also true of products that contain an inherent “instability” that causes muscles to initially work “differently”, but provide no way to change the instability pattern or increase resistance.
Often the manufacturers will show you "EMG studies" that show the muscles being activated. That's a time-honored smokescreen. All that shows you is the immediate response--it doesn't show the level of resistance and it can't show whether or not there is a training effect.
Examples of these types of products include: Leg Magic, most infomercial ab machines, most "thigh" machines, and “tone up” shoes. (Although some people just find the “tone up” shoes really comfortable—that’s a different issue).
This does not mean that ALL new movements or exercises are ineffective--far from it. Doing a variety of exercises that activate different muscle groups or works them in new ways is important--as long as you can progressively increase the resistance. In that case, if you do a new lifting movement that results in fatigue/burning/soreness, that is often a good thing. That might mean it's an area you may have been neglecting.
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Replies
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Very informative, thank you!0
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Great info! Thank you!0
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Love it. Thanks for sharing this. I hate those commercials for the different machines. Remember the craze about that belt thing you put around your waist and it worked your ab muscles for you? Ha. And I think the "tone up" shoes are funny. A bunch of people at work just got them. And it looks like they just make you roll your feet when you walk, which has good qualities. But if you roll your feet when you walk anyway, what's the point in having them? I was a drummer in the marching band all throughout highschool. We had to roll our feet. Needless to say my posture was perfect, I had good muscle tone, and I didn't have this... "spare tire". :sad:0
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Fantastic post!!! Your background really helps us out here. I hope we see many more posts on the subject of exercise from you!0
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good stuff! thanks for posting this!0
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Thanks for posting this. Before I had my son, I started at Curves. My mother and sister were doing it and they were seeing results so I hoped I would as well. Well I lost weight initially but after about week 4, nothing happened. Then I started to gain weight and after several months, had lost nothing. And my biggest frustration was that the workouts seemed too easy. A lot of the women said the same thing. And it was because the machines use your own body weight as resistance. You can't adjust them so after a while, there was no challenge anymore for me. I was used to the machines and so was my body. Now I skip the membership fees and workout at home where I can adjust the weights if I need to and mix up my routine to keep my body guessing a little.0
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bump--because I spent a lot of time on this and I'm not sure how many people saw it this morning.
And if I can't promote myself--who can?
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Excellent post. Unfortunately, this is something i see in the gym or hear others talk about. they think that their personal trainer did a great job because the next day they felt DOMS or felt wasted. So in their minds th workout was great. Well the workout could have been great, but don't use that as a guide.
On the other side of the coin, i see people who think that the PT didn't do a good enough job because they didn't feel sore or exhausted in the morning.
It's a difficult thing to gauge. There are plenty of days where I feel like my workout wasn't that great and like I could have physically done more or worked harder. And it's rare that I actually ever feel sore the next day now unless I'm doing something I haven't done in awhile (like skiing for the first time in a winter, etc.) But I have to trust my workout and my routine. As time goes on, i can lift more and more. As time goes on, i get bigger and bigger. So it must be working. That's how I know if I'm doing it right.
it's kind of funny actually. I can go out today and feel like I'm struggling with a certain weight for squats or something. Next week I'm adding 5lbs and it feels the same and I'm struggling just as much. A month or two later it STILL feels the same and my heartrate is still in the same range, yet there's 20+ more pounds on the bar. That's the key. if you don't try to increase the weight, then your body will adjust and the gains stop. And where's the fun in that!
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bump to read later. 0
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bump0
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Bumpity do da!!!0
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:drinker: to save0
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:smokin:0
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