Fitness and Health Overview

Fitness and Health

• Fitness is the ability to meet environmental demands and perform daily tasks effectively while maintaining physical, mental, and social well-being.
• This definition encompasses various dimensions, including:
  • Physical fitness: The ability to perform physical activities and maintain health.
  • Mental fitness: Cognitive function, emotional stability, and resilience (flexibility).
  • Social fitness: The ability to interact effectively within social and community contexts.
• Physical fitness is a set of attributes or characteristics that individuals have or achieve related to their ability to perform physical activity.
• Physical fitness comprises two related concepts:
  • General fitness: A state of health and well-being.
  • Specific fitness: A task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations.
• Physical fitness is generally achieved through exercise, correct nutrition, and sufficient rest.
• Physical fitness is measured by the body's ability to:
  • Function efficiently in work and leisure activities.
  • Be healthy.
  • Resist hypokinetic diseases (due to lack of movement).
  • Survive emergency situations.

Components of Physical Fitness

• Physiological: Metabolic rate, morphological fitness, and bone integrity.
• Health-related: Body composition, cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, muscle strength, flexibility.
• Skill-related: Agility, balance, coordination, power, speed, reaction time.
• Sports: Team sports and individual sports.

Health-related Aspects: Cardiorespiratory Fitness

• Cardiorespiratory fitness: The ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to skeletal muscles during sustained physical activity. Achieved via aerobic exercise.
• Regular exercise enhances the heart muscle and stroke volume. This leads to a greater amount of blood supplied to working muscles. Also, increased oxygen intake/distribution to body tissues.
• Aerobic exercise improves stamina, endurance, energy levels, and sleep quality. Heart rate monitors are used for tracking exercise intensity and targeting heart rate ranges.
• Cardiorespiratory fitness reduces the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, type 2 diabetes, and stroke. One recommendation is at least one session of aerobic exercise weekly for improved physical well-being.
• Acute aerobic exercise (20-40 minutes) can boost mood and reduce anxiety for several hours.

Health-related Aspects: Flexibility

• Flexibility: Maximum range of motion at a joint. Joint-specific flexibility varies.
• Flexibility can prevent muscle injuries and improve low-back pain. Decreased flexibility can result from sedentary lifestyles, age, high body fat, and stress.
• Flexibility can be improved through static stretching (moving into and holding a stretching position) or contract-relax techniques (relaxing the muscle to be stretched).

Health-related Aspects: Endurance

• Endurance: Refers to your body's physical ability to sustain an exercise for an extended period. This can be measured in minutes for high-intensity anaerobic activity and hours for lower-intensity aerobic exercises. Composed of cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance.

Health-related Aspects: Muscular Endurance

• Muscular Endurance: Used in both aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Initially during aerobic exercise, glucose plus oxygen yields carbon dioxide, water, and energy. Muscle glycogenolysis and carbohydrate oxidation are influenced by intensity, duration, training, and substrate availability.
• Anaerobic exercise breaks down glucose for energy without oxygen. Activities are typically of short duration and high intensity.

Health-related Aspects: Muscular Strength

• Muscular strength: The use of resistance to muscular contraction, used in anaerobic endurance and building strength. Increasing the size of skeletal muscle is also possible.
• Strength training can be achieved through gravity or elastic/hydraulic forces.
• Benefits include increased bone, muscle, tendon, and ligament strength & toughness, increased bone density, improved joint function, reduced injury potential, improved metabolism, enhanced cardiac function, and improved HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol).

Health-related Aspects: Agility

• Agility: The ability to change body position efficiently and requires whole-body movement (change in velocity and/or direction) in response to stimuli. Integrated from isolated movement skills.
• Agility relies on balance, speed, and coordination, as well as reflexes, strength, endurance, and energy levels.

Health-related Aspects: Coordination

• Motor coordination combines body movements to achieve intended actions. Subsequent movements or limbs coordinate movements smoothly and efficiently.
• Coordination allows for complex actions formed from many smaller movements, such as effective tennis strokes.

Health-related Aspects: Power

• Power: Power is a combination of strength and speed. Its ability to do strength performances quickly is vital for short races. Power equals strength times speed.

Health-related Aspects: Speed

• Speed: The ability to perform a movement or cover a distance in a short time. Speed can involve leg-speed (running) or arm-speed (throwing, hitting a ball).

Health-related Aspects: Reaction Time

• Reaction time: The time it takes to react after realizing the need to move. Good reaction time is essential for actions like fast starts (track or swimming), fast attacks in fencing or karate.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

• BMI is a numerical value derived from a person's weight and height. Used to categorize individuals based on body fat levels and associated health risks.
• Formula: BMI = Weight (kg) / Height (m)^2
• Weight is measured in kilograms.
• Height is measured in meters.

BMI Categories (WHO Standards)

• Underweight: BMI < 18.5
• Normal weight: BMI = 18.5–24.9
• Overweight: BMI = 25–29.9
• Obesity: BMI ≥ 30

Importance of Weight and BMI in Physical Fitness

• BMI helps identify risk factors associated with obesity or underweight conditions. Related to chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases.
• BMI provides a baseline for fitness programs for weight loss, maintenance, or muscle gain, enabling efficient progress tracking.
• Excess weight can reduce agility, endurance, and speed. Being underweight may lead to reduced strength and stamina.

Strategies for Sustainable Weight Loss

• Small, sustainable changes: Gradually replace unhealthy snacks with nutritious options and reduce portion sizes.
• Balanced diet: Include a mix of proteins, healthy fats, carbohydrates, and fiber, and avoid extreme diets that eliminate food groups.
• Mindful eating: Eat slowly, pay attention to hunger and fullness cues, and avoid distractions during meals.
• Plan and prepare meals: Cook at home to control ingredients and portion sizes. Batch prepare healthy meals.
• Stay physically active: Combine aerobic exercises (e.g., walking, cycling) with strength training and incorporate activities enjoyed.