Take Control of Your Health and Fitness

Health and fitness is your business and taking personal responsibility for one's own health is the key. Your health and fitness is in your power, and activity is a fundamental element of keeping healthy and fit. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and husbands, health is truly a family issue. Health care and fitness is in our hands and can ultimately influence every aspect of life.

In its most general meaning, physical fitness is a general state of good physical health. Discover healthy tips on exercise, eating right and personal care. Choose physical activities that fit in with your daily routine, or choose recreational or structured exercise programs, or both. Exercise offers extra benefits for health compared to calorie restriction but prior to participating in any exercise program or activity, you should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional. Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health. 60 percent of American adults do not get enough exercise to improve their health but exercise physiology is rapidly becoming increasingly important in the delivery of health care.

The Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity recommends getting 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week. So just why should you get active and how little exercise can you get away with? A single session of exercise improves lipids and vascular function so even a single session of exercise will improve your health. Research confirms how important exercise and physical activity are to maintaining health and independence for older adults, and those on a traditional cardio exercise program saw their health improve more than twice as much as those on a walking regimen. There is some evidence that links exercise to better prostate health, and vigorous exercise helps to reduce abdominal fat. Walking is a popular form of exercise, but may not be enough to experience significant health benefits, a University of Alberta study shows. Remember that how well you eat and how much or little you exercise now affects not only your present state of health but also later life. Vigorous exercise involves minimal health risks for persons in good health or those following a doctor's advice.

Everyone knows that regular exercise improves your health and helps you feel good. With exercise, elders can improve weakened physical abilities and should do weight-bearing exercise (such as walking) regularly. To burn more calories it is better to exercise for a longer time. Fortunately, exercise can be free (not counting what you choose to spend on health-club memberships, workout clothes and bottled water).

Diet and lifestyle choices affect health and well-being, as do food safety policies and practices. Diet is a big contributor to health, but the science is complex and constantly evolving. A balanced diet and regular physical activity, along with restraining from smoking, are important factors in the promotion and maintenance of good health. There's far more research on diet and health available now than there was 30 years ago, and cholesterol continues as the focus of diet and health advice. By eating a well-balanced diet and exercising regularly, you are paving a path of good health. A good diet is central to overall good health, and many women health and fitness related problems can be avoided if careful attention is given to diet, specific nutrients and exercise.

Human nutrition is enormously complex and a healthy diet may vary widely according to an individual's genetic makeup, environment, and health. People diet for two primary reasons, to lose weight, to fix health or both, but not every diet will work for you. Crash diets and diet pills can compromise growth and are not recommended by many health care professionals. Choose a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and moderate in total fat, and a detailed diet plan that states what, how, and when a person will eat and drink. Fruits and vegetables are key parts of your daily diet.

Ken Asselin is webmaster for the Selections Guide series of information websites. http://www.health-fitness.selectionsguide.com

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Health and Fitness Level: What Is Your True Level of Health?

Teen Fitness, Teen Health and College Health: Small, Easy Changes Before Big Ones

Teen fitness, teen health and college health issues are everywhere. Teen fitness because teens are overweight, college health because of the "freshman 15" and teen health because of weight issues like Type II Diabetes.

How can we make issues like teen fitness and college health less of such an incredible concern? When people talk about "teen health", how can we make sure the conversations are about how great our teen health is? Why can't "teen fitness" mean how fit our teens are?

When trying to change things like college health and teen fitness, we need to look at the micro instead of the macro. Sure, teen health wouldn't be a big deal if all the McDonalds in the country were gone. And sure, college health would be a lot better if college students didn't drink. And finally, teen fitness would be a lot better if everyone made a varsity sport and there weren't any vending machines in cafeterias.

But lets face it, college health, teen health and teen fitness is at the forefront of our society's concerns because these things aren't true. Because of this, college health and teen fitness will not improve with drastic changes. Teen health will be improved with small changes.

Sure, fixing college health would be great by eliminating keggers. And obviously teen health and teen fitness would improve without the Internet. But in today's day and age, these things aren't going to happen. Teen health and teen fitness will continue to diminish and college health will keep getting worse without small changes.

Simple ways to improve teen health, college health and teen fitness:

-Look for healthier options at the vending machines. Teen health is declining every time a student chooses a Ho Ho, Twinkie or packet of M&M's. Most vending machines have healthier options.

Small change needed to improve teen health and teen fitness: Switch to a healthier snack like pretzels or baked chips. Or, if you can't do that, try to only hit the vending machine once every other day. Either choice will save you hundreds of calories a day. This will certainly help teen health and teen fitness.

-Workout, but remember, this doesn't mean for 90 minutes a day. Teen health, teen fitness and college health wouldn't be as bad if students exercised a half hour a day. That's all you need. (Go to [http://www.GenerationYfitness.com] for free and short workouts) Working out for 90 minutes is a thing of the past, and teen health, college health and teen fitness would be improved if you realized this.

-Watch liquid calories for better teen health and teen fitness. By liquid calories I mean everything from beer (college health would be a lot better!) to soda. And, what some people don't realize, is there are more calories in a regular soda than a beer! Liquid calories certainly add up and are clearly affecting teen health and college health.

Small change to improve teen health and college health: Switch to diet soda, and if you must consume alcohol, switch to light beer and cut down on the drinking in general to save thousands of calories (and dozens of pounds of fat).

