Chapter 1: Introduction to Personal fitness and wellness
LO1: Why Wellness Matters: Understanding the Role of Physical Activity in Health and Disease Prevention.
2. Physical Activity vs. Exercise vs. Training:
Definitions:
•Health: A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being (WHO).
•Wellness: A dynamic, multidimensional state that moves beyond absence of illness to overall life satisfaction and positive functioning.
•Physical Fitness: The ability to perform daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits.
2.
•Physical activity = any movement
•Exercise = planned, structured PA
•Training = systematic exercise toward a specific goal
Con't stats of common diseases
•44% of adults 20+ have at least 1 of 10 common chronic conditions
•Hypertension 25%
•Osteoarthritis 14%
•Mood and/or anxiety disorders 13%
•Osteoporosis 12%
•Diabetes 11%
•Asthma 11%
•Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease 10%
•Ischemic Heart Disease 8%
•Cancer 8%
•Dementia 7%
LO 4: How Exercise Fits into the Equation
2. Lifestyle, Moderate, and Vigorous
There are profound health benefits that come from regular physical activity:
These benefits are increased further in individuals who actively exercise/train
•Reduced risk of chronic disease
•Improved mental health
•Enhanced cognitive function
•Builds resilience, discipline, and self-efficacy
2. uses 150 calories per day, cardio 30 mins 5 days a week, cardio for 20 mins 3 days a week with interval / strength training
walking or yard work, weight training or walking 30 minutes 5 days a week, jogging or intervals
better blood cholesterol, improved fitness and + quality of life, all benefits but can bring injury and overtraining
What is Exercise
Definitions:
Physical Activity: Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure.
Exercise: A subcategory of PA that is planned, structured, repetitive, and intended to improve or maintain fitness.
Training: A long-term, systematic application of exercise designed to produce specific performance or health outcomes.
Influence of Genetics Versus Lifestyle
Study Compared Health and Performance measures between identical twins, one of whom was a lifelong (30 years) endurance exerciser and another who was completely sedentary.
“The findings support utilizing chronic endurance exercise training to improve body composition and cardiovascular health and suggest these physiological systems exhibit greater plasticity than previously thought. These results highlight the need to further study the exposome’s role on physiological adaptations across the lifespan.” - HOWEVER, no differences in muscle mass or muscle strength
Health and Wellness are largely influenced by the lifestyle choices you make:
•In recent decades, lifestyle as an important health factor has becomemore interesting to researchers.
•According to WHO, 60% of factors related to individual health and quality of life are correlated to lifestyle
•Millions of people follow an unhealthy lifestyle.
•Hence, they encounter illness, disability and even death. Problems like metabolic diseases, joint and skeletal problems, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, overweight, violence and so on can be caused by an unhealthy lifestyle.
•The relationship between lifestyle and health should be highly considered
Government and public health initiatives
•All over the world, governments and other organizations place a massive emphasis on improving the Health and Wellness of citizens - Government of canada
•2. ParticipACTION
•Non-profit organization aimed at
•Inspiring and supporting people to make physical activity a vital part of their everyday lives;
•Reducing personal, societal and systemic barriers to physical activity
•Identifying and providing opportunities for movement where people live, learn, work and play through innovative engagement initiatives
•Championing the need for Canada to make physical activity a national priority
•24-Hour Movement Guidelines (PA, sleep, sedentary time)
•Physical Fitness
•Physical activity is important, but in order to live long, healthy lives and function as effectively as possible. YOU MUST BE FIT
•The body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively.
•The body’s ability to respond or adapt to the demands and stress of physical effort
•Your ability to perform moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity without becoming overly tired
Associated with a person’s ability to
•work effectively
•be healthy
•enjoy leisure time
•meet emergency situations
•resist hypokinetic conditions**
•maintain a healthy body weight.
•And more
Components of Physical Fitness
A: Health-Related Components (most relevant to general population health)
Cardiovascular endurance
Muscular strength
Muscular endurance
Flexibility
Body composition
Health Related Fitness
Muscular Fitness
As we age (4th decade onward), we lose strength (1.5-5% per year), and muscle/ bone mass (1-2% per year)
This effect is partially preventable and lifestyle related*
Interestingly, muscle power/speed is lost at a disproportionately higher rate (~3-5% per year)
Strength and Power are critical for functional independence as we age, especially in the prevention of falls
1. Most Control
2. Some control
3. Least control
1. Healthy lifestyles, and personal interactions, cognitions and emotions
2. Environmental factors and health care system
3. Age, genetics, and disability
All these lead to wellness and physical activity habits
•3. Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP)
•Recommends guidelines for physical activity and general health promotion for adults aged 18-64
•Strength-training 2+ days per week
•Achieve 150+ minutes of moderate-vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity (MVPA) per week
Benefits of exercise
1. Longevity - Inactivity increases all causes of mortality
Reducing the daily average time that people spend sitting to < 3 hrs/day would increase life expectancy by 2 yrs, and reducing time spent watching TV to < 2 hrs/day would increase life expectancy by 1.4 yrs.
