Flexibility - Schwinn SB13 Owner's Manual

Wehave learned through a variety ofstudies t hat t hose individuals whojust
train aerobically (without strength training) domaintain their c ardiovascular
endurance over t heyears, butthey generally lose lean muscle m ass a sthey
getolder. H owever, those individuals whocombine s trength t raining a ndcar-
diovascular training c anmaintain theirlean body mass a sthey getolder. What
thismeans i sthatifyoujustdocardiovascular activity, your b ody w illnaturally
lose muscle m ass asyougetolder, and thatmeans t hatyouwillactually get
"fatter" a syouage, u nless y ouincorporate strength training.
Wehave also learned thatconsistent strength training h elps maintain bone
and muscle m ass aswegetolder. For w omen, strength t raining ( along with
cardiovascular training) may also protect against post-menopausal bone loss
and osteoporosis intheirlater y ears.
And strength training isnot c omplicated. It isrecommended that y ou do8- 12
repetitions of8- 10major m uscle groups a tleast 2 days a week. H owever,
youdon't h ave todoallthese exercises atonce.You canbreak t hem upinto
shorter workouts throughout theday. For e xample, youcan dojustupper body
exercises inthemorning, and your l ower b ody exercises intheevening. Or,
youcan alternate strength e xercises withcardiovascular exercise (often k nown
ascircuit training) byswitching back a nd forth every c ouple ofminutes.
The best p art i syoudon't n eed complicated equipment orfancy machines. You
candoeverything youneed todowithasimple p air o fdumbbells, oryoucan
tryNautilus' newSelectTech ®dumbbells, which provide youawide variety of
weight options inarevolutionary all-in-one dumbbell. You canuseelastic tubing,
orsimply d obody w eight exercises such aspush-ups orlunges.
Flexibility i sbeing able tobend, reach, twistand turn withcomfort and ease
asweperform daily tasks, p lay o rexercise. It isperhaps themost i gnored
component offitness, butcertainly theeasiest onetoincorporate intoourdaily
lives because itcanbedone anywhere and almost atany time.
To maintain your f lexibility, you simply n eed t ostretch. This could b eassimple a s
reaching foryour t oes, o rreaching overhead when youwake upinthemorn-
ing. O rmaybe you enjoy i tsomuch t hat y ou would beinterested intrying the
Nautilus ®yoga workout video. You caneven incorporate stretching intoyour
strength training w orkouts bystretching themuscles youhave used immedi-
ately after y ouhave c ompleted your e xercise set.
Like cardiovascular training, itis recommended thatyoustretch e very day.
However, youdonotneed t ocreate a formalized program.You can simply
make s ure thatyoustretch y our m ajor m uscle groups t hroughout theday.
Make sure youinclude your t highs, calves, hamstrings, back, chest, neck and
shoulders.
Dowhat f eels good, butalso remember tomixitup.Don't justdotraditional
"reach a nd hold" stretches. Also, trygently m oving through a range o fmotion
thatiscomfortable toyou. F or e xample, youdon't h ave t ostretch y our n eck
simply b ypulling o nyour h ead withyour h and.You canalso justrotate the
neck s lowly a round a nd look side toside.
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