Cross-Training
Fitness refers to your heart, and the harder you exercise,
the more fit you become. But every time you exercise vigorously
your muscles are injured, and the harder you exercise, the longer
it takes for your muscles to heal. Muscle biopsies done the day
after a person exercises vigorously show bleeding into the
muscles and disruption of the Z-bands that hold muscle filaments
together. You are not supposed to exercise vigorously again
until the muscle soreness disappears.
Most competitive athletes set up training programs so
they exercise vigorously enough on one day to make their
muscles feel sore for the next day or two and then after the
soreness disappears, they exercise vigorously again. You can
use the same principle in your exercise program to achieve a
higher level of fitness. You can exercise vigorously on one day
and easy on the next few days or until the soreness disappears,
or you can train in two sports. This is called cross-training,
and it can make you very fit and help to prevent injuries.
Each sport stresses specific muscle groups. Cycling
stresses the upper legs, while rowing stresses your back and
upper body. If you cycle and row on the same day, you stress
your upper legs and upper body on the same day. To reduce
your chances of injuring yourself, you should take the next day
off, or at least exercise at a very low intensity. If you cycle on
Monday and row on Tuesday, you allow your muscles 48 hours
to recover from each sport. Pick two sports that use different
muscle groups and do them on alternate days. You can then
exercise more intensely in each sport and achieve a higher level
of fitness.
January 1, 2006
Checked 9/28/08