-Learn to read! Teen health and college health would be improved if you learned to read...nutritional labels, of course. Teen fitness would be fixed if you read these and learned how bad the food is that you're eating actually is. And, teen fitness and teen health would be improved if you learned about serving size.

Small change to improve college health and teen fitness: Stick to serving sizes when snacking.

College health and teen fitness doesn't need drastic changes to improve. Teen health can be fixed with small changes first, then drastic changes after.

Matt Elder is the co-owner of [http://www.GenerationYfitness.com] , the world's only website designed just for high school and college students. The site is exclusive to members, but is completely free. Go today to www,generationyfitness.com today to get your free $27 e-book "How Working Out Will Improve Your Social Life".

Understanding the Definition of Health Related Fitness

Being a Health and Fitness Professional, it is my job to understand terms and definitions which are commonplace to this industry, as well to keep abreast of evolving trends. Through my experience, I have found that a number of terms deserve a little more clarification than that which they are granted.

Aside from clarifying the definition of Health Related Fitness, this article intends to shed some light on a few of the associated terms, and to show their respective distinctions.

Is it simply all in a name?

The fitness world seems to use the concept Health Related Fitness like a generic fitness principle - interchangeable with others like "Physical Fitness", "Health and Fitness" or simply "Fitness."

While all of these terms can be included under the broad term Health and Physical Fitness, they individually refer to different aspects - both generic and specific. Unfortunately, references to these and other fitness-related terms are often vague, while consistency in their intended use is meager at best; there is a kind of "generally accepted" use for them, but individuals often rely on own interpretation, and this can lead to confusion.

With that said, does Health Related Fitness simply infer fitness by means of good health? Not quite. That is why we need to understand a little more behind these words before digesting the definition.

How did the term Health Related Physical Fitness come about?

That is a good question. One could probably ask what is this concept all about - can we not simply use the terms "Fitness" or "Physical Fitness" instead?" Why Health "Related"?

The main reason stems from the fact that most health and fitness terms are used inconsistently and often refer to different concepts or notions. Subsequent to the 1996 report from the US Surgeon General (Physical Activity and Health; a report of the Surgeon General), there was a move to try and address the alarming rise in obesity levels among the general American public. Studies and initiatives required standardization among clinicians, health practitioners and fitness trainers to grapple with the task at hand. Enter "Health Related Physical Fitness", a working term to address the general state of health among the public.

The definition of Health Related Fitness

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the main authority in this field, ineffective definitions with unclear and subjective wordings, as well as definitions containing terms which themselves require defining, have contributed to confusing the term "Physical Fitness."

There exists no reliable guide for Health and Fitness Professionals to measure "Physical Fitness", because the term has been so loosely and inconsistently defined. It is therefore that one should consider the concept of Health Related Fitness. The definition therefore centers on the 5 Components of Physical Fitness which relate to "good health." These Components are:


Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Body Composition
Flexibility
Muscular Strength
Muscular Endurance
On the other hand, Skill Related Fitness Components are:


Balance
Reaction Time
Coordination
Agility
Speed
Power
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the definition of Physical Fitness emphasizes the difference between Health Related Physical Fitness and Athletic Ability Physical Fitness. Its point-of-departure is the "health" of the US nation, which is often referred to as the "public health perspective." In that respect, the 5 Health Related Fitness Components are more important than those related to Athletic Ability (or Skill Related Components).

Although the concept of Health Related Fitness has an integral association with "good health", the 5 Components are addressed individually by health professionals to allow for their measurement.

Now that we have a deeper understanding of the term, what purpose does it serve?

Continuing from where the definition left off, the objective of measuring the 5 Components is to advise clients about their own particular Health Related Fitness, and to use data obtained from the tests to design appropriate exercise programs which can then be evaluated.

The 5 Components contribute evenly to make up a holistic Health Related Fitness, which is of direct interest to the health of the ordinary citizen, in that the concept is normative. In other words, it is a standard which allows for consistent application.

It is therefore important for those working in the health and fitness industry not to mistake "overall physical fitness" with "Health Related Physical fitness."

To conclude, let us consider this distinction between Physical Fitness and Health Related Fitness

One needs to bear in mind that regular physical exercise can improve overall Physical Fitness, as well as Health Related Fitness. However, overall fitness is a generic term and is up to subjective interpretation, while Health Related Fitness can be assessed.

The distinction therefore, between these two terms, exists in that Health Related Physical Fitness can be measured according to a set of established comparative norms.

This is where the "rubber hits the road." The guidelines set out by the ACSM enable health professionals to work with clients to assess and measure their response to exercise and prescribe appropriate exercise programs. A client's progress can then be monitored and adjusted where necessary in order to obtain the desired fitness goals.

Cleto Tirabassi is a certified Fitness Trainer with the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA).

His work centers on the "sensible approach" to Health Related Fitness, which entails the use of practical, flexible and sustainable methods to achieve optimal levels of health and physical fitness.

His clientele belongs mostly to the group he calls "average everyday people", who in short want to be in excellent shape, yet still lead a conventional life.

Based in Rome, Italy - he is dedicated to guiding the individuals he works with to realize their health and fitness goals. He also understands that the health and fitness industry is constantly evolving and therefore maintains a close watch on trends in his field of expertise.

You can learn more about his work at: http://www.sensible-health-related-fitness.com