The following couple of segments are research from renowned organizations and persons.  From this information, you should be able to get a grasp of what you type of exercise you need and how often you need to do it.  The 12 Week Workout Program is only an example of the programs out there.  The 12 Week Workout Program was adapted from a program written by an expert in body building but modified to be of better use by an intermediate athletic club member.  Likewise the specific exercises have been tailored to easily adapt to the average athletic club equipment.


The following are research papers on exercise to broaden your understanding.

Article I. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®

Volume 30, Number 6  June 1998  Position Stand

The Recommended Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardio Respiratory and Muscular Fitness, and Flexibility in Healthy Adults
This pronouncement was written for the American College of Sports Medicine by: Michael L. Pollock, Ph.D., FACSM (Chairperson), Glenn A. Gaesser, Ph.D., FACSM (Co-chairperson), Janus D. Butcher, M.D., FACSM, Jean-Pierre Després, Ph.D., Rod K. Dishman, Ph.D., FACSM, Barry A. Franklin, Ph.D., FACSM, and Carol Ewing Garber, Ph.D., FACSM.

(a)     SUMMARY

ACSM Position Stand on the Recommended Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardio Respiratory and Muscular Fitness, and Flexibility in Adults. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 975-991, 1998. The combination of frequency, intensity, and duration of chronic exercise has been found to be effective for producing a training effect. The interaction of these factors provide the overload stimulus. In general, the lower the stimulus the lower the training effect, and the greater the stimulus the greater the effect. As a result of specificity of training and the need for maintaining muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility of the major muscle groups, a well-rounded training program including aerobic and resistance training, and flexibility exercises is recommended. Although age in itself is not a limiting factor to exercise training, a more gradual approach in applying the prescription at older ages seems prudent. It has also been shown that aerobic endurance training of fewer than 2 days per week, at less than 40-50% of V(dot)O2R, and for less than 10 min-1 is generally not a sufficient stimulus for developing and maintaining fitness in healthy adults. Even so, many health benefits from physical activity can be achieved at lower intensities of exercise if frequency and duration of training are increased appropriately. In this regard, physical activity can be accumulated through the day in shorter bouts of 10-min durations.
In the interpretation of this position stand, it must be recognized that the recommendations should be used in the context of participant's needs, goals, and initial abilities. In this regard, a sliding scale as to the amount of time allotted and intensity of effort should be carefully gauged for the cardio respiratory, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility components of the program. An appropriate warm-up and cool-down period, which would include flexibility exercises, is also recommended. The important factor is to design a program for the individual to provide the proper amount of physical activity to attain maximal benefit at the lowest risk. Emphasis should be placed on factors that result in permanent lifestyle change and encourage a lifetime of physical activity.

(b)    INTRODUCTION

Many people are currently involved in cardio respiratory fitness and resistance training programs and efforts to promote participation in all forms of physical activity are being developed and implemented. Thus, the need for guidelines for exercise prescription is apparent. Based on the existing evidence concerning exercise prescription for healthy adults and the need for guidelines, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) makes the following recommendations for the quantity and quality of training for developing and maintaining cardio respiratory fitness, body composition, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility in the healthy adult:

(i)     Cardio Respiratory Fitness and Body Composition

1. Frequency of training: 3-5 d·wk-1.
2. Intensity of training: 55/65%-90% of maximum heart rate (HRmax), or 40/50%-85% of maximum oxygen uptake reserve (V(dot)O2R) or HRmax reserve (HRR).1 The lower intensity values, i.e., 40-49% of V(dot)O2R or HRR and 55-64% of HRmax, are most applicable to individuals who are quite unfit.
3. Duration of training: 20-60 min of continuous or intermittent (minimum of 10-min bouts accumulated throughout the day) aerobic activity. Duration is dependent on the intensity of the activity; thus, lower-intensity activity should be conducted over a longer period of time (30 min or more), and, conversely, individuals training at higher levels of intensity should train at least 20 min or longer. Because of the importance of "total fitness" and that it is more readily attained with exercise sessions of longer duration and because of the potential hazards and adherence problems associated with high-intensity activity, moderate-intensity activity of longer duration is recommended for adults not training for athletic competition.
4. Mode of activity: any activity that uses large muscle groups, which can be maintained continuously, and is rhythmical and aerobic in nature, e.g., walking-hiking, running-jogging, cycling-bicycling, cross-country skiing, aerobic dance/group exercise2. Rope skipping, rowing, stair climbing, swimming, skating, and various endurance game activities or some combination thereof.

(ii)     Muscular Strength and Endurance, Body Composition, and Flexibility

1. Resistance training: Resistance training should be an integral part of an adult fitness program and of a sufficient intensity to enhance strength, muscular endurance, and maintain fat-free mass (FFM). Resistance training should be progressive in nature, individualized, and provide a stimulus to all the major muscle groups. One set of 8-10 exercises that condition the major muscle groups 2-3 d·wk-1 is recommended. Multiple-set regimens may provide greater benefits if time allows. Most persons should complete 8-12 repetitions of each exercise; however, for older and more frail persons (approximately 50-60 yr of age and above), 10-15 repetitions may be more appropriate.

