NASM Certification

How does Cardiorespiratory Endurance Affect Physical Fitness?

You know that improving your cardio endurance will lead to better physical fitness. Do you think getting more fit is as remote as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro? Especially after the age of 50? Well, gaining fitness is more than possible, it is definite.

This post will focus on which aspects of your body will most benefit from cardiorespiratory endurance.

What areas of fitness will improve? Here is how cardiorespiratory endurance will affect your physical fitness:

1. Maximal Aerobic Power or VO2 Max

Maximal aerobic power is another way of saying VO2 max. This refers to the ability of your body to use oxygen. The bigger volume of oxygen that your body can use during exercise, the longer, and faster you can go. Improving your cardiorespiratory endurance will affect your maximal aerobic power.

You will increase your body's ability to deliver and use sufficient oxygen to meet the metabolic demands of your muscles.

In short, you will increase your body's VO2 max. Your VO2 max will predict your aerobic endurance.

VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise. The V stands for volume and the O2 means oxygen, thus, VO2 max means the maximum volume of oxygen that your body can utilize during intense exercise.

The units used to measure VO2 max are milliliters of oxygen per minute per kilogram of body weight ( ml/min/kg). As cardiorespiratory endurance increases, so does your VO2 max increase. As VO2 max increases, so does your ability to sustain intense exercise.

2. Lactate Threshold

Once you exceed your aerobic capacity to fuel exercise, your body switches fuel systems.

You have 3 fuel systems that provide energy to your cells, specifically ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate).

No ATP, no energy.

Fat plus oxygen is the aerobic system and is processed in the mitochondria of your cells. While you are walking, you are using your aerobic system. Even a small jog, might still be the aerobic system. There is a point, when the exercise becomes more intense, that the aerobic system is not sufficient.

The processing of fat and oxygen in the mitochondria is a slow process. That is why, slow, long distance endurance exercise is fueled by the aerobic system. If you just thought that marathons must be fueled by the aerobic system, you are right. That is also the reason that world class marathon athletes have little fat on their bodies.

As the speed of an exercise increases, the body switches to using glucose. This is because there are stores of glucose in your cells called glycogen. The processing of glycogen in the cell is much more rapid than getting fatty acids from outside the cell to mix with oxygen in the mitochondria.

The first step of processing glycogen is called glycolysis, when the glycogen is split to produce ATP. There is a subsequent step of processing the result of glycolysis in the mitochondria as well. However, the initial step of glycolysis produces lactic acid in the cell.

Lactic acid then becomes lactate.

When your body can no longer remove the lactate from your cells, you fatigue and stop moving. This is called the lactate threshold. When you increase your cardiorespiratory endurance, you increase your lactate threshold. A higher lactate threshold enables you to sustain exercise for a longer period.

3. Exercise Economy

Exercise economy means that you become more proficient in your chosen sport or activity. If you are a runner, the more you practice, the better your running technique becomes. The more you practice swimming, the better your technique becomes. The better your exercise technique, you become more efficient in your chosen sport/activity.

An increase in cardiorespiratory endurance, will mean an increase in exercise economy.

4. Fuel Utilization

Improving your cardiorespiratory endurance will improve your ability to burn fat. As we mentioned above, burning fat together with oxygen is the aerobic fuel system.

• Aerobic means ‘with oxygen'.
• Anaerobic means ‘without oxygen'.

When you have a short burst of intense exercise, your cells use a third fuel system not mentioned above.

Remember that we first mentioned the aerobic system which uses fat and oxygen.

The second was anaerobic, using glucose.

The third is the creatine phosphate system, which is only good for 10 or 15 seconds of intense exercise.

Improving your cardiorespiratory endurance will improve your aerobic system. You will become more proficient at burning fat. Yes, you will lose unwanted fat if you train your aerobic system.

Now you can see why aerobic exercise to burn off fat is preferable to starvation diets.

A diet will not train your body to be more efficient. No diet will improve your cardiorespiratory endurance. Eliminating certain food types will not improve your physical fitness. Sure, you can prevent some of the negative effects of processed foods. But, to improve your physical fitness, guess what, you have to practice physical fitness.

The body reacts to demands.

If you give your body specific overload, then your body will adapt and work to meet these demands. All you have to do is start moving.

If you want to be a runner, run, a swimmer, then swim, play soccer, then play soccer. Of course, you need to use the overload principle in order to see change. We will discuss the overload principle just ahead.

5. Fiber Type Characteristics

You have several fiber types of muscles in your body.

• Type IIx or fast twitch, which are better for anaerobic exercise.
• And Type IIa, or slow twitch, which are better for aerobic exercise.

An individual with more type IIa than most other people will probably be great at long distance running. This is why winning the gold at the Olympics is not just about training. There is also the element of genetics.

Average people have an even split of type IIa and IIx muscles. Above average have more of one type than the other. However, training aerobically can increase the oxidative ability of your type IIx muscles.

So, how does cardiorespiratory endurance affect physical fitness ?

Cardiorespiratory endurance will improve your

• VO2 max,
• lactate threshold,
• exercise economy,
• fat burning ability and
• muscle fiber type characteristics.

Now, if you want to know how to improve your cardiorespiratory endurance, you need to use the overload principle.

Cardiovascular Training Principles

Every good cardiorespiratory program will use the overload principle. In fact, any good exercise program design will use the overload principle. The overload principle states that in order to change the body, you have to increase the load.

No overload, no change. Overload results in change.

If you place additional demands on the body, then your body will adapt.

Make your body do more cardio than usual in order to create change. Fortunately, we have scientific studies to help guide us to cardiorespiratory fitness. We want to have the most effective change based on evidence.

First, let's get clear that you need to use the overload principle. If you keep doing the same cardio workout that you have been doing for years, you will keep getting the same results. If you want different results, you have to change the workout.

The overload principle works for resistance training such as a deadlift program as well. If you are wondering why your muscles are not growing, you are likely not using the overload principle.

NASM Stands For ?

NASM Study Guide (NASM stands for the National Academy of Sports Medicine) is for one of the most prestigious certifications as a Personal Trainer.

NASM Study Guide Purpose

The purpose of this NASM study guide is to help you achieve NASM CPT Certification.

The intentions of this NASM study guide for CPT certification are:

• To provide reliable and informative information about NASM Certification.
• To help myself and others pass the NASM Certification Exam for Certified Personal Trainer.
• To be an accessible online NASM study guide for myself and others who are interested in NASM Certification.

My goals are to:

• Study and pass the NASM Certification exam coming up in March of 2017.
• Do my best to answer or find the answers for comments and questions as soon as possible.
• Share additional NASM study guide resources for passing NASM Certification.
• Be the Best NASM study guide resource possible.

This NASM study guide is NOT an official NASM product or affiliate of NASM and has no approval or endorsement by NASM.

How Long Does it Take to Get NASM Certified?

How long does it take to get nasm certified?

I will be in a better position to answer this question once I have NASM certification.

Having said that, I believe you have to allocate between 3 and 6 months at the minimum.

Of course, that depends on your level of knowledge starting out.

If you are already familiar with anatomy, kinesiology, skeletal muscles, physiology, your prep time will be much shorter.

But like any organization, NASM uses their own vocabulary and terminology for certain concepts.

I started with no prior knowledge of anatomy, kinesiology, physiology, etc.

After a good 3 months of study, I feel I have at least another two or three months to go.

There is a lot of information to cover, especially if you are new to the field.

