Salvadoran Immigrants In The United States Sample Essay

DACA

According to pew research center’s most recent estimate based on the 2011 American community survey, there was 1.89 million Cubans and 1.95 million Salvadorans living in the U.S. statistically speaking those two estimates are indistinguishable from each other and it’s been that way since 2008. However, most Salvadorian moved here because of civil war. Like most ethnic groups who experience some type of struggle or war within their country move somewhere safer. One of the many limitations is undocumented immigrants will have to leave if Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is the revote. The largest immigration wave occurred as a result of Salvadoran Civil War in 1980, in which 30% of Salvadorian migrated. This Literature paper will explore the possibility of deportation effects on Salvadorans seniors. The Literature paper will discuss the measurement tools used and the intervention to help Salvadorian to cope with DACA.

Salvadorian much similar to most American who migrated here because of difficulty within their country. Native Indians were here first; which mean this is their country. However, this is not a history paper, but a literature paper about Salvadorian’s elders being affected by deportation. I just wanted to state the obvious. I believe Salvadorian has just as more right in the United States as anyone else living in the United States. The Salvadorian history was rich once with culture but was destroyed by war like many cultures: which have been affected by war, poverty or disease. The history of Salvadorans was a result of both economic and political problems. After the war, most Salvadorans moved to the United States, in most living in the greater Los Angeles area and Washington D.C.; which has the most population of Salvadorians living this day.

For the life of me, don’t understand the President’s decision to deport and uproot people’s lives. President Trump has decided to deport every Latin family who is undocumented or under DACA Program and make them build a wall. How inhuman is that? There will be about 200,000 Salvadorans provoked if Homeland Security decides to extend or designation the El Salvador as a Temporary Protected Status. This will affect many families and it might even affect the economy. This means there is a possibility Salvadorans will be deported back to their country. There are Salvadorians who have children who have been born here and many Salvadorian are on a temporary visa. This Temporary Protection Status legislation was set in place in the United States to protect the Salvadorans and other foreigners from returning back to their country for a number of reasons. For instance, when nations experience earthquake, flood, deficiency or war; that prevent safe return.

A single family is a new norm among Salvadoran and most mothers have children from multiple partners. I believe poverty is a limitation that affects the family dynamics and not to mention able to afford a traditional marriage. Among the well-documented changes is rising age at marriage, an increase in cohabitation, and a dramatic shift in the proportion of children born outside marriage, (Bramlett and Mosher, 2002; Casper and Bianchi, 2002; Wu and Wolfe, 2001). Some studies suggest that Latino youth in single-parent families are at greater risk for negative outcomes, (Creighton, Park, & Teruel, 2009; Gil, Vega, & Biafora, 1998). Most culture comes to the United States and gets Americanized lost their culture, values, and norms.

Familism is typically regarded as a multidimensional concept that reflects both values and behaviors that emphasize the needs of the family over the needs of individuals (Vega, 1995). Evaluations of Hispanic familism, however, are complicated by the fact that family behavior is not shaped solely by normative orientations and values; it is also strongly influenced by the socioeconomic position and the structure of economic opportunities in the broader society. Thus, contemporary scholars generally argue that Hispanic family patterns can best be understood within a social adaptation framework, which stresses the interplay between familistic values and the circumstances experienced by Hispanics in their everyday lives, (Landale NS, Oropesa RS, Bradatan C., 2006). Salvadorian use to have family values, but over the years family values are not a priority when you are facing difficulties.

