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HOME CONTENT PREPARATION ANALYSIS DESIGN APPENDICES GLOSSARY
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SECTION I - PREPARATION
LESSON 1 - FITNESS IN US LESSON 2 - EXERCISE SCIENCE LESSON 3 - FITNESS POTENTIALS
LESSON 4 - FITNESS ACTIVITIES LESSON 5 - FITNESS TRAINING
LESSON 3
Objectives
Upon completion of Lesson 3, you should be able to demonstrate the following knowledge:
v List and define eight components of fitness introduced in this course.
v List
eight organ systems introduced in this course and describe how you believe they
are affected
by fitness activities.
v Define homeostasis and explain how it influences the components of fitness.
v Describe how each of the eight components of fitness introduced in this courses are assessed.
v Explain
what is meant by
increase, maintenance, or decrease, relative to the level of physical
activity experienced.
Contributions from many scientific disciplines have revealed that the human body responds to physical activities in three distinct ways. Thus, the lifestyle choices that each individual makes, including training for participation in sports, leads to three possible fitness outcomes: loss, maintenance, or gain. During any 24-hour period, the physical activity in a person's life varies in frequency, amount and intensity, and duration. The significance of this reality is the idea that the acquisition of knowledge of and an understanding of the phenomenon on how the body responds to fitness activities is the basis for observing whether changes, due to physical activity, are positive or negative. The results is that you can learn to manage fitness activities so that the desired outcomes or fitness potentials are achieved.
The interest of the general
public in physical fitness has grown rapidly in the past two decades. As its
popularity has increased so has the need for those persons involved with
designing or supervising exercise programs to have a basic understanding of
fitness potentials as they relate to the
principles of fitness, which requires knowledge of physiology of
exercise. Research findings, regarding several scientific disciplines
(chemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology, physiology of exercise, and
physics or biomechanics) have enabled exercise scientists to formulate scientific concepts
and principles, which can be utilized to design more effective and successful
fitness training programs than formerly possible. This observable fact is the
basis for the high interest among Americans of all ages in learning from fitness
professionals, as they seek the latest strategies and procedures recommended to
improve physical fitness. Today, the interests of Americans in physical
activity, and sport has reached an all-time high.
To achieve outstanding performance in the variety of recreational and competitive sports available today, optimal levels of body functioning for daily living must be surpassed and higher levels of fitness at or near maximum potential must be achieved. The responses of the body to physical activity make it possible for the body to reach its highest levels of functioning. For this reason, it is important for athletes and non-athletes alike to understand the meaning of fitness potentials, the current capabilities of an individual to participate in physical activities and fitness activities, which are exercises or physical activities that may effectuate changes in body functions, by causing them to adapt. It is important to remember that the body responds in accordance with the three observable criteria: frequency, intensity, and duration or time (FIT) that fitness activities are experienced. Fitness activities that are selected with respect to this model (FIT) may be classified according to their affect on seven components of fitness: flexibility, cardio respiratory endurance, muscular strength, skill, body fat composition, energy, and nutrition.
However, only four of these components of fitness may be classified as activities: strength, cardio respiratory endurance, flexibility, and skill. The remaining four components of fitness are classified as effects of fitness activities as well as components that influence the four types of fitness activities. The four activity components must be emphasized in different combinations, during training sessions, as one's success depends upon their ability to experience fitness activities with varying emphasis. In other words, one can develop a specific type of fitness-training program to achieve the results desired, a single components of fitness, but he or she must select an approach that will bring about change or adaptation; also the approach must vary and include emphasis of more than one component of fitness. For example, strength can best be improved by alternating cycles of training that emphasizes muscular strength and muscular endurance development, as well as flexibility development or maintenance. Strength training alone for extended periods of time does not produce continued improvement in muscular strength, as it may be improved with flexibility exercise..
Adaptations that occur throughout the structural complexity or organizational hierarchy of the body begin at the chemical level and progress to the organelle, cellular, tissue, organ, and organ systems levels. The frequency, intensity, and duration of fitness activities experienced may be designed to effectuate gradual changes in each component of fitness at these levels of organization. Accordingly, there will be an increase, maintenance, or decrease in one's fitness potential.
Today, there is an increased
awareness of this phenomenon among many people; and this awareness has led to an increase in
the use of sport and fitness facilities under the tutelage of fitness trainers in both the private and public sectors.