So, how long does it take to get nasm certified depends on your starting point and ability to absorb.

You will have to memorize more muscles and joint movements than you realized you have.

This NASM cpt study guide will give you the best mnemonics that I have come up with.

Of course, you can come up with even better mnemonics, and if you do, please share.

NASM Study Guide for Critical Concepts

This portion of the nasm study guide is for a review of critical concepts.

Stretching/Flexibility

What is the stretching technique that focuses on the neural and fascial system?

Self-myofascial release.

What is the neural system?

In vertebrate species it consists of two main parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system(PNS). The CNS contains the brain and spinal cord. The PNS consists mainly of nerves, which are enclosed bundles of the long fibers or axons, that connect the CNS to every other part of the body.((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nervous_system))

What is the fascial system?

Fascia is a specialized system of the body that has an appearance similar to a spider's web or a sweater. Fascia is the outermost layer of connective tissue that surrounds the muscle. Fascia is very densely woven, covering and interpenetrating every muscle, bone, nerve, artery and vein, as well as, all of our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord. ((https://www.myofascialrelease.com/about/fascia-definition.aspx))

What is self-myofascial release?

Myofascial Release is a safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the Myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion.((https://www.myofascialrelease.com/about/definition.aspx))

What is the application of gentle force to an adhesion to eliminate pain called?

Self-myofascial release.

What is reciprocal inhibition?

Reciprocal inhibition describes the process of muscles on one side of a joint relaxing to accommodate contraction on the other side of that joint. (my comments: for example, when you contract your elbow flexor muscles, which are your biceps, then you inhibit/relax your elbow extensor muscles which are your triceps, and vice versa. Another way of saying this is that when you flex your biceps, your triceps relax and vice-versa.) Joints are controlled by two opposing sets of muscles, extensors and flexors, which must work in synchrony for smooth movement. ((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_inhibition))

What is active flexibility?

Active flexibility focuses on increasing the extensibility and the neuromuscular efficiency of a muscle. It includes foam rolling (self-myofascial release) as well as active-isolated stretching.((https://www.sharecare.com/health/flexibility-training/what-is-active-flexibility))

NASM Study Guide – Introduction to Fitness

What are the benefits of exercise?

1. Cardiovascular exercise decreases the chance of getting Cardiovascular disease.
2. Cardiovascular (CV) exercise helps to improve cv health.
3. Exercise improves your heart muscle.
4. As well as the health of your blood vessels.
5. CV training can help you to increase power.
   • Power means how fast you can move or lift a weight.
   • Resistance training helps to increase muscle strength.
   • What is resistance training? Resistance training can include bodyweight, cables, TRX, weights and kettlebells.
   • Anytime that you have resistance opposite the movement of a muscle, you have resistance training.
   • So, for example, the biceps helps to move your forearm up.
   • The biceps muscle contracts and moves your arm up by way of the elbow joint.
   • This is known as elbow flexion.
   • Elbow flexion is a single joint exercise.
   • When you add weight to your hand, in the form of a dumbbell or kettlebell, that is resistance training
6. Exercise improves muscle endurance.
7. A well designed exercise program can result in hypertrophy – an increase in muscle size.
   • Atrophy means a decrease in muscle size which happens with disuse.
   • Hypertrophy mean an increase in muscle size, which happens from progressive resistance exercises.
8. Reduce body fat.
9. Increase balance, coordination and flexibility.
10. Improve your speed and the ability to jump.

Yes, there are still more benefits to exercise

1. Better movement, improve your ability to perform activities of daily living also known as ADL.
   • Activities of Daily Living means the things that we normally do in daily living.
   • For example, any daily activity we perform for self-care, work, homemaking, hobbies, weekend sports and/or leisure.
2. Exercise increases bone mineral density.
3. Increase your resting metabolic rate also known as your BMR, your basal metabolic rate.
4. Lower blood pressure.
5. Lower your heart rate.
6. Reduce cardiovascular demands for exercise.
   • What is the definition of Exercise?
   • Exercise is a physical activity that is planned, structured and repetitive for the purpose of conditioning any part of the body.
7. Improve insulin sensitivity of your muscles and overall glucose tolerance. This can help to reduce or reverse any Type 2 onset Diabetes.
8. Activate your muscles through physical activity.
   • Active muscles are more sensitive to insulin.
   • The benefit of greater insulin sensitivity is better overall health.
9. Reduce your risk of injury and disease.
10. Lower the risk of Osteoporosis by strengthening your bones.
11. Reduce the risk of sarcopenia.
    • Sarcopenia is age related muscle loss.
12. Prevent lower back pain by strengthening your muscle and losing weight.
13. Enhanced well being and self-confidence.
14. Improve your body composition.
15. Weight loss, fat loss, muscle gain and improved body composition.

And this is not the end of the benefits of exercise, only the beginning.

Exercise and Nutrition Science will continue to unlock more benefits of physical activity.

The key to seeing results from exercise training is the intensity at which you exercise.

Why wait?

Why wait till science discovers additional benefits of exercise?

If there was a pill that gave you all these same benefits as exercise does, it would fly off the shelves.

Exercise is as much the fountain of youth as is good nutrition.

They both count to improving your health.

What is Health?

Health means the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not just the absence of disease or weakness.

Not being sick or weak is not enough.

You want to be in a better, a total state of physical, mental and social health.

Do you feel right now that you are in such a state of health?

What is Physical Fitness?

We always here the common terms of health and fitness thrown around.

Are health and fitness the same?

Health is as we defined above, a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being.

Fitness is defined as the ability to carry out our daily tasks with vigor and alertness.

Physical fitness means not getting fatigued and having ample energy left over to enjoy leisure time pursuits.

Being fit also means being able to have the fitness and energy to respond to unforeseen emergencies.

The definitions of activities of daily living, health, fitness and exercise are from the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Clearly, we all want to be in a state of health.

But, even moreso, we want to be fit.

Because as we see, fitness is a higher level of health.

What are the 5 Key Components of Physical Fitness?

A key balanced exercise program will result in the following components of physical fitness:

• Cardiovascular fitness
• Body Composition
• Muscle Strength
• Muscle Endurance
• Flexibility – pain free range of motion

By improving fitness, you achieve the above 5 components of physical fitness.

This will help to shield you from the dangerous health risks of:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Obesity
• Dyslipidemia also known as High Cholesterol
• Osteoporosis

There are many other health risks from which exercise and good nutrition can protect you.

Once you learn the amazing benefits of regular exercise, why would you not partake?

Why do we need Gyms and Personal Trainers?

In the old days, gyms were for athletes, powerlifters and bodybuilders and people, mainly men who were training for the olympics.

Did anyone else have to go to a gym?

Have you seen pictures of people from a hundred years ago?

How many oversized, obese people did you see in older photographs from a century ago?

Not many if any.

The only place where people who were significantly obese hung out was in the circus.

This is not to criticize anyone who is obese today.

I have been there myself and I believe strongly that obesity is not your fault.

I believe that modern obesity is a product of several factors, many of which are not under your control.

About 75% of men in the United States are overweight or obese.

Women's obesity rates have been climbing as well.

Today, we need gyms and personal trainers for average people, both men and women who do not get the time to move.

Our bodies are built to move.

And our digestive system is built for real food, not factory made food.

We need Personal Trainers to help guide us to a safe and effective exercise program.

Gyms are necessary, because without them, people might never move outside of off the couch.

Do you believe that there is a new disease called sitting disease?

