Physical fitness is all about "the various systems of the body are healthy and function efficiently to engage daily activities without tire". Also known as, running/moving up a flight of stairs without stopping in the begging, maybe halfway, and defiantly finishing at the top.
But seriously. Can you imagine not being able to do simple house or daily activities and breathing hard while your heart pumps blood through your heart like crazy? Hopefully not as sever, but you do notice that catching your two year old leaves you a little more than tired. So I would like to note some things I learned that helped me to climb those mountains, conquer bouldering rocks, and still look good while doing it.
Something to keep in mind when your wondering about physical fitness (P.F) is an abbreviation called FITT:
Frequency- how often you work out.
Intensity- how hard.
Time- how long, or duration.
Type- what kind of exercise.
I'll be the first to admit that I thought I knew a lot about P.F and health. However, as I continued to study the course, I realized that there was a much deeper level that I had barely begun to scratch. What I was doing was good, but it could have been better. Skill is something that you can not change, but your HEALTH is something you can always change. Luckily, I improved at my own pace during the course of my time in Arizona. There were some challenges. Ever heard of Target Heart Rate? I had, but before I never knew exactly what it meant or the importance of it during exercise. THR is the rate in chic you want to maintain your heart in while doing exercise, be it aerobic (where you maintain specific THR and keep it at that level for the entire workout) or anaerobic (short bursts and not a long duration). I won;t go too much into detail, but it helps to note these things. To get your THR, here is the formula:
220 - age = A (heart rate max)
A - resting heart rate (RHR) = HRR (heart rate reserve)
HRR x .60(for lower) or .85 (for higher) + RHR = THR (minim or maximum)
For RHR count your pulse for a minute. At first I didn't think knowing this was important, but after I learned about it I realized that I had reached my THR while climbing Wasson Peak, and that I had trouble maintaining it for long periods of time because my body just wasn't used to it. When I exercised, I walked. I did not run. So my THR never improved and long periods of hiking, with a set pace and slopes, were difficult. It wouldn't be until later that my THR would improve. It helped to know.
Another fun thing I learned about is metabolism. Apparently our packet had a lot of different activities for us to do and this along with finding your THR was in there. I won't go into much detail, but I found out that my body consumed 1,486.69 calories a day by just doing nothing. I had to eat food that made up for that amount and plus some, but not to much.
Carbohydrates are a wonderful source of energy, and I do love my rice and squash. It comes in the forms of fruits, glucose and fructose. The sweetest is sucrose. When we eat carbs it is turned into glucose, which in turn is stored as excess in the liver and muscle cells as glycogen. Any left over glycogen gets turned into fat. This isn't a bad thing. It depends on the situation. If your climbing to 9,000 feet or more and temperatures drop, then having a "power belly" or what I like to call "calorie belly", helps to keep your core warm. That's important if most of your organs reside in your core. Don't want them to freeze. Long periods of activity use fat, while short periods use glycogen.
I wasn't aiming to lose fat during the trip. I just wanted to see how it felt like to get and be P.F. It sure made climbing another Mt. Sinai a whole other experience. One that I could enjoy and feel good about.
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