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If you are a gym rat or bodybuilder or simply interested in beginning an exercise program you have probably heard a lot about creatine and the muscle miracles it performs. Unfortunately, most people believe that creatine helps build muscle and it does in a way, but probably not the way you are thinking. The best way to describe creatine is to say that it helps the muscles help themselves build muscle. If that is not clear enough, continue reading.

Creatine does exactly what it claims to do and that is to retain water in your muscles. This is the point of creatine and it really is effective at keeping water in the muscles. Now, what happens is when your muscles are retaining water they are in an optimal state for building new muscle. As a result, when you take creatine and water is retained in your muscles then when you weight train you will get more of an effect because your muscles are better capable of building muscle. After this period you may develop more strength and increased endurance as well. So, if you are taking creatine to help you build muscle and you understand what creatine does and how it helps you build muscle then you will not be disappointed. On the other hand, if you are taking creatine and hoping it will simply grow you bodybuilder’s muscles without putting in the work then you are mistaken.

The best thing to do is begin taking creatine and working out with weights on a regular routine or even with a trainer. By taking the creatine your muscles will be poised to grow and get stronger while building endurance. However, keep in mind you have to put in all the hard work and that all creatine does for you is helps your muscles retain water in order to be in a state where building muscle is easier. Over time you will see your muscles growing and should not see any loss of definition because of the retained water in your muscles. Don’t become confused about creatine building big muscles; it just helps your muscles build themselves stronger and better when you put in the work.

Garland Valley RN,BSN

Fitness and exercise are gaining popularity in our culture for many reasons. Reactions against the sedentary lifestyles Americans have lived for decades, a rash of type two diabetes with people engaging in fitness and exercise to improve their conditions, parents encouraging youngsters to get up and away from the television and work out, and the baby boomers, pursuing fitness and exercise as they age, to allow them to enjoy their advanced years. Regardless of the reasons, many Americans take fitness and exercise very seriously.

A healthy body is what most people are striving for. We are inundated constantly with images of slender, toned people. Be it on television or on a billboard as we’re driving down the street. Fitness isn’t all about the weight that the scale says or the dress or trouser size you wear. Fitness is about how healthy you are.

Exercise is vital in the quest for body fitness. Many people join a gym for the convenience of having all the equipment they feel they need to work out. There are machines there to strengthen and tone every muscle in your body. With the onset of personal trainers, the process can be almost effortless. In that case, the exerciser is given a prescribed routine of exercise that will help them achieve the fitness level and body weight that they desire.

Fitness and exercise aren’t restricted to the confines of a gym. Any type of movement can be considered exercise. By taking those movements, a step further a person can work towards their own personal fitness goal.

For a person who lives in an apartment building, the decision of whether to take the stairs or the elevator might seem inconsequential, but those steps up to their floor everyday equal a leg workout. Choosing to hike it up the flight of steps gives not only the legs a chance to stretch, but it also gives the heart a chance to beat faster. By choosing this everyday, the body would begin to respond in a positive way.

The same can be said for walking as opposed to driving. Often when a destination is close people feel inclined to get in their car and drive there and then drive the route back. Lacing up a pair of walking shoes and heading out the door on foot is considered exercise and the benefits aren’t only restricted to the gasoline that will be saved. The entire body will feel the results and if that walk is taken several times a week, perhaps even daily, the fitness level of that person increases.

Exercise can occur in almost every environment. It’s up to the health-conscious person to grab those moments and seize them. By mowing the lawn, the legs and arms are being worked out. Carrying the laundry is akin to lifting lightweights and chasing a toddler eventually equals a few laps around the running track. Paying attention to these same details and using them to their fitness advantage will result in so many health benefits.

With the exception – probably the only one – of pearl gatherers, who dive without any autonomous equipment, breathing counts in all sports – as well as in fitness. Each sport branch has imposed its own breathing style – according to efficiency, effort timing, meteorological conditions etc.

If we take breathing as a taxonomic criterion, sports can be divided in two big groups:

1. The first one includes all the sports that use the technique of respiratory stop or blocking. The most typical among these are force sports such as athletic weight throwing, weightlifting, body building, gymnastics etc. In short, we might say that here the anaerobic extreme is concerned – the one which imposes apnea (blocking the thorax and respiration). The main advantage of diaphragm blocking is the rising, for the moment, of the explosive force of the sportsman. A rise in execution speed for maximum force efforts has also been observed. The classic example is the snatch of weightlifting in which force and speed are simultaneously implied on the basis of respiratory blocking.

This respiratory blocking, inevitable in the above-mentioned sports, has also some disadvantages. Among these we could mention high pressure values in the thorax, abdomen and skull, high pressure on blood vessels with low feed-back through the veins etc. Thus, due to the rising of pressure inside the eyes the aggravation of previous short-sightedness is possible. Also, in the inferior limbs, varicose veins can either appear or worsen. Effort in exclusively anaerobic conditions increases rigidity both in the blood vessels and in the muscles.

2. The second big group is the one of sports that do not use respiratory stop. Here we enter the realm of purely aerobic effort. The typical examples are running races, swimming, cycling etc. – generally efforts on long and very long distances. In these events the muscular force implied is little – medium at most – the stress affecting the cardiovascular component and leading to increased cardiac frequency and pulmonary ventilation.

There is also a third category – mixed sports, both aerobic and anaerobic, in which the two techniques alternate. This is the case of sports games, contact sports, rhythm breaking in medium distance running races, etc. In the case of fitness, as both types of effort – aerobic and anaerobic – are present, apnea, as well as effort without respiratory blockage, is used. As far as correct respiration is concerned, there is a general rule stating that one should breath out during the most difficult part of the movement (the positive or concentric course) and breath in during come-back (the negative or eccentric course). Within these courses, we can have or not have a respiratory stop/ blockage. If we have it, it will occur at the critical point of the course.

Another breathing rule is the one that takes into consideration the dilatation of the thorax. In this case, breathing in is done on the course which allows thorax expansion, and breathing out on the movement that contracts it. In both cases, breathing in is done through the nose – in order to filter and warm up the air flow and breathing out is done through the mouth in order to be faster and more efficient.

It is interesting to know that the ‘shouting’ that we hear in many weightlifting training sessions or contests, is actually the sound of forced breathing out.