The wisest amongst us know that each of us receives one lifetime/body and take personal responsibility to gain the knowledge to build the healthiest body they can, capable of optimum performance.
You should know that regular exercise is the very best defense against the development of the numerous diseases, disabilities and dysfunctions that afflict our people. Every major medical, health and wellness organization and expert has identified exercise as the primary mechanism to prevent disease and premature death. You know that it is IMPOSSIBLE to maintain the highest quality of life, and maximum functionality throughout your lifetime without a well-designed exercise program. The U.S. Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control, the American College of Sports Medicine, the Institute of Medicine and every other health organization all recommend regular exercise. Figure 1.1, The Role of Physical Activity and Exercise in Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation, is a visual representation of the dramatic impact exercise can have on the prevention of disease, disability and dysfunction.
Figure 1.1
But how much exercise is enough? Figure 1.2, The Dose-Response Relationship for Health Benefits and Physical Activity, indicates that for a patient to achieve 100% improvement in most major medical and health markers, including: triglycerides, blood pressure, body composition, and high-density lipoproteins, requires 3,000 calories per week of exercise activity. While frequency, intensity, time and type (FITT Principle) all have an impact, current evidence suggests that intensity may be a crucial factor. It may be ideal to exercise at higher levels, but many patients with existing disease, disability or dysfunction may not be able to exercise at any but the lowest intensities when they begin their fitness program. Their exercise prescription would require starting at low levels of intensity and gradually progressing their intensity as they achieve greater levels of conditioning. The Gradual Progressive Overload (GPO) Principle works as safely and effectively for diseased patients as it does for the sports conditioning coach’s athlete or the personal fitness trainer’s client.
Figure 1.2
Many diseased patients lose interest and get depressed from their perceptions of slow progress. The obese patient needing to lose over 100 pounds of fat in a medically supervised weight loss program faces the same psychological hurdles as the personal fitness training client who desires to lose the 10 – 20 pounds of “vanity fat” when getting ready for “bikini competition season.” Results do not happen as fast as they had hoped they would. It is critically important that you re-frame their goals so they see “faster results.” For the obese patient, the doctor needs to emphasize the medical goals. The patient will see “instantaneous results” in the critical health and medical markers so critical to their health and longevity. After their very first exercise session and each seceding session, your patient will see improvements in blood glucose tolerance and insulin response, making a great improvement in their diabetes risk factors. The personal fitness training client will experience the same benefits, thus preventing their chance of getting obese, getting metabolic syndrome, diabetes, etc.
The long-term goal for the patient must be to maintain, improve and maximize their total functionality. Athletes require high quantities of functionality in all 10 IFPA Components of Fitness: Strength, Speed, Power, Anaerobic and Aerobic Endurance, Agility, Balance, Coordination, Flexibility and Body Composition. To prevent premature aging, reduce the risk of disease, disability and dysfunction, your patient should focus on the five that have the greatest impact on Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): Strength, Anaerobic Endurance, Aerobic Endurance, Flexibility and Body Composition.
You and your patients can maintain high levels of ADLs throughout your lifetime with well-designed exercise prescriptions. Figure 1.4 clearly proves that “strength-trained” men in what used to be referred to as “old age” can outperform “untrained” men in their PRIME! Figure 1.4 clearly shows that an 80-year-old man can be as strong or stronger than untrained young men in their 20’s and 30’s. Research on the other IFPA Components of Fitness show the same or better results. One study showed 90-year-old lifelong marathon runners having greater aerobic capacity than untrained 20-year-olds!
Figure 1.4
Figure 1.3 shows The Exercise and Physical Activity Pyramid. The pyramid provides guidelines and prescriptions that focuses on 4 of the 5 IFPA Components of Fitness for ADLs: Strength, Anaerobic and Aerobic Endurance, and Flexibility. Focus on these 4 will correct the critically important 5th Component of Fitness for ADLs: Body Composition.
Figure 1.3
The IFPA has developed the IFPA Certified Advanced Exercise Prescription Specialist (CAEPS) Course to provide personal fitness trainers the precise knowledge, skills and abilities they need to manage these exercise prescriptions. The American Boards for Kinesiology, Nutrition and Sports Medicine (ABKNSM) working in conjunction with the IFPA has developed an extensive Fellowship program for doctors, healthcare practitioners and advanced personal fitness trainers who hold a personal fitness trainer certification from a NOCA/NCCA accredited certification organization (the IFPA is one of only a very few certification organizations to achieve this prestigious accreditation). ABKNSM is a highly extensive program to provide doctors and healthcare professionals the precise knowledge, skills and abilities they need to safely and effectively treat over 65 different diseases, disabilities and dysfunctions through exercise and sports medicine protocols. No drug or medical modality can provide even a fraction of the benefit you observe in Figures 1.1 and 1.2. Only ABKNSM sports medicine protocols can CURE the diseases shown in these figures. Drugs only treat symptoms; ABKNSM sports medicine protocols treat the disease by regenerating the underlying physiological system whose deterioration has caused the disease.
True healing stems from strengthening the body and each of the body’s ten components of fitness. Taken together, conditioning all ten components of fitness, strengthens every physiological system in the body so the body will not get sick! Sick is not a natural state! Healthy is a natural state and keeping the body healthy through ABKNSM protocols prevents sickness!