Salvadorian has experienced just as much modification among other culture than other ethnic groups in this country; such as poverty, homelessness or war. Psychological stress is an important risk factor in this regard, because it relates to a broad range of aging-related health outcomes, (Charles ST, Piazza JR, Mogle J, Sliwinski MJ, Almeida DM, 201) & Andel R, Crowe M, Kareholt I, Wastesson J, and Parker MG, 2011), because it represents a target for prevention and intervention strategies. An implicit assumption in the literature on acculturation and health behaviors is that beliefs, norms, or values change with greater acculturation, (Castro FG, Stein JA, Bentler PM. 2009, & German M., Gonzales NA, Dumka L., 2008 & Gil AG, Wagner EF., Vega WA., 2000 & Rudmin FW., 2003 & Sale E., Sambrano S., Springer JF., Pena C., Pan W., Kasim R., 2005 & Unger JB., Johnson CA., Shakib S., Gallaher P., Ritt-Olson A., 2006 & Yabiku ST,. Marsiglia FF., Kulis S., Parsai MB., Becerra D., Del-Colle M., 2010). There have been no progressions for most ethnic groups living in the United States because of poverty and poverty shift the norms among any group under stress.

The lack of resources, housing, employment, finance, and food can change and shape any culture norm and over time progression will continue to progress over time. Social workers are the key to helping to advocate awareness. For example, among adolescents, evidence shows that acculturation is associated with decreases in family values such as family connectedness and respect for parents, and these decreases, in turn, are associated with adolescent alcohol use, (Gil AG, Wagner EF, Vega WA, 2000). Our descriptive analyses demonstrate that Hispanics—like other racial/ethnic groups—exhibit many behaviors that are consistent with what some scholars call ‘family decline’, (Popenoe, 1993). As long as there is a lack of resource and financial resources thing will continue to decline within ethical groups living in the United States. I’m sure before Salvadorian moved to the United States there was such a thing in their country as a family value. War can destroy any family system, norms, values because most have to learn how to adapt to a new environment.

At the same time, Hispanics (especially Mexican Americans) are typically described as oriented toward family well-being, rather than individual well-being (Sabogal, Marin, Otero-Sabogal, VanOss Marin, and Perez-Stable, 1987; Valenzuela and Dornbusch, 1994; Vega, 1995).

Nonetheless, it is likely that the course of assimilation decreases familism and reassures the individualism that some have claimed this is the heart of recent changes in family behavior. Current issues access to medical for most Salvadorian are undocumented, so some struggle with medical insurance. Faith, rooted in Roman Catholicism, is generally the cornerstone of Hispanic life (Nava, 2000).

The method of intervention I will be using is Cognitive Behavior Therapy; which highlights the social environment particularly how we learn from and how it influences our environments. Once the family has expressed their issues it’s the social worker ethical responsibility to apply the appropriate intervention to assist with deportation. Our solution should help the family alleviate the problems and work with a supporting system. Working with the Salvadorian families and hearing their problems is just part of the process leading to the solution. The social worker moves with empathy and not sympathy. As a Social worker should always paraphrase to make sure we are hearing the family needs. For instance, the family discusses having the issue with adjusting to the culture or deportation. I recommend that the family connect with social services and Hispanic center. Psychological stress is an important risk factor in this regard, because it relates to a broad range of aging-related health outcomes and because it represents a target for prevention and intervention strategy, (Stacey B. Scott, Jennifer E. Graham-Engeland, Christopher G. Engeland, Joshua M. Smyth, David M. Almeida, Mindy J. Katz, Richard B. Lipton, Jacqueline A. Mogle, Elizabeth Munoz, Nilam Ram, and Martin J. Sliwinski, 2015).

After evaluation, I consider using Cognitive Behavior Therapy, to assist the client to focus on the solutions to future circumstances and set goals rather than focusing on the past experience. Salvadorian should feel hopeful because there is a lot of supporting factors and just to name one NASW is one supporting factor.

One of many of Limitation upon Salvadorian Elderly are facing is deportation. By increasing these limitations on a Salvadorian Elder or any elder could be detrimental. Stress can lead to a number of health issues. More than 5.4 million US adults over the age of 70 have cognitive impairment without dementia; another 4.7 million have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s dementia, (Plassman BL, Langa KM, McCammon RJ, Fisher GG, Potter GG, Burke JR, Steffens DC, Foster NL, Giordani B, Unverzagt FW, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Heeringa SG, Weir DR, Wallace RB, 2011). Salvadorians are facing such difficult decisions; which could cost more issues. Social workers need skills to assess clients’ entire systems. If ignored, social workers may echo society’s oppression by assuming that clients need to change, rather than working for societal change (Pinderhughes, 1989).