No joke, read about it here.

Today, we need the gym for health and fitness for the masses, not just for athletes.

We need gyms for men and women, who are both way too sedentary.

Instead of training people for the Olympics, gyms are now training people to be able to do average things, like be mobile, carry groceries, take a shower without falling and the ability to get dressed.

We all need to learn that exercise is one of the best things we can do to help ourselves.

And getting NASM Certification is a great way to learn how to help others maintain and improve their health and fitness.

Kinesiology

We are going to go deeper into the introduction to fitness.

Specifically to make you aware of the risk factors for heart disease that exercise can help to avoid.

You need to know these risk factors and how to assess them for your NASM Certification exam.

However, in the meantime, it is wise to begin to get acquainted with Kinesiology.

Mainly because many questions about Kinesiology are going to come up on your NASM test.

Actually, that is not the main reason.

The real reason, is because by understanding Kinesiology, you will be able to design more effective exercise programs for your clients.

You probably did not know that there were so many distinctions in joint movements that you have done your whole life.

But there are, and by knowing these differences, you can design a more balanced program.

Many people only exercise the mirror muscles, those muscles that they see in the mirror, the front of the body.

But there is a treasure of muscles to be built on the posterior, the rear of the body.

And they happen to be some of the most powerful muscles in your body.

For the sake of balance, health, safety, strength and esthetics, you have to know which exercises to specify in a program.

You want your exercise program to be balanced for your client.

To this end, NASM Certification requires that you be very familiar with the skeleton and the muscles and joints of the body.

You might never have studied Kinesiology or Anatomy, but after you get familiar, these studies will open your eyes to exercise science.

You will have a deeper understanding of how to create a more balanced training routine for yourself and your clients.

The Study of Movement

You need to get started right away in learning about the major joint movements of the body.

Some terms will not be familiar, but just read and absorb and more detail will follow to elaborate on each joint.

Kinesiology is the study of movement.

For our purposes, Kinesiology is going to be the study of joint movements.

The fact that we have joints is a convincing proof that we are engineered to move.

We are built to move.

Sitting all day is not what we were built to do.

Let's look at the major joints of the body:

• Shoulders
• Hips
• Knees
• Ankles
• Spine

Movement in your body happens at joints.

Muscles move the joints.

The muscles contract and your joints move.

The ankle joint moves the least and the shoulder joint moves the most.

This is what you would expect.

If the ankle joint moved the most, the ankle would not be a stable joint.

The lack of joint movement in the ankle is a benefit to keep us sturdy.

Here are the major joint movements in the body:

Shoulders

Flexion and Extension

Shoulder Flexion Muscles , Joint Movements and Exercises

Shoulder Extension – the shoulder joint angle increases, when you move your arm backwards.

For example, when you do a straight arm pulldown, or you do a chin-up.

Your shoulder is moving backwards and downwards.

This backward movement is called shoulder extension.

The primary muscles used in shoulder extension are:

• Posterior Deltoid
• Latissimus Dorsi
• Teres Major
• Triceps Brachii Long Head

As said above, all flexion and extension occurs in the sagittal plane.

Adduction and Abduction

Shoulder Adduction

In shoulder adduction, the shoulder is moving towards the midline of the body.

For example, when you do a lat pull down, your arms and shoulders are moving into your body.

Similarly, when you do a pull up, your arms and shoulders are moving towards your body.

This downward movement of your shoulder joint is called shoulder adduction.

The major muscles used in shoulder adduction are:

• Pectoralis Major Sternal
• Biceps Brachii Short Head
• Coracobrachialis
• Latissimus Dorsi
• Teres Major
• Triceps Brachii Long Head

Regarding planes of movement, all adduction and abduction as well as lateral flexion happens in the frontal plane.

Shoulder Abduction

Horizontal Adduction and Horizontal Abduction

In horizontal adduction and abduction, the shoulder is moving in a horizontal plane, also known as the transverse plane.

Think of how your arms move when you are doing a butterfly on the bench or a reverse fly.

In the case of horizontal adduction, the shoulder muscles used are:

• Pectoralis Major
• Anterior Deltoid
• Biceps Brachii Short Head
• Coracobrachialis

Therefore, the joint movements of the transverse plane are:

• Horizontal Adduction
• Horizontal Abduction
• Rotations, such as internal and external rotation of the shoulder and hip joints and spine.

Shoulder Internal Rotation

Shoulder internal rotation employs the following muscles:

• Pectoralis Major
• Subscapularis
• Anterior Deltoid
• Latissimus Dorsi
• Teres Major

Because shoulder internal rotation is a rotation, therefore, it is in the transverse plane.

Remember, you must know that all rotations occur in the transverse plane.

These concepts must be committed to memory for your NASM Certification.

The FADDI Mnemonic is described in Shoulder Flexion Muscles , Joint Movements and Exercises

This mnemonic will help you memorize all of the shoulder joint movements that involve the pectoralis major and their muscles.

Without this mnemonic, the memorization of the shoulder joint muscles will be difficult.

Especially because FADDI only covers four; flexion, adduction, horizontal adduction and internal rotation.

You still have another four shoulder joint movements that you need to memorize:

Shoulder extension, abduction, horizontal abduction and external rotation.

EABE Mnemonic for Shoulder Muscle Memorization

For the shoulder joint movements of extension, abduction, horizontal abduction and external rotation, the mnemonic is:

EABE

E is for extension

AB is for all abductions, meaning, shoulder abduction and shoulder horizontal abduction

E is for external rotation

For all of the FADDI shoulder joint movements, you know that the pec major muscle is involved.

On the other hand, for EABE shoulder joint movements, the primary shoulder muscle involved is the deltoid.

As a result, the following mnemonics are for the EABE shoulder joint movements:

Extension – PDLTT – posterior deltoid, latissimus dorsi, teres major, triceps brachii long head

Horizontal Abduction – PDIT – posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, teres minor

Abduction – PDSB – posterior deltoid, subscapularis, biceps brachii long head

External rotation – PDIT – posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, teres minor

Notice that the muscles recruited for shoulder horizontal abduction and external rotation are the same:

PDIT – posterior deltoid, infraspinatus and teres minor.

Additional Joints with Flexion and Extension

The ankle joint can do flexion, towards the shin and extension, away from the shin.

The knee joint can do flexion, such as when you do a lying leg curl.

Or the knee joint can do extension, such as when you do a seated leg extension.

The elbow joint is also a single joint movement, specifically, flexion and extension.

Elbow flexion is done for example in a chin-up exercise.

And elbow extension when you do a triceps pushdown for example.

The hips on the other hand, have a fair amount of mobility, almost as much as the shoulder.

Just remember that the range of motion for the shoulder is much greater than that of the hip.

While you can lift your arm over your head, most people cannot lift their leg that high.

For the hip, you have:

Flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, and internal and external rotation.

Adduction is when you bring your leg into your body.

Abduction is when you move your leg away from your body.

The Spine

Any spine movement is considered a multi joint movement.

The spine can perform lateral extension as in a side bend.

Flexion and extension is also possible with the spine.

Rotation

Rotation can be performed by the following joints:

• Hip
• Shoulder
• Spine
• Internal Rotation
• External Rotation

These are the basic joints that you need to know for NASM Certification:

The Hip, Shoulder, Spine, Knees, and ankles.

Wide Grip vs Close Grip

There is a big difference in doing an exercise with a wide grip vs a close grip.

