health & fitness_handout

8/2/2019 Health & Fitness_handout

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HEALTH AND FITNESSFitness can be described as a condition that helps us look, feel and do our best. More specifically, it is:

The ability to perform daily tasks vigorously and alertly, with energy left over for enjoying leisure-

time activities and meeting emergency demands.

It is the ability to endure, to bear up, to withstand stress, to carry on in circumstances where an unfitperson could not continue, and is a major basis for good health and well-being.

Is a positive quality, extending on a scale from death to abundant life.

Physical fitness the ability to perform moderate-to vigorous levels of physical activity on a regular basis

without excessive fatigue & capability to maintain throughout life.- Adequate amount of muscular strength and endurance to meet the needs of everyday life

Energy expenditure consists of:1. Resting Metabolic Rate: amount of energy expended to maintain body systems at rest after meal

2. Thermic effect of physical activity: by muscle work

3. Thermic effect of food: energy expended above RMR over several hours following meal i.e.

metabolic cost, cost of digestion, transport, absorption, storage and excretion (10% of total)

Health Related Fitness components

1. Cardiovascular Fitness (Aerobic Fitness)

This is also sometimes known as stamina and is the ability of your body to continuously provide enoughenergy to sustain submaximal levels of exercise. To do this the circulatory and respiratory systems must

work together efficiently to provide the working muscles with enough Oxygen to enable aerobicmetabolism.This type of fitness has enormous benefits to our lifestyle as it allows us to be active throughout the day,

for example walking to the shops, climbing stairs or running to catch a bus. It also allows us to get

involved in sports and leisure pursuits.

If we have good cardiovascular fitness then our health is also good as it helps with:

Fat metabolism, Improved delivery of Oxygen, Faster removal of waste products

Decreased levels of stress

2. Strength

Strength is vitally important, not only in sports but in day-to-day life. We need to be strong to perform

certain tasks, such as lifting heavy bags or using our legs to stand up from a chair. Strength is defined as

the ability of a muscle to exert a force to overcome a resistance. Strength is important for our health as itenables us to :

Avoid injuries, Maintain good posture, Remain independent (in older age)

Postpones loss of muscle tissue due to ageing and sedentary lifestyle.

Helps prevent osteoporosis, Enhances muscle definition/improves personal appearance, Boostsmetabolism.

Strength can be measured by various weight-lifting exercises

3. Flexibility

Flexibility is the movement available at our joints, usually controlled by the length of our muscles. This is

often thought to be less important than strength, or cardiovascular fitness. However, if we are not flexible

our movement decreases and joints become stiff. Flexibility in sports allows us to perform certain skills

more efficiently, for example a gymnast, dancer or diver must be highly flexible, but it is also important inother sports to aid performance and decrease the risk of injury.

In daily activities we must be flexible to reach for something in a cupboard, or off the floor. It also helpsto: Prevent injuries, Improve posture, Reduce low back pain

Maintain healthy joints, Improve balance during movement

4. Muscular Endurance

Muscular endurance, unlike strength, is the ability of a muscle to make repeated contractions over a periodof time. This is used in day-to-day life in activities such as climbing stairs, digging the garden and

cleaning. Muscular endurance is also important in sports, such as football (repeated running and kicking),

tennis (repeated swinging of the arm to hit the ball) and swimming (repeating the stroke).
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5. Body Composition

Body composition is the amount of muscle, fat, bone, cartilage etc that makes up our bodies. In terms ofhealth, fat is the main point of interest and everything else is termed lean body tissue. The amount of fat

we carry varies from person to person and healthy averages vary with gender and age. A healthy amount

of fat for a man is between 15&18% and for women is higher at 20-25%. It is important to maintain ahealthy percentage of body fat because: Excess body fat can contribute to developing a number of health

problems such as heart disease and diabetes

Places strain on the joints, muscles and bones, increasing the risk of injury

Skill Related Fitness1. Speed

Most sports and activities require some form of speed. Even long distance running often requires a burst of

speed to finish the race ahead of your competitors. Speed is defined as the ability to move a body partquickly. Speed is not always about how quickly you can move your whole body from A to B. It also

relates to body parts. For example, when playing golf, the speed of your arms and upper body in creating

the swing are vital in driving the ball over a long distance.