How would I determine if an elderly Salvadorian is cognitive really to go back to a country they don’t know? Research, say URT is the psychological mechanism that prolongs physiological and emotional responses daily and chronic stress; which, in turn, can have short or long-term negative consequences for cognitive function. Stress-related dysregulations of physiological systems particularly of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis function and inflammation are proposed as physiological mechanisms that result in reduced cognitive function over the long term, (Scott SB., Graham-Engeland JE., Smyth JM., Almeida DM., Katz MJ., Lipton RB., Mogle JA., Munoz E., Ram N. and Sliwinski MJ., 2015). After carefully assessing the Salvadorian elderly living in the United States I determine to use ESCAPE project to measure the longitudinal of their cognitive through URT. ESCAPE (Effects of Stress on Cognitive aging, Physiology, and Emotion), is the measuring tool to test the pathway through URT which stressful experiences negatively affect cognitive health over a short or long term. Psychological anxiety can and will affect the cognitive function indefinitely. Social worker concerns are the well-being of our client and cognitive, (Stacey B. Scott, Jennifer E. Graham-Engeland, Christopher G. Engeland, Joshua M. Smyth, David M. Almeida, Mindy J. Katz, Richard B. Lipton, Jacqueline A. Mogle, Elizabeth Munoz, Nilam Ram, and Martin J. Sliwinski, 2015).

My conclusion is deportation among a senior Salvadorian is not inhuman, if elderly have been living in the United States for most of their lives or since 1980 this should consider their home like everyone else. According to NASW statement, President Trump’s immigration executive order is inhuman. Human Rights Watch estimates that between the years of 1997 to 2007 about 1 million people lost an immediate family member to deportation and this does not count the 2 million under other administration. There have been many changes in ethical cultures in the United States; which all are not good changes. I look at other countries who have free education, free medical, free housing, but it’s something we live in the land of the free and some has nothing. Where is balance in that? My solutions are to continue to support what is right.

Reference:

  1. Gil AG, Wagner EF, Vega WA. Acculturation, familism, and alcohol use among Latino adolescent males: longitudinal relations. J Community Psychol. 2000; 28:443–58

  2. Sabogal F, Marin G, Otero-Sabogal R, VanOss Marin B, Perez-Stable EJ. Hispanic familism and acculturation: What changes and what doesn’t? Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 1987; 9(4):397–412.

  3. Torrico, R. (2010). Meeting the needs of immigrant children and youth in child welfare. Retrieved from www.socialworkers.org/assets/secured/documents/practice/clinical/

  4. Sue, D., Arredondo, P., & McDavis, R. (1992). Multicultural counseling competencies and standards: A call to the profession. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70(4), 477-486.

  5. Valenzuela A, Dornbusch SM. Familism and social capital in the academic achievement of Mexican origin and Anglo adolescents. Social Science Quarterly. 1994; 75:18–36.

  6. Vega WA. The study of Latino families. In: Zambrana R, editor. Understanding Latino families: Scholarship, policy, and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1995. pp. 3–17.

  7. Popenoe D. American family decline, 1960–1990: A review and appraisal. Journal of Marriage and Family. 1993; 55:527–555.

  8. Creighton MJ, Park H, Teruel GM. The role of migration and single motherhood in upper secondary education in Mexico. Journal of Marriage and Family. 2009.

  9. Nava, Y. (2000). It’s all in the frijoles: 100 famous Latinos share real-life stories, time-tested dichos, favorite folktales, and inspiring words of wisdom. New York: Fireside Books.