The change in grip will change the joint movement. For example, think of the bench press.

If you take a wide grip when doing the lat pulldown, your joint movements are:

• Shoulder Adduction
• Elbow Flexion

Whereas, if you take a close grip on the bench press, then the joint movements are:

• Shoulder Extension
• Elbow Flexion

How do you take a wide grip vs a close grip?

Everything depends on where your elbows are.

If your elbows are in, close to your body, then you are doing a close grip.

Whereas, if your elbows are out, away from your body, then you are doing a wide grip exercise.

The difference in muscles activated is significant.

Let's look at the muscles recruited in a wide grip lat pull down vs a close grip lat pull down:

Wide Grip Lat Pull Down

We know that we have adduction.

As a result, we remember our joint movement and muscle used acronym FADDI.

FADDI stands for flexion, adduction, horizontal adduction and internal rotation.

We know that all FADDI joint movements use the Pec Major and now we can recall our acronyms for the muscles:

Adduction is PBCLTT – Pec Major Sternal, Biceps Brachii Short Head, Coracobrachialis, Latissimus Dorsi, Teres Major, and Triceps Brachii Long Head

Close Grip Lat Pull Down

A close grip lat pulldown is the joint movement of shoulder extension.

Shoulder extension as we have pointed out before is part of the EABE mnemonic.

The FADDI mnemonic and the EABE mnemonic is first discussed at length in this article on shoulder flexion.

The EABE mnemonic tells us that the prime mover muscle of shoulder extension, abduction, horizontal abduction and external rotation is the deltoid.

For shoulder extension, the muscle mnemonic is PDLTT or Posterior deltoid, latissimus dorsi, teres major and triceps brachii long head.

So, as you can see, taking a wide grip or a close grip, makes a big difference in the joint movements of any exercise.

And since the joint movements are different, so are the muscles used to move those joints.

Spine Exercises

Spine exercises are considered multi joint exercises.

Why learn about Kinesiology?

The benefit of learning kinesiology is that you will be able to describe the activities of a person in joint movements.

For example, a basketball player, when shooting a basket, is doing shoulder flexion and elbow extension.

As a result, you now know that designing an effective exercise program for a basketball player will include shoulder flexion exercises.

Knowing Kinesiology helps you to create and design an individual exercise plan.

This enables you to create a more balanced program for your client.

At this point, you should recognize that even without the purpose of NASM Certification, you are learning beneficial concepts for your own exercise program.

Does it make sense to only do shoulder flexion exercises and ignore shoulder extension exercises?

The answer of course is no.

Once you start to apply Kinesiology and understand joint movements, you will appreciate the knowledge of exercise science that you are gaining.

What is FITTE?

The FITTE principles are used when you design an exercise program.

FITTE is an acronym which means the following principles:

Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type, and Enjoyment.

Shoulder Flexion Definition

In shoulder flexion, the shoulder joint angle decreases, specifically when you move your arm forward.  For example, when you do a front raise exercise or close grip shoulder press, your arm is rising forward.  This forward movement is called flexion of the shoulder.  The shoulder flexion prime movers are:

• Pectoralis Major Clavicle
• Anterior Deltoid
• Biceps Brachii Short Head
• Coracobrachialis

Which are the Shoulder Flexion Muscles?

As you can see , we listed four specific shoulder flexion muscles that you need to know for NASM-CPT.  There are many muscles that you need to memorize for the NASM Certification test.  Memorization in general is not an easy task. Memorizing the muscles that extend the shoulder is even worse.

Everyone memorizes in different ways.  However, here is a tip to help you memorize the shoulder flexion muscles. Read more about NASM Certification Prep here.

How You Can Memorize the Shoulder Flexion Muscles

A mnemonic can help you memorize.  Here is a mnemonic for the shoulder flexion muscles.

P

A

B

C

PABC is an acronym for the muscles involved in shoulder movements:

• The P stands for Pectoralis Major Clavicle.
• The A stands for Anterior Deltoid.
• The B stands for Biceps Brachii Short Head.
• And the C stands for Coracobrachialis.

In general, wherever you find the Biceps Brachii Short Head, you will find the Coracobrachialis.

You need to drill the following information into your head.  The Pec Major muscles shows up in four shoulder joint movements.

They are; flexion, adduction, horizontal adduction and internal rotation.  The mnemonic for the shoulder joint movements which recruit the pec major muscles is FADDI.

An Additional Way to Memorize Shoulder Movements

• F stands for Flexion of the shoulder.
• ADD stands for all adductions of the shoulder.
• I stands for Internal rotation of the shoulder.
• FADDI is a movement of the shoulder joint mnemonic for all shoulder joint movements that involve the pec major.

Once you know these joint movements, you will have an easier time remembering the muscles. Because each of these joint movements has the pec major. All you have to do now is remember the rest.

For example:

Shoulder flexion is PABC or pec major clavicle, anterior deltoid, biceps brachii short head, coracobrachialis.

Shoulder adduction muscles are PBCLTT. Which stands for the pec major sternal, biceps brachii short head, coracobrachialis, latissimus dorsi, teres major and triceps brachii long head.

• Tip: whenever you have the latissimus dorsi, you are likely to find the teres major.

The horizontal shoulder adduction muscles mnemonic is PABC as well, just like shoulder flexion.

The PABC of horizontal shoulder adduction stands for: pec major, anterior deltoid, biceps brachii short head, coracobrachialis.

Notice that the difference between PABC for shoulder flexion and horizontal shoulder adduction joint movement is the clavicle.

In horizontal shoulder adduction, the P stands for Pectoralis Major.

The entire pectoralis muscle is recruited, not just the pec major clavicle.

Think of doing a wide grip bench press for example.

Last is the I, which stands for internal rotation of the shoulder.

Internal rotation of the shoulder muscles mnemonic is PSALT: pec major, subscapularis, anterior deltoid, latissimus dorsi, and teres major.

So, we have PABC, PBCLTT, PABC and PSALT as mnemonics for FADDI.

Shoulder Planes of Movement

All flexion of the shoulder happens in the Sagittal Plane.

In addition, all flexion and extension of the shoulder also occurs in the Sagittal plane.

Last, you must know that all flexion and extension of any joint occurs in the sagittal plane.

While this module is about shoulder flexion, it is important to be aware of the planes of motion.

This is because NASM expects you to know the planes of motion.

Any time that you see flexion or extension, know that the joint movement is taking place in the sagittal plane.

For now, that is all you need to know.

We will soon explain the planes of movement and the degrees of freedom.

These are additional concepts that you need to learn.

Shoulder Flexion Exercise Examples

Here are a few examples of shoulder flexion exercises.

The first is the Close Grip Bench Press.

This uses both shoulder flexion and elbow extension.

If you think that a close grip bench press is shoulder extension, that is not correct.

Think of the movement.

When you are lying on the bench, your shoulder is moving forward and upward as you raise the weight.

Thereby decreasing the angle between the shoulder and the midline of your body.

Any forward arm movement where the arm is moving forward and upward is going to involve shoulder flexion.

Front Raise.

The close grip bench press is a multi joint exercise.

As opposed to the front raise which is a single joint exercise.

In the front raise, you are moving your arm forward, lifting the weight towards shoulder height.

This is another example of shoulder flexion.

Close grip shoulder press.

This is another example of shoulder flexion.

The muscles for shoulder flexion are PABC: Pectoralis Major Clavicle, Anterior Deltoid, Biceps Brachii Short Head and Coracobrachialis.

