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decades, people have been donning sweaters after heavy exercise.
The name sweater, in fact, has obvious origins. The sweater began
as a means of keeping the body warm and covered once it had become
hot and sweaty. Unless
exposure to inclement weather is a problem, or the individual
has particular reasons for putting on a sweater at the end of
a hot workout, the sweater myth is just that. Under normal temperature,
weather, and other conditions, the sweater simply prolongs the
body's hot state. That helps not at all.
Some
stiffness can, of course, result from exercise. But wearing
a sweater is not the way to prevent that. Stiff ness usually
has its sources in the body's condition, or lack of it.
The
advice that counsels moderation in launching a fitness program
or in starting new phases of it has a sound basis in physiology.
The purpose is to avoid excessive fatigue. Muscular fatigue
is defined as stimulation of a muscle or group of muscles beyond
their ability to recover. A second type of fatigue affects the
entire body. Known as physical fatigue, this form can be regarded
as normal after physical exercise if it does not suggest undue
stress.
Keep
in mind that a flexible plan may call for adjustments under
different circumstances. It may indicate sometimes that it is
best to terminate the day's activities. On other occasions,
it may require elimination of some exercises and continuation
with others.
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Your knee begins to bother you. You drop the exercises calling
for knee exertion and retain those that don't.
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You get a "stitch" in your side. Because it hurts
continually, you decide to downplay those exercises, for that
day, that produce or exacerbate the discomfort.
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While running in place, you find yourself troubled by shin splints,
those pains along the sides of the shin bones. You stop running
and turn to something else.
Flexibility
can exist alongside dedication to a program. As common sense
dictates, the individual should sometimes slow down or blow
the whistle completely on some exercises. Even Napoleon retreated
now and then.
Another
important principle should be noted: the individual will build
and take to a fitness program most readily if he believes it
will do him some good. And if he has faith and confidence in
it, he is likely to stay with the program over the long run.
Three
stages of fitness have been identified. The individual who stays
with an intelligently devised program moves through beginning,
intermediate, and advanced stages. These have been termed by
some authorities the low, medium, and excellent stages or phases.
Some experts add a fourth level: the elite stage at which a
person finds himself able to take part in highly competitive
and demanding athletic activities.
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