  10. Capps, R., Fix, M., Ost, J., Reardon-Anderson, J. & Passel, J. (2004). The health and well-being of young children of immigrants. Retrieved from www.urban.org/UploadedPDF

  11. Pinderhughes, E. (1989). Culture, social interaction, and the human services. In Race, ethnicity, & power: The key to efficacy in clinical practice (pp. 13-20). New York:

  12. www.hrw.org

  13. Charles ST, Piazza JR, Mogle J, Sliwinski MJ, Almeida DM. The wear and tear of daily stressors on mental health. Psychological Science. 2013; 24:733–741. 10.1177/0956797612462222

  14. Andel R, Crowe M, Kareholt I, Wastesson J, Parker MG. Indicators of job strain at midlife and cognitive functioning in advanced old age. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 2011; 66B:287–291. 10.1093/geronb/gbq105.

  15. Plassman BL, Langa KM, McCammon RJ, Fisher GG, Potter GG, Burke JR, Steffens DC, Foster NL, Giordani B, Unverzagt FW, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Heeringa SG, Weir DR, Wallace RB. The incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment, not dementia in the united states. Ann Neurol. 2011;70:418–426. doi: 10.1002/ana.22362

  16. Hebert LE, Weuve J, Scherr PA, Evans DA. Alzheimer disease in the United States (2010-2050) estimated using the 2010 census. Neurology. 2013.

  17. Charles ST, Piazza JR, Mogle J, Sliwinski MJ, Almeida DM. The wear and tear of daily stressors on mental health. Psychological Science. 2013

  18. Andel R, Crowe M, Kareholt I, Wastesson J, Parker MG. Indicators of job strain at midlife and cognitive functioning in advanced old age. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 2011

  19. Wright R., Bailey A.J., (2000. Legal status, gender and employment among Salvadorans in the US https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-1220(200007/08)6:43.0.CO;2-0

  20. Lopez M.H., and Barera A.G.., (2012), Salvadorans may soon replace Cubans as third-largest U.S. Hispanic group. http://pewrsr.ch/11MaksY

  21. Jordan M., (2018). Trump Administration Says That Nearly 200,000 Salvadorans Must Leave

  22. https:// www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/us/salvadorans-tps-end.html

  23. Abrego, L., (2009).Economic Well‐Being in Salvadoran Transnational Families: How Gender Affects Remittance Practices.

  24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00653.x

  25. Landale NS, Oropesa RS, Bradatan C. Hispanic Families in the United States: Family Structure and Process in an Era of Family Change. In: National Research Council (US) Panel on Hispanics in the United States; Tienda M, Mitchell F, editors. Hispanics and the Future of America. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2006

  26. www.nasw.com

  27. Stacey B. Scott, Jennifer E. Graham-Engeland, Christopher G. Engeland, Joshua M. Smyth, David M. Almeida, Mindy J. Katz, Richard B. Lipton, Jacqueline A. Mogle, Elizabeth Munoz, Nilam Ram, and Martin J. Sliwinski, 2015, The Effects of Stress on Cognitive Aging, Physiology and Emotion (ESCAPE) Project

Benefits Of Regular Aerobic Exercise

Cardiorespiratory fitness is extremely important to everyone. It can do a lot for the human body such as helps decrease the risk of cancer, strokes and heart disease and can helps improve lungs and heart conditions and also supports people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is the capacity of the circulatory and respiratory systems to provide oxygen to the skeletal muscles during whole body activities. A high level of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness is very healthy because it helps with preventing future illness. (Kantomaa, M.T., Tammelin, T., Ebeling, H., Stamatakis, E., & Taanila, A Taanila, A. (2015).

Most but not all some people does not like to go to the gym and workout but there are other things you can do to keep your body in shape like Aerobic. Aerobic is an easy workout that anyone can do. Aerobic is relating to, involving, or requiring free oxygen. More physical activity is such that sufficient oxygen can be supplied to meet the demands of working tissues. Aerobic activities helps the body to respond quickly.

