Nutrition and Cardiorespiratory Exercises for Healthy Living - Coursework Example

Proper Fitness, Nutrition and Cardiorespiratory Exercises for Healthy Living In an attempt to determine the combination of good practices for healthy living, I took an assessment of several aspects in my health life with reference to the data of my body composition and other body fitness parameters. I created a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the activities in a span of four weeks to determine the relationship between physical fitness, nutrition and the cardiorespiratory exercises. The physical fitness was determined by referring to two parameters. First, I referred to the daily physical exercises like safety precaution, stress management, disease and prevention, alcohol and drug usage and nutrition. The second parameter was the measurement of body mass index and how it would be improved. The data obtained in the labs was used to assess the overall rating of the fitness and cardiorespiratory endurance of the body. The project was mainly undertaken in order to a correlation between proper nutrition, fitness and cardiorespiratory endurance to healthy living. Methods and Analysis: I made a comparison of my first lifestyle evaluation as recorded in the lab 1.2 and then the evaluation after following the keeping fit instructions provided in the book and came up with the conclusion that the fitness exercises yielded a change though not much. My score under the ‘exercise/fitness category was initially a 5, an indication that my knowledge for good health practices was average. However after improving on my moderate fitness and exercises and working out for muscular strength at least twice a week the score improved significantly to a 9. My gym routine helped to cut down on the calories in my body and thus develop the muscular strength. With increased muscular activity in the gym, the ease of lifting the weights improved by the day and thus the fitness level. I also improved on my moderate exercises like regular walking and swimming practices (Corbin, Masurier & Karen, pp 22-37). In my nutrition practices before taking heed of better nutrition practices, I scored a 5 meaning my nutrition habits were average, but could be improved. After assessment of the best nutrition practices, I improved on my fatty foods intake habits. Too much fat has the risk of causing heart failure and the possibility of contacting cancer also increases. These healthy practices improved my nutrition to a 7. I scored a tremendous 10 in my last and initial lab scores which were a good sign of great health practices. This was, as a result, of the factor that I quit the smoking habit long ago. This was, as a result, of the knowledge that smoking was likely to cause lung cancer, discolored teeth and awful breath. There was thus no risk to health in the tobacco area (Corbin, Masurier & Karen, pp 43-47). My score in the ‘alcohol and drug was seven both initially and after reading tips on ways to keep fit and well. There was no change in the score since I could not quit drinking as recommended despite the fact that I followed the written prescriptions before using any drug and never drink any alcohol when under medication. Emotionally I had a good habit as depicted in my ‘emotional health score of 7. However, after the health tips I improved on my social life by participating in community gatherings and other community development activities. I also practiced my soccer hobby more often which made my days busy thus improving my emotional health. The result was a 1 jump higher in the score board to 8 which indicated a significant improvement. In terms of safety, my practices were almost perfect as I took heed of all the safety requirements while using driving and when using safety appliances. The score exhibited initially and finally was 9, a good indication of proper health habits. I would make a better score if I would read better the instructions in poisonous substances and electrical appliances (Corbin, Masurier & Karen, pp 33-34). In the ‘disease and prevention area the score was 5. This depicts poor health habits in terms of the awareness of deadly diseases as cancer and stroke. However, after taking heed of the disease and disease prevention tips in addition to regular doctor checkups the score improved to a 7 but it could be better. In the assessing of body mass index (BMI), I carried out an assessment in lab 6.1. With my body weight of 130 pounds in the initial and final assessment I recorded a body mass index of 16.7263 kg/m3 which I counter checked in the rating table and found that I was an underweight. I took to set some weekly targets of gaining a few pounds to the 140 pounds in about two weeks for the index to be normal. I also set to increase the body mass index to the lowest level for normal which is 18.5 kg/m3. However, the time span was strict for any significant changes to be realized and thus the weight remained the same. The extra food I hate couldnt provide the