Health and Fitness

What is Health? Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease

What is included in physical well-being? This means your heart, lungs and other body systems are strong and healthy. Your lack of illness contributes to your enjoyment of life. Your body shape improves and you look and feel good. Physical activity helps you achieve all this.

Mental well-being You learn how to cope with stress and difficult situations in sport. You can then use this to cope with pressure of exams. You learn to control emotions, as in sport there is an immediate penalty for breaking rules. In real life even if you feel angry you still do not become violent.

Social well-being Humans live in groups and we must learn social or group behavior to fit in. Sport helps us with this by teaching us confidence, co-operation, communication and team work. You meet new people and learn friendship and support. You improve your self esteem i.e. you are of some value in society.

What is Fitness? Fitness is the ability to meet the demands of the environment. Your environment is everything around you. It includes home, school, family and friends. If you can carry out everyday tasks and activities without getting too tired and still have energy left over for emergencies then you are fit.

How are Health and Fitness linked? Health and Fitness are closely linked. You cannot be healthy without being fit enough to meet the demands of your environment e.g. a broken arm means not being able to do your school work. However you can be fit but not healthy – you can physically manage your everyday tasks but are constantly depressed about being no good at anything. Remember - Health is complete physical, social, and mental well-being

What are the Components of fitness Strength Stamina / Endurance Suppleness / Flexibility Speed Body Composition Agility Balance Co-ordination Explosive Strength / Power Fast Reactions Good Timing

Fitness can be General or Specific General Fitness Remember 4 S’s Strength Stamina / Endurance Suppleness / Flexibility Speed General Fitness also includes Cardiovascular Endurance, Muscular Endurance and Body Composition

Specific Fitness Remember ABC EFG Agility Balance Co-ordination Explosive Strength / Power Fast Reactions Good Timing

What is strength? The ability of a muscle or muscle group to apply force against a resistance You need strength to push in a rugby scrum You need strength to lift a suitcase. If you have too little strength you risk injury

What is Stamina? Also referred to as endurance/cardiovascular fitness The ability to exercise the body for long periods of time without getting tired e.g. Walking / jogging/ aerobics Cardiovascular means heart and blood vessels These get oxygen into the body, distribute it and get carbon dioxide out.

What is Suppleness / Flexibility? This is the range of movement at a joint. You need flexibility for tying shoe laces, reaching up to a shelf or playing sports. If you have poor flexibility you move stiffly and are more likely to injure your tendons and ligaments in violent movements

What is Speed? The time it takes to move the body or part of the body over a given distance. Speed is needed to move either your whole body e.g. in the run up to long jump. Speed is needed to move a part of your body e.g. upper body, shoulder and arm to hit a rounders ball.

What is Body Composition? This is the amount of fat and lean tissue in your body. If you have too much fat or too little you are unfit.

What is Agility? This is the ability to change the body position quickly whilst keeping the whole body under control. e.g. dodging an opponent in netball or rugby.

What is Balance? The ability to maintain stability (not fall over) The ability to retain the centre of mass above the base of support The bigger the base of support the more stable you are. e.g. if a person doing a handstand leans too far one way their centre of mass is no longer over their base of support and they overbalance.

What is Co-ordination? The ability to move two or more body parts together, smoothly and accurately in response to what your senses tell you. e.g. when playing badminton you see the shuttle coming and are able to move your feet to get into the correct position and also move your arm to get the racquet into the correct position to play the shot.

What is Explosive Strength / Power? A combination of strength and speed. The ability to do strength performances quickly. Power = strength x speed. e.g. you need power to hit the ball hard in tennis or to throw a discus.

What are Fast Reactions? Speed of reaction is the time it takes to respond to a given stimulus. e.g. reacting to starters gun in sprinting. The quicker we respond the quicker are reactions are.

What is Good Timing? The ability to coincide movements in relations to outside factors. e.g. choosing to tackle when the ball is slightly away from your opponent’s feet in football

Fitness is relative to the game and position with in the game Demands are different for everyone Cannot ask ‘are you fit’ without asking ‘fit for what?’ For majority of people physical fitness is the ability to carry out the demands of everyday life with ease, or being able to continue with physical activity for lengthy periods without getting tired.