One does not have to be in a gym to do exercise. Anyone can do aerobics. It does not matter about the age, old or young, and it can be used indoors and outdoors. Regardless of age, weight or how athletic one is, aerobics are good for you period. Aerobic exercise helps with the blood flow, heart and lungs. It strengthen the heart because this organ does not need to beat quickly it can pump blood more efficiently through all parts of your body. One can use one’s legs, hips, back and arm with the activities. It also helps people with their breathing and helps with preventing different types of cancer. “Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve the prognosis of cardiovascular disease. Compared to medications, aerobic exercise is easier to carry out and has fewer side effects”. (Yating Wang, & Danyan Xu. (2017).

Aerobics can boost people’s mood because and can improve your sleep. It causes less stress to your daily life by working out to ease the gloominess of depression. It can facilitate relaxation which is a good thing. Also, it is important to stay active and independent as one ages because the muscles get stronger which can help maintain strength as one gets older. It can keep the mind sharp, protect memory, and thinking skills, especially among elderly people. The most important reason why aerobics are good is because studies explain why those who do participate in regular exercise live longer than people who does not. They basically have a lower risk of being sick, dying of all causes related to virtually any type of disease. Aerobic exercise also improves mental health. When exercising it not just good for your body, it can relieves stress from school work, helps you sleep, improves memory, and it can also improve your overall mood.

Some examples of Aerobic exercise are swimming, inside or outside walking, running, dancing, hiking, ice skating, roller skating, riding a bicycle indoors or outdoors, playing tennis, doing jumping jacks, jump rope, burpees, mountain climbers, squats, bear crawls, kickboxing, staircases exercise, playing any sports and there so much more. As long as one isn’t running up the stairs climbing is a high intensity but low impact form of aerobic exercise. About an hour or two of running up and down the stairs will burn approximately 611 calories.

Jumping jacks helps because doing so it burns about 100 calories between 10-20 minutes and the participant doesn’t need any type of special equipment. Jumping jacks are high impacts routines that help your joints. Doing jumping jacks more often makes your body adapt to it by increasing both muscle mass and bone to make one’s knee stronger. Jump role is a good cardio because one can burn a lot of calories in less minutes. Jogging and running is good also because they gets the heart rate up, and are a good ways to warm up before working out. Burpees are basically squatting to the floor exercises and including jumping.

Researcher say about an hour of water jogging can burn about 500 to 600 calories depending on your intensity level all one have to do is move their arms and legs at roughly the same amount of speed. The resistance provided by the water can increase one heart rate significantly. Another way you can lose a lot of calories are doing Mountain climbing which is good because you have to run thru your knees in and out from a push-up position. Mountain climbing helps raise your heart rate while building strength and endurance in the core of the body. Squats are good because it can raise the heart rate and burn calories and ones can do different type of squats such as squats jumps which increase the power of the legs. Bear crawling helps gain strength and endurances as one is are basically squatting to the floor, walking on hands out to do pushups and walking on hands back while standing. It is an upper body workout. “Aerobic exercise can improve task switching, selective attention, inhibition of proponent responses, and working memory span.

Furthermore, cross-sectional data indicate that aerobic fitness predicts better working memory updating, but further research is needed to determine whether this relationship reflects engagement in exercise”. (Guiney, H., & Machado, L. (2013). Regular aerobic exercise give the participant more stamina, while barring the risk of osteoporosis. The latter is basically a bone disease that happens when people’s bodies losing too much bone. This happens when the body is extremely weak and may break real quickly from a fall. For example falling down the steps, or falling on ice due to snow on the ground. This type of disease occurs in the wrist, hip and spine. All other bones in the body can break. Walking to class or upstairs are example of physical activity.

