Topic 1: Health, Fitness and Wellbeing Flashcards
Improving Health
You need to understand that health can be promoted through participating in a well thought-out personal exercise programme (PEP).
The Health Benefits of Training
Health is defined as:
○ a state of complete emotional, physical and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.
Regular training, with the correct application of the principles of training, will increase fitness. Through that training, all three aspects of health can be improved.
Planning a training programme
Personal health can be improved through an appropriate training programme, but the training programme needs to be developed carefully to gain the benefits you want.
Training programmes require:
1. Planning (aims and design)
2. Developing
3. Monitoring
4. Evaluating.
Promoting personal health through a PEP
A clear aim would allow you to create an appropriate PEP design through selection of training methods, for example, an aerobic training method to improve cardiovascular health.
–>
Once underway, the PEP can be developed, for example, by refining activities so they continue to be appropriate to your aim, for example, increase training time by 5 minutes each session.
–>
The PEP should also be monitored, so that adjustments can be made, for example, an increase in intensity when the work load becomes easy.
–>
Finally, the PEP should also be evaluated regularly, so that it or the aims can be modified, for example, a new aim if the previous one was met or training adapted if the aim is not being met.
Why is it important to monitor your progress whilst completing a personal exercise programme to improve your health?
In case there is a problem with your design. If there is, you will need to modify the programme, otherwise you will not get the health gains you were expecting.
Physical Health
You need to know how increasing physical ability, through improving components of fitness, can improve physical health and reduce health risks, and how these health benefits are achieved.
Physical Health Benefits
Improvements in physical health result from regular exercise.
The health benefits include:
1. Stronger bones/reduced chance of developing osteoporosis
2. Reduced chance of coronary heart disease (CHD)
3. Reduced chance of a stroke
4. Reduced chance of obesity
The improvements are achieved by:
○ Taking part in weight-bearing activities like running and walking
○ Reducing cholesterol/lowering blood pressure
○ Burning excess calories while exercising
The impacts of exercise on health and performance
It is the end result that brings the health benefit. For example, one health benefit from taking part in regular exercise is a reduced chance of coronary heart disease (CHD). This is as a result of lower cholesterol levels.
So, just stating ‘lower cholesterol’ would not be enough - you would need to say the impact of this is a reduced chance of CHD.
In addition to the general improvements in physical health, you should be able to link these to improved performance:
○ If blood vessels are not restricted due to high cholesterol, you would be able to continue to work harder as oxygen delivery would be improved.
○ By being the right weight, that is not overfat, you won’t be slowed down by excess weight from additional fat, therefore you will be able to perform for longer.
Remember, weight loss is only a health benefit if you are overweight. Losing weight is underweight will damage your health.
Negative effects of training on physical health
As well as the many positive effects of training on physical health and performance, there are also some negative effects. These include:
○ overexertion leading to heart attack or stroke
○ overuse injuries - for example, if you have a strain you may not be able to take part in physical activity for several weeks
○ less effective immune system - for example, if you have a cold you may have to work at a lower intensity because oxygen delivery is reduced, therefore energy production will also be reduced.
Emotional Health
You need to know that in addition improving physical health, regular physical activity can also improve emotional health.
Exercise and emotional health
The benefits of exercise to emotional health include:
○ stress relief: helping to prevent stress-related illnesses such as depression
○ competition
○ reduced boredom
○ aesthetic appreciation: this is recognising the beauty or skill of a movement. For example, you might enjoy seeing a footballer demonstrate a high level of skill when they control the ball and kick a perfect volley.
The improvements are achieved by:
○ taking your mind off any problems
○ causing an increase in serotonin (a chemical found in the body) - when it is released it makes you feel good
○ having fun when you play
○ feeling good if winning/meeting a challenge
○ having something to do
○ watching skilful performances
Increase in self-confidence/self-esteem
Another emotional health benefit of exercise is an increase in self-confidence/self-esteem.
Confidence is increased because:
○ you feel part of something
○ you are performing better
○ you think you look better.
Confidence is increased by:
○ becoming a member of a team
○ practising more
○ losing weight due to exercise (if previously overweight)
Negative effects of training on emotional health
As well as the many positive effects of training on emotional health, there are also some negative effects.
For example, training could lead to injury and if a performer cannot train this in itself can lead to depression.
Social Health
It is important to be socially healthy as well as physically and emotionally healthy. Someone who is socially healthy can make friends easily and work well with others.
Friendships and social mixing
Joining a club or team is a great way to achieve the social benefits of exercise.
These include:
○ meeting new people and making new friends
○ opportunities to get together with existing friends
○ improving co-operation skills
○ increased social activities (and therefore will not engage in antisocial behaviour).
Different age groups
Social benefits of an active lifestyle may well vary between different age groups.
For example:
○ elderly person - getting together with friends as otherwise they may be lonely
○ child - may see friends at school but needs to develop social skills.
The importance of co-operating
Co-operation occurs when we work with others and demonstrate teamwork.
Improved co-operation can lead to better understanding of your teammates and better teamwork skills. This may make your team more successful.
The negative effects of social health
As well as the many positive effects of training of training on social health, there are some negative effects too.
For example, a negative effect of training could be that less time is spent with family and friends due to the large number of hours spent training. This could be due to the need to train to become an elite performer, or in some cases an obsession with training can occur.
Lifestyle Choices 1
The choices you make about what you eat, whether you smoke or drink alcohol, how much you exercise, what work you do and for how long, and how much rest and sleep you make time for will all impact on your health and wellbeing.
Diet
Government guidelines state daily calorie intake should be:
○ 2500 calories for men
○ 2000 calories for women
Do you:
○ eat enough?
○ consume more calories than you use?
○ eat too much of one food type?
○ have a healthy balanced diet?
Your lifestyle choices about what you eat could make the difference between being healthy or having serious health issues, and having enough energy to take part in physical activity or not,
Negative effects of poor dietary choices include:
○ Anorexia (an eating disorder due to poor emotional health where a person keeps their body weight as low as possible) - impacts a person’s ability to achieve sustained involvement in physical activity. If you have little energy or become too tired and weak to take part in physical activity, your fitness and performance levels will deteriorate.
○ Obesity - impacts a person’s ability to move due to excess weight. It can lead to potential joint and heart issues.
○ Diseases caused by a lack of nutrients:
- rickets (due to lack of vitamin D or calcium), which can result in weak bones
- scurvy (due to lack of vitamin C), which can result in tiredness
- osteoporosis (sometimes due to lack of calcium), which can lead to weak bones.
Activity Level
Government guidelines recommend that 5 to 18-year-old do one hour of exercise every day. Four days should be spent on cardiovascular work; three on improving muscle and bone strength.
Work/rest/sleep balance
Rest does not mean doing nothing - it is time to relax and have fun.
○ Do you work too much?
○ Do you have too little/too much rest?
○ Do you have too little/too much sleep?
○ Do you have good balance between the amount you work, rest and sleep?
Do your lifestyle choices prevent you from getting the right balance of work, rest and sleep?
A lack of sleep can lead to tiredness, lack of concentration and irritability. Government guidelines recommend teenagers have 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night.
Lifestyle Choices 2
Recreational drugs are also a lifestyle choice. These drugs are taken for enjoyment rather than to enhance performance. They can be addictive and certainly damage health. The most commonly used recreational drugs are alcohol and nicotine (found in cigarettes).
