Please attach a typed 1/2 page to 1 page Word document (double spaced) that contains the following information:

1. What fitness activities are you currently participating in?
2. After reading chapter 2, what did you discover that you were NOT doing correctly (keep the FITT principles in mind).
3. What fitness Myths did you believe?  (if none – explain how you learned about proper fitness principles)

Don’t have time to exercise? Well here is an article with some good ideas for finding little ways to exercise during a busy day (eh hem, or life). 

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=43497

Why do you need to work out?

There are many reasons why it is important to work out but I will focus on the main reasons.

To Delay Death – This may sound morbid but all of us will die. There is no escaping it. . . the death statistics are 100%. The goal is to have the highest quality of life for the longest period of time. By living a healthy and safe lifestyle in a healthy environment we can increase are chances of extending our lifespans and our abilities to be mobile and active through the entirety of our lives. A healthy lifestyle should include exercise to experience the highest level of physical health.

To Avoid Disease & Lower the Risks of Health Problems – To have a high quality of life we ,obviously, would like to avoid diseases. Engaging in many forms of physical activity can have a direct correlation to deterring certain diseases and health problems such as coronary heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, osteoporosis, lower back problems, cholesterol level problems and even stress.

To Feel Good About Yourself – Exercise can have a positive effect on your mental outlook and your emotional well-being. When engaging in cardiovascular exercise, chemicals called endorphins are released in the body that create a “feel good” mood and can help to make a person feel less stressed and more relaxed. Exercise can help you sleep better and can even be helpful in treating mild to moderate depression and other mental disorders.

To Control Weight – Exercise can help to “burn” unneeded/excess calories. Excess calories are stored in our bodies as fat cells. In order to take off a pound of fat, your body has to burn 3,500 calories more than the number of calories you are consuming. Aerobic exercise can be used to increase metabolism and burn calories to help reduce weight over time. Even after an aerobic workout session your metabolism stays elevated for several hours, burning more calories. Aerobic exercise also suppresses appetite, so you aren’t as tempted to eat.

Exercise Basics.

Benefits of Exercising, Regularly…

Medical Questionaire

This is for YOUR INFORMATION ONLY – you do not have to turn this in, it is NOT graded… but it is to help you understand if you are MEDICALLY ready to participate in exercise activities.

Please Read and Answer the following questions:

The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) Being physically active is very safe for most people. Some people, however, should check with their doctors before they increase their current level of activity. The PAR-Q has been designed to identify the small number of adults for whom physical activity may be inappropriate or those who should have medical advice concerning the type of activity most suitable for them.

Answer yes or no to the following questions:

1. Has your doctor ever said that you have a heart condition and that you should only do physical activity recommended by a doctor?
2. Do you feel pain in your chest when you do physical activity?
3. In the past month, have you had chest pain when you were not doing physical activity?
4. Do you lose your balance because of dizziness or do you ever lose consciousness?
5. Do you have a bone or joint problem that could be made worse by a change in your physical activity?
6. Is your doctor currently prescribing drugs (for example, water pills) for your blood pressure or heart condition?
7. Do you know of any other reason why you should not do physical activity?

If you answered yes: If you answered yes to one or more questions, are older than age 40 and have been inactive or are concerned about your health, consult a physician before taking a fitness test or substantially increasing your physical activity. You should ask for a medical clearance along with information about specific exercise limitations you may have.

In most cases, you will still be able to do any type of activity you want as long as you adhere to some guidelines.

If you answered no: If you answered no to all the PAR-Q questions, you can be reasonably sure that you can exercise safely and have low risk of having any medical complications from exercise. It is still important to start slowing and increase gradually. It may also be helpful to have a fitness assessment with a personal trainer or coach in order to determine where to begin.

When to delay the start of an exercise program:

• If you are not feeling well because of a temporary illness, such as a cold or a fever, wait until you feel better to begin exercising.
• If you are or may be pregnant, talk with your doctor before you start becoming more active.

