PATHFIT 2 - Exercise-Based Fitness Activities

Exercise: Definition and Importance

• Exercise is any movement that works the body at a greater intensity than usual daily activity, raising heart rate and working muscles.
• It is planned, structured, and repetitive for the purpose of conditioning the body.
• Exercise is essential for improving overall health, maintaining fitness, preventing health problems, building strength, boosting energy, and reducing stress.
• It can also help maintain a healthy body weight and curb appetite.

Types of Exercise Equipment

• Dumbbells: ideal for building muscle or improving strength.
• Weight benches: perfect for weightlifting exercises and building muscle.
• Exercise bikes: for improving cardiovascular health without putting too much strain on joints, ideal for those recovering from an injury.

Benefits of Group Exercises

• Led by a qualified fitness expert, making it a affordable way to achieve fitness and better body goals.
• You can get more bang for your buck, pushing harder than when working out alone.
• Releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones.
• You don't have to know what you are doing, as the instructor will guide you through the routine.

Exercise Principles

• FITT principle: Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type are the criteria that guide all training.
• Progression: increasing the degree of training intensity to continue improving over time.
• Volume: the total number of work reps performed over a given period of time.

Cardiorespiratory and Musculoskeletal Fitness

• Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF): the capacity of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to skeletal muscle mitochondria for energy production during physical activity.
• Musculoskeletal fitness: the integrated function of muscle strength, muscle endurance, and muscle power to enable the performance of work against one's own body weight or an external resistance.

Types of Stretching

• Static stretching: the safest method, holding a stretch for 10 to 30 seconds at a point where you can feel the stretch but do not experience discomfort.
• Dynamic or ballistic stretching: involves muscle movements that move a joint through the full range of movement, used in preparation for high-level exercise.
• Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching: a stretch—contract—relax—stretch cycle, enhancing passive stretching of a muscle with an intervening isometric contraction.