Aerobics dancing has been a very fun popular activity. Aerobic dancing can be used to any type of music that interests such as hip hop, R&B, pop music, country music, rock and classic music. It improves cardiovascular health and help one stay fit and slim. It is good for the heart, trimming belly fat so it burns a lot of calories and makes one feel stronger. With dancing all that is needed is good footwork. If one is move one’s legs, arms and hips he/she is doing a workout. (Bobo, M., & Yarbrough, M. (1999).

A lot of sports athletes require a high level of aerobic fitness. They require a lot of aerobic fitness to keep their bodies in good shape. They use it to maintain and generate power output during repeated high intensity efforts and to recover from any type of injuries. Sports athletes use a lot of physical abilities. For example people look up to great athletes such as LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and so many more. They all work extremely hard to get to where they are and aerobic exercise plays a role in that. Aerobic exercise improves each individual’s performance as to how they play the game each and every day. Today, Tom Brady is one of the oldest quarterbacks who’s still playing football at a high level. The way he is playing football seems like he is in his prime. He also admits that he takes care of his body each and every day by exercising, and eating very healthy. Conditioning practices have become a priority. Brady never gotten injured from a game because he takes good care of his body. Brady never missed a game.

Tom Brady change his diet and lifestyle. He consisting of plenty of all-natural and whole foods and eating food such as tomatoes and peppers for fear of bloating. Brady admits he drinks a ton of water and also goes to bed early. He make sure he get a ton of rest. Brady stays away from lifting heavy weights, and focus on flexibility. Tom Brady does not smoke or drink alcohol as well as gluten such as bread, pasta, and foods with high-fructose corn syrup or Tran’s fats. He avoids most cooking oils, and salty snacks. Tom Brady mainly eats organic, plant based diet with no highly processed foods, in the morning Brady drinks water, fruit smoothie, after working out he has a protein shake. Then for lunch he eats fish and vegetables and dinner mainly more vegetables and soup. Take a look at his success in the league he have been in the playoffs and super bowl many of times and is a five time super bowl champion.

Another is LeBron James who’s playing basketball at a high level. He is able to score about 30 or more points a game because he keeps his body in good shape. LeBron James is 33 years old who played all 82 games in the regular season which is extremely difficult to do. Most basketball player tend to get injured but LeBron James early does get injured. He admits that he take good care of his body and eat healthy. James spent a lot of money to take care of his body. That covers costs from his home gym, trainers, massage therapists, chefs, appliances, and more. It’s all worth it for James, who shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. James is a 3 times finals mvp.

The advantages of sports aerobics include building strength and flexibility. It develops self-confidence, coordination and develops agility. It also develops aerobics endurance. The disadvantages of sports aerobics are injuries if the exercises is not done correctly or without proper care. (Stone, N. M., & Kilding, A. E. (2009). When one play basketball without a significant number of timeouts or breaks, it can be considered an aerobic workout. Playing steadily for an hour will burn about 544 calories. Soccer is another sports that can be aerobic or anaerobic, depending on how it’s played. If one keeps the game going without breaks, an hour of play will burn 476 or more calories.

In conclusion, Aerobics exercise is one of the most important factors in an individual’s life. It is very healthy for people. Physical activities or the lack of same can usually results in a individuals having a healthy life or can cause them to have diabetes only. The positive health result include a greater chance of living longer, improvement in attitude, and feeling stronger mentally and physically. Those who not exercise at all risk becoming ill quickly or not living longer as compared those who do exercise. Lack of same also results in a person’s muscles becoming weak and out of condition which can cause muscles to break. For instance, a person’s joints will become stiff and can be injured easily by falling and breaking a bone. Not working out effectively can cause the heart and lungs to decrease effective functioning. In addition, those who do not exercise at all usually are the ones who become lazy and can be as much of a health risk as those who smoking. Aerobic exercise is the most significant type of exercise because the main advantage is to protect from cardiovascular disease.

