Coursework: Hacking Exercise For Health, Unit 1

I’ve decided to take another free class through Coursera. It’s an amazing opportunity to learn from knowledgeable professors at reputable universities at no cost to you, unless you need a certificate. This one is through McMaster University in Ontario, Canada and is called Hacking Exercise For Health: The Surprising New Science of Fitness (1).

Before embarking on any new fitness activity, check with your medical provider to see if it’s safe for you! This course includes some fitness activities that could cause injury.

Interested in my prior posts on Coursera? Three posts summarize the course, Understanding Obesity: https://lindawbrowning.com/2023/01/02/coursework-understanding-obesity/ , https://lindawbrowning.com/2023/01/19/coursework-understanding-obesity-unit-2-of-3/ , and https://lindawbrowning.com/2023/01/24/coursework-understanding-obesity-unit-3-of-3/ .

Hacking for this course means that we will apply expert, inside knowledge to solve a problem, fitness in this case. Two types of exercise are addressed, strength building/resistance training and cardiorespiratory exercise. I’m sure that you’re already familiar with these terms, but basically, the instructors will be teaching us time saving techniques to improve our strength and cardio fitness.

Speaking of our instructors, they are Dr. Martin Gibala and Dr. Stuart Phillips, both kinesiology professors. They are well qualified and also quite personable. I think you’d enjoy watching their course videos – very upbeat and positive professors who know how to explain difficult concepts. They stop to check your understanding and also to give outside assignments.

I’m going to share three of those outside assignments with you here. They are fitness assessments to try if you are able. Note that I am not able or willing to complete all of them as they hurt my joints. But I think we can all do the first assessment. Don’t push yourself to complete the assessments as injury could be the result!

• This first assessment estimates your cardiorespiratory fitness. You fill in some data and then will receive a result for your VO2 Max, which shows your maximum oxygen consumption during strenuous exercise: https://www.worldfitnesslevel.org/#/
• The second assessment estimates your upper body strength by having you count the number of push-ups you can do: https://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/home-pushup.htm
• The final assessment estimates your lower body strength by having you count the number of squats you can do: https://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/home-squat.htm

The instructors tell us that through advances in science and many medical studies, we will be able to learn some fitness shortcuts. They are presented in greater depth later in the course. However, they explain that by exercising with greater intensity, but for a shorter duration, we can achieve excellent results in both cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal fitness. You get the “biggest bang for your buck,” or the most significant results, in the first part of your exercise session. Being physically active – even for a short time – is what matters most (1).

Since this class is free on Coursera, might you consider taking a look? They have some great offerings that can go a long way in helping us maintain our healthy weight!

(1). https://www.coursera.org/learn/hacking-exercise-health