enough additional pounds within a short time span (Corbin, Masurier & Karen, pp 43-47). I assessed my current level of cardiorespiratory endurance in the lab 3.1 and compared the obtained result with my final lab after the development of a program to improve on the cardiorespiratory activities as recommended in the table 3.2 of the chapter 3 of the e-book. I undertook the 1-mile walk test as required in the table about my conditions. Initially, I recorded a walking time of 17 minutes and 1 second with an initial 10-second pulse count of 23 beats per ten seconds. This number translated to a rate of 138 beats per minute (bpm) to yield an initial maximum oxygen consumption rate of 45.4256 ml/kg/min. This was counterchecked in the fitness ratings table, and it was found to correspond to ‘fair (Corbin, Masurier & Karen, pp 43-48). After a scheduled program with the set goals of completing the 1.5-mile run walk activity in the best time possible as illustrated in lab 3.2, I recorded a completion time of 11 minutes in the final lab 3.1. The maximum oxygen consumption rate was 47.409 ml/kg/min which were rated as good. This was an improvement from the initial maximum oxygen consumption rate. The 10-second pulse count reduced to 21.99 beats. In the first stages of the 1.5-mile walk run, I could feel the rate of heart beat increasing but after a few days as I got accustomed to the exercise it reduced. This was an indication that the endurance practices learnt in class were working, and eventually the heartbeat rate would reduce as it pumps more blood with every beat. The program was a success. The nutritional qualitative and quantitative hypotheses I came up with were to eat selective nutritional foods like vegetables and foods with less fat. My cardiovascular activities were predicted to increase the body muscle mass and reduce the body fat. This showed the relation between activity and body weight (Corbin, Masurier & Karen, pp 43-47). Critique: I would describe my experiment as a good one despite the difficulties met in terms to adhering to the programs and the proper dietary habits. There are days I would skip my jogging and running practice especially when the weather conditions were unfavorable. For it rained on 27/5/14 and thus I skipped practice. It was also difficult to adhere to eating scheduled due to my tight study schedule and thus sometimes I would skip breakfast or lunch once in a while. This affected my target of adding my body mass index which was rated as an underweight. I am pretty confident in my analysis as I recorded every activity I carried out whether nutritional or training exercise. I correlated the nutrition, fitness and cardiorespiratory endurance and conclude that the experiment was fairly good. Almost all my targets were reasonable and could be met except the goal of adding a few pounds in a short time span of two weeks. Since I could not realize perfection in the Implementation of my set goals, I would rate myself as having been just good in my implementation. I also adhered to a set plan as I found myself carrying out jogging exercises and visiting the gym more often than I did before. Reflection on Hypotheses: Five out of the seven predictions of the anticipated changes were right. My nutritional qualitative analysis was that I reduce on my intake of fatty foods, and this improved my score and thus my physical fitness and wellness. This improved my day’s productivity. My nutritional quantitative analysis of eating more to increase my BMI however did not work because of the strict time span of two weeks. My qualitative analysis on cardiorespiratory endurance was that by increasing my daily activities like jogging and cycling I would reduce the maximum oxygen consumption and increase the amount of blood pumped per beat. This rate thus increased from 45.4256 to 47.409 ml/kg/min which are a good rating (Corbin, Charles, Masurier, Le & Karen, pp 41-43). Other qualitative and quantitative hypotheses under wellness and fitness that were a success are; safety and precaution, disease and prevention, emotional health, nutrition and finally exercise/fitness. Usefulness of the Project: The project was significant about proper nutrition, fitness and proper cardiorespiratory activities. I became acquainted with the significance of suitable diet. The right type and the right quantity of food would determine the level of fitness and well-being. In terms of the activities carried out I realized that the proper coordination of training and common practices like gym workouts, walking, jogging, and cycling would influence the cardiorespiratory activity which in turn influenced the amount of food I ate as a student. These activities also influence the oxygen consumption rate and the amount of blood per beat. I intend to continue with these practices in the future for a future healthy living (Corbin, Charles, Masurier, Le & Karen, pp 43-47). Works cited Corbin, Charles B, Masurier G. C. Le & Karen E. McConnell. Fitness for Life. , 2014. Read More