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Introduction |

BeneVia and Muscular Fitness |

Different Types of Fitness |

Resistance Training Schedules

• One of the most important reasons that we produced BeneVia was to help you lead a healthy lifestyle. This formula is derived from over 10 years and millions of dollars of research efforts. Rather than allow these impressive results to remain locked within the stodgy confines of scientific and clinical journals, we have translated this work to a usable product that will help you improve your muscle strength and function whether you are young, middle age, or even if your grey has long ago turned to white. While the benefits of BeneVia are described elsewhere in our website, the purpose of this section is to show you how the benefits of BeneVia can be amplified when combined with regular exercise.
• The first thing you need to understand is that optimal health, both in terms of cardiovascular (heart) health and muscular (strength and function) health, depends upon regular physical activity. The benefits of regular physical activity are well-known and associated with a decrease in the incidence of most every disease. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the benefits of regular physical activity include:
  • Improved cardiorespiratory function
  • Reduction in coronary artery disease risk factors
  • Reduced mortality and disease states
  • Decreased anxiety and depression
  • Enhanced performance of work, recreational, and sport activities.

• As you can see, the benefits of fitness are pretty substantial and are an important ingredient to a long and healthy life. However, fitness should be viewed in terms of both muscular and cardiovascular health. Muscular fitness refers to the ability of your muscles to perform the work they are asked to do (muscular strength) for the length of time you need them to do so (muscular endurance). Cardiovascular fitness refers to the ability of your heart to get oxygen to your muscles to sustain work and/or exercise activities. We will give an idea how to improve each of these fitness components. First; however, it is important to understand how BeneVia can improve your muscular fitness.

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• When most people think of muscular strength, they think about lifting weights, and rightly so. Resistance training, as it is referred to, or the movement of muscles against a resistance, is the old standby for building muscular strength. What most people don’t know is that lifting weights, in and of itself, does not cause muscles to grow and get stronger. It is the combination of weightlifting and nutrition that results in improved muscle strength and size. Figure 1 summarizes our research involving resistance exercise and the BeneVia formula. Figure 1 highlights that the degree of muscle anabolism (growth) with resistance exercise alone is surpassed by the BeneVia amino acid formula. More importantly, when the two are combined, the muscle response is much greater than either alone. Therefore, the lesson here is that when you combine BeneVia and weightlifting, you have a much greater chance of realizing gains in muscle size and strength.

 
• While the combination of resistance exercise and BeneVia is a powerful one, we can tweak this effect to a greater degree just by drinking BeneVia at the proper time before a workout. Figure 2 shows us that when the amino acid formula of BeneVia is taken 1 hour prior to exercise, the effect on muscle is most pronounced. This does not mean; however, that there is no response when taken at other times. Figure 2 demonstrates that there is also a very positive interaction when taken immediately, or one hour after the workout. Thus, while BeneVia can improve muscle’s response to exercise to the greatest extent when taken prior to a workout, our research also demonstrates that it can be an effective recovery drink. The anabolic response of muscle immediately and 1 hour after workout with BeneVia means that muscle recovery can begin shortly after your workout. In this regard, you can speed your way to muscle repair, while reducing soreness and recovery time.

  