Is the Pushup Flexion or Extension of the Shoulder?

The answer is that the Push Up is another example of shoulder flexion and elbow extension as is described here in the anatomy of a push-up:

The primary muscle (agonist) for the push-up is the pectoralis major (or pecs).

Your pecs are essentially your chest muscles.

As you lower yourself toward the floor, your pecs lengthen and control the speed of your descent.

As you push back up again, they shorten.

For movement to occur during your push-up, when one muscle contracts, the opposite (antagonist) will relax.

This is called reciprocal inhibition.

The main antagonist muscles during a push-up are your trapezius, posterior deltoids and rhomboids.

These muscles are on the opposite side of the torso in relation to your pecs.

The helper muscles (synergists) used during a push-up are important because they assist the agonist.

The main synergists in the push-up are your triceps and anterior deltoids (or front shoulder muscles).

They assist with elbow extension and shoulder flexion, respectively.((https://mosaic-health.com/2015/01/04/the-anatomy-of-a-push-up/))

Recommended Reading:

100 Pushups Challenge: How to Easily Do 36,500 Push Ups This Year

How to Get Better at Pushups

Fighting Depression with Exercise – 100 Pushups a Day

Why Do Pushups?

The Powerful Benefits of Push Ups to Change your Body from Fat to Fit

What is the Range of Motion for Shoulder Flexion and Extension?

The shoulder flexion range of motion is on average 180 degrees.

If you start from the anatomical position, which is standing tall and your palms in a supination, meaning palms forward.

And you raise your arms forward, as far as you can move them forward and upward.

Most likely, the furthest you can go is till your arms are pointing directly overhead.

Which is a shoulder flexion range of motion of 180 degrees.

By the way, this is how to present an example of standing shoulder flexion without any weights.

What are the Degrees of Freedom for the Shoulder Joint?

The degrees of freedom refers to how many planes of movement does a joint have.

For example, in the case of the shoulder joint, we can say that there are three degrees of freedom.

Shoulder flexion occurs in the sagittal plane.

This is one degree of freedom, meaning that we have one plane of movement.

And the same is true for shoulder extension which occurs in the sagittal plane.

Remember, all shoulder flexion and extension movements occur in the sagittal plane.

This is important to know for your NASM Certification exam.

In addition, shoulder adduction and shoulder abduction happen in the frontal plane.

All adduction and abduction along with lateral flexion (side bends) occur in the frontal plane.

Therefore, shoulder abduction and adduction are a second degree of freedom.

Last, the shoulder joint is also capable of horizontal adduction and horizontal abduction.

And, the shoulder joint can also do internal rotation and external rotation.

All horizontal adduction, abduction, and rotations occur in the transverse plane.

This is a third degree of freedom.

Therefore, the shoulder joint has 3 degrees of freedom.

This means that the shoulder joint can move in 3 planes of movement.

Remember these shoulder flexion degrees of freedom, they will likely come up on your NASM-CPT Certification exam.

Watch this Brilliant Illustration of Shoulder Anatomy for a Complete Understanding of the Shoulder Flexion muscles and the Shoulder Joint:

Recommended Reading:

Why study kinesiology? NASM Lesson 1

How does knowing kinesiology improve training?

Pulmonary System Review, Definition, Terms and Understanding for NASM Exam

Pulmonary system definition for NASM will include a basic understanding of the heart, its chambers, valves, arteries and the lungs.

Let's start with the heart.

Skeletal muscle moves the skeleton.

Some muscle in the heart is only found in the heart.

Smooth muscle is found in internal organs.

The structure and function of heart muscle is different than other muscle in the body.

You need to understand the basic functionality of the heart, lungs and circulatory system during rest and active states.

Questions about the Pulmonary System

You need to know the answer to the following questions about the pulmonary system definition and terms:

1. Where is your heart located in the body?
2. How big is your heart?
3. How many chambers does the heart have?
4. What are the names of the chambers and where are they located?
5. What are the Atria?
6. What are the Ventricles?
7. How many valves does the heart have?
8. What are the heart valves called and where are they located?
9. What is the ‘pacemaker' for the heart?
10. When blood leaves the left atrium, where does it go?
11. What does the right ventricle do?
12. When you do cardiovascular training, what adaptations occur and which do not?
13. What is stroke volume of the heart?
14. What happens during ventricle systole?
15. Which muscles are used for expiration (breathing out)?
16. What are normal responses to exercise in blood pressure and what are not?
17. What is a myocardial infarction?
18. What is Angina and what are the classic signs of Angina?
19. Which blood vessels carry blood away from the heart?
20. What is the stroke volume for the average person?
21. How to calculate the Karvonen formula?
22. What is a target heart rate?
23. What is the physiology of the heart beat?
24. What is Systole?
25. What is Diastole?
26. Can you describe cardiovascular blood flow?
27. How does the heart beat?
28. What is the SA node?
29. What is the AV node?
30. What is an arrhythmia?
31. How can an arrhythmia effect exercise?
32. What is a heart attack?
33. Which are the coronary arteries?
34. What is the pulmonary system definition?
35. What is the respiratory pump?
36. What is the definition of breathing or ventilation?
37. Which muscles are used for inspiration at rest and during exercise?
38. Which muscles are used for expiration at rest and during exercise?
39. What are the major components of blood?
40. What percentage of your blood cells are red blood cells?
41. What does hemoglobin do?
42. What is Anemia?
43. What is the function of white blood cells?
44. What is the definition of phagocytizing?
45. What are the functions of blood platelets?
46. What are the Alveoli?
47. Which lung is bigger, your right or left?
48. How many lobes are in your right and left lung?
49. What are bronchioles?
50. What is your trachea and epiglottis?
51. What are the definitions of arteries, veins and capillaries?
52. What is Cardiac Output (CO)?
53. How can you calculate Stroke Volume(SV)?
54. Is there a difference in Stroke Volume between a non-athlete and an athlete?
55. How do you calculate target heart rate (THR)?
56. What is the NASM method to determine Max Heart Rate?
57. What is the new NASM method as of the NASM 5th Edition to calculate the Max Heart Rate?
58. What are the typical adaptations to cardiovascular (CV) training?
59. What happens to the following as a result of CV training?
    • Heart size
    • VO2 Max
    • Exercise Heart Rate
    • Stroke Volume
    • Blood volume
    • Blood lactate threshold
    • Capillary density
    • Oxidative enzymes/oxidative capacity skeletal muscle
    • A-VDO2
    • Resting Heart Rate
    • Max HR
    • Cardiac Output
    • Maximum Minute Ventilation
    • Mitochondrial Number
    • Mitochondrial Size
    • Fiber Types

Cardiovascular Fitness

It is important to realize that you lose cardiovascular fitness faster than muscular strength.

In fact, cardiovascular fitness is lost after 48 hours of inactivity.

Therefore, now you know that you want to do cardiovascular exercise at least once every 48 hours.

Even better will be to make sure that you do at least 30 minutes of moderate CV exercise 5 times a week.

This will give you 150 minutes of CV exercise per week, which is the recommended amount.

In any case, cardiovascular fitness is going to improve your pulmonary system.

The pulmonary system is going to deliver oxygen to your cells, as well as remove carbon dioxide.

Besides oxygen, the blood delivers glucose, hormones, vitamins, minerals and amino acids to all of the cells of your body.

Your job is to feed your body the fuel that it needs and can use to function best.

Your need for oxygen in your muscles will depend on your activity level.

