Health-related Fitness“Fitness” is an important indicator of one’s physical and mental functioning. In particular, good Health-related Physical Fitness (including cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, as well as body composition) is related to lower rates of cardiovascular diseases, better sleep quality, mood, and quality of life. Participating schools of the Project are recommended to conduct fitness tests for students on a regular basis. This will enable teachers and researchers to understand students’ performances in various aspects of physical fitness. The Project has suggested a set of internationally recognised assessment methods for teachers to follow.
Image layout Option: Hide The concept of “physical fitness” was first put forward in a report released by The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1996. In simple terms, “physical fitness” refers to the ability of the body to adapt to external environment such as leisure, emergencies and stress outside of work. There are two kinds of physical fitness, namely Health-related Physical Fitness and Sports-related Physical Fitness. Cardiorespiratory Endurance: The lungs and heart work together to pump oxygen to working muscles and tissues. Improving cardiorespiratory endurance enable you to physically perform for longer without getting tired. It also helps boost one’s efficiency in carrying out everyday activities. Muscular Strength and Endurance: Muscular strength refers to the amount of force you can put forth with your muscles, while muscular endurance refers to how many timesyou can move that weight without getting exhausted. Good muscular strength and endurance can promote health, prevent injuries and improve work efficiency. Muscular strength and endurance can be built up by doing weight training. Flexibility: It is the range of movement through which a joint or sequence of joints can move.People with goodflexibility can move freely and are likely to have better posture. Poor flexibility limits proper joint motion. Body Composition: Several formulas can be used to measure body composition, such as body fat ratio, Body Mass Index (BMI),waist–hip ratio etc. Having a value within the normal range means that you have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Sports-related Physical Fitness involves skills that will enhance one’s performance in athletic or sports events. It includes components of agility, coordination, balance, speed, power, and reaction time.
Image layout Option: Hide Fitness data is collected from participating students to help understand their current bodily conditions. With such an understanding, improvement plans can be designed to enhance learning and teaching at schools. Below are the fitness tests adopted by the Fun to Move@JC Project, namely: 1. BMI 2. FITNESSGRAM® Shoulder Stretch 3. FITNESSGRAM® Curl-Up 4. 6 minutes(for 9 years old or below)/ 9 minutes(for 10 years old or above)running/walking test 1. Body Mass Index Objective:Measuring body composition Equipment required:stadiometer;weight scale;calculator;pen and record sheet Testing Procedures:
2. FITNESSGRAM® Shoulder Stretch Objective: Testing upper limbs’ flexibility Equipment required:pen and record sheet Testing Procedures:
3. FITNESSGRAM® Curl-UP Objective:Testing abdominal muscle endurance Equipment required: gym mat with measuring strip(a strip of 3 inches wide is used for 5- to 9-year-olds; older students should use a strip that is 4.5 inches wide);A4 paper; curl-up audio;pen and record sheet Starting position: • Partner A lies in a supine position on the mat • Knees bent at an angle of approximately 140 degrees • Feet flat on the floor, legs slightly apart • Arms straight and parallel to the trunk with palms of hands resting on the mat • The head is in contact with the A4 paper Testing Procedures:
4. 6 minutes(for 9 years old or below)/ 9 minutes(for 10 years old or above)running/walking test Objective: Testing cardiorespiratory endurance Equipment required: timer;markers (the suggested distance between the markers is 10 meters);whistle;pen and record sheet Testing Procedures:
Reference: https://running.biji.co/index.php?q=news&act=info&id=91814&subtitle=何謂健康體適能 https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/tc/healthy/physical_fitness/concept.html http://www.hkpfa.org.hk/index/customIndex.aspx?nnnid=1 https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/u-s-department-of-health-and-human-services In many studies related to physical fitness and health, researchers have focused on exercise, as well as on the more broadly defined concept of physical activity. Physical activity is defined by the World Health Organization as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure, while exercise is a form of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and performed with the goal of improving health or fitness. So, although all exercise is physical activity, not all physical activity is exercise. Although physical activity and exercise are defined concepts, the ultimate focus of the health related components of physical fitness is to provide a framework for components that are necessary for good health. They are cardiorespiratory (CR) endurance (also called aerobic endurance), flexibility, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and body composition. Cardiorespiratory Endurance
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Aerobic physical activity should preferably be spread throughout the week. Research studies consistently show that activity performed on at least 3 days a week produces health benefits. Spreading physical activity across at least 3 days a week may help to reduce the risk of injury and avoid excessive fatigue. Both moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes. Episodes of this duration are known to improve cardiovascular fitness and some risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
The Guidelines for adults focus on two levels of intensity: moderate-intensity activity and vigorous–intensity activity. To meet the Guidelines, adults can do either moderate-intensity or vigorous-intensity aerobic activities, or a combination of both. It takes less time to get the same benefit from vigorous-intensity activities as from moderate-intensity activities. A general rule of thumb is that 2 minutes of moderate-intensity activity counts the same as 1 minute of vigorous-intensity activity. For example, 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week is roughly the same as 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity. A person doing moderate-intensity aerobic activity can talk, but not sing, during the activity. A person doing vigorous intensity activity cannot say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.