2. Reaction Time

Reaction time is how quickly your brain can respond to a stimulus and initiate a response. This is

important in most sports. The most obvious being responding to the gun at the start of a race, but also agoalkeeper saving a penalty, or a badminton player reacting to a smash shot. The examples in sport are

endless!3. Agility

Being agile is all about being able to change your direction and the speed at which you are travelling,quickly and efficiently. This is common in sports such as football and rugby where the player with the ball

dodges a defender, or in badminton or tennis, moving around the court quickly to reach the

shuttlecock/ball in time.

4. Balance

Balance is the ability to maintain equilibrium whilst stationary, or moving. Balance whilst moving is often

called dynamic balance. Balance is important in all kinds of sporting situations, most noteably ingymnastics and ballet but also contact sports where having good balance may prevent you being tackled to

the floor! Balance is linked to agility, as in order to quickly and efficently change direction you must be

balanced.5. Coordination

Coordination is the ability to use the body parts and senses together to produce smooth efficient

movements. We have all seen someone who is uncoordinated, their movement looks awkward and shaky.

Being co-ordinated is vital in all sports, for example hand-eye coordination in racket sports and the co-ordination to use the opposite arm and leg when sprinting.

6. Power

Power is the product of strength and speed. When we perform a task as quickly and as forcefully as wecan, the result is powerful. For example, a sprint start, a shot-put or javelin throw or long-jump.

7. Accuracy

Accuracy is the degree of veracity while precision is the degree of reproducibility. The analogy used

here to explain the difference between accuracy and precision is the target comparison. Accuracydescribes the closeness of arrows to thebullseye at the target center. Arrows that strike closer to the

bullseye are considered more accurate. The closer a system's measurements to the accepted value, the

more accurate the system is considered to be.

Fitness Testing

Reasons for Fitness Testing

To highlight the strengths and weakness of an athlete enabling a training program to be devisedwhich addresses the findings

To evaluate a training program, to see if it is helping the athlete in achieiving set goals

To measure fitness levels following injury, illness or following the off season

To assist in setting goals
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To determine health status (in the non-sporting population)

Talent identification

To aid motivation

Principles of Fitness Testing

Specificity: Fitness tests must assess an individuals fitness for the activity or sport in question. Forexample, there is little point in using a running endurance test to assess an athletes improvement in

cycling endurance.

Validity: Fitness tests must measure the component of fitness that they are supposed to. For

example, is your sit and reach test measuring solely the flexibility of the hamstrings or are there otherfactors involved?

Objectivity: Sometimes also known as intertester reliability. A test that is objective will produce

the same results for the same individual, regardless of the tester, or technician administering the test

Reliability: A reliable test produces the same results if repeated. For example, an assessor trained

in skin-fold measurements will produce the same result, when the same area is re-tested shortly after.

Factors Which May Affect Fitness Tests

Time of the day, Weather conditions

Environment (surface/noise/presence of other people)

A different assessor, Accuracy of measurements

Test protocol not followed exactly as before

Time since the athletes last meal, Athletes emotions, Athletes state of hydration

Athletes health (recent colds/illness) Medication the athlete may be taking

Fitness Tests

Strength

One Rep Max: The heaviest weight you can lift for a single repetition, on a given exercise. Often

abbreviated to 1RM. Ten rep max (10RM) can also be used. Ensure you are fully warmed up prior to

attempting to lift your estimated 1RM. If you feel you could have lifted more, do not attempt to do so onthe same day as your muscles will be faitgued and so reduce the reliability of the test.

Speed

30m Sprint: Acceleration must be eliminated and so a flying start of 20m is recommended. Record thetime between metres 20 and 50.