Also, many people are developing informal sport and fitness opportunities within
their homes, their neighborhood, and in their workplace, because they have
become aware of the importance of experiencing fitness activities on a regular
basis .
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Although they may not be able to give a scientific explanation for what they know, it is common knowledge, among most Americans, that a person will lose, maintain, or gain his or her level of fitness according to the level of activities they experience in their daily lives. And it also a common belief that it doesn’t matter whether a person is interested in fitness for the purpose of promoting his or her physical well being or for participating in sports, the principle components of fitness are primarily the same: flexibility, cardio respiratory endurance, strength, skill, body fat composition, energy, and nutrition. In either case, a person must choose to participate in a level of physical activity that is proportional to the level of fitness desired. Anyone can improve their fitness by doing more. However, people who are interested in improving their performance in sports must consider what they must do more carefully. The higher the gains expected, the greater the need to focus on scientific concepts and principles. Thus, athletes experience greater benefits from fitness training than non-athletes not only because they do more, but also because they are more selective about their training regimens; and their selectivity is enhanced by knowledge of scientific principles. By adopting proven fitness improvement techniques, they boost their performance in ways that could otherwise not be attained.
It is helpful to think about physical fitness in terms of four components of fitness, strength, endurance, flexibility, and skill. You will learn that as you consider each component of fitness they represent specific physiological adaptations to exercise and that the effect of all physical activity is specific to the organ system worked during exercise. In other words, the type of exercise that you would use to develop cardio respiratory or cardiovascular endurance will not be very effective for developing an optimum balance of muscular strength. The flexibility training that you may plan is not likely to increase cardio respiratory endurance or muscle strength, because flexibility training is usually designed to increase range of motion in specific joints, such as the hip and shoulder joints. Resistance training is the best way for you to increase strength; it is not the best way to improve cardiovascular fitness. However, each component of fitness may have positive affects on other components of fitness. For Instance, strength improves the potential for improvement in flexibility. Cardio respiratory endurance has a positive influence on all of the other components of fitness.
Due to the responses of the structural complexity of the body to physical activities, increases in muscular activities against resistance causes increases in the density of muscle fibers and activation of a greater number of muscle fibers. This results in an increase in muscular strength. Similarly, increases in flexibility and endurance exercises may produce greater range of motion in joints and an increase in the ability of the body to use oxygen during physical activity.
Preparation for participation in sport with improved performance should be based on a balanced fitness program that embraces four components of fitness. Although, there are other components of fitness that must be considered strength, endurance, flexibility, and body fat composition are fundamental concepts that must be clearly understood. The first component to be introduced in this lesson and discussed in this course is flexibility, which refers to the range of motion that a person possesses in his or her joints. Because flexibility can be excessive to the point of interfering with the performance of various skills, there is a level of flexibility that should not be surpassed for certain sports. If a person stretches his or her joints, frequently, through a full range of motion, they will maintain or improve their flexibility for the specific joints targeted. Decreases in flexibility will occur if appropriate stretching or flexibility exercises are not performed on a regular basis. The second component of fitness introduced in this lesson and discussed in this course is cardio respiratory endurance; it refers to how well the body can utilize oxygen in muscle cells or fibers to produce energy and sustain muscle activity. It too will be decreased, maintained, or improved according to the extent to which oxygen demanding activities are performed. If a person participates, frequently, in oxygen sustaining activities he or she will maintain or improve their cardio respiratory endurance, accordingly. The principle of progressive overload is used to improve all components of fitness, including activities that are sustained by an adequate supply of Oxygen. This principle is discussed in Lesson 5.
Strength for sport and
daily tasks is
also affected by specific physical activities and the frequency and level of
intensity practiced. If a person, frequently, moves his or her joints through a
full range of motion against resistance, they will maintain or improve their
strength, which is the ability to perform one or more repetitions of a specific
exercise at a particular level of resistance with a specific group of muscles.
Skill...