• Now that you understand how BeneVia can help you maximize the benefits of exercise, we will take a look at some exercise programs designed to increase your muscular and cardiovascular fitness. Before we get into the particulars, let’s first start with a few key points to consider before you begin an exercise program.
  1. If you are not a habitual exerciser, please consult a physician prior to beginning an exercise program. Your physician should give you a physical to make sure there are no contraindications to exercise, such as any problems with your heart or cardiovascular system that would cause problems upon exertion.
  2. Once you are cleared to exercise, pick an activity you will enjoy and most likely stick to. The programs below are based upon general muscular and cardiovascular fitness. Though it is easy to provide programs for muscular fitness in terms of weightlifting, there are many other activities that can accomplish muscular fitness. However, research is very clear that as we age, the best way to maintain muscle strength is through resistance exercise. Thus, in order to provide a program that offers the greatest benefits throughout the life cycle, we will present a simplified resistance training program.
  3. Cardiovascular fitness is easier to achieve and can be attained with any number of activities. Normally, activities which utilize large muscle groups over a period of time will provide improvements in maximal oxygen uptake, the scientific measure of cardiovascular fitness. According to the ACSM, these activities may include walking, hiking, running, stair-climbing (can be a gym-based machine), swimming, cycling, rowing, dancing, skating, cross-country skiing or even skipping rope. Pick one or several activities you like and something that will present the challenge you need to keep coming back.
  4. Once you have selected your activity of choice, you must prepare for the activity. Though the science on this aspect may be a little soft, most believe in some sort of “warm-up” before you begin exercise. It may be as simple as stretching the muscle groups involved, or jogging in place. Either way, you may find it helpful, especially as you get older, to get some blood flow to your muscles before beginning your exercise session. Not only will this help to warm-up the muscle groups and joints, but it may prevent injury as well.
  5. Do what you need to in order to maximize the benefits of exercise. Get enough sleep so that you can put the required effort into your exercise. Make sure you have the right equipment. For example, if you choose to run, do so in a properly fitted pair of running shoes. Go to a running store and have them do an analysis on your gait, etc. so that you will be running in the best shoe for your body dynamics. Throwing on a pair of Chuck Taylors may make a retro-fashion statement, but what you gain in cardiovascular exercise you will most likely lose in foot, ankle, and knee problems.
  6. Finally, the proper nutrition is important with exercise. While many studies and books have been written on this subject, there are a couple of general truisms. First, the longer the exercise session (normally over 2 hours) the more you need to think about fuel (read “glucose”) for the exercising muscles. Also, depending on the environmental conditions, long bouts of exercise require hydration and/or electrolyte replacement. However, this type of exercise is left for the more advanced exerciser, and we will focus on shorter periods of exercise designed to obtain a level of fitness. Second, in terms of gaining the desired muscle response to exercise, i.e., muscle and strength gains with resistance exercise, the proper timing of nutrition, such as BeneVia, is very helpful. As demonstrated above, when taken 1 hour before resistance exercise, BeneVia will help the muscle become more anabolic. When taken after exercise, BeneVia may serve as a recovery drink for muscle repair.
• Programs to achieve muscular and cardiovascular fitness can be attained through any number of books or online sites. It is important; however, to understand some basic principles of each fitness program. Once you do, you will be able to apply these principles to any activity you choose. Let’s first start with the basics of muscular fitness.

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Muscular Fitness

• Muscular fitness is important to perform many activities of daily living, what doctors love to call ADLs. The maintenance or improvement of muscular strength enables you to perform these tasks over your lifespan. For this reason, resistance training should be an integral part of your fitness program. In addition to the achievement of muscular strength, resistance training has many other benefits, including the ability to increase bone mass and strengthen connective tissue. Again, this becomes more important as you get older and the loss of bone becomes more of a problem. There other documented benefits of resistance training, to include modest improvement in cardiovascular fitness (especially with circuit training), reduction in body fat, and improvements in body fat, blood pressure, glucose tolerance (diabetes), and blood lipid (fat) and cholesterol profiles. Muscular strength is achieved by the overload principle, or progressive resistance, whereby the resistance, frequency, or duration of the muscular movement is increased over time. This is best achieved by using weight or a load that will require near maximal effort. Muscular endurance, on the other hand, is best achieved by using a lighter weight or load and performing more repetitions. Most agree that the best way to improve both muscular strength and endurance is to choose a weight that can be performed for 8 to 10 repetitions.
• The following guidelines are recommended by the ACSM in the pursuit of muscular fitness:
• Perform a minimum of 8 to 10 exercises that train the major muscle groups. The idea here is to develop total body strength in the most efficient time frame. Shoot for an hour of total workout time. Anything longer may feel like a job, and not an enjoyable activity.
• Perform one set of 8 to 10 repetitions for each exercise to the point of volitional (you feel that’s all you can lift) failure.
• Perform this workout at least 2 days per week. While more may be better, 2 days is sufficient to achieve the goal of muscular fitness.
• Perform the exercises with good technique. Consult a trainer if you need, but the incorrect performance of exercises increases the chances of injuries and cheats your muscle out of the maximum benefit.
• Perform the exercises through the full range of motion. Again, this will maximize the potential benefit to the muscle.
• Breathe! Maintain a normal breathing pattern and do not hold your breath as this may undesirably increase your blood pressure.
• Find someone to share the pain. A training partner can provide safety, assistance, feedback, motivation, and a social environment that will encourage your consistency and gains.

