Aerobics is defined by Wikipedia:
aerobic gymnastics by definition is called endurance (or endurance : the body's ability to perform a generalized muscular exercise, in aerobic conditions, for as long as possible), in which the energy fuel used to perform an effective workout is 'oxygen.
If Kenneth Cooper, the inventor of this discipline, entered today in most of the gyms of our country and saw a typical lesson in Aerobics, he would probably wonder what they are doing. I can't blame him because I, too, every time I throw my eye into a fitness room, I ask the same question.
In 1987 when I started attending the ISEF today IUSM, the aerobic activity made its first entry into the gyms. We are in the period of Jane Fonda.
At the time there were no rules: posture, control, technique, and execution of the movements were not object of study, and it was a continuous jump from the beginning to the end without any criterion. Fortunately, over the years competent bodies such as ACE (American Council on Exercise) & AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) gave rules on scientific criteria and began to establish the basic notions of "Aerobic" gymnastics. It was a real revolution also going against those basic principles or commonplaces that until then were the basic foundations of the so-called educational gymnastics.
Aerobics thus had a well-defined position and described as " cardiovascular training and muscle conditioning ". The structure of a lesson was established, the physiological benefits, the speed of execution of the exercises, the music and the contraindicated components.
Today, unfortunately, it is not clear what the true purpose of an Aerobics class is because of all these principles listed above, the instructor takes little account of them.
Having said that, I state that in another article I will analyze the actual Aerobic lesson and its benefits, and the difference between aerobic and anaerobic work. In this context I will limit myself to clarifying some general aspects that are often forgotten in gyms today.
The fitness instructor and his profession have undergone in recent years a series of changes linked both to the growth of the various activities related to it, and to the numerous scientific acquisitions that have occurred in the disciplines that study the human system in the learning situation, as psychology and pedagogy. For this reason it is necessary to be professionally prepared and always up to date.
Today, most instructors seem to go haphazardly, thus losing sight of the true function of aerobic activity, or the training factor. They elaborate in twisted choreographies at very high rates, in senseless exercises, in anti-physiological movements, with music that reaches 150/160 BPM (beats per minute), forcing the motor gestures to be badly performed, therefore not training, and contraindicated for this type of activity.
To all this I add that today no one takes into account that most people live an eventful life, running to the right and left, with stress, and little time to rest.
From studies carried out by some researchers it has been noticed that if you continue to train with the same "stressful" rhythm with which you face work and daily life, the benefits that should derive from the training will never arrive. So what are we talking about?
Aerobic activity has existed for more than 30 years, evolving into a large number of variations; thus, the concept of fitness today must take into account the component of stress and everyday life and include rest, relaxation, and fun for the mind and body.
Only in this way can this discipline give its benefits.
The task of introducing these elements into their programs therefore falls to the professionals of the sector. The instructor is the student's fitness model, which puts you in the utmost confidence. Credibility is very important; for this we must be prepared at 360 degrees.
The problem today is of the innumerable federations or pseudo-ones that issue diplomas to anyone just for a profit-making issue. Suffice it to say that the average duration of a course is a weekend. How can one think of giving a theoretical preparation at the level of concepts of Anatomy, Biology, Physiology, Kinesiology, and therefore also practice for a person in just two days? It follows that most of the instructors are unprepared and unaware of what they are doing. This leads to a misinformation on the concept of Aerobics lesson that everyone translates in the way he wants and is coined with the most bizarre names (ABS, GAG, TBC, TBW, ) but his content is always the same and badly set up in the end.
Today aerobics is interpreted with a wrong concept because there is no information on the part of the structure, nor on the part of the instructor, who enters the classroom and starts without giving any explanation before, during, and after the lesson.
But is the fault of the instructor or the gym? I think that some fitness centers today are poorly managed, but the greatest responsibility lies with the instructor's professional ethics. In fact, I continue to see instructors try their hand at boxing lessons with music without having any knowledge of the motor action of a punch. I see students hitting the sacks with small weights in their hands, jumping and moving their limbs at incredible speeds, moving from a standing station to a prone one in fractions of a second, and all this under the direction and "control" of the teacher. I see step classes at the speed of supersonic music, when the step, being a tool, must be treated as such and the approach must be controlled and safe, with the rhythm of the music that involves the correct execution of the movement. I see tonification classes built without any criteria, motor gestures that do not find any functional anatomical feedback, speed of execution that skim the supersonic, not taking into account that the higher the speed of execution, the lower the muscular effort.
I believe that there is nothing more devastating, on a physical, motor, joint and tendon level, than these types of training that I have just described. Fitness means wellness.
The Aerobics lesson must have a beginning and an end, a logic, taking into account the fundamental principles of training, moving from a warm-up phase to a conditioning phase, from the aerobic phase to the cool down phase and stretching.
And it must be an AEROBIC training !!!
CONTINUE: Structure of an aerobics class »