For top level performers Physical Fitness is about having the body in such a state at which it is able to perform at peak levels. Different sports and positions require different levels of fitness. e.g. a forward in football needs good stamina and speed to keep outwitting his opponent. A goal keeper needs power in his legs, good flexibility to get into the awkward positions and good reaction times.

Comparison between club player and international in same game Needs to be fit to play well in his chosen sport Probably have one training session per week and one game per week Probably be an amateur holding down a full time job Therefore amount of time spent on training is limited His opponents will be of a similar standard to him. He needs to be fit enough to participate at a good level but will have lots of time to recuperate between matches and recover from any minor injuries

Top Class Player / International Needs excellent general fitness and high level of specific fitness relevant to position / sport Demands made upon him are great / sport will also be his job. Six days a week he will be training or playing. His responsibility is to be match fit at all times. To play in very competitive game there is no room for weakness in components of fitness.

If his speed is not good he will not be able to out run his opponent Mental fitness must also be high. The pressure of top-class sports is great. He must not show any sign of weakness or crack under pressure. If he looses his temper or retaliates he is likely to get sent off and his team will suffer. Media coverage will be negative and he will find it hard to live down.

Reasons for taking Exercise Helps you look and feel good Burns up stored body fat/ or for thin people builds up muscle Tones muscles of back and abdomen so posture improves Strengthens bones Keeps you flexible Makes heart and lungs work more efficiently so you don’t get tired easily Helps prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, back pain and cancers All the above give you an increased life expectancy

Why do we need Strength in everyday life? You need strength for every day activities To lift a suitcase or heavy bag of shopping To do house hold tasks which require you to move pieces of furniture / moving the suite to hoover underneath / moving a bed. To push in a rugby scrum I f you have too little strength you risk injury when you lift/push or pull things

Why do we need Flexibility in everyday life? Flexibility is the range of movement at a joint You need flexibility for tying shoe laces, reaching up to a high shelf or playing sports If you have poor flexibility you move stiffly and are more likely to injure your tendons and ligaments in violent movements

What is posture? Posture is the way you hold your body when you are sitting, standing, walking or lifting something. Good posture means your body is in the position that puts least strain on your muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, good muscle tone is essential for this.

Effects of Poor Posture Don’t look as good as you could Muscles have to work harder so you get tired sooner Strain on bones, tendons, and ligaments e.g. back strain, fallen arches Rounded shoulders making it harder to breathe deeply, less space for heart and lungs

What is Muscle Tone? Muscles never completely relax – a small number of fibres stay contracted. Enough to keep the muscle taut but not enough to cause movement. This state of partial contraction is called muscle tone. Without muscle tone you could not stand up properly

Energy Requirements Movement is caused by muscles contracting. This needs energy Muscles obtain energy from food Even when you are relaxed and resting you need energy to keep you warm to keep your heart and lungs working Your Basal Metabolic rate is the amount of energy you need just to stay alive awake and comfortable To move around, digest food and do exercise you need even more energy This is called working energy Total energy needed = basal metabolic rate plus working energy

Psychological Benefits Gives you a challenge to aim for Helps you deal with stress and tension and can be fun Helps you feel better about yourself and increase your self- confidence

Social Benefits Can improve your team work and co-operation Can help you meet people and lead to new friendships Sport can improve your image and bring in money

Playing Seasons and Closed Seasons Traditionally different sports had specific playing seasons e.g. cricket tennis summer activities Nowadays with easy access to air travel and ability to get to different countries most sports are played throughout the year In the past cricket was just a summer activity / and still is in most schools but at higher level it is played throughout the year, our international teams play in Australia, India, Pakistan etc In a closed season an athlete would build up to a high level of general fitness. They do continuous training over long distances to improve aerobic fitness. They would train the major muscle groups. They would take care with diet eating lots of carbohydrate and not much fat. Pre-season athletes focus on the fitness for the sport They run short fast lengths to improve anaerobic fitness and speed. They continue strength training on the muscles needed for the sport but work faster to improve their power

Reasons for Warm-Ups To prepare you for the activity by warming your muscles so that they are more flexible and risk of injury is reduced It increases your heart rate and blood flow getting more oxygen to the working muscles It warms the synovial fluid and makes your joints more mobile Mentally prepares you for the activity making your more focused

Reasons For Warm-Downs Allows body to recover Removes lactic acid Shortens the recovery time Removes carbon dioxide Ensures smooth circulation preventing dizziness