Exercise and Physical Fitness

Physical Activity and Exercise

• Physical activity is defined as bodily movement produced by skeletal muscle contraction, which increases energy expenditure.
• Exercise is a type of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive, performed to improve or maintain one or more components of physical fitness.

Components of Physical Fitness

• Activity Intolerance: the type and amount of exercise or daily living activities an individual is able to perform without experiencing adverse effects.

Goals of Exercise

• Functional Strength: the ability of the body to perform work.

Factors Affecting Sensory Function

• Developmental stage, culture, stress, medication and illness, and lifestyle and personality are factors that affect sensory function

Sensory Alterations

• Sensory deprivation: a decrease in or lack of meaningful stimuli
• Sensory overload: inability to process or manage the amount or intensity of sensory stimuli
• Sensory deficit: impaired reception, perception, or both, of one or more of the senses
• Examples of sensory deficits: blindness and deafness

Activity-Exercise Pattern

• Refers to a person's routine of exercise, activity, leisure, and recreation

Mobility

• The ability to move freely, easily, rhythmically, and purposefully in the environment
• Essential part of living

Range of Motion (ROM)

• The maximum movement possible for a joint

Types of Exercise

• Isotonic (dynamic) exercise: muscle shortens to produce muscle contraction and active movement
• Isometric (static or setting) exercise: muscle contraction without moving the joint (muscle length does not change)
• Isokinetic (resistive) exercise: muscle contraction or tension against resistance
• Aerobic exercise: activity during which the amount of oxygen taken in is greater than that used to perform the activity
• Anaerobic exercise: activity in which the muscles cannot draw out enough oxygen from the bloodstream, and anaerobic pathways are used to provide additional energy for a short time

Effects of Disuse

• Disuse osteoporosis: bones demineralize without the stress of weight-bearing activity
• Disuse atrophy: unused muscles decrease in size, losing most of their strength and normal function
• Contractures: permanent shortening of the muscle, limiting joint mobility
• Stiffness and pain in the joints: collagen (connective tissues) at the joint become ankylosed (permanently immobile) without movement

Quiz about the concepts of physical activity, exercise, and fitness goals, including activity intolerance and functional strength.