Meaning, the amount of oxygen pumped is equal to the metabolic demands of muscle.

The heart delivers oxygen to your muscles.

Let's explore the heart a bit further to answer our pulmonary system definition questions from above.

Where is your heart located in the body?

Your heart is located behind your sternum, your breast bone, in a protective sac.

This sac is called the pericardium sac.

The pericardium sac also contains a small amount of fluid, is attached to the sternum.

Your heart is not directly behind your sternum in the middle of your chest.

It is towards the left side of your body.

In addition, the heart is tilted a bit to the left.

How big is your heart?

Your heart is on average the size of your fist.

The size of the heart is usually related to the size of the body.

Men usually have bigger hearts and muscle mass. This is the reason that men sometimes can outperform women depending on the sport.

How many chambers does the heart have?

The heart has four chambers, four cavities.

Two are on top and two are on bottom.

There is a right side of the heart and a left side of the heart.

What are the names of the chambers?

The top chambers are called the Atria. The bottom chambers are called ventricles.

The ventricles are bigger than the atria.

The Atria collect blood which is returning from the body to the heart.

The Ventricles pump blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

The top right chamber is called the right atrium.

The right atrium collects blood from the Superior Vena Cava.

When the right atrium contracts, the blood is pumped through the tricuspid valve into the bottom right chamber, the right ventricle.

The blood that is in the right ventricle is low in oxygen, because this is blood that has been returned from the body to the heart.

When the right ventricle contracts, the blood is pumped through the pulmonary valve of the pulmonary artery.

The pulmonary artery splits into two and delivers the blood to the right and left lung.

When the blood has been filled with new oxygen in the lungs, that blood is returned to the heart into the left atrium by the pulmonary veins.

The collected blood in the left atrium is pumped through the bicuspid valve to the left ventricle.

The bicuspid valve is also known as the mitral valve.

The left ventricle then pumps the blood through the Aortic valve into the Aorta artery which distributes the oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

The Valves of the Heart

There are four valves in the heart.

One valve is between the right atrium and the right ventricle.

The name of this valve is the tricuspid valve.

A second valve is between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery.

This valve is known as the pulmonary valve.

A third valve is between the left atrium and the left ventricle.

This valve is called the bicuspid valve and is also known as the mitral valve.

And the fourth valve is between the left ventricle and the Aorta artery.

This fourth valve is called the Aortic valve.

The right atrium collects blood from the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava.

The superior vena cava returns blood from the upper body to the right atrium.

The inferior vena cava returns blood from the lower body to the right atrium.

The Vena Cava is the largest vein in the body.

Veins always return blood back to the heart.

Veins are usually most visible near the skin.

They have a bluish tint because the blood in the veins are low in oxygen.

Arteries always take oxygenated blood away from the body to the rest of the body.

When the doctor listens to your heart, s/he is most likely listening to your valves.

Pulmonary System Definition of Circulation Step by Step

1. Blood returns to the heart, low in O2 (Oxygen), and enters the right atrium through the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava.
2. Blood then passes through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle.
3. The right ventricle then pumps blood through the pulmonary valve into the pulmonary artery for delivery to the lungs.
4. The pulmonary artery splits in two and goes to the two lungs and picks up O2.
5. At this point, the blood should be saturated with blood 100%.
6. The blood returns from the lungs (high in O2) via the pulmonary veins to the left atrium.
7. The blood passes from the left atrium via the bicuspid or mitral valve into the left ventricle.
8. The left ventricle contracts and pumps blood through the Aortic valve into the Aorta artery.
9. The Aorta artery delivers the oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

When the Atria contract, the Ventricles relax and fill with blood.

This happens because at the time that the Atria contract, the tricuspid and mitral valves open to let blood flow to the Ventricles.

When the Ventricles contract and pump blood, the Atria relax and receive blood from the Vena Cava.

What is Systole and Diastole?

In Diastole, the Atria contract and pass blood to the Ventricles.

Systole is when the Ventricles contract and pump blood.

In Systole, the right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs and the left ventricle pumps blood to the rest of the body.

The Ventricles contract and pump in Systole.

Another way to say this is that in Diastole, the ventricles relax and fill with blood.

In Systole, the ventricles contract and pump blood.

Heart Rate

The number of heartbeats per minute is the heart rate.

To get an accurate heart rate, you need to take your pulse first thing in the morning.

This will give you the best reading of your heart rate after a full night's rest.

The best place to take your pulse is on the radius side of your arm on the lateral of the large tendon groove.

A normal heart rate is considered to be between 60 and 99 beats per minute.

Tachycardia is a condition where the resting heart rate (RHR) is equal to or more than 100 beats per minute.

Bradycardia is when the RHR is equal to or less than 60.

A low heart rate is either due to medications or a higher level of fitness.

In each heartbeat, the relaxation phase is approximately 2/3 of the total time for one heartbeat.

Therefore, the contraction and pump phase is 1/3 of the total time of one heartbeat.

Electrical Conduction of the Heart

The skeletal muscles are called voluntary muscles, because your thoughts manage the movements of your muscles.

On the other hand, the heart muscle is called an involuntary muscle.

Because, the contraction and relaxation of the heart muscle is involuntary.

That is probably a good thing for people who might forget to keep their heart pumping!

However, the heart still needs  a special cell to send the message of when to contract.

This cell is known as the pacemaker of the heart.

The name of this special sell is the Sinoatrial Node, or the SA node.

The Sinoatrial Node sends out an electrical signal for when the heart should contract.

The SA Node is in the Right Atrium and is under the control of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and hormones.

The components of the Central Nervous System are the Brain and the Spinal Cord.

The CNS includes the Parasympathetic Nervous System and the Sympathetic Nervous System.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System is active at sleep or rest and slows down the electrical signals of the Sinoatrial Node.

The Sympathetic Nervous System is active when you are in a ‘fight or flight' state of perceived danger.

In this state, the sympathetic nervous system will speed up your SA Node.

The natural pace of the SA node is 100 beats per minute (bpm).

It is the parasympathetic nervous system which slows down the SA Node during sleep or rest.

The SA Node is also affected by the hormone adrenaline, which is now usually referred to as epinephrine.

Atrioventricular Node

Believe it or not, your heart has a backup electrical signal, in case the SA Node fails.

This node is called the Atrioventricular Node or the AV Node.

When you take an ECG, an electrocardiogram, this is taking a picture of the electricity in your heart.

What is an arrhythmia?

Arrhythmia means an abnormal rhythm of the heart.

Coronary Arteries

The Coronary Arteries bring blood to the heart itself from the Aorta artery.

The heart being a muscle, also needs a supply of fresh oxygenated blood.

This supply of blood is delivered by the Coronary Arteries.

There are several main coronary arteries:

The right coronary artery which feeds the right side of the heart.

The left main coronary artery which delivers blood to the left side of the heart.

A left anterior descending artery on the front of the heart.

A right posterior descending artery on the back or posterior of the heart.

The circumflex artery goes to the back of the heart.

A blockage in the left coronary artery is known as the widow maker.

It is almost always fatal.

40% of heart attacks are widow maker heart attacks.

What is the Respiratory Pump?

The respiratory pump is composed of skeletal structures and soft tissues that work together to allow for respiration.

Breathing is the movement of air in or out of the body.

In order to get air in your body, your lungs have to expand.

When you are at rest, this is how inspiration to your body occurs:

The external intercostal muscles are between the ribs.

