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Machine of the Month
Illustration: © Tomkong
The J-Tower may not look that spectacular but it can be used for 5 different exercises: calf raises (J1) strengthen the calves, regular side bends (J9) firm up the waist, front chins/parallel chins and dips train the arms, shoulders and back and J5 strengthens the triceps, i.e. the back of the upper arms. Both chins and dips require a minimum level of strength – after all, you must be able to lift your own bodyweight. As well as doing preparatory training on other machines (C1, C5 and H1), it can be helpful to do the so-called negative variations of exercises on the J-Tower as this speeds up the process of achieving this aim. When using the J-Tower, use the hip belt for calf raises (and even chins) as this allows an additional weight to be transferred from the weightstack to the body. For side bends, use the hand grips and for triceps extension use the rope.
Expert‘s Tip
The Achilles tendon is the strongest tendon in the human body. It connects the calf muscles with the heel. Although large in diameter, the Achilles tendon is prone to injury. With chronic symptoms, pain can often be eliminated by training the calf muscles with an emphasis on the extension phase.
The J-Tower is excellent for this exercise because heels are lowered fully into the extended position and the side hand grips ensure stability. The load can be varied depending upon the severity of the symptoms. If necessary, the exercise can be done in the negative version, which means that the injured leg has no resistance to overcome. At the other end of the scale, intensity can be increased by exercising with just one leg. In this case, the affected leg has to lift and hold the entire body weight and also lower it in a controlled way. It’s important to stand on the bottom step with feet apart forming a slight “V”. During the exercise, keep the knees and hips stretched throughout. The position of the knee affects the length of the calf muscle and so the latter can only be fully extended if the knee is fully extended. This type of training for the calf muscles also helps to repair the Achilles tendon as the extension stimulus causes a local secretion of growth hormones and metabolism is improved. However, structural changes to the tendon take some 8 – 12 weeks to occur. If you suffer from Achilles tendon problems, we recommend that you keep this exercise in your programme permanently.
Anika Stephan, R&D Kieser Training
Latest research: strength against cancer
For many years cancer patients were told to take things easy. However, the strict ban on any form of sport has now been superseded and to date there have been more than 40 controlled clinical trials on the effects of physical exercise during and after cancer treatment. Initially, preference was given to endurance training but recent research has shown that strength training can also be useful in the recovery process and in fact accelerate it.
Off to the weights room: The German Cancer Research Centre, working with the Breast Centre at the University of Cologne prescribed machine-based strength training to 18 patients with breast cancer who were undergoing chemotherapy. The training plan lasted 3 months during which the women exercised twice a week to strengthen and stretch the back, leg and arm muscles. The effects were positive: Despite the energy sapping cancer treatment, the patients retained strength levels and suffered less from the typical exhaustion symptoms.
Increases in performance
Even patients who had already lost weight and muscle mass as a result of cancer benefited. In a further study, the strength of patients with a range of different cancers increased by up to 20% after training femoral muscles for 8 weeks. Patients also put on weight.
Positive side-effects
Strength training can do so much more: Blood tests have shown that muscle training also improves the body’s own defence mechanism against cancerous cells and improves blood formation. Similarly, it can reduce the side effects of treatment such as nausea, exhaustion, pain and problems with sleeping. In addition, sport also improved patient wellbeing, self-confidence and emotional strength.
Summary of research
Strength training not only improves the physical performance and quality of life of patients but also increased their chance of survival and recovery. Major plus point: if muscles are trained, it is sometimes possible to reduce the often extreme loss of weight and muscle caused by cancer and its treatment. As a result, both endurance and strength training should be an integral part of treatment for cancer – the era of taking it easy is over.
Training programmes for cancer patients
Patients must not start strength training until a doctor has given the green light. In addition patients should also undergo a sports medical to ensure they are physically able to do the training. Training should be done on a one-to-one basis and adjusted depending upon the health of the individual patient – all of which are of course possible at Kieser Training.
Source: Ärzte Zeitung [Journal of German Doctors] Edition 2, 16 April 2009
5 questions ... on regeneration
Our thirst for knowledge focuses mainly on training and how we do it. However, the actual regeneration process takes much long. Strong muscles are not solely the result of training. Below, we divulge the secrets of super-compensation.
What is super-compensation?
Be honest, how do you feel after strength training? Do you feel “somewhat tired”? If so, that’s good because it means that you have made a good start. Training should be a challenge to the body with each session slightly exceeding current ability. You should feel tired afterwards as you only increase strength if you “overwork” the muscles. Immediately after the training session, performance drops – after all, it should be impossible to repeat the same programme immediately afterwards. However, the body is pretty astute. It realises that it was slightly too weak for the demands put upon it and so it adapts to the training load. Pretty cool, isn’t it?
It sounds paradoxical: to strengthen muscle, I first have to weaken them?
TYou have to overtax muscles in order to reap the benefit of an increase in performance. During the recovery period after training, the body is involved in important repair and regeneration processes. These processes are what make you stronger than you were before the training. Super-compensation is also known, therefore as “super-recovery”.
It means that at the end of the recovery period, you are stronger than before the start of the last training session. The curve is upwards and the training weight can be increased.
So, I am rewarded for doing nothing?
Yes, but only between training sessions. If you sit around and do nothing for too long, you lose the small increase in performance and the strength curve returns to its original level. The secret is to know when to do the next session. If you follow the Kieser Training guidance on training frequency, you will get it right, i.e. train twice a week and allow 2 – 3 days between each session and you will gradually improve.
When does supercompensation occur?
It’s easy. Just look at your training plan. You will see that you have been able to increase your weight regularly or maintain the same weight for longer. However, if you fail to allow your body enough time to regenerate and train too frequently, there is a risk that performance declines because the required adaptation process has not occurred. This is known as an overtraining syndrome. The rule: the more intensive the training the longer the period between individual training sessions.
What happens to muscles in this process?
When you first start strength training, it is coordination that improves first, i.e. individual muscle fibres are better at working together and with more muscle fibres pulling together, strength increases. So, during this initial phase, the regeneration period may be shorter and you can train three times per week. However, after two to three months, changes occur in muscles themselves; they grow. Protein is incorporated and individual muscle fibres become thicker. During this phase the regeneration period takes longer.