Increases, decreases, or maintenance of all of the components of fitness are the result of specific effects on the functions of the body that come with certain adaptations, which occur because of the tendency of the body to adjust. As explained above, these adaptations occur in proportion to the frequency of activity, the level of intensity, and duration or amount of time the activity is performed. The least the amount of activity the greater the loss in body functions or the greater the fitness changes will be over time; the greater the amount of activity the greater the increase in body functions or the greater the fitness changes will be over time. Thus the quality of the functions of the body are influenced by increases and decreases in the level of activity imposed, subsequently, all adaptations of the body’s functions are proportional to imposed demands. This phenomenon is determined by homeostasis, which maintains continuous control over body functions. Thus, optimal fitness should be considered a product of total body functions, not separate functions; and it can only be accomplished, when a wide variety of activities are selected to influence the functions of the body represented by all four of the components of fitness, strength, cardio respiratory endurance, flexibility, body fat composition, energy, and nutrition.
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The Principles of Fitness Training
Today, because of great emphasis attached to total fitness for participation in sports, the all important principle is "The athlete or sport participant who is 100% fit or closest to it performs well or best.." The methods used to achieve this supreme fitness, in whatever sport chosen, must be based on the level of fitness that a person finds himself or herself at any given point in time. The principle of readiness/individuality refers to the concept that the level of performance that a person has achieved is the beginning point for their fitness-training program.. Even if a person has successfully trained for years, each day represents a beginning point for their fitness-training program. Their prime goal may be to reach the 80 - 90% level of performance, a lower level, or at some other point between where they are when they begin their training and where they would like to be after training a given period of time. It may be desirable not to change one's level of fitness at all. What a person wants to accomplish is up to them, but where they find themselves is where they must begin.
If the beginning training level for improving cardio respiratory endurance is 65%, which can be determined by one of several popular methods of calculating training heart rates, a training program may be initiated at the 65% level of intensity for three to five days per week. After a cycle of three to five weeks or longer, improvement in the level of cardio respiratory endurance may be identified by testing. Testing for the level of performance before and after a training cycle of two or more weeks determines progress toward a higher level of fitness. Contrary to this approach the beginning level of training for improving cardio respiratory endurance could be started at a higher level than the beginning test indicates it should be started. This approach is not recommended, as it is problematical. Anyone who is subjected to training at a level that is more intense than the level they are capable of performing will experience the effects of over training and placed at risk of injury. The ideal practice is to train at a level of readiness and gradually increase frequency, intensity, or duration.
The principle of adaptation is based on the ideas that body functions are influenced by physical activity and that when activities are continued for long periods of time the body adjusts to maintain its ability to continue functioning or overcome its inability to function. As the functions of the body improves, higher and higher levels of activity may be experienced. The ability to walk 1-mile in 15 minutes with a pulse rate of 145 beats per minute (bpm) can be improved over time. One way to do so may be to walk, jog, or run 1-mile at the appropriate level of intensity three to five days per week and for several weeks. Additionally, if there is a gradual reduction in the time needed to cover 1-mile during this training cycle, the effect of training will be greater. Such a person can expect to travel 1-mile in less than 15 minutes with a pulse rate that is less than 145 bpm (starting pulse rate); and they can expect to achieve this goal sooner than they would if there was not a gradual increase in the intensity. Adaptations occur in proportion to the frequency of activity, level of intensity, and amount or duration of activity, but adaptations must not be forced; they should occur as a result of stimulation not force.
Positive changes in all four components of fitness (cardio respiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, and body fat composition)may be caused by regular exercise. Some exercises are more effective for improving strength than cardio respiratory endurance and visa versa. For instance, when a given exercise or activity is used to improve a component of fitness and it is more effective in making improvements with the particular component in question than other components, the exercise is believed to be specific to the choice. Thus, the principle of specificity refers to the need to select an exercise according to the fitness outcome desired. If an improvement in cardio respiratory endurance is the targeted result, then exercises that are known to produce improvements in the way the body processes oxygen should be selected. If an improvement in flexibility is desired, exercises that are best suited for developing strength should not be the focus of a training session and vice versa. Resistance exercises improve strength, stretching exercises improve flexibility, and both, stretching and resistance exercises may be utilized to improve body fat composition.
Another important principle of training is the principle of progressive overload. This principle refers to the practice of providing greater stress or demand on the body than it is usually accustomed to handling. The amount of stress involved with either of the components of fitness, including the cardio respiratory system, which involves placing stress on the heart muscle, can be increased gradually over time without the risk of injury.
