P.A.C.E. – What Do the Words Mean and How Can it Help You?
PACE gives you exercise freedom
Since Dr Al Sears introduced the P.A.C.E. program people have been asking what do the letters stand for? And how does it help them get fit, lose weight, etc?
P.A.C.E. stands for Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion. Okay, that’s a lot of words but what does it mean? Let me try to explain.
The PACE program has interval training at its core.
Interval training isn’t new – it’s been used by athletes for many years for conditioning.
Ask any athlete who’s used it and they’ll tell you when done correctly you can pack a lot of exercise into a short period. And what studies have found is interval training can help you lose more fat and increase muscle mass than doing long bouts of aerobic exercise.
Interval training is split into two components – the repetition interval and the rest interval.
The repetition interval is when you perform the exercise and the rest interval is the recovery period. When starting out the repetition duration can be 1 minute and the rest period is 1 minute and this can be repeated for 10 minutes. The important thing to remember about the rest period is not to stop movement. The rest should be a slow pace like walking.
Dr Sears calls your initial interval training – getting your feet wet period.
It’s important when getting used to interval training you do not overdo it at the beginning. Remember you’re introducing your body to a new form of exercising.
Once your body has acclimatized to interval training then you can progress to the next phase of adding in the elements of PACE, such as increasing intensity of your exertion exercise and ensuring the interval is long enough to challenge your heart and lungs – this is the Cardiopulmonary Exertion aspect of the program. Try 8 minutes duration for your repetition interval with rest interval of 2 minutes.
Remember not to go beyond 20 minutes duration for the overall workout.
Get PACE Fitness Program Here
As you feel your recovery improve and stronger during your exertion interval then you can up the intensity and shorten the duration in the intervals. This is the Progressively Accelerating aspect of the PACE program in action.
The actual program you get with Dr Al Sears PACE: The 12 Minute Fitness Revolution eBook maps all this out for you so you can’t go wrong. He also goes into much more detail and explanation that I can in this short article. But hopefully you get the picture.
P.A.C.E. is not a substitute for exercise but its popular because you can do a workout in 20 minutes or less and condition your heart and lungs more than performing hours of long slow exercise by jogging on the road or on a treadmill in the gym.
The P.A.C.E. method is also excellent for weight loss and I’ve covered why in a recent blog post the PACE: 12-Minute Fitness Revolution and Weight Loss Program here.
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about this alternative fitness program from Dr Al Sears. Please use the comment box below.
Final Note: While exercise is a key component of healthy living so is eating the right food in the right portions. By itself exercise can’t tackle these issues and you can read more about a self-hypnosis weight loss program called Enjoying Weight Loss here.
Erika Slater, CH
Free At Last Hypnosis
Erika@smoke-free-at-last.com
www.smoke-free-at-last.com
508 529 2490
Filed Under: Health