Activities for Muscular Strength and Endurance These kind of activities, which includes resistance training and lifting weights, causes the body's muscles to work or hold against an applied force or weight. These activities often involve relatively heavy objects, such as weights, which are lifted multiple times to train various muscle groups. Muscle-strengthening activity can also be done by using elastic bands or body weight for resistance (climbing a tree or doing push-ups, for example). Activities for Muscular Strength and Endurance also has three components:
Muscle-strengthening activities provide additional benefits not found with aerobic activity. The benefits of muscle-strengthening activity include increased bone strength and muscular fitness. Muscle-strengthening activities can also help maintain muscle mass during a program of weight loss. Muscle-strengthening activities make muscles do more work than they are accustomed to doing. That is, they overload the muscles. Resistance training, including weight training, is a familiar example of muscle-strengthening activity. Other examples include working with resistance bands, doing calisthenics that use body weight for resistance (such as push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups), carrying heavy loads, and heavy gardening (such as digging or hoeing). Muscle-strengthening activities count if they involve a moderate to high level of intensity or effort and work the major muscle groups of the body: the legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms. Muscle strengthening activities for all the major muscle groups should be done at least 2 days a week. No specific amount of time is recommended for muscle strengthening, but muscle strengthening exercises should be performed to the point at which it would be difficult to do another repetition without help. When resistance training is used to enhance muscle strength, one set of 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise is effective, although two or three sets may be more effective. Development of muscle strength and endurance is progressive over time. Increases in the amount of weight or the days a week of exercising will result in stronger muscles.
Flexibility is the ability of moving a joint through the range of motion. Flexibility is an important part of physical fitness. Some types of physical activity, such as dancing, require more flexibility than others. Stretching exercises are effective in increasing flexibility, and thereby can allow people to more easily do activities that require greater flexibility. For this reason, flexibility activities are an appropriate part of a physical activity program, even though they have no known health benefits and it is unclear whether they reduce risk of injury. Time spent doing flexibility activities by themselves does not count toward meeting the aerobic or muscle-strengthening Guidelines. Although there are not specific national guidelines for flexibility, adults should do flexibility exercises at least two or three days each week to improve range of motion. This can be done by holding a stretch for 10-30 seconds to the point of tightness or slight discomfort. Repeat each stretch two to four times, accumulating 60 seconds per stretch.
The percentage of the body composed of lean tissue (muscle, bone, fluids, etc.) and fat tissue. Changes in body composition usually occur as a result of improvements in the other components of health related physical fitness, as well as changes in eating habits. This is discussed in more detail in the Weight Management and Healthy Eating Chapter. There are also other components of fitness related to sports performance rather than just health. They are called skill-related components of fitness or motor fitness and include power, speed, agility, balance, and coordination. For the purpose of this class we will focus mainly on the health-related components of fitness. |