To avoid risk of injury, it is necessary to honor the target zone for training intensity to achieve the desired training effect, the level of intensity required to cause a change in the way the body functions. The target zone for training is formed by the lowest intensity needed to bring about improvement in a particular component of fitness and the highest intensity of training, the point above which the risk of injury or over training outweighs further benefits to a component of fitness. The idea is that once the body adapts to the stress placed on it the physical characteristic of interest is gradually increased.
Intensity can be varied by increasing the amount of time spent exercising or the level of participation assumed. For optimal health, the minimum recommended duration of exercise per week is 150 minutes. Longer periods of exercise produce greater health and fitness benefits. The minimum frequency recommended by federal health officials for improving fitness also apply to improving sport performance. The intensity of an exercise utilized varies with the type of exercise and with personal goals. Therefore, to improve cardiovascular fitness, you need to increase your heart rate to a target zone (the level that produces benefits); to develop muscular strength and endurance, you need to increase the amount of weight you lift or the resistance you work against and the number of times you repeat the exercise; and to enhance flexibility, you must stretch your muscles beyond their normal length. If you don't exercise regularly and gradually increase the intensity of your workout (overload), you cannot expect to see adaptations or improvements in fitness.
Disuse or the principle of reversibility is the opposite of the overload principle. Just as the body adapts to greater physical demands, it also adjusts to lower levels. Exercise physiologist report that if you stop exercising, you can lose as much as 50 percent of your fitness improvements within two months. They also have found that, if you reduce your fitness routine, you can best maintain your fitness by keeping the intensity constant and reducing frequency or duration. According to the principle of reversibility, "If you don't use it, you lose it." This means that physical benefits are lost through disuse or inactivity; fitness cannot be stored without activity, it must be maintained or improved with activity.
No matter what the exercise routine may be and what principles may be applied in a fitness training program, there is one format for training that must be adhered to at all times. This format entails the use of three distinct periods during a training session, warm-up, workout, and cool down. The use of this training format produces the best results and reduces the risks of injury. Anyone who trains to improve their fitness should use this format in every exercise session. The three phases of a training session are discussed in Lesson 13.
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Lifestyle Management and Behavior Modification
The ability to improve requires a willingness to change. Thus, when athletes decide to become more physically fit for participation in sport or simply to enjoy a higher level of body functions, they must be willing to change. To some, this is not a difficult process. However, there are some who appear unable to change, while others seem overwhelmed by the need to change. In either case, they get stuck in whatever situation that they want to change. Therefore, it is important for people to learn strategies that can be used to cope with their respective desires for change. There are many factors that influence change in ways needed to achieve goals. Albert Bandura of Stanford University found that the individuals most likely to reach a goal are those who believe that they can. Bandura stated that the more strongly people feel that they can and will change their behavior to achieve goals they have selected, the more strongly they will feel that they will succeed. Strong beliefs and perceptions of one's self, such as this, is called self efficacy. The contrary is also true. Low self-efficacy also can exist and has been linked with a greater likelihood of dropping out of efforts to progress toward goals, for example ending an exercise program designed to improve sports performance, by quitting a sports team..
If success is the desired choice, self-management is essential. Once you have identified the situations, moods, thoughts, or people that are cues for success, you must stick with them and avoid the ones that contribute to failure. For instance, if afternoon training sessions are missed because of too many tasks to complete, workouts should become the first task of the day. On the other hand success suggests that no changes should be made in plans. Planning ahead is a crucial part of successful change. To avoid certain negative situations, anticipate how they might be coped with as soon as temptations are encountered. Another crucial factor is locus of control. If athletes believe that their actions will make a difference in their ability to achieve a goal, their locus of control is internal. If they believe that external forces or factors play a greater role, their locus of control is external. Individuals with an external locus of control for fitness improvement are less likely to initiate or continue the steps needed to obtain the help desired; they are less optimistic about getting support early; they rate their role as not being important; and they spend more time waiting for others to step forward to help them than those with an internal locus of control.
Reinforcement, either positive (a reward) or negative (a punishment), also can play a role in the ability of athletes to progress toward their goals. If they have demonstrated faithfulness to their exercise program for two months, athletes might reward themselves with a new sweat suit or they might punish themselves, by doing extra exercise, after missing a workout session. Even the messages that athletes send to themselves through self-talk can play a role in their success. Mental health professionals have recognized that the conscious use of positive self-talk is a powerful force for changing the way individuals think, feel, and believe. Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism, explains that challenging automatic negative thoughts that enter our brains by asserting our own statements of self-worth transforms ourselves into optimists who see what's right rather than pessimists forever focusing on what's wrong. "Optimism is a learned set of skills," Seligman contends. "Once learned, these skills persist because they feel so good to use. And reality is usually on our side."