Inspiration is caused by the diaphragm and the external intercostals.

The diaphragm goes down and the external intercostals go out, expand and cause inspiration.

There are other key factors such as gas pressure.

There is a general law of gases which is called diffusion.

Diffusion means that gases move from higher concentration to lower concentration.

Gases will also flow from a higher pressure to a lower pressure.

This is how breathing works.

The atmospheric pressure and its relationship with the air pressure within the lungs, called intrapulmonary pressure.

When the air pressure within the lungs decreases, the air flows from outside the body into the lungs.

When the pressure within the lungs is higher than outside, then the air flows to the outside, called expiration.

Remember this:

For inspiration, the diaphragm and the external intercostal muscles contract and help the rib cage to expand, causing inspiration.

In expiration, the internal intercostals  and abdominals contract to help the rib cage to constrict, causing expiration.

During exercise, the external intercostals and diaphragm contract, plus the accessory muscles for breathing like the pectoralis minor, scalenes and the sternocleidomastoid.

The intercostals are type 1 fiber muscles – endurance muscles because they work all the time just like the heart.

This next youtube video is an excellent presentation on breathing.

How Does Oxygen Get in the Blood

The lungs bring air in and pass oxygen into the blood.

Red blood cells make up 99% of the blood.

Hemoglobin in your red blood cells attract and transport oxygen to the rest of your body.

The Alveoli are a critical piece of the Pulmonary System.

They appear similar to grape clusters off of the bronchioles in your lungs.

That is where the similarity ends.

The Alveoli fills up with O2 (Oxygen) and passes the O2 to nearby blood capillaries to the Hemoglobin in red blood cells.

From here you can see how critical the red blood cells are to your health.

You need the red blood cells to carry Oxygen to the rest of your body.

The fewer red blood cells that a person has, the weaker their pulmonary system.

Red blood cells are generated in your bones, in particular your long bones like the Femurs of your legs.

They last approximately 120 days before they are regenerated.

Your body, without you realizing it, will sense a lower level of red blood cells and trigger their regeneration.

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a hormone that is produced by the kidney.

yErythropoietin detects and promotes the formation of red blood cells by the bone marrow.

That is right, your body is never static, your body is always changing.

And if you give your cells the proper nutrition, you can keep regenerating healthy cells.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

You might think that smoke alarms are out of place in a review of the pulmonary system.

On the contrary, now that you know how important Oxygen is to your health.

You need to know why you must have working smoke alarms.

The reason is CO – carbon monoxide.

While it is true that hemoglobin attracts the O2 in the Alveoli, it is also true that hemoglobin likes CO even more.

As a result, if the Alveoli fill up with Carbon Monoxide as well as Oxygen, your hemoglobin will choose the carbon monoxide over oxygen.

Now, your blood is delivering carbon monoxide to all the cells in your body.

Your cells cannot use carbon monoxide for any processes and they die.

Make sure that you have working carbon monoxide detectors in your home to protect you and your family.

If you understand the pulmonary system, but do not take precautions, what is the point of learning?

What is Anemia?

Anemia is a decrease in the number of red blood cells.

This is why Anemia can have such catastrophic consequences.

Anemia can be caused by a lack of Iron, B12, Folate and B6.

The classic symptom of Anemia is fatigue.

Blood Composition

The blood is composed of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

In most people, the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets make up 42 percent of blood plasma.

The red blood cells make up 99 percent of the blood cells while the white blood cells only 1 percent.

However, the white blood cells are critical for your health.

White blood cells are also called leukocytes and they fight infection.

White blood cells are used for phagocytizing bacteria.

Phagocytizing is the term used for eating bacteria.

The platelets help repair blood vessels. They adhere to damaged walls and help trigger clotting.

Arteries and Veins in the Pulmonary System

Remember this about the Pulmonary System:

Arteries carry blood away from the heart.

Therefore they have to be like highways.

The arteries are bigger and thicker than veins.

The inside of the arteries are covered with the endothelium, very smooth tissue facilitating

Arteries become arterioles and eventually become smaller and smaller.

The smallest extensions of arteries in your body are called capillaries.

The capillaries are where the magic of gas diffusion and exchange with cells occurs.

The capillaries are the smallest blood vessel and can only fit a single red blood cell at a time.

The capillary with one single red blood cell is the site of gas, nutrient and chemical exchange with the cells of the body.

Once the capillaries pass oxygen, nutrients, vitamins, minerals to the cells, the low oxygen capillaries then become venules.

The venules become veins and the veins go to the Vena Cava, the Superior Vena Cava for the upper body and the Inferior Vena Cava for the lower body.

If you need a New York way of remembering the difference between arteries, veins and capillaries in the pulmonary system, here is one:

Arteries are like I95 which stretches from New England down to Florida.

Veins are like the FDR drive which feeds Manhattan.

Capillaries are like the streets which go to specific places within Manhattan.

How does the blood travel against gravity you ask?

The answer is that veins have valves which prevent the blood from flowing backwards.

In addition, nearby muscles pump the veins to push blood along.

Pulmonary System Definition of Cardiac Output and VO2 Max

What is cardiac output?

Cardiac output is the amount of blood pumped per minute by your heart.

On average, the heart will pump approximately 5 liters, about 5 quarts of blood every single minute at rest.

Cardiac output increases to meet the metabolic demands of your muscle tissue.

As intensity within exercise increases, so does your heart rate.

Therefore, your heart rate can indicate the intensity of exercise.

The formula to determine cardiac output is:

Heart rate x Stroke Volume = Cardiac output.

So, let's assume you have a resting heart rate of 70 beats per minute (bpm).

We know that the average amount of blood pumped per heart beat is 70 millileters.

Therefore, multiply 70 bpm x 70 ml and that will give you 4.9 liters of blood, about 5 liters per minute.

4.9 liters then is your cardiac output per minute.

For a non athlete, the max CO is usually around 20 – 25 liters.

An athlete can have a max CO of 35 – 40 liters per minute because their hearts are stronger and pump more blood with each stroke.

VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise.((https://www.verywell.com/what-is-vo2-max-3120097))

Karvonen Formula for Target Heart Rate

You need to know how to calculate the target heart rate for yourself or a client.

Knowing the target heart rate will help you in designing a cardiovascular fitness program.

The Karvonen formula is based on a measurement called the Heart Rate Reserve.

First, you need to get your age predicted maximum heart rate.

All you have to remember is to subtract your age from 220.

220 minus your age will give you your HR Max plus or minus 12 beats per minute.

Therefore, if you are 60 years old, here is the calculation:

220 – 60 = 160 HR Max.

If you are 60 years of age, your max heart rate is 160 beats per minute.

If you are 50 years old, then your HR Max is 170bpm.

For a 40 year old, the HR Max is 180 bpm and so forth.

Now, how do you figure out your heart rate reserve?

Get your resting heart rate as we spoke about before by taking your radial pulse for one minute.

Heart Rate Reserve (HRR) = Max Heart Rate minus the resting heart rate.

So, for our same 60 year old subject, if the resting heart rate is 60, the formula is:

HRR = 160 – 60 , so the HRR in this case will be 100.

Now we know that the HRR of this 60 year old individual is 100 beats per minute.

When you want to pick an intensity to exercise at, use a percentage of your Heart Rate Reserve.

Having a hrr of 100 makes it easy.

To exercise at 70% intensity will mean that you take your heart rate reserve of 100 and multiply by .70 which equals 70.