2. Cardiorespiratory function - Improved functioning of the heart, healthy arteries, reduced risk of heart disease, improved sexual function and vitality
•Inactive à ~2x as likely to die of heart attack than physically active
Metabolism - Efficiently generate energy from food, regulate hormones, protect cells from free radical damage and inflammation
Body composition - Achieve a healthy body composition through a high proportion of fat-free mass and a relatively small proportion of fat
Components of Physical Fitness
B: Skill-Related Components (more important for athletes/performance goals)
Power
Agility
Coordination
Reaction time
Balance
Speed
Physiological Response to Exercise
1. A: Acute Responses = immediate, short-term effects of a single bout of exercise
↑ heart rate
↑ breathing rate
↑ blood pressure
↑ body temperature
↑ energy substrate use (ATP, glycogen)
2. Chronic Adaptations = long-term physiological changes due to regular training
Lower resting HR and BP
Increased stroke volume and cardiac output
Increased capillarization and mitochondrial density
Improved muscular strength, endurance, flexibility
How to promote wellness
1. Social determinants of health
2. Dimensions of wellness
1. •Income and income distribution, Education, Unemployment and job security, Employment and working conditions, Early childhood development, Food insecurity, Housing, Social Exclusion, Social safety and network, Health services, Indigenous status, Gender, Race, Disability
2. Physical - easting well, emotional - optimism/ trust, intellectual - curiosity/ creativity, interpersonal - communication / support people, cultural - being around different ppl, spiritual - compassion / joy fulfillment, environmental - recycling / sustainability, financial - avoid debt / know how $ works, occupational - like what you do / build relationships with coworkers
•The Healthy People Initiative
•Aims to help all people have high-quality, longer lives free of preventable disease, injury and premature death.
•Makes the distinction between lifespan - the number of years you live - and healthspan – the number of years in your life during which you experience good health that is free of chronic diseases and debilitating conditions that limit your daily activities and wellness.
The Benefits of Physical Fitness: Healthy Body Composition
•2/3 of Canadians are overweight
•Physical activity guidelines for the prevention of weight gain or the maintenance of weight loss call for more daily physical activity than for the general population
•By increasing the duration and intensity of physical activity, even greater health and wellness benefits can be experienced
•Intensity is the key factor
Health Related Fitness
Cardiovascular Endurance
Maximal aerobic power (VO2 max) is a useful, meaningful and motivational physiological measurement.
From a clinical perspective, increased cardiovascular fitness is associated with decreased disease risk.
Older adults whose maximal aerobic power has dropped to approximately 12-15 ml/kg/min often become very challenged to autonomously complete activities of daily living.
Independent living seniors tend to have VO2 max values of at least 18 ml/kg/min (in men) and 15 ml/kg/min (in women).
1. Basic Principles of Training
2. The FIIT Principle
3. General Training Guidelines for “Health”
1. These principles guide effective and safe exercise:
Overload – Must stress the body beyond normal levels
Progression – Gradually increase overload over time
Specificity – Adaptations are specific to the stimulus
Reversibility – Use it or lose it
Individuality – Everyone responds differently
Recovery – Rest is essential for adaptation
2. A tool to guide program design:
Frequency: How often
Intensity: How hard
Time: How long
Type: Mode of activity
Volume: Total amount (F × I × T)
Progression: Adjustments over time
3. Low Intensity (Light Effort) Aerobic Exercise
Most (preferably all) days of the week
20-39% of Heart Rate Reserve (best option because it takes into consideration your resting heart rate before you start exercising) or can use target heart rate range
Approximately 60 min per day.
Example Activities: Light Gardening, Light Walking
3. Moderate Intensity Aerobic Exercise
3-5 days per week
40-59% HRR or can use target heart rate range
20-60 min per day
Example Activities: Brisk Walking (15-20 min per mile), Dancing
3. Vigorous Intensity Aerobic Exercise
3-5 days per week
60-84% HRR or can use target heart rate range
20 up to 60 min per day
Example Activities: Jogging, Swimming
The current health landscape
So: How are people doing at managing their physical Wellness?
•Rising rates of chronic disease and lifestyle-related illness reflect sedentary lifestyles
•Annually from 2015 to 2020, roughly 6 in 10 Canadian adults reported their health as very good or excellent.
•This percentage began to drop in 2021 (to 58.8%), and, in 2023, just over 5 in 10 Canadian adults reported their health as very good or excellent (52.2%).
•More prominent drops in elderly individuals and immigrants to Canada*
Global wellness economy
The global “Wellness” market was valued at over $5.3 trillion in 2023
•Total health spending in Canada reached a new level at $308 billion in 2021, or $8,019 per Canadian, following a surge in spending, particularly in 2020, due to the pandemic.
•Total health expenditure in Canada rose by 12.8% in 2020 due to pandemic response funding.
•Historically, Canada has seen health spending grow similarly to, and at times faster than, the overall economy.
LO 5: Finally, Your Turn: Hypokinetic Diseases
•There are many conditions/diseases associated with a lack of physical activity or too little regular exercise. For example:
•Cardiovascular Disease
•Osteoporosis
•Obesity
•Type II Diabetes
•Sarcopenia
•Osteopenia
•Metabolic Syndrome
VO2 Max and survival
Top 2% = 97% 10 year survival rate risk of death from any cause below 80%
Top 25% = 96% and below 76%
Top 50% = 93.5% and below 64%
Lower 50% = 91% and below 49%
Bottom 25% = 77% highest risk
VO2 max decreases with age - remember the athletic, fit, average, and out of shape ex
1. Benefits of Regular Exercise
1.
Physical Benefits:
Reduces the risk of chronic disease
Improves cardiovascular health
Enhances muscular strength and joint function
Increases energy levels and endurance
Improves body composition
Mental/Emotional Benefits:
Reduces anxiety and depression
Improves sleep
Enhances self-esteem
Boosts cognitive function
Social Benefits:
Community engagement (teams, gyms)
Improved social confidence and support networks