Renowned exercise physiologists Martin Gibala and Stuart Phillips of McMaster University teach the surprising new science of cardio fitness and strength-building—and then provide you with hacks to get fit and strong (and healthy!) in less time than you ever thought possible. What’s the right mix of exercise between cardio and strength? How do you know if you’re working out hard enough? What’s better, heavy or light weights? These questions and more are addressed through a course designed to provide even the most inexperienced of exercisers the tools you need to design time-efficient workouts that can be done virtually anywhere, from your own home to a city park or even at your workplace.
Marty and Stu are good friends and colleagues who just happen to be two of the world’s most passionate scholars in the science of fitness. They aim to entertain you while they’re describing the relationship between exercise and health. Marty is a pioneer in the field of interval training, the technique of varying your workout intensity to get fit faster than anyone ever thought possible. Stu’s studies proved that lifting lighter weights can be a highly effective strength-building technique—plus he’s a leading expert in dietary protein and muscle.
In Hacking Exercise for Health, you’ll follow Marty and Stu as they teach you the basics about the way your body boosts its fitness and strength. Next, they’ll apply that theory, providing you with a series of do-anywhere workouts and, most importantly, teaching you what you need to know to design your own sessions. Filled with inspirational practical tips, fun quizzes, interactive community participation and assignments designed to help you remember your lessons, Hacking Exercise for Health will give you the tools and techniques to incorporate exercise into your life, no matter how busy you are.
The human body is rare in that it actually improves with use. In fact, the changes that various kinds of exercise trigger in the body are downright miraculous. This week, Marty and Stu explain the mechanics behind that process. They start by breaking down the two types of fitness: “Cardiorespiratory” and “musculoskeletal.” Next, they’ll tell you why each one is important to living a long and healthy life. With a can-do attitude designed to inspire, they’ll inform you how much of each activity you’re supposed to get, then wrap up the week by posing a question that exercise scientists have been debating for years: Which type of exercise is better for you?
What's included
5 videos5 readings1 discussion prompt2 plugins
Show info about module content
5 videos•Total 28 minutes
Introduction: Who are these profs and should I care about this MOOC?•5 minutes
Week 1 Video 1 - What is fitness anyway?•5 minutes
Week 1 Video 2 - What is the exercise continuum?•7 minutes
Week 1 Video 3 - How to assess your own fitness•5 minutes
Week 1 Video 4 - How do you get the biggest bang for your exercise buck?•6 minutes
5 readings•Total 50 minutes
Introduction Glossary•10 minutes
Week 1 Video 1 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 1 Video 2 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 1 Video 3 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 1 Video 4 - Glossary•10 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 40 minutes
How does your body respond to the stress of exercise?•40 minutes
This week Marty tells you all about cardiorespiratory fitness, and the latest research in terms of time-efficient ways to get fitter faster. Why do some scientists think that cardiorespiratory fitness should be the fifth vital sign? What is VO2max? What’s an easy way to determine your own VO2max? And how does aerobic exercise boost it? The week wraps up with Marty teaching a series of techniques to build cardiorespiratory fitness in less time than you ever thought possible.
What's included
6 videos5 readings4 discussion prompts1 plugin
Show info about module content
6 videos•Total 31 minutes
Week 2 Video 1 - What’s the most important number you have?•5 minutes
Week 2 Video 2 - Where do the Physical Activity Guidelines come from, anyway?•5 minutes
Week 2 Video 3 - How can you hack cardiorespiratory fitness?•5 minutes
Week 2 Video 4 - Why does H.I.T.T. work?•5 minutes
Week 2 Video 5 - Which burns more calories: Interval or Endurance Training?•4 minutes
Week 2 Video 6 - What are some interval workouts I can do at home?•8 minutes
5 readings•Total 50 minutes
Week 2 Video 1 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 2 Video 3 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 2 Video 4 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 2 Video 5 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 2 Video 6 - Glossary•10 minutes
4 discussion prompts•Total 140 minutes
Week 2 Video 1 - Which method did you use to determine your VO2max score?•30 minutes
Week 2 Video 2 - How can you fit 150min of exercise into your typical week?•40 minutes
Week 2 Video 5 - Have you experienced the afterburn effect?•30 minutes
Week 2 Video 6 - Design your own interval workout.•40 minutes
1 plugin•Total 30 minutes
Flipgrid Assignment: Your afterburn experience (use password: moocMOOC)•30 minutes
Musculoskeletal Fitness
Module 3•6 hours to complete
Module details
Many people believe strength training isn’t for them. They might feel intimidated by lifting weights because they think it’s only for big hulking bodybuilders. Besides, what are the health benefits of lifting weights? During week 3, Stu argues that everyone should engage in some form of strength training—and the practice becomes more important, not less, as you age. Once you’re convinced, Stu teaches techniques that will help everyone to be stronger, to stave off the decline in muscle strength that otherwise happens as we age. Finally, Stu provides hacks to get you comfortable performing strengthening exercises—and teaches you to design your own resistance-training workouts.
