Strength Training

What puzzles Harry Gaines is that we typically plan our vacations with more care than we plan the rest of our lives, especially when it comes to health and fitness. Too often we neglect to make the investment in exercise that will pay rich dividends in well-being in our 70s, 80s, and beyond. Gaines, 74, a retired textbook-publishing executive who lives half the year in Newtown, Bucks County, and the other half in Florida, keeps a "bucket list" — goals and experiences he hopes to accomplish before he kicks the proverbial bucket.

If you belong to a fitness or health club, you may notice members studying slips of paper - their training schedules - near the free weights or Nautilus machines. By following carefully planned routines, these people work out to increase their strength through training. If you become involved in a strength-training program, you may want to remember a few words: Repetitions, or "reps": the number of times a particular exercise is performed without resting during a set. Set: a specific number of repetitions performed consecutively without resting.

I'VE BEEN in the fitness game for more than 20 years, and the myths that never seem to die are the ones concerning women and weight training. Today, I hope to dispel some of these and nudge a few more women to get serious about toning and strength-training. MYTH 1: Strength training makes women larger and heavier. This most persistently persistent myth couldn't be further from the truth. The only thing bulking us up are those biscuits, breads and bagels. To the contrary, lifting heavy weights is one of the best ways to increase strength while simultaneously improving muscle tone.

Allen Iverson notwithstanding, size matters in the NBA. Basketball players have always been big, but these days they are not only tall but broad, not only heavy but built. In the lingo of the weight room, they are "huge" - armor-plated with thick slabs of muscle, as defined and "cut" as any bodybuilder. Compared to most normal mortals, they are still giraffes, but increasingly they look like giraffes on steroids - giraffes who can bench-press twice their weight and have the bulk to both dish it out and take it under the boards.

Harriet Berkey can now lift a half-gallon jug of milk. She also can stand on the tips of her toes and reach for items without losing her balance. As mundane as both activities might seem, Berkey, 56, of Evesham, has spent 1 1/2 years attending strength classes at the Mount Laurel branch of the Family Y of Burlington County to help her maintain her strength and keep her balance while fighting the effects of multiple sclerosis. "When I left work, I knew that I'd have to do something to keep myself moving because if you don't use it, you lose it," said Berkey, a former nurse anesthetist who was diagnosed with the disease about two years ago after she began having trouble maintaining her balance.

As a Pumpkin Head (i.e., Princetonian), it pains me to say this, but I predict an era of Quaker dominance in sports large (football) and small (squash) and expect to see the best bods in the Ivy League parading down Locust Walk. The reason for such a forecast: The University of Pennsylvania's spectacular new fitness and strength-training facility under the brick arches on the north side of Franklin Field. The George A. Weiss Pavilion is its formal name, and it encompasses the Robert A. Fox Recreational Fitness Center and the Varsity Strength and Performance Center.

During an exercise session, vigorous cardiovascular workouts such as running or biking can typically torch more calories than resistance or strength training. But what happens once the workout is over? Exercise scientists have long debated the wondrous notion of an exercise afterburn, or the body's ability to keep burning calories even after you've showered and returned to your desk. Meanwhile, if such an effect exists, it is not clear which form of exercise - cardio or strength training - has a greater metabolism-boosting potential.

With the proper training you can feel as strong as a bull moose, just as Teddy Roosevelt did. But there's no reason to be bullheaded about it. Even athletes who already can outrun, outjump or outclass their opponents yearn for muscles that are bigger, stronger and more enduring. Their desire is admirable, but the manner in which some of them go about getting this power is misguided and, in some cases, dangerous. If you're power-hungry in this way, begin with the idea that no single strength-training routine will magically enhance your performance.

Q: What is labile hypertension, and what is the cause of it? Is the condition a permanent one? Are there recommended treatments for it? A: Labile hypertension is a common condition, marked by cyclic fluctuations of blood pressure from high to normal ranges. For example, were you (with normal blood pressure) to be frightened, your blood pressure would rise, perhaps to an extremely high level. Once the stress is relieved, your pressure would fall. This is a healthy and predictable physiologic adaptation.

I FIRST SAW Emily Tunney and Emily Record at the gym, doing what appeared to me to be a wrestling or extreme fighter-type of routine. I was floored when they told me that they played on a women's rugby team. Tunney, 26, a Temple University graduate who works as an administrative coordinator at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and Record, 29, a computer programmer and Drexel grad, met and are now teammates on the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club, a Division 1 league.

During an exercise session, vigorous cardiovascular workouts such as running or biking can typically torch more calories than resistance or strength training. But what happens once the workout is over? Exercise scientists have long debated the wondrous notion of an exercise afterburn, or the body's ability to keep burning calories even after you've showered and returned to your desk. Meanwhile, if such an effect exists, it is not clear which form of exercise - cardio or strength training - has a greater metabolism-boosting potential.