Women and Resistance Training

The Right Program Brings Results for Females Who Train
by Gary R. Hunter, Ph.D., CSCS, FACSM
Women can gain a number of vary positive benefits from participating in a well constructed resistance training program. Many women, however, do not put enough effort into their training. They mistakenly believe that training with low weights for high repetitions will achieve optimal increases in energy expenditure, and body composition. The main advantage in resistance training over other forms of training is the ability to progress the resistance. To achieve optimal gains in muscle size and strength.  Women must train at a relatively high resistance (usually somewhere between 65 80 percent of maximum) for 6 to 12 repetitions during two to three workouts each week. At least some of these sets each week must be to exhaustion or near exhaustion. Resistance should be increased when a repetition goal (somewhere between six to 12 repetitions) for an exercise is reached.
Although women can definitely increase muscle size, it should be understood that there is little chance of a woman becoming a behemoth and ending up with a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Without drug use or some very specialized training is undertaken for many years, women who resistance train normally just become very fit looking. During maturation, women develop much less muscle mass than men. This means that an untrained woman has fewer muscle cells than an untrained man. This is especially the case for the shoulders and arms. Most if not all muscle growth in an adult occurs through increases in size of existing muscle cells, so the total potential for growth in a woman is less than in a man, especially in the arms and shoulders. Other factors may contribute to a slower increase in muscle size in women following a resistance training program, but they are largely unknown. On the average, a woman can expect about a 10 percent increase in muscle size for a muscle that has been resistance trained for three to six months. Strength will normally increase between 30 50 percent. Quite a bit of variability in how much a woman can expect to increase in strength and muscle size exists, with some women increasing in muscle size very little and others increasing as much as 20 percent. Factors such as genetic predisposition, nutrition, general health of the woman and effort put into the training probably contribute to the variation.
Even though women may not have quite as much potential for strength and muscle size improvement as men, they actually may have more to gain from a functional standpoint. Women are much weaker than men. When matched for body size, the average untrained woman is 35 to 45 percent weaker in the arms and shoulders and 10 to 25 percent weaker in the legs and hips than untrained men. Consequently, untrained women generally experience more difficulty in doing daily tasks such as walking, climbing stairs, and carrying children or groceries. Recent research suggests that difficulty in doing these tasks predispose individuals to decreasing free living physical activity. A reduction in physical activity has two very important negatives:

How We React To Exercise

The amount of energy that we expend decreases as we age. This is partly due to a decrease in muscle mass, but it also seems to be partly due to an independent aging effect. Muscle tissue is about three times more metabolically active than fat tissue. It is not unusual for a woman to gain two to four pounds of muscle following four to six months of moderate resistance training, causing energy expenditure at rest to increase 100 kcal or more/day. Further, modest increases in total energy expenditure may occur because of the energy expended during training and increased participation in a more active lifestyle. This may be important for women, especially older women, in maintaining body weight as they get older.  It is important to point out that little increases will be gained in muscle or energy expenditure unless intensity and effort are sufficient.
Although increases in muscle and strength occur quite easily during the first eight to sixteen weeks of training, continued increases are normally more difficult to achieve.  The more “trained”  an individual, the greater the training stimulus needs to be to create changes in strength and muscle size.
Maintaining a sufficient resistance and effort that will cause a muscle to fatigue in six to twelve repetitions is important to achieve optimal progress.  Although progress can be made in the early stages of training on only one set / exercise, both empirical and research data suggest continued improvement for the “trained” individual is not only dependent on maintaining a high relative resistance but on multiple sets.
In other words, continued improvement is dependant on a combination of maintaining sufficient intensity / effort and volume of training.
Gains in strength, muscle size, ease of being physically active, and energy expenditure as well as fat losses occur with resistance training.  However, it is important to maintain a relatively high intensity and effort in training to achieve these benefits.

Resistance Exercise vs. Aerobics

By Frank Claps, MEd, CSCS
2001 American College of Sports Medicine conference
The more iron you throw around during high-intensity weight training, the more fat you'll burn afterward.  According to three studies presented at the 2001 American College of Sports Medicine annual conference, weightlifting elicits a significant excess post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) - which can be a marker for burning calories and, hence, fat loss.
One study presented by researchers at the University of Wisconsin (La Crosse) involved seven male recreational weightlifters who performed an intense 31-minute bout of heavy resistance exercise:  four circuits of bench presses, power cleans and squats.  Each set was performed at the lifter's predetermined 10-rep max and continued until failure.  Two-minute rests were allowed between sets, and oxygen measurements were taken 12 times between 34 hours pre-exercise and 49 hours post-exercise.
The data showed significant elevations in EPOC immediately, 14 hours, 19 hours and 38 hours post-exercise.  "These results suggest that EPOC following heavy resistance exercise may exceed that following moderate aerobic exercise," the researchers wrote.  "Furthermore, the cumulative energy expenditure as a result of EPOC following heavy resistance exercise may exceed the combined total energy expended during and after aerobic exercise."
High intensity may indeed be the way to go for an improved post-exercise burn, agrees another paper presented by researchers from the University of Kansas (Lawrence).  In this study, 11 females performed two separate constant sessions involving two sets of 15 repetitions of nine exercises.  In one session, the women worked at 45% of their 8RM; in the second, 80%.  While energy expenditure was similar in both, a greater EPOC was recorded following the higher-intensity sessions.  "If total energy expenditure is an important consideration during exercise, then high-intensity activities should be considered in the exercise prescription," researchers wrote.
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