8th Grade Chapter 10 Lesson 3 - Healthy Workouts PDF

Keys to a Good Workout MAIN IDEA​ ​Healthy workouts include a warm-up and cool-down. Jay has decided to start jogging each day before school. He figures if he gets up just 15 minutes early, he can run a mile or so before breakfast. On the first day, he rolls out of bed, puts on a pair of jeans and...

Keys to a Good Workout MAIN IDEA​ ​Healthy workouts include a warm-up and cool-down. Jay has decided to start jogging each day before school. He figures if he gets up just 15 minutes early, he can run a mile or so before breakfast. On the first day, he rolls out of bed, puts on a pair of jeans and a tshirt, running shoes, and heads out the door. He runs for 15 minutes and then goes home. He feels a bit tired and sore for the rest of the day, but he figures that is normal. The next morning, he is so stiff and sore he cannot even think about getting up to run. What did Jay do wrong? First of all, he forgot to warm up before his run and cool down after it. He did not drink any extra water after his run. He did not choose to wear athletic clothing that would have enabled him to move freely and easily. Finally, he tried to do too much too soon. He forgot that with a new activity, it is important to start slowly and work your way up to full speed. If you want to avoid Jay’s problem, you need to plan ahead to get the most out of your workouts. Another mistake Jay made was to wear jeans during his run. While jeans may be a good choice for many activities, they may not be a good choice to wear during a workout. Wearing loose clothing during exercise helps you move more freely and be more flexible. Exercise clothing may also offer protection from moisture or weather. Warming Up and Cooling Down Every workout should start with a warm-up​.​ Warming up increases blood flow and loosens up your muscles so that you are less likely to strain or tear them. Any light activity, such as walking or jogging in place, can make a good warm-up. Keep it up for about five to ten minutes. You will know you are warmed up when you begin to sweat and breathe more heavily. After warming up, it’s a good idea to stretch your muscles. This further reduces your risk of injury. Make sure to stretch the muscles that you will be using the most as you exercise. Stretching should always come ​after​ a warm-up and should not be used ​as​ a warm-up. Stretching your muscles while they are cold will actually increase the chances of injury. At the end of your workout, you need to take some time to cool down. Like a warm-up, a cool-down should last five or ten minutes. This will give your heart rate and breathing a chance to return to normal. Include some light stretching in your cool-down. This will help your muscles relax so they will not feel stiff or sore afterwards. The illustration in the Lesson Resources panel shows the right way and the wrong way to do some simple stretching exercises. Monitoring Your Heart Rate How can you tell if you are exercising hard enough? One way is to check your heart rate before, during, and after your workout. Your resting heart rate is a good measure of overall heart health. In general, a lower rate means a healthier heart. When you work out, however, you want to get your heart pumping faster. Your goal should be to reach your target heart rate during exercise. This is actually not a single number but a range. To figure out your target heart rate, use the equations below. (220 – your age) × 0.5 = bottom of target heart range (220 – your age) × 0.85 = top of target heart range Keeping your heart rate in this range as you exercise will help you work hard enough, but not too hard. One way to check your heart rate during a workout is to stop for a minute and take your pulse. To do this, place two fingers against the base of your neck. (Do not use your thumb, which has its own pulse.) You should feel a throbbing sensation. This is the blood pumping through the blood vessels in your neck. Using a clock or watch with a second hand, count the number of pulses you feel in ten seconds. Then multiply this number by six to get your heart rate. An easier way to check your heart rate during moderate activity is the “talk test.” If you don’t have enough breath to talk at all, you’re probably working too hard. However, if you have enough breath to sing, you’re not working hard enough. A third heart rate measurement is your recovery heart rate. The higher your fitness level, the faster the drop in heart rate. An aerobic fitness goal should be to achieve a lower recovery heart rate. READING CHECK Explain​ What is your resting heart rate? Staying in Shape for Sports MAIN IDEA​ ​Sports conditioning will help you play to the best of your abilities. Playing a sport can be a lot of fun. It is also a great way to stay active. However, playing a sport involves a lot more than just showing up for games. Sports put extra demands on your body, and meeting those demands involves proper training. You need to develop the skills and build up the muscles that are necessary for your sport. You also need to eat right so that your body can keep up with everything you are asking it to do. Conditioning Athletes devote many hours to conditioning​.​ They must exercise to get their bodies in shape and also practice the skills they need for their particular sport. This training takes place both on and off the field. Baseball players, for instance, practice batting and fielding before a game. Basketball players do passing drills and take practice shots from different parts of the court. Off the field, athletes may shape up their bodies with weight training or other exercises. Conditioning is not just important for team sports. Many kinds of physical activity can require training. For example, if you are a dancer, you need to practice regularly to keep your muscles and your skills in shape. Sports Nutrition Like other teens, teen athletes have special nutritional needs. They need to eat a variety of foods from all the major food groups. They also need to consume extra calories to replace all the energy they use during their chosen sport. Good food choices will include plenty of complex carbohydrates and healthful fats. Sugary snacks, such as candy bars, are not good choices. They can give you a burst of energy, but it will wear off quickly. When you eat is as important as what you eat. It is best not to eat anything in the hour right before a game or a practice. Digesting food takes energy that your body needs to perform at its best. Also, having a full stomach during a workout can make you feel sick. On the day of a game, it’s best to eat a meal with some protein and carbohydrates about two to four hours before you compete. This will give you the energy you need to get through the game, but it will not slow you down by making you feel too full. If you don’t have time for a meal, you can choose a light snack, such as fruit or crackers, one to two hours before a game or practice. You should also make sure to get plenty of water—before, during, and after a game—to avoid dehydration​.​ During sports and other kinds of intense activity, your body loses a lot of water through perspiration, or sweat. You need to drink more to replace this lost fluid. How much you need depends on your age, your size, the weather, and how hard you are working out. In general, though, you should drink some water every 15 to 20 minutes during activity. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty—that’s a sign that your body is already running low on fluids. It’s okay to choose sports drinks if you like them better than water, but they aren’t any better for you in most cases. If the weather is extremely hot or the practice lasts longer than an hour, the extra nutrients in sports drinks may be helpful. READING CHECK Give Examples​ List some of the foods an athlete might choose for a snack before a game. Fairness When playing a sport, you show good character by displaying good sportsmanship. Play by the rules, take turns, and share the credit when your team wins. Learn to be a good loser too, and congratulate the other team if they win. When people play fair and show good sportsmanship, everyone can enjoy the game.