Physical Activity - DVD segment 9

by Audra Santa

In this segment we take a look at the benefits of being active, the different components of fitness, and motivations for being active.

Here is what a few young women from our survey had to say about getting active:

“I feel that I am overweight which can be unhealthy, but I am trying to do something about that. I go to the gym and try to eat sensibly, but I am a university student so my eating habits are not necessarily healthy. As long as I try, I do not see myself as unhealthy.”¹⁵⁴

“Healthy physical activity to me would mean doing some form of physical activity to either have fun or to better one's own health. If a person were to be at their own healthy, maintained weight, to go and play hockey, soccer, dance, would be because it is fun and they enjoy it. For someone who is substantially over their normal body weight, such an obese person going for some physical activity such as a gym trainer, a run, basically anything in moderation to help themselves would view as healthy.”¹¹²

“Healthy physical activity includes being active on a daily basis. This may include any physical activity that gets your heart pumping and range from a brisk walk to more rigorous physical activity of jogging or working out. Exercise is very important in order to be healthy. It can also be utilized as a stress relief and can be very fun and enjoyable at the same time.”¹²⁵

“Healthy physical activity makes a person feel good about what they have done; [it gives them] a sense of self-fulfillment and self-confidence…”¹⁷⁸

“Healthy physical activity is working out 4-5 times a week. It is very important not to go to the gym everyday because it is not good for you. Getting at least half an hour of physical activity each day is also essential for living a healthy life. Healthy physical activity is to stay in shape and should not be used only to lose weight or burn off calories.”¹⁹⁸

“Healthy physical activity is fun…It's doing things you love or that make you feel good, for the fun of it. Healthy physical activity is not obsessive; there should not be severe pain or severe exhaustion when participating in healthy physical activity.”¹⁴¹

Get Moving!

Our bodies are built to move. Most of us know that regular physical activity is part of a healthy lifestyle, but how much and how often do we need to exercise and which activities are the best? Canada’s Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living tells us that we should strive to do endurance activities 4-7 days a week, flexibility activities 4-7 days a week, and strength activities 2-4 days a week. Getting in this much activity may seem like a daunting task as there aren’t enough hours in the week and sometimes barely enough energy to get your homework done (although exercise may be a great way to procrastinate!). Instead of going from a sedentary lifestyle to trying to reach the highest level of the guidelines set out by Health Canada, it is much wiser to start to incorporate lifestyle changes that allow us to be more active. Just like healthy eating, small changes in activity habits that can become part of a lifestyle are the way to go. As you start to feel better and see the benefits of being more active, it will become easier and easier to introduce more activity into your day.

The Benefits of an Active Lifestyle

· Build strong bones and strengthen muscles

· Maintain flexibility

· Achieve a healthy weight

· Promote good posture and balance

· Improve fitness

· Meet new friends

· Strengthen the heart

· Improve physical self-esteem

· Increase relaxation

· Promote healthy growth and development

Source: Health Canada’s Physical Activity Guide for Youth http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/pau-uap/paguide/

Components of Fitness

Canada’s Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living tells us that we should do endurance, flexibility, and strength activities to help achieve optimum health. When trying to become more physically active, include activities that help strengthen your heart and lungs, make your muscles stronger, and improve your flexibility and balance. Any amount of physical activity will help you to see benefits, but by including these important components of fitness, you will achieve a well-rounded, healthier lifestyle.

Endurance activities work the cardiovascular system, including the heart, lungs, and circulatory system. This system needs to be strengthened in order to help make everyday activities easier as well as reduce the risks of heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. Taking your dog for a walk, or swimming in a local pool are great ways to get the blood flowing and strengthen your heart.

Strength training is important in maintaining bone mass and keeping your muscles strong. A strong body will also help make everyday activities easier. You can strengthen your muscles with weight training, the use of resistance bands, and even pilates or some aqua fitness classes.