Cardiovascular

• This type of fitness basically entails the adequate delivery of oxygen to the exercising muscles in order to maintain that activity over time. More scientifically, it is the body’s ability to extract oxygen efficiently from the blood. This is measured by what is known as maximal oxygen uptake, or “VO2 max”, written VO2max. VO2max is directly related to the frequency, duration and intensity of exercise. As mentioned, the best way to improve this parameter is to choose activities which utilize large muscle groups, such as cycling, swimming, cross-country skiing, etc. In terms of intensity, ACSM recommends that the intensity of exercise be at 50-85% of VO2max. However, since we understand that most people do not have access to the sophisticated equipment required to determine VO2max, an easier way to look at this is 60-90% of maximal heart rate. There are a couple of simple methods for determining maximal heart rate. The easiest method, and the one which offers you a lower estimate (especially for fit and younger folks), is the simple subtraction of your age from 220. For example, if you are 40, then 220-40 equals an approximate maximal heart rate of 180 beats per min (bpm). An upper estimate can be calculated by the following equation: HRmax = 210 – (0.5 X age). Again, using the example of a 40 year old, the upper estimate of maximal heart rate would be (210 – (0.5 X 40), or 190 bpm. Thus, as a 40 yr old, your maximal heart rate, for exercise planning purposes, would be between 180 and 190 bpm.
• In terms of exercise duration, the ASCM recommends 20 to 60 minutes of continuous aerobic activity. For those just starting out, set your goals much more reasonable, perhaps even 10-15 minutes and build up to this recommendation. Finally, while frequency is related to both intensity and duration, 2 to 5 sessions per week is recommended.
• All in all, your quest for muscular and cardiovascular fitness is pretty much a 5-6 days/week endeavor. Don’t let this intimidate you, as benefits can be achieved by altering the intensity and volume of these programs. The main point is that you need to be consistent with your exercise and your nutrition. As an example of deriving maximal benefit for minimal input, we present an exercise program that NASA currently utilizes to maintain the muscular and cardiovascular fitness of its astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Space flight, especially the longer missions aboard the ISS, results in a loss of muscle strength and endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and bone. NASA has been working on the solution to these problems, but has met with only limited success to date due to the unique demands of space flight. More importantly for the earthbound exerciser; however, is the fact that this program addresses all aspects of fitness. Further, it represents an efficient 12 week program for developing all around fitness. We have modified the program to include exercises you can perform in the gym and have expressed exercise intensity in terms of HRmax, but pay particular attention to the schedule and structure of both resistance and aerobic exercises.

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Exercises may be varied based on available equipment, but concentrate on the same muscle group being exercised.

Exercise Intensity for the Resistance Training Program

Example Training Schedule for Aerobic Interval Exercises

Note: Interval training develops cardiovascular fitness in a shorter time period by utilizing higher exercise intensity. Exercises can be performed on the treadmill, stationary bike, stairmaster, etc.

Example Time Required to Integrate Aerobic and Resistance Training

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