Health, Wellness Fitness and Healthy Lifestyles - Essay Example

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PHED 1111: Physical Education Summer Ms. Ebtesam Tallouzi Section: ID: Major: Assignment: Health, Wellness, Fitness and healthy lifestyles Assessment Criteria Criteria Assessment Rubric for Individual Written Report SCORES Introduction Contains thesis statement, states why assignment is important, a reference to justify assignment, outlines the body topics 4 Health and Wellness Description of health and wellness, the dimensions of health and wellness, and factors influencing health and wellness 6 Physical Fitness Description of physical fitness, the health-related factors to physical fitness, and the skill-related factors to the physical fitness 6 Healthy Lifestyles Description of some useful healthy lifestyles that are critical to health and wellness 4 Planning and Preparing for physical Activity Factors to consider before and during physical activity to get the ultimate benefit 6 Health Benefits of Physical Activity Description of five of the health benefits of physical activity 5 The Help Philosophy Discuss the Help Philosophy 4 Conclusion Restate the thesis statement, include a summary of the key points from the body paragraphs, and say how these key points answer the assignment 4 Reference Write the reference using APA style 3 Mechanics Punctuation and spelling and capitalization are correct, words are well chosen, writer uses own words, use of headings, topic sentences, first person, full sentences, no bullet points, correct line spacing and font 8 TOTAL 50 Notes about Scoring The score is converted into an assessment score out of 25% by dividing the total score by 2 Late Assignments No late assignments are accepted. Late assignments will receive 0% marks Your assignment must be on BlackBoard on the due date before the start of class Also, a hard copy of your assignment must be given to me in class on the due date There are NO exceptions to these rules There are several benefits associated to understanding health, wellness, fitness and healthy lifestyles because this helps us to make informed decisions on our health and well-being. It will also help in prevention of diseases that can arise from our lifestyles. Hence, when we understand the importance of health, wellness and healthy lifestyles, we will be able to free our bodies from illnesses and have a longer life. When we maintain a healthy life by observing all these factors, we develop a healthy society which can support one another. This is because when people are healthy; our happiness can be reflected on our faces hence, enhancing a healthy society. Individuals will feel happy about themselves when they are healthy, and these positive feelings will be transferred to the society at large. In case our bodies are healthily maintained, we can lead decent and longer lives even in old age. This is because some discomforts can take care of themselves through self-body healing. Therefore, it is right to state that when we observe our health, wellness fitness and lifestyles, we will live a better quality life. This paper will highlight and detail various issues on health, wellness, fitness and healthy lifestyles. It will also describe and give the different dimensions of health and wellness, and the factors that influence them. It will highlight on the topic of physical fitness and the factors that relate to it. Healthy lifestyles descriptions will be explained and healthy lifestyles to individuals will also be highlighted. Moreover, it will also give a description of planning and preparation of physical activities and the factors that should be considered during and after the physical exercise. Finally, it will describe the health benefit of physical activities, and the HELP philosophy of physical activities, which should be for everyone for a lifetime and personal. Health and Wellness Health and wellness are what define our human existence, as Nordqvist (2009) highlights, the term health has a medical history of its definition. In early years, health was focused on illness, and doctors focused on assisting people who were sick to get well by treating only the illness. Health during these times concentrated only on the absence from illness or disease. Over time, medical experts expounded on this focus of illness towards prevention of disease and illness, and into the treatment of people infected. Health is usually defined to be the condition of full physical, psychological and social well-being, and not just the lack or nonexistence of illness, and also as the condition of being able to maximize personal potential of an individual. It is a continuous process in the life of a human being which is focused on maximizing physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and environmental health (Nordquist, 2009). On the other hand, wellness is the combination of mind, body and spirit that enables people to optimize their goals and find meaning and purpose in life. Health has two main dimensions in a human being, and they include physical health and mental health; whereby physical health, which is focused on the human body physiology, is concerned with good and healthy body occasioned by proper nutrition, physical exercise and enough rest. Nordquist (2009) highlights that physical health are also referred to as physical well-being, and it can be achieved through the development of healthy components of personal lifestyle. Physical health involves physical body fitness, and it can be enhanced through proper nutrition, weight management, hygiene and adequate sleep. The other dimension of health is mental health, and it involves the cognitive and emotional health that enables individuals to deal with stress situations. On the other hand, wellness has seven dimensions, which include: emotional, environmental, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual health (Nordquist, 2009). Rajeev (2011) points out that emotional health is the ability to cope with our feelings and the feelings of others, and accepting ourselves and others. Moreover, it involves expressions and proper management of feelings, thoughts and behavior. Environmental health involves our relationships with nature and the environment through maintaining harmony with the earth and the environment (Rajeev, 2011). Intellectual health is the ability to develop cognitive skills and knowledge that add value to our lives through creativity and learning (Rajeev, 2011). Physical wellness is the composition of the body through healthy nutrition, physical exercise and adequate sleep, to enhance proper