Awareness of positive behavior is always the first step toward achieving goals. Once athletes are able to identify what they would like to change, they could keep a diary for one or two weeks, noting what they plan to do to bring about the change. Then record when, where, and what their successes were at specific times. If athletes need the assistance of others, they should enlist them early. But remember, what they do for themselves is the most important step toward success. This idea is the basis for the contradiction that great coaches are made by great athletes, but great athletes need great coaching. Self observation and self-control are key factors; without them athletes will discover a locus of control that is external and that their success depends on whatever they perceive the external forces to be, which may be factors that will never prevail.
The process of change based on the ability of the body to adapt to improve sport performance can best be accomplished with the five steps for planning, developing, and implementing a fitness-training program. These steps will be discussed in Lesson 9 and are as follow: health screening, fitness assessing, goal setting, program designing, and program implementing and evaluating.
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In man’s search for an understanding of how the human body works, why it goes wrong, and what to do to improve its functions, he has identified countless theories, many of which were erroneous, before unveiling enormous progress in his understanding of the human anatomy and how it operates. Man’s continued discoveries and new insights into the understanding of fitness and how the body responds to physical activity has been the precursor to the high quality of living experienced by many persons. In regard to the structural and functional entities of all levels of the organizational hierarchy of the human anatomy, man has learned that physical activity plays an essential role in the ability of the body to maintain a stable environment, which is determined by a variety of chemical, thermal, and neural factors acting and interacting in complex ways. These discoveries have led anyone interested in fitness to ask two important questions that when answered leads to a greater understanding of fitness. The questions are as follow: "How much do we actually know about how our body systems work; and what must we understand about what scientist have discovered to be able to conserve or achieve higher and more desirable levels of fitness?”
Today, we know that the leading causes of death in the United States are all non-infectious diseases, those that cannot be transmitted from one person to another. While this is a well-known fact, it is also a well-known fact that risk of the leading cause of death to Americans, which is heart disease, could be prevented by regular physical activity. Also, it is a fact that when exercise is sufficient in frequency, time, and intensity, it can improve one's quality of living and extend their life.
So, on the one hand individuals who work out rigorously and regularly have the healthiest hearts and the lowest risks of heart disease, but on the other hand people who are not physically active face a much greater risk of fatal heart attack than those who engage in some form of exercise or activity. Thus, regular physical activity offers many benefits, but while doing so, most importantly, it lengthens the lives of those persons who learn to make it a habit, 20 to 40 minutes three to five days per week. The effect of regular exercise also contributes to the five interrelated dimensions of wellness: spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, and social (SPIES). Everyone has the potential to improve himself or herself through each of these dimensions. The spiritual dimension has been recognized, by wellness experts, as the basis for improving all of the other dimensions, but, the physical dimension also has a holistic effect on the body. For a person to achieve the highest level of fitness, he or she must realize the importance of the five dimensions of wellness evaluate them and strive to maintain or improve in all of these areas of being, not just the physical dimension.
If physicians could prescribe pills that could have the same effect on body functions as regular exercise, it would probably be the single most widely used and beneficial prescription on the market. The reason is that regular exercise has a wondrous effect on the functions of the body. The heart muscle becomes stronger and pumps more blood more efficiently with regular exercise. The heart rate, and resting pulse rate slows down and the blood pressure may drop. Sedentary people are about twice as likely to die of heart attack as people who are physically active. For years we have known that regular exercise reduces the risk of heart attack, helps maintain a healthy body weight, and improve metabolism. These effects of exercise reduce the risks of harmful stress, which speeds up the heart rate, raises the blood pressure, and increases the amount and frequency of hazardous stress related hormones released in the blood. Hazardous hormones, catecholamines, make breathing short and shallow and increase the potential for blood clotting; these changes increase the risk for stroke and heart attack. Also, chronically elevated stress hormones raise the baseline anxiety level, making it harder to cope with stressors of daily living. A regular exercise regimen may eliminate this risk.