What's included
6 videos9 readings4 discussion prompts1 plugin
Show info about module content
6 videos•Total 39 minutes
Week 3 Video 1 - Can you hack strength training?•5 minutes
Week 3 Video 2 - What’s up with muscle fibre?•7 minutes
Week 3 Video 3 - Can we actually prompt our muscles to grow?•7 minutes
Week 3 Video 4 - What does protein have to do with muscles?•6 minutes
Week 3 Video 5 - How does one hack strength training?•8 minutes
Week 3 Video 6 - What should I consider as I design my own workouts?•6 minutes
9 readings•Total 150 minutes
Week 3 Video 1 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 3 Video 2 - Glossary•10 minutes
A Motor Unit-Based Model of Muscle Fatigue•30 minutes
Neither Load nor Systemic Hormones Determine Resistance Training-Mediated Hypertrophy or Strength Gains in Resistance-Trained Young Men•30 minutes
Week 3 Video 3 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 3 Video 4 - Glossary•10 minutes
Week 3 Video 5 - Glossary•10 minutes
IOC Consensus Statement: Dietary Supplements and the High-Performance Athlete•30 minutes
Week 3 Video 6 - Glossary•10 minutes
4 discussion prompts•Total 130 minutes
Week 3 Video 1 - How being stronger can help you in everyday life?•30 minutes
Week 3 Video 4 - Calculate the maximum amount of protein your body can use in a day•40 minutes
Week 3 Video 5 (1) - Have you set exercise goals before?•30 minutes
Week 3 Video 5 (2) - Great ideas for push, pull, core, or leg exercises.•30 minutes
Remember the question Marty and Stu posed in the first week? What’s more important, cardiorespiratory or musculoskeletal health? In the last week they’ll finally answer it for you. They’ll talk about some of the surprising benefits of exercise—like the fact that it can help you mentally retain information (sweat so you don’t forget!). They’ll discuss the debate over the exercise pill. They’ll teach you hacks that help you boost muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness, together—and finish the course by teaching you techniques to design your own fun, combined workouts designed to keep you exercising for the rest of your life!
Week 4 Video 1 - Which is better: cardio or strength training?•5 minutes
Week 4 Video 2 - What does a cardio & strength training workout actually look like?•6 minutes
Week 4 Video 3 - Can you design your own cardio & strength workout?•7 minutes
Week 4 Video 4 - How can exercise affect your mental health?•4 minutes
Week 4 Video 5 - Can't you get exercise in a pill?!•6 minutes
Week 4 Video 6 - What are our top ten tips to hack exercise for health?•6 minutes
6 readings•Total 320 minutes
Does Strength-Promoting Exercise Confer Unique Health Benefits? A Pooled Analysis of Data on 11 Population Cohorts With All-Cause, Cancer, and Cardiovascular Mortality Endpoints•30 minutes
Week 4 Video 2 - Glossary•10 minutes
Research studies•60 minutes
Research studies•120 minutes
Week 4 Video 5 - Glossary•10 minutes
Overall Course Glossary•90 minutes
1 assignment•Total 120 minutes
Final Course Quiz•120 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 80 minutes
Week 4 Video 2 - Workouts that could be done virtually anywhere.•40 minutes
Week 4 Video 3 - Review your workout plan.•40 minutes
Founded in 1887, McMaster University is committed to creativity, innovation, and excellence by inspiring critical thinking, personal growth, and a passion for learning. Ranked amongst the Top 100 universities in the world, McMaster pioneered a learner-centred, problem-based, interdisciplinary approach to learning that is now known worldwide as the “McMaster Model”.
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TH
4·
Reviewed on Feb 7, 2022
Both professors were excellent, would have given 5 stars if it were not consistent audio issues making it difficult to make out all of what was said during lecturers. Recommend.
K
KA
5·
Reviewed on Sep 26, 2020
it was a highly informative and helpful in the session amd the professors have helped us understand the course so much well and in an easy format
R
RM
5·
Reviewed on Dec 13, 2019
i loved it and learnt alot about how to help people exercise to get results with factoring in shortage of time todays life style of people being busy all the time
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