Physical Wellness: For anyone who has to write a gym term paper on personal fitness
Uploaded by masone4718 on Dec 05, 2006
Physical fitness can most aptly be defined as the body's ability to complete daily activities without becoming too sore, without becoming too fatigued, and without getting out of breath. The concept of physical fitness involves three distinct factors, which are: cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, and nutrition. It is imperative for one to allot an ample amount of time to each of these factors, as well as following a program specially suited to his or her needs.
A major component of physical wellness is cardiovascular fitness. Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of the circulatory system to provide oxygen-rich blood for energy to the body’s organs. A person’s pulse is the throbbing of arteries produced by the contractions of the heart. One may read his or her pulse at either the wrist or the neck. A person’s resting heart rate is his or her heart rate at rest. To calculate this, one may simply count the beats of the heart per minute. A person’s maximum heart rate is the maximum number of times his or her heart can beat in one minute. To calculate this, one may simply subtract his or her age from 220. The target heart rate is the number of times one’s heart should beat per minute when exercising. This is between 60- and 90-percent of one’s maximum heart rate. To increase cardiovascular fitness, one should develop a program that follows the principles of “FIT” training. For frequency, one should do an exercise between 3 and 5 times per week. For intensity, one should base how hard he or she exercises on the target heart rate. For time, one should start slowly, but gradually increase to approximately 45 to 60 minutes per day. Before engaging in this type of program, one should stretch and loosen up his or her muscles, and he or she should allow the muscles to cool down after an exercise, mostly by walking until he or she is near the resting heart rate. An example of a good cardiovascular fitness program that I would follow is:
Day 1 at track: Warm-up (5 minutes)
Slow jog (20 minutes)
Walk (5 minutes)
Slow jog (20 minutes)
Cool-down (5...