Fitness Basics

Objectives
Identify the five components of health-related fitness and describe the importance of each.
Describe the benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness and how you can improve and maintain it throughout your life.
Describe the differences between muscular endurance and muscular strength and how to incorporate both into a well-rounded resistance program. (continued)

Objectives (continued)
Identify basic types of stretches and their importance to overall health.
Use a variety of resources to stay physically active throughout school.
Understand how to stay physically active throughout your adult life.

Three Categories of Fitness
Physical fitness is a way of measuring how well your body can respond or adapt to physical effort; that is, your ability to perform moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity without becoming overly tired.
Skill-related fitness is what allows athletes to be good at their sports.
Health-related fitness is the ability to carry out everyday activities without excessive fatigue and with enough energy left over for emergencies.

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Five Components
of Health-Related Fitness
Cardiorespiratory fitness
Muscular strength
Muscular endurance
Flexibility
Body composition

FITT Principle
Frequency: How often you do physical activity in a week
Intensity: How hard you work while you’re performing the activity
Time: How long you do the activity
Type: What type of activity you do

Warming Up
First, do a general warm-up of 5 to 10 minutes of light movement, such as jogging or riding a bicycle, to prepare for exercise.
Then do a specific warm-up using movements similar to those you’ll do in your more strenuous exercise session (e.g., if you will perform a biceps curl, do an initial set of biceps curls with little to no weight).

Cooling Down
A cool-down after working out is important so that blood doesn’t pool in your extremities, which could temporarily disrupt blood flow and deprive the heart and brain of oxygen.
Devote 5 to 10 minutes to stretching, walking, or continuing your workout activity at a slower pace to cool down the body.

Basic Principles of Fitness
Overload: A greater load than normally experienced will coax a training effect from the body. Muscle adapts quickly and must continually be overloaded for progress to continue.
Progression: The training overload must increase as you become more fit to elicit continuing improvements.
Specificity: The type of training undertaken must relate to the desired results.
Reversibility: The adaptations achieved through physical activity are reversible.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to the ability of the heart and lungs to efficiently deliver oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and cells by way of the bloodstream.
Cardio refers to the cardiac (heart) system.
Respiratory refers to the respiratory (lungs) system.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Guidelines
Frequency: Do aerobic exercise 3 to 5 days a week.
Intensity: Work within the range of 60% to 80% of heart rate reserve (HRR).
Time: Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day—up to 60 minutes is even better—on 3 to 5 days, if not all days, of the week.
Type: Incorporate both aerobic and anaerobic activity.

Determining Intensity by Heart Rate
Heart rate (HR): The higher your intensity, the higher your HR will be. HR is a valid method for determining intensity.
Target heart rate (THR): The range of HRs at which exercise yields cardiorespiratory benefits. THR zone is 60% to 80% HRmax.
Maximum heart rate (HRmax): HRmax is the upper level of HR that you should be working at. Find it by subtracting your age from 220.
(continued)

Determining Intensity by Heart Rate (continued)
Heart rate reserve (HRR): HRR is a fairly accurate way to determine intensity that takes fitness level into account by using HRrest.
Resting heart rate (HRrest): HRrest is your HR while resting. The less physically fit you are, the higher your HRrest.
Karvonen method: Calculates HR zones for HR monitor training and is considered more accurate than most methods because it takes HRrest into consideration.

Determining Intensity by Borg RPE
The Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale is a method that allows exercisers to subjectively rate how they’re feeling during activity, taking into account personal fitness level, general fatigue levels, and environmental factors.

Muscular Strength and Endurance
Muscular strength is the capacity of the muscle to exert force against a resistance.
Muscular endurance is the capacity of the muscle to exert a force repeatedly against a resistance.
Together they allow people to perform activities of daily living with less physiologic stress, protect them from injuries, and help them maintain functional independence throughout life.
Resistance training is a form of exercise that uses free weights, bands, machines, or body weight to put resistance on the muscle through a full range of motion.

Types of Muscular Contractions
Isometric contractions: Muscle applies force without moving.
Concentric contractions: Force is produced while the muscle shortens.
Eccentric contractions: Force is produced while the muscle lengthens.