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Optimum physical fitness is often defined as the condition resulting from the lifestyle and activities that leads to the development of an effective and sufficient level of cardio respiratory endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and ideal body weight. Because training is specific, as explained above, a person must participate in cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility exercise to achieve optimum and balanced physical fitness, and a desirable level of body fat composition. It is imperative that the study of exercise physiology be included in one's effort to learn about fitness. Exercise physiology is included in all materials that purport to disseminate information on the most effective ways to improve fitness.
Because of the wealth of knowledge that has emerged from the study of this important scientific discipline, persons interested in fitness can gain a greater understanding of fitness articles, if they become familiar with how the body functions. Then and only then can they learn to study fitness from a scientific perspective. Such knowledge includes an understanding of how the body functions at rest and how the body responds and adapts to the many different types of exercise that may be imposed upon on it.
Over the years exercise physiologist have continued to learn more about how total fitness can be achieved. Now, emphasis has been placed on the best methods of achieving fitness. The principles introduced in this lesson are the reasons for much success and they have been accepted by fitness professionals all over the world.
When fitness activities are absent, the responses of the body tend to cause a decrease in the body’s capability to function, as opposed to an increase of the same in the presence of sufficient fitness activities. Therefore, the level of fitness activities experienced influences the way the body functions in three ways: it decreases the body’s capacity to function, when physical activities are insufficient; it maintains the body’s capacity to function, when the usual level of activities are continued; and it increases the capacity of the body to function, when more physical activities than usual are, increasingly, encountered.
These three changes, depending on the level of physical activities experienced, are the result of homeostasis, which is the ability of the body to maintain a stable internal balance in response to external forces. Thus, the organ systems of the body have the capacity to adapt to amounts of physical activities that are usual or that are greater than or lesser than the usual. Because of this phenomenon, people who exercise regularly are more likely to have better functioning bodies; additionally, they are less likely to experience the same risks of illnesses, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke, than people who do not exercise regularly. Thus, participation in regular exercise should not only be considered important or essential for satisfactory and intense participation in sports, it is also essential for the achievement of optimal functioning and the capacity for high levels of well-being. Without proper stimulation through fitness activities, there can be no improvement in fitness for health or participation in sports. The results will always be quite the contrary, decreases or maintenance of body functioning. So, if people want to change the capacity of their bodies to function at higher and more desirable levels, they must select the component of fitness and appropriate activities needed to achieve the results that they want. But it must be continued because, once achieved, fitness or conditioning at higher levels cannot be stored.
Knowledge of how to lose, maintain, or improve fitness is represented by the principles of fitness. It is this knowledge that provides the basis for understanding the many complex processes that occur as a result of physical activity. The beginning point for fitness improvement is at the level that an exercise routine can be safely completed . This concept illustrates the principle of readiness. The principle of adaptation demonstrates that the body cells must change the way they function for the organ systems to improve the processes that they accomplish.. Blood vessels house more blood, the heart muscle thickens to pump more blood per beat, and the lungs expand more to improve the amount of oxygen absorbed on each inhalation. In order for improvement in fitness to take place there must be positive adjustments to the exercise or stress placed on the body.
The principles of specificity, progressive overload, and reversibility teach that exercises must be selected according to the goals sought and discontinued for brief periods (days or weeks). For increases in fitness, the stress of the exercise chosen must gradually increase to an intensity greater than that which is normally encountered. For maintenance, the stress of the exercise chosen must be continued at a level of intensity that has been reached. As a greater amount of stress becomes normal, the training intensity must be increased. If the principles of specificity and overload are not applied to a fitness routine so that the desired benefits are continuously emphasized, the benefits achieved will gradually reverse. The level of fitness achieved can only be maintained or improved if regular exercise is continued.
The principles of physical activity also apply to the management of body fat composition. The best fitness routine for improving or maintaining fat loss is aerobic or cardiovascular exercise. Thus, weight management is specific to treatment by exercise. If the amount of physical activity increases and the amount of calories consumed remains the same the overload concept applies. It is also important for this strategy to be based on gradual difference in the amount of calories burned and the amount consumed. Finally, if a routine involving a return to more calories being consumed over the amount of calories burned, there will be a reverse in the amount of fat accumulating in the body. The strategy for maintaining a given percentage of body fat must be continued with a regular exercise program. If it is not continued, the percentage of body fat must be managed by diet alone, which is not an effective strategy.
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