functioning of the body (Nordqvist, 2009). Social wellness is the ability to maintain strong social relationships with other people, and participate towards the welfare of others in the community (Nordqvist, 2009). The last dimension of wellness is spiritual wellness, and it involves individual possession of beliefs, principles and values that give meaning to life (Nordquist, 2009), and this dimension is intrinsic to each individual in understanding of faiths and spirituality. The factors influencing our health and wellness include gender, environment, genetics, income levels, education, social environment, culture and working conditions (Nordquist, 2009). These factors can predispose us to different conditions that might affect our health and wellness, and they also affect our ability to cope with some conditions that affect our health. Finally, these factors expose our bodies to some other factors which have effects on our health and wellness. Physical Fitness Physical fitness is the state of being in excellent physical body condition, and Perry (2012) highlights that it is the ability of the body to function effectively as required and free from diseases. Moreover, it is the ability to achieve optimal performance in physical activities, and it has components which are broadly categorized into heath related and skill related components. In addition, Perry (2012) highlights that the health related factors to physical fitness include the cardiovascular fitness, body composition, flexibility, muscular strength and muscular endurance. In this case, body composition is the ratio of fat in an individual’s body compared to muscle content, bones and other organs. In order to maintain proper physical health, one should monitor their body mass and fat ratio to ensure they are leading a quality health. Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of the respiratory system to take oxygen and transfer it to through the circulatory system to the whole body over a prolonged period of time during intensive body exercise. Flexibility is the ability of a joint to cover a wide range of motions through stretching (Perry, 2012), whereby muscular strength is the measure of maximum force that a muscle can generate in a single contraction. Muscular endurance is the capacity of a muscle to perform repeated muscle dynamics over time without getting tired, for example, lifting a weight at repeated times over time. The skills factors related to physical fitness include speed, agility, balance, coordination, reaction time and power, whereby Matte (2011) points out that agility is referred to as the capacity to change quickly, the whole body position in space with speed and accuracy. Speed is the ability to make the body cover a short distance within a short time as possible, and then balance is the ability to uphold a body position over time when still or in motion while maintaining the body equilibrium (Matte, 2011). Coordination is the combination of limb movements with senses in accurate performance of tasks, while reaction time is the time taken to initiate a movement after a stimulating signal has been given. Lastly, power is the capacity to use the highest possible force in as shot time as possible (Perry, 2012). Healthy Lifestyles People need to observe and maintain healthy lifestyles to avoid negative consequences in our health. Myer (2011) highlights that healthy lifestyles serves to prevent diseases which might be harmful to our health, and further, healthy lifestyle is affected by our choices on the quality of life that we make. The first healthy lifestyle in this case that is crucial to health and wellness is adequate sleep (Myer, 2011). In this lifestyle, we must sleep at least six hours a night so that we can ensure our bodies relax and rest well, and this will help to enhance repair of the body tissues; hence, promoting excellent health and wellness. The second healthy lifestyle, which is crucial to our health and wellness, is proper management of stress, in this case, we must look for ways of preventing and dealing with stress in our lives by identifying activities that relax our minds such as yoga and listen to entertaining music (Myer, 2011). The third healthy lifestyle that will promote proper health is healthy and nutritional eating; in this case, we should take care of how much cholesterol we take by ensuring that we consume a balanced diet by increasing intake of unprocessed foods. A balanced diet will ensure that our bodies are in excellent health and hence, prevent some diseases. The second lifestyle that we should embrace is exercising daily because, as Myer (2011) explains regular exercise is essential to our health, as it helps in lowering cholesterol levels in our blood, and helps in strengthening the immune system. Lastly, we should desist from unhealthy behavior such as smoking and drug abuse. These activities intoxicate our bodies thereby making them susceptible to diseases such as cancer and high blood pressure. Hence, they should be avoided to ensure that our body’s immune system is strong and healthy. Planning and Preparing for Physical Activity Corbin et al (2010) points out that good preparation of physical activity can make the exercise enjoyable, safe and effective. The first factor to consider before a physical activity exercise is examining the body for medical readiness (Corbin et al, 2010). Since physical activity involves the cardiovascular system working hard, consequently, medical fitness of a person needs to be examined to prevent stressing the heart. However, even though there is no guarantee of medical soundness prior to physical activity, examination minimizes risks and prevents other medical costs that may arise later. The second step prior to physical activity is ensuring that we wear proper shoes for the activity (Corbin et al, 2010). Therefore, we should wear shoes that are appropriate for the intended exercise to ensure their comfort and performance. Lastly, people should dress appropriately prior to physical activity; in this case, we should dress in the right clothing for the type of physical activity we intend to undertake, and this will help to ensure that we are comfortable during the exercise. Corbin et al (2010) highlights that there are factors which should be considered during the actual physical activity, and they include: warm-up, workout and cool down. The physical activity should start with a warm up prior to the main activity exercise, and it should be done in two phases. The first stage is cardiovascular warm up which prepares the heart for the exercise and improve blood flow while