Guidelines for Muscular Strength
and Endurance Training
Frequency: Exercise each muscle group on 2 or 3 nonconsecutive days per week.
Intensity: Most strength training professionals recommend a workout of 2 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions each.
Time: Each repetition should take about 6 seconds total—3 seconds for the concentric phase and 3 seconds for the eccentric phase.
Type: Perform a minimum of 8 to 10 separate exercises to train all major muscle groups of the body.

Training Goals
Goal 1: Increase muscular strength and power.
Goal 2: Increase muscle mass by enlarging muscle fibers (hypertrophy).
Goal 3: Increase muscular endurance (toning).

Building a Strength Training Program
Repetitions and weight have an inverse relationship.
For toning and muscle endurance and general muscular strength gains, use lighter weights but do more repetitions.
For strength gains and to build muscle, use heavier weight but do fewer repetitions and more sets.
To tone your muscles and gain endurance, use shorter rests between sets.
For strength gains, use longer rests between sets.

Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to move a joint through its full range of motion.
Flexibility is important for making everyday movements easier, especially with age.
Pay attention to flexibility when doing strength training.

Guidelines for Improving Flexibility
Frequency: Stretch a minimum of 2 or 3 days per week, either at the end of your exercise session or after a warm-up.
Intensity: Stretch to the end of the range of motion, just until you feel discomfort or tightness but not to the point of pain. Do 2 to 4 repetitions for each stretch.
Time: Hold each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds.
Type: Do static, not ballistic, stretches.

Types of Stretches
Passive stretching is when a partner or stretching machine provides the force for the stretch.
Active stretching is when you facilitate the force for the stretch.
Static
Ballistic
Dynamic
Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) involves contracting, relaxing, and stretching opposing muscle groups.

Body Composition
Healthy body composition consists of a ratio of high fat-free mass to acceptably low fat mass.
A healthy body composition is influenced by gender, height, and weight.
High fat levels lead to an increased risk for hypertension, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and high cholesterol.
Following a sensible diet and participating in a safe and effective exercise program is the best and safest way to improve body composition.

Special Considerations
for Fitness
Temperature extremes
Age-related issues
Physical limitations

Heat and Cold
Heat
Causes impaired regulation of internal core temperature, loss of body fluids, and loss of electrolytes.
In extreme heat, the circulation system is maintaining blood pressure, and as a result it can’t regulate temperature as well.
Cold
Hypothermia
Frostbite

Resistance Training
for Children and Adolescents
Supervision is important.
Children should begin with light loads and then gradually increase them by 5% to 10% as strength improves.
A workout should consist of 1 to 3 sets of 6 to 15 reps on 2 or 3 nonconsecutive days per week.

Exercise for People With Disabilities
Physical activity and exercise are especially beneficial for people with disabilities.
The best exercise or activity program for a person with disabilities depends on the person’s individual circumstances.

Exercise for Pregnant Women
How active a woman was before she became pregnant has implications for how active she can be during her pregnancy.
If her doctor approves, a pregnant woman should exercise comfortably, not intensely, at least 3 days a week and follow general safety precautions for physical activity.

Exercise for Older Adults
Individual needs and physical condition influence the kind of physical activity appropriate for a person.
Adult guidelines for cardiorespiratory fitness and general fitness programming hold true for the elderly.
Older people who do resistance training should do about 10 to 15 repetitions per set.

Being Active in College
What to believe
Health information from certified medical professionals
Government- or public-sponsored Web sites
What to do
Enjoyable activities
Sound body, sound mind
Where to exercise
Recreation center
Intramurals
At home

Exercise Clothing
Good athletic shoes
Comfortable clothes
Three-layer system
Bottom layer should be the thinnest.
Second layer is for insulation.
Outermost layer should be made of a waterproof and windproof material.

Three-Layer System
bottom layer
second layer
third layer

Safety Equipment
Reflectors or lights worn on shoes or clothing
Phone holders
Helmet or protective padding
Water bottle
Sunscreen
Sunglasses or goggles

Recommendations
for Health Improvements