Power

Vertical Jump Test: Standing sideways on to a wall with the arms raised above you, mark the highest

point you can reach. Still standing sideways, jump as high as you can, marking the point you can reach.Your score is the difference between your standing and jumping score. This test measures the power in

your leg muscles.

Standing Long Jump: Start behind a starting line, jump from two feet and land on two feet as far aspossible. You may use your arms to aid you.

Local Muscular Endurance:

Press-up Test: Perform as many press-ups as you can without rest. This test measures the endurance of

your upper body muscles.Sit-up Test: As above, repeated as many sit-ups as possible without rest. Make-sure you define before-

hand what counts as a sit-up! This process of fatiguing a muscle (or muscle group) to measure its

endurance can be repeated with any body part.

Anaerobic Endurance:

RAST Test: (Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test) Following a 10 minute warm-up, 6 x 35m sprints are

performed, with 10 seconds inbetween for rest and turn-around. Each sprint time is recorded. Followingtests are expected to produce faster times for each of the sprints.

Cunningham and Faulkner Test: Following a warm-up, set the treadmill at 8 miles/hr and a 20%

gradient. The athlete must start standing either side of the belt and begin the test by getting on the belt atfull speed. The test is stopped when tha athlete cannot continue.


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Aerobic Endurance:

Cooper Run: Following a 10 minute warm-up, run as far as you can in 12 minutes. Record the distancetravelled to the closest 100m.

Multi-Stage Fitness (Bleep) Test: For this test you need a bleep test tape or cd which has recorded

'bleeps' at pre-determined intervals. The participants must run between 20m markers, in time with the tape.The bleeps get faster as the tape progresses and is divided into stages to help monitor your progress at

subsequent tests. The test finishes when you can no longer reach the end marker before the bleep.

Flexibility:Sit & Reach Test: To assess the flexibility of the hamstrings. You will need either a special sit & reach

table, or a bench and ruler/tape measure. Start with your feet flat against the table and your knees straight.

Reach your arms as high as possible above your head and then lead forwards, to reach as far along thebench/table as possible. The furthest point your fingertips reach is your score. A specialist table has an

overhang of 15cm and so if using a bench and ruler, a score of 10cm equals 25cm.

Calf Flexibility Test: Stand facing a wall and bend the knees to touch the wall whilst keeping the heelsflat on the floor. Keep moving back to find the furthest distance away from the wall where you can still

touch the wall with your knees. Measure the distance from the wall to the heel.

Balance:

Wobble Board: Using a wobble board or cushion, balance for as long as possible. Tests can be conductedon one leg, or both as long as subsequent tests are the same.

Stork Test: Stand on one leg with the free foot positioned just below the standing knee. Raise the heel ofthe standing foot and hold for as long as possible.

Reaction Time:

Ruler Drop: Using a metre ruler, get a friend to hold the ruler so that the 0cm line is level with and

inbetween your open index finger and thumb. The friend drops the ruler and you must catch it as soon as

possible, between your finger and thumb. The cm mark on the ruler closest to the top of the thumb is yourscore. The faster your reaction, the less of the ruler will pass through!

Agility:

Illinois agility run test 20yard shuttle run test

Coordination:ball toss test, Finger tip nose test

Body Composition:

Skin Fold Callipers: These can be used to determine the percentage of body fat an athlete has. It involves

taking four (or sometimes 6) measurements from the biceps, triceps, suprailiac (just above the pelvis boneon the back) and subscapular (just below the shoulder blade). These 4 measurements can then be

calculated to give an estimate of the total percentage body fat.

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis: A far more accurate method of measuring body fat percentage. Two

Electrodes are placed on a hand and the foot on the same side, whith the subject laying down. A safeelectrical current is passed through the body. The speed of the current in moving from hand electrodes to

the foot determines body fat percentage as fat is an insulator and slows down the movement of the current

Hydrostatic weighing.

health & fitness_handout

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