Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | (0) Comments
The aerobics “era” started 40 years ago by Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s book has had a large impact on the way people think about health, exercise and longevity. But a lot of newer research points in some other directions. Male Pattern Fitness has a really good post explaining some of the accepted preconceptions and why they are wrong. I have long held that given the choice between 1/2 hour of running and 1/2 hour of weight training, you are way better off with the weight training because if you super-set and turn up the speed a little, you will obviously get some aerobic benefit. Check it out…
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Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s Aerobics, one of the most important books in the history of fitness publishing, came out in March 1968. I have mixed feelings about the anniversary. If you’ve read The New Rules of Lifting or The New Rules of Lifting for Women, you know I take umbrage with this passage, which appears in the book’s first chapter:
“I’ll state my position early. The best exercises are running, swimming, cycling, walking, stationary running, handball, basketball and squash, and in just about that order. Isometrics, weight lifting and calisthenics, though good as far as they go, don’t even make the list, despite the fact that most exercise books are based on one of these three.”
A similarly disputable argument appears in the introduction, written by Richard Bohannon, former surgeon general of the U.S. Air Force:
Longevity does not depend on the strength and tone of the muscles of the arms, legs, or abdominal wall. According to our present understanding of the matter, it is much more likely, in the absence of organic disease elsewhere, to depend on the capability of the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems to withstand the stresses of modern living.
That was probably a good guess for 1968, and elsewhere in the introduction Dr. Bohannon is much more generous and expansive in his consideration that all types of exercise — including those that maintain or improve joint mobility — are valuable.
But it’s wrong.
Read the rest here-
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