Last weekend I attended Canfitpro World Fitness Expo at the Metro Convention Centre. Undoubtedly, this is one of my favourite activities to attend it’s all about physical fitness which I truly love. Consequently, I wish to share some of the information I gathered that keeps me motivated and I trust you too will benefit.
The following article is courtesy of: Claudiu Popa, PTS. OAS
“To help fitness professionals deal with the natural resistance of clients with chronic conditions it is important to know your stuff, be armed with the right information and to disarm and defuse any arguments strictly related to interest and motivation. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), half of all US adults have 
one or more chronic health condition. The top two are heart disease and cancer which account for nearly half of all annual deaths.
When the National Center for Biotechnology Information published “Health Benefits of physical activity: the evidence (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), it served to underscore the importance of resistance training, but more importantly, the role physical inactivity plays in the development of chronic disease and premature death.
Obesity continues to be a leading health risk indicator in one-third of all adults. In Canada, the top four types which add pulmonary disease and diabetes to the aforementioned two – kill over 150,000 people each year. To help understand chronic diseases, the Public Health Agency of Canada developed the Chronic Disease Indicator Framework (http://www.infobase.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cdif), a tool to track some 41 indicators grouped into 6 core domains. These are useful in establishing a narrative to use with clients across all demographics and fitness levels as it establishes using verifiable evidence that physical inactivity is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and a widening variety of other chronic diseases, including diabetes, mellitus, cancer (colon and breast), obesity, hypertension, bone and joint diseases, (osteoporosis and osteoarthritis), and depression. According to these authoritative sources, the prevalence of physical inactivity (among 51% of adult Canadians) is higher than that of all modifiable risk factors.
Accounting for 60% of all deaths, (WHO numbers), chronic diseases are impacting special populations at such a rate that the term special is now redundant paving the way for population-wide changes to use fitness and health measures to counter these preventable factors. Among the preventative measures often cited by organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, the American Diabetes Association and numerous others are unsurprisingly vigorous exercise and resistance training. What’s more these are recommended to groups, young and old, special and not.
Whether the client is prone to complications related to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, asthma, back pain or any other conditions, the effectiveness and safety of the resistance program depend on the following 7 factors.
Following medical/physio guidelines for safety and recovery- Compound exercises: movements that engage multiple muscles and joints
- Intensity: the amount of energy expended within the limits of the chronic condition
- Periodization: the systemic planning of physical training to minimize performance
- Eccentric-concentric contractions maximize strength throughout range of motion
- Isometric contractions to protect joints while exercising muscle
- Reset recovery periods between training sessions are critical for optimal adaptation
An effective exercise program will fit the above factors into the constraints of the FITT principle, ensuring that Frequency, Intensity Time and Type are periodically adjusted to match the audience’s goals, limitations and interests”.
As a caregiver myself, I understand the importance of physical activities in my life without which I would not be able to function at the level I do. Therefore, I encourage everyone to set aside the time to incorporate physical activities into your day, make an investment in yourself by taking care of you.