FLEXIBILITY.pdf

FLEXIBILITY Flexibility refers to the range of movement across a joint. Flexibility is important because it improves the ability to link movements together smoothly and can help prevent injuries. It is specific to each joint and depends on a number of variables, including the tightness of ligaments...

FLEXIBILITY Flexibility refers to the range of movement across a joint. Flexibility is important because it improves the ability to link movements together smoothly and can help prevent injuries. It is specific to each joint and depends on a number of variables, including the tightness of ligaments and tendons. Various activities that stretch the joints, ligaments, and tendons can increase flexibility. There are three common types of stretches that people use to increase flexibility: Dynamic stretching: This refers to the ability to complete a full range of motion in a particular joint. People use this type of stretch in standard warmup exercises, as it helps prepare the body for physical activity. Static-active stretching: This refers to holding the body or part of the body in a stretched position and maintaining that position for a period of time. One example of static-active stretching is the splits. Ballistic stretching: People should only engage in ballistic stretching when the body is already warmed up and limber from exercise. It involves stretching in various positions and bouncing. There are a number of ways to improve flexibility. Having a daily stretching regimen can be the simplest and most efficient way of achieving whole body flexibility. BODY COMPOSITION Body composition measures the relative amounts of muscle, bone, water, and fat an individual has. A person can potentially maintain the same weight but radically change the ratio of each of the components that make up their body. For instance, people with a high muscle (lean mass) ratio might weigh more than those with the same height and waist circumference who have less muscle. The best way to lose fat is through a lifestyle that includes a sensible diet and exercise. SKILL RELATED COMPONENTS OF FITNESS Some types of exercise do not contribute to the health components of physical fitness; however, they can be contributed to the other areas of wellness. Speed Power Agility Balance Coordination Reaction and movement time PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD The amount of overload needed to maintain or improve a particular level of fitness depends on the individual and is determined by four dimensions:  Frequency → how often (recovery time)  Intensity → how hard (exercise harder than the normal level)  Time → how long (depending on the type of activity)  Type → mode of activity (depends on your fitness goals) LEVEL 1 (step 1): Moderate Physical Activity: should be performed daily or nearly every day. Moderate activity involves exercise equal in intensity to brisk walking. It includes some activities of normal daily living (also called lifestyle activities), such as yard work (for example, raking leaves or mowing the lawn) and housework (for example, mopping the floor). LEVEL 2.1 (step 2): Vigorous Aerobics: Includes any exercise that you can do for a long time without stopping and that is vigorous enough to increase your heart rate, make you breathe faster, and make you sweat. Thus, these activities are more intense than moderate activities such as brisk walking. Vigorous aerobics, such as jogging and aerobic dance, are typically continuous in nature. Like moderate activity, they provide many health and wellness benefits, and they're especially helpful for building a high level of cardiorespiratory endurance. LEVEL 2.2 (step 3): Vigorous Sport and Recreation: require your heart to beat faster than normal and cause you to breathe faster and sweat more. As your muscles use more oxygen, your heart beats faster, and you breathe faster and more deeply to meet the oxygen demand. Vigorous sport and recreation often involve short Physical Activity Pyramid bursts of activity followed by short bursts of rest (as in basketball, football, soccer, and tennis). When done for at least 20 minutes a day in bouts of 10 minutes or more at a time, these activities provide similar fitness, health, and wellness benefits to those of vigorous aerobics. They also help you build motor skills and contribute to healthy weight management. As with vigorous aerobics, you can use vigorous sport and recreation to meet national activity recommendation when you do them for at least 20 minutes a day on three days a week. LEVEL 3.1 (step 4): Muscle Fitness Exercises: Build your strength, muscular endurance, and power. Muscle fitness exercises include both resistance training (with weights or machines) and moving your own body weight (as in rock climbing, calisthenics, and jumping). This type of exercise produces general health and wellness benefits, as well as better performance, improved body appearance, a healthier back, better posture, and stronger bones. These exercises can be used to meet national activity guidelines and should be performed on two or three days a week. LEVEL 3.2 (step 5): Flexibility Exercises: According to ACSM, flexibility exercises improve postural stability and balance. There is also some evidence that flexibility exercises may reduce soreness, prevent injuries, and reduce risk of back pain. Flexibility exercises also improve your performance in activities such as gymnastics and dance. They also are used in therapy to help people who have been injured. Two examples of flexibility exercise are stretching and yoga (figure 5.3). To build and maintain flexibility, you should perform flexibility exercise at least three days a week. LEVEL 4 (step 5.2): Avoiding Inactivity: Being sedentary, or inactive, poses a health risk. Just as you should do 60 minutes of physical activity each day, drawing from the five types of activity presented in the pyramid, you should also avoid the inactivity that is common among people who log too much "screen time" on a daily basis.