References

  1. Kantomaa, M. T., Tammelin, T., Ebeling, H., Stamatakis, E., & Taanila, A. (2015). High Levels of Physical Activity and Cardiorespiratory Fitness are Associated With Good Self-Rated Health in Adolescents. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 12(2), 266–272. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=102071047&site=eds-live&scope=site

  2. Yating Wang, & Danyan Xu. (2017). Effects of aerobic exercise on lipids and lipoproteins. Lipids in Health and Disease, Vol 16, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2017), (1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-017-0515-5

  3. Bobo, M., & Yarbrough, M. (1999). The effects of long-term aerobic dance on agility and flexibility. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 39(2), 165-8. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.montclair.edu/docview/202679310?accountid=12536

  4. Guiney, H., & Machado, L. (2013). Benefits of regular aerobic exercise for executive functioning in healthy populations. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20(1), 73-86. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.montclair.edu/docview/1314366694?accountid=12536

  5. Stone, N. M., & Kilding, A. E. (2009). Aerobic conditioning for team sport athletes.Sports Medicine, 39(8), 615-42. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/10.2165/00007256-200939080-00002

Resting Is Just As Important As The Workout Itself

We all know sleep and rest play an important role in one’s physical health. Resting, is just as important as the workout itself. Working out (especially when it comes to resistance training) begins breaking down your body tissues even causing microscopic tears, the rest days that you take will then provide the time your muscles, tissues, and nerves need so they can start to rebuild and heal properly. For this paper I wanted to research the different variables that can affect your rest periods and how they affect it.

The authors of this article had the objective of “To investigate the effect of music auditory stimulation (MAS) on cardiorespiratory parameters in recovery from exercise.” (Gomes Et al.) To put their thought to the test they took 35 men healthy men (any smokers/alcoholics or those with any conditions that couldn’t achieve the protocols were excluded from the experiment) and put them in an experiment that consisted of three sections; the maximal exercise test, control section, and music section. The individuals were randomly selected to be put in each group at the time of their arrival. Before they started the first phase they took the body mass of each individual by using a digital scale and they took the height by using a stadiometer which then allowed them to begin their testing. The volunteers were told to only consume a light meal two hours before, to avoid vigorous exercise 24 hours before, and to not drink alcoholic drinks or caffeinated drinks for 12 hours before the experiment started. The procedure was divided into three segments done between the times of 5:30 and 9:30 (so they didn’t mess with the circadian time clock) and they were performed on a treadmill with at least 48 hours in between to allow recovery time.

For the first section (Maximal Exercise test) they recorded each person’s maximum velocity they could reach and used it to indirectly figure out their anaerobic threshold. They would then enforce 60% of their Vmax throughout the study. For the second section (Control Protocol) the volunteers rested for 15 minutes in a supine position then did 30 minutes aerobic exercise on the treadmill which consisted of 5 minutes at a speed of 6 km/h and 25 minutes of their 60% Vmax + 1%. And finally, they did 60-minute recovery period which was three standing minutes on the treadmill and 57 minutes in the supine position. For the final section (Music Protocol) the volunteers were put through the same steps as the CP group with the only difference being they were exposed to MAS during their exercise and recovery times.

They used MAS and played calming music and it showed to have many positive effects such as lowering the heart rate and blood pressure. It was also seen throughout the experiment that MAS enhanced performance by providing a greater motivation to execute the workout, delayed fatigue, increased the work capacity, and even decreased the individual’s perception of effort they were eliciting. For specifics, the Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), saw significant changes in comparison to the resting rate until minute 10 of recovery in CP and until minute 7 in the MP. Meaning, it took 10 minutes for the CP groups SBP to get back down to baseline and only 7 minutes for the MP group. They were also able to see statistical differences in heart rate between their resting and post exercise heart rate from only the 1st to 40th minute for the MP while the CP saw differences until the end of recovery. They were able to conclude that MAS did help with recovery, but, they said that they “cannot state that this method alone can improve recovery after exercise in healthy subjects.”