Flexibility training helps to increase the range of motion and mobility of your joints. Simple stretching as well as yoga or Tai-Chi classes can help to improve your flexibility, making you more limber.

Exercise Your Mind

Exercising sure feels good. Some people talk about that elusive “runner’s high” they get during and after working out. Why is it that we feel so good? Amanda talks on the video about “that chemical you give off when working out” that makes you feel happier. The chemicals secreted in your brain during exercise are called endorphins. They are one of the “feel good” chemicals released in the brain that produce that “runner’s high”, and provide relief from physical stress and pain.

Regular physical activity is a taking a dose of a healthy drug. Amanda also mentioned how her dad would encourage her to work out to keep her mind active. There are other mental benefits of physical activity too.

Exercise can reduce anxiety. Many studies have come to this conclusion. People who exercise report feeling less stressed or nervous. Even five minutes of aerobic exercise (exercise which requires oxygen, such as a step class, swimming, walking) can stimulate anti-anxiety effects.

Physical exercise helps to counteract the withdrawal, inactivity and feelings of hopelessness that characterize depression. Studies show that both aerobic and anaerobic exercise (exercise which does not require oxygen, such as weightlifting) have anti-depressive effects. Moods such as tension, fatigue, anger and vigor are all positively affected by exercise.

Exercising can improve the way you perceive your physical condition, athletic abilities and body image. Enhanced self-esteem is also a benefit.

Source: Canadian Mental Health Association at http://www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=2-267&lang=1

Too Much or Too Little – Know Your Body

It’s important to exercise in order to stay healthy, but some people go overboard and do way too much. Exercise addiction and overtraining are very real problems that affect many young women. Some women workout excessively in order to change their body shape, weight, or composition. Weight loss can be a benefit to exercise, but when exercise becomes detrimental to one’s health, it is being taken too far. Overtraining occurs when athletes try too hard to improve performance and train beyond the body's ability to recover. Your body needs to repair itself after being active before it can perform the activity again. This is especially true after strength training and cardio sessions of high intensity or long duration. Your body needs to repair and prepare itself for the workout, so adequate rest time is needed.

One of the things that your body needs to repair itself is food! Karen talks on the video about eating in an active way. Think of your body for a moment as a car. Cars certainly can’t run on empty. If you don’t give the car the gas it needs it won’t be able to get you from point A to point B. In the same respect, if you don’t change the oil and top up the fluids, the car may start to breakdown and not work as well as you want it to. The same thing goes for our bodies. We need adequate amounts of calories to fuel our workouts. We also need the right calories and nutrients to help repair our bodies before and after activity so we can continue to perform well. Without adequate fuel and nutrients, our bodies wont have the “gas” to keep going and will start to “break down”. For these reasons, it is important to fuel the body before, after, and sometimes during exercise.

Exercise 9.1: Fuel the energy engine.

Go to this website to help figure out how much energy Frank needs to fuel his engine for his involvement in sports. http://www.pausetoplay.ca/e_interactive_energy_engine.asp?content=flash

What’s Your Motivation?

The motivation behind why we exercise is sometimes what draws the line between healthy and unhealthy levels of physical activity. It’s okay to want to exercise so you can look and feel better in your clothes, but it shouldn’t be the only reason you want to work out. Amanda talks in the video about working out to lose weight. However, her motivations centered on the health problems that come with being overweight. Diabetes runs in her family and she has seen the effects of the disease. She knows that by exercising she is taking control of her health and reducing her risk of disease. She also says that getting active can be fun! She goes for walks with friends and enjoys socializing as she gets fit. It’s true that exercise isn’t always easy and enjoyable, but try to add fun activities in there and you’ll be more likely to stick with the program. The important thing is to make regular physical activity a part of your life.

Exercise 9.2: Are you ready to challenge your knowledge on healthy eating, physical activity and the common benefits?

Go to this website for the Living Healthy Trivia Quiz: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/guide/lhtq-qvs_e.html