the second phase is low muscle activity, which involves stretching of the large body muscles in order to enhance performance. This phase is followed by the actual physical activity exercise, and then the cool down phase which ensures recovery of the body (Corbin et al, 2010). Lastly, cool down should be done in two stages, and the first stage involves low intensity muscle activity like slow jogging for a short time, and this ensures that the body systems are slowed down gradually. The second step involves cooling down by stretching the muscles in order to relieve and relax the tired muscles. Health Benefits of Physical Activity Healthy living can be determined by how we manage physical activity, and it has various benefits to our health. Medical practitioner’s advice us that exercise is the best ways of maintaining excellent health. Therefore, we can see that physical exercise has positive effects on the health of a human body. The first benefit of physical activity as Sukovaty (2010) highlights is the reduction of risk of diseases such as heart disease and diabetes which can cause premature deaths. In this case, physical activity increases the performance of the heart and lungs, and this helps in prevention of heart related diseases. Exercise improves the mental health by changing brain functions, relaxing the brain, reducing stress and increasing mental alertness. In addition, Sukovaty (2010) highlights that regular physical exercise enhances our thinking, learning and adjustments to situations that helps in reducing the risk of stress. Further, physical activity helps to improve our moods due to the chemical reactions that relax the brain. This leads to improved self-esteem and confidence which changes our feelings and perceptions. Thirdly, it helps to keep control of the body weight by maintaining low fats in the body. It also helps to increase energy levels in the body through improved oxygen circulation, and improved heart and lung functioning. Through physical activity, we burn calories depending on the type of activity and this helps in controlling our body weight. In this connection, physical activity can also be said to prevent obesity by reducing the chances of being overweight, where obesity is a condition associated with chronic metabolic illnesses like arthritis. Lastly, physical exercise ensures better sleep because it promotes better body functioning, and it is also as a result of improved moods and mental health (Sukovaty, 2010). The HELP Philosophy The cooper Institute (2010) highlights that HELP philosophy was developed to assist in physical education by guiding the programs, and it stands for Health is there to Everyone for a Lifetime, and it is Personal. In this philosophy, Health stands for health benefits that promote the quality of life of individuals. Health leads to improvement in health dimensions of fitness such as flexibility, muscle strength etc (The Cooper Institute, 2010). In this philosophy, everyone means that the physical activity programs are designed for every person irrespective of their physical abilities. The physical activities should be designed to assist and include all the people over time. Life time in this philosophy according to The Cooper Institute (2010) means that the physical activities have a goal of assisting all people to be active presently with a long term objective of teaching them to do the activities throughout their lives. Lastly, personal in the program means that each individual is different and unique; therefore, people enjoy different activities. Hence, the program should design physical activities to meet personal needs of individuals (The Cooper Institute, 2010). Conclusion Health, wellness, fitness and healthy lifestyles are key ingredients in the quality of life of individual human beings. Therefore, we should understand these concepts so that we can improve the quality of our lives with time. Hence, each person should work on ways of enhancing his physical and mental health so that we can achieve our maximum potential. To ensure a better life, we should also seek to better our wellness by ensuring that we balance all the dimensions to promote excellent health. Physical fitness is also beneficial in our lives because it has been seen to promote proper health and wellness, through enhancing proper functioning of our bodies. Thus, we should observe our physical fitness so that we can ensure that our bodies function effectively in order to prevent illnesses. Through these studies, we have also learnt that lifestyles also play a significant role in the health of human beings. Hence, we should observe and monitor our lifestyles so that we can have good health and longer life. The HELP philosophy also assists people in planning and designing of their engagements in physical activities. This is due to its ability to change attitude towards physical activity, which is considered as a lifelong process. Finally, we should follow the physical activity planning and preparation techniques in order to ensure that our exercises are effective in promoting excellent health. The right steps should be followed prior and during the physical exercise sessions to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. The knowledge gained on physical activity will help us in working on improving our health and wellness. References Corbin, C., Welk, G., Corbin, W., and Welk, K. (2010). Concepts of Physical Fitness: Active Lifestyles for Wellness. London: McGraw hill. Matte, M. (2011, August 1). 5 Skill Related Components of Physical Fitness. Live Strong.com. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/506917-5-skill-related-components-of-physical-fitness/ Myer, H. R. (2011, Janiary 5). How to Live Healthy Lifestyle on Dat to Day basis. Live Strong.com. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/350459-how-to-live-healthy-lifestyle-on-day-to-day-basis/ (2009, May 21). "What Is Health? What Does Good Health Mean?." Medical News Today. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150999.php. Perry, M. (2012, February 21). Physical Fitness | What is Physical Fitness?. BuiltLean. Retrieved from http://www.builtlean.com/2012/02/21/physical-fitness/ Rajeev, l. (2011, September 22). dimensions of Health. Buzzle. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/5dimensions-of-health.html Sukovaty, S. (2010, March 23). Advantages of Diet and Exercise. Live Strong.com. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/85138-advantages-diet-exercise/ The Cooper Institute. (2010). Fitnessgram and Activitygram Test Administration Manual. London: Human Kinetics. Read More