Transcript Benefits of Physical Activity

Importance of Fitness
Senior Health- Bauberger
Benefits of Physical Activity
• Physical activity includes any movement
that requires your large muscle groups to
work.
• The changes that occur due to physical
activity are beneficial to your body, mind,
and social interactions.
Benefits of Physical Activity
• Physical Benefits:
– Cardiovascular system
• (as your heart becomes stronger, it can pump more blood
with less effort)
– Weight maintenance
• (increase basal metabolic rate)
– Bone strength
• (Weight-bearing activities help improve bone strength and
density)
– Balance and coordination
• (improving balance and coordination can improve athletic
ability and reduce risk of injury)
Benefits of Physical Activity
• Psychological Benefits
– During exercise, body releases endorphins,
chemicals that block pain messages from
reaching the brain, help with feelings of
satisfaction and pleasure. Regular exercisers
are more self-confident and focused and lower
stress levels.
• Social Benefits
– Physical activity can be a way to build new
relationships, used with senior citizens and
depression
Components of Fitness
• Cardiorespiratory Endurance
– Heart, blood vessels, and lungs are able to distribute nutrients
and oxygen during work
• Muscular Strength
– The ability of the muscle to produce force
• Muscular Endurance
– The ability of your muscles to work for extended time
• Flexibility
– Ability to move a joint through its entire range of motion is called
flexibility
• Body Composition
– The amount of fat tissue in your body compared to the amount of
lean tissue, such as muscles and bones.
Types of Physical Activity
• Aerobic Exercise
– Increases the amount of oxygen that the body takes in and uses
(swim, run, walk, skiing)
• Anaerobic Exercise
– Intensive activity that’s too intense/quick for your cardiovascular
system to supply muscles with enough oxygen to produce energy
(weight lifting, sprinting)
• Isometric Exercise
– Exercise in which muscles contract but very little body movement
takes place (push palms together, relax and repeat)
• Isotonic Exercise
– Contracting and relaxing muscles through full range of a joint’s
motion (pull-ups, free weights)
• Isokinetic Exercise
– Muscles contract at a constant rate, requiring fitness machines that
provide resistance to muscle movement
The FITT Formula
• Frequency
• To become or stay physically fit, need to exercise at least 3-5
times a week.
• Intensity
• Need to make body to more work than it normally does. Use “talk
test” to check for intensity, if you cannot talk while exercising,
your exercise level is too intense.
• Time
• The amount of time you spend exercising affects your level of
fitness. Increase gradually over time.
• Type
• To prevent overuse injuries, use cross-training in a wide variety of
activities, make sure that activity corresponds to your goals
Phases of Exercise
• Safe workouts start with a warm-up and end with
a cool-down
– Warming Up:
• 5 to 10 minutes of mild exercise. Should include some of the
same motions as your planned activity. Should include 5-10
minutes of stretching.
– Workout:
• Follow the FITT formula. Muscles need an entire day to rest
between strength workouts to repair and rebuild.
– Cooling Down
• Mild exercise following the workout to allow body and heart rate
to return to their resting states. Should include stretching.
Overtraining
• Exercising too intensely or for too long
without any rest time can lead to
overtraining. If experiencing fatigue, loss
of appetite, or irritability a few hours after a
workout you may be overtraining. Reduce
the intensity and length of your workout
until symptoms subside.
• Overtraining can quickly lead to overuse
injuries.