I'VE BEEN in the fitness game for more than 20 years, and the myths that never seem to die are the ones concerning women and weight training. Today, I hope to dispel some of these and nudge a few more women to get serious about toning and strength-training. MYTH 1: Strength training makes women larger and heavier. This most persistently persistent myth couldn't be further from the truth. The only thing bulking us up are those biscuits, breads and bagels. To the contrary, lifting heavy weights is one of the best ways to increase strength while simultaneously improving muscle tone.

I FIRST SAW Emily Tunney and Emily Record at the gym, doing what appeared to me to be a wrestling or extreme fighter-type of routine. I was floored when they told me that they played on a women's rugby team. Tunney, 26, a Temple University graduate who works as an administrative coordinator at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and Record, 29, a computer programmer and Drexel grad, met and are now teammates on the Philadelphia Women's Rugby Football Club, a Division 1 league.

As a Pumpkin Head (i.e., Princetonian), it pains me to say this, but I predict an era of Quaker dominance in sports large (football) and small (squash) and expect to see the best bods in the Ivy League parading down Locust Walk. The reason for such a forecast: The University of Pennsylvania's spectacular new fitness and strength-training facility under the brick arches on the north side of Franklin Field. The George A. Weiss Pavilion is its formal name, and it encompasses the Robert A. Fox Recreational Fitness Center and the Varsity Strength and Performance Center.

THE FUNNY THING is that Eagles defensive end Juqua Parker did not put on an additional 10 pounds after last season to enhance his pass-rushing skills. He wanted to be better against the run so he could stay on the field for more plays. But during training camp, the Eagles' defensive coaches kept commenting on how Parker looked more explosive and quicker coming off the end. It wasn't an optical illusion. Through the first four games, Parker leads the sack-happy defense and is ranked in the top 10 in the NFL with 3 1/2 sacks - nearly a quarter of his total for the first 7 years of his career.

Asafa Powell achieved his goal in yesterday's Olympic Development 100-meter dash at the Penn Relays. The world-record holder in the event wanted to get off to a good start, smoothly accelerate in the middle of the race, shut it down with about 35 meters to go, and cruise to the finish line. While he did that, the Franklin Field crowd of 49,771 wore the same incredulous expressions on their face and uttered a collective "Wow!" With a time of 10.10 seconds, Powell came within 0.01 of matching the meet record held by the legendary Carl Lewis.

They called him "The Beast. " Six feet tall and muscular, Cpl. Pisey Tan won the admiration of his fellow soldiers in his armor company, Alpha 369. On Aug. 6, the 24-year-old from Philadelphia's Olney section was on patrol in Samarra, one of Iraq's holy cities, 75 miles north of Baghdad. He should have been back home, but the Pentagon's "stop-loss" order prevented him, like thousands of others, from leaving the Army until his overseas deployment was over. For Tan, a son of Cambodian immigrants, it was always a love-hate kind of thing.

The Camden County Red Cross, noting a shortage of lifeguard candidates around the region as summer approaches, will offer lifeguard training at multiple locations in Camden County. The courses offered will be CPR and first aid for the professional rescuer; water safety instructor; lifeguard training instructor; head of lifeguard training; waterfront lifeguard training; water park lifeguard training; safety training for swim coaches and CPR for the professional rescuer review. For information on classes, the prerequisites and skills needed for enrollment as well as course registration and fees, call 856-365-7100, Ext. 2 or visit the Web site at www.camdenredcross.

Allen Iverson notwithstanding, size matters in the NBA. Basketball players have always been big, but these days they are not only tall but broad, not only heavy but built. In the lingo of the weight room, they are "huge" - armor-plated with thick slabs of muscle, as defined and "cut" as any bodybuilder. Compared to most normal mortals, they are still giraffes, but increasingly they look like giraffes on steroids - giraffes who can bench-press twice their weight and have the bulk to both dish it out and take it under the boards.

Harriet Berkey can now lift a half-gallon jug of milk. She also can stand on the tips of her toes and reach for items without losing her balance. As mundane as both activities might seem, Berkey, 56, of Evesham, has spent 1 1/2 years attending strength classes at the Mount Laurel branch of the Family Y of Burlington County to help her maintain her strength and keep her balance while fighting the effects of multiple sclerosis. "When I left work, I knew that I'd have to do something to keep myself moving because if you don't use it, you lose it," said Berkey, a former nurse anesthetist who was diagnosed with the disease about two years ago after she began having trouble maintaining her balance.