Then add the intensity to your resting heart rate.

In this case, that will be 60bpm rhr + 70bpm intensity of hrr, which will equal 130 Target Heart Rate.

For the average person, an intensity of 70 percent of the heart rate reserve is a good place to begin a cardiovascular fitness program.

Let's do a quick quiz:

Mr. S is 27 years old and has a resting heart rate of 66 – What is his Target Heart Rate (THR) at 85 percent?

First, figure out the max heart rate – 220 – 27 = 193.

193 is the age predicted max heart rate.

Now, figure out his heart rate reserve.

Remember, first figure out the age predicted max heart rate and then the heart rate reserve.

Do not make the mistake of using the max hr to figure out intensity!

The heart rate reserve is the max heart rate minus the resting heart rate.

In this case of Mr. S, that is 193 – 66 = 127.

Now, all you need to do is to add the resting heart rate of 66 bpm to the targeted intensity of 85 percent of the heart rate reserve.

Intensity will be 127 x .85, which equals 107.95.

Now add 107.95 to the resting heart rate of 66, which equals 173.95 target heart rate.

Therefore, the Karvonen Formula is:

[Heart Rate Reserve X % Intensity ] + Resting Heart Rate = Target Heart Rate.

Another way to calculate the target heart rate is based on Max Heart Rate.

In the case of Mr. S, this will be 193 max heart rate x .85 or 164.05.

As you can see, the numbers given by these different formulas are different.

So, be consistent with the formulas that you choose.

New NASM 5th Edition Method to Calculate Target Heart Rate

NASM 5th edition gives a third alternative to calculate the target heart rate.

The new formula is 208 – (0.7 x age) equals the max heart rate, and then multiply by the intensity.

In the case of Mr. S, the formula will be 208 – (0.7 x 27) or 208 – 18.9 = 189.1.

Three different formulas for Mr. S results are:

Karvonen formula was 173.95.

Max HR formula was 164.05.

New NASM 5th edition method is 189.1 x .85 which equals 160.75.

Let's use two more subjects, one is Mrs. S and Mr. H.

Mrs. S is 46 years old with a resting heart rate of 77 beats per minute.

What is her target heart rate at 70 percent intensity.

Age predicted maximum heart rate is 220 – age of 46 =174 bpm.

Heart rate reserve = 174 – 77 rhr = 97.

Karvonen formula = 97 HRR x .70 intensity = 67.9 + 77 bpm = 145 target heart rate.

Max HR formula = 174 Max HR x .70 = 131.80

New NASM 5th edition method = 208 – 32.2 = 175.8 max heart rate and 70 percent of the max heart rate is 123.2.

Adaptation to Cardiovascular Training

What benefits can you expect to see from cardiovascular training?

Here are the benefits that you need to know for NASM:

Heart size will increase and get bigger. This will give you a stronger heart.

VO2 max will increase.

Resting heart rate will decrease.

Exercise heart rate will decrease.

Maximum heart rate will remain the same or a very slight decrease.

Stroke volume – how much blood is pumped per minute will increase.

Cardiac output will increase.

Blood volume will increase at rest.

Blood lactate threshold will increase

Capillary density will increase

A-VDO2 will increase

Mitochondrial number will increase

Mitochondrial size will increase

Fiber type will result in a greater appearance of type 2a fibers and type 2 will be more oxidative.

The bottom line is that cardiovascular training will make you more healthy, fit and functional.

Pulmonary System Review Quiz

1. When breathing, which muscles are used during expiration?
2. Which muscles are used during inspiration?
3. Is an increase in heart rate a normal response to exercise?
4. Is an increase in diastolic blood pressure a normal response to exercise?
5. What is a myocardial infarction?
6. If a person has chest pain when exercising, but none at rest, what is this a classic sign for?
7. Which blood vessels carry blood away from the heart and to where?
8. What is the stroke volume for an average person?
9. Your client is 60 years old with a resting heart rate of 62 beats per minute. What is your client's target heart rate at 70 percent intensity?
10. What is known as the pacemaker of the heart?
11. Does this pacemaker have a backup?
12. When blood leaves the left atrium, where does it go, through which valve?
13. What is the function of the right ventricle?
14. Will cardiovascular adaptation increase your max heart rate?
15. What is stroke volume?
16. What is cardiac output?
17. What happens during ventricle systole?
18. What happens during ventricle diastole?

Answer Key for Pulmonary System Review Quiz

1. Your internal intercostal muscles and your abs
2. Your external intercostal muscles and diaphragm are used.
3. Yes
4. No, your diastolic blood pressure should not be going up.
5. A heart attack.
6. Angina
7. The pulmonary artery from the right ventricle to the lungs and the Aorta artery from the left ventricle to the rest of the body including the heart muscle itself.
8. 70  ml per heart beat.
9. 130.60 because the max hr is 160 and the heart rate reserve is 98. The Karvonen formula says to multiply the HRR by percent intensity and add the RHR. That is (98 x .70) plus the resting heart rate which equals 130.60.
10. Sinoatrial Node also known as the SA Node.
11. Yes, the AV node aka the Atrioventricular Node.
12. Through the bicuspid or mitral valve.
13. Pump blood to the lungs through the pulmonary valve and the pulmonary artery.
14. No, your max heart rate is based on your age and cannot go up. As your age goes up, your max heart rate goes down.
15. The amount of blood pumped per heart beat.
16. The amount of blood pumped by the heart per minute. Cardiac Output is equal to your resting heart rate multiplied by 70 ml. Technically CO = RHR x SV.
17. The ventricles pump blood and the atria fill with blood.
18. The ventricles fill with blood and the atria is pumping blood to the ventricles.

This is the conclusion of the pulmonary system review.

Good luck on your pulmonary system test!

Introduction to Bones of the Shoulder Girdle

This post will introduce you to the 3 bones of the shoulder girdle that you need to know for the NASM CPT exam.

You will get familiar with the scapula, the clavicle and the sternum.

Of course, we cannot know every question that is coming up on the NASM exam, but the bones of the shoulder girdle could be one of them.

Most importantly, the shoulder girdle bones connect the arms to the axial skeleton on each side.

In humans, the shoulder girdle consists of the clavicle , scapula and the sternum.

The Scapula

The first of the bones of the shoulder girdle to know is the Scapula.

You can see above a rotating image of the Scapula and what it looks like.

Some people call the Scapula (or Scapulae for plural), the shoulder blade or ‘wings' of a person.

The scapula is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone).

Like their connected bones the scapulae are paired, with the scapula on the left side of the body being roughly a mirror image of the right scapula.((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapula))

 

The Clavicle

The clavicle or collarbone is a long bone between the shoulder blade and the sternum or breastbone. There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the right. The clavicle is the only long bone in the body that lies horizontally. Together with the scapula (also known as the shoulder blade) it makes up the shoulder girdle.((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavicle))

 

The Sternum

The Sternum is the last of the 3 bones of the shoulder girdle to know for your NASM exam.

The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone shaped like a necktie located in the center of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage, forming the front of the rib cage, and thus helps to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. The sternum is one of the largest and longest flat bones of the body.((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sternum))

Bones of the Shoulder Girdle Summary

The bones of the shoulder girdle are formed by the scapula, the clavicle and the sternum.

Additional Reading Material

Read the Classic Anatomy of Movement (Revised Edition) Revised ed. Edition by Blandine Calais-Germain

Next: Read How to Transform Your Body From Fat to Fit With Deadlifts and Real Food.