HEALTHY CHANGES:
4 Steps Towards Overall Health

Step 1:
Understanding Your "Total Health"

Step 2:
Make the Commitment

Step 3:
Assessment & Goals

Step 4:
ACTION TOOL RESOURCE CENTER

Mental/Emotional Health
Social Health
Spiritual Health
Physical Health



 

 

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Step 4: RESOURCE TOOL CENTER

PHYSICAL HEALTH: Cardio or Aerobic



"Ultimately, I am what I choose to be; my self-esteem follows the same path."
Anonymous

What does it mean to be physically "fit?" Physical fitness is defined as "a set of attributes that people have or achieve that relates to the ability to perform physical activity" (USDHHS, 1996). In other words, it is more than being able to run a long distance or lift a lot of weight at the gym. Being fit is not defined only by what kind of activity you do, how long you do it, or at what level of intensity. While these are important measures of fitness, they only address single areas. Overall fitness is made up of five main components:

What is "cardiorespiratory endurance (cardiorespiratory fitness)?"
Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability of the body's circulatory and respiratory systems to supply fuel during sustained physical activity (USDHHS, 1996 as adapted from Corbin & Lindsey, 1994). To improve your cardiorespiratory endurance, try activities that keep your heart rate elevated at a safe level for a sustained length of time such as walking, swimming, or bicycling. The activity you choose does not have to be strenuous to improve your cardiorespiratory endurance. Start slowly with an activity you enjoy, and gradually work up to a more intense pace.

What is "muscular strength?"
Muscular strength is the ability of the muscle to exert force during an activity (USDHHS, 1996 as adapted from Wilmore & Costill, 1994). The key to making your muscles stronger is working them against resistance, whether that be from weights or gravity. If you want to gain muscle strength, try
exercises such as lifting weights or rapidly taking the stairs.

What is "muscular endurance?"
Muscular endurance is the ability of the muscle to continue to perform without fatigue (USDHHS, 1996 as adapted from Wilmore & Costill, 1994). To improve your muscle endurance, try cardiorespiratory activities such as walking, jogging, bicycling, or dancing.

What is "body composition?"
Body composition refers to the relative amount of muscle, fat, bone, and other vital parts of the body (USDHHS, 1996 as adapted from Corbin and Lindsey, 1994). A person's total body weight (what you see on the bathroom scale) may not change over time. But the bathroom scale does not assess how much of that body weight is fat and how much is lean mass (muscle, bone, tendons, and ligaments). Body composition is important to consider for health and managing your weight!

What is "flexibility?"
Flexibility is the range of motion around a joint (USDHHS, 1996 as adapted from Wilmore & Costill, 1994). Good flexibility in the joints can help prevent injuries through all stages of life. If you want to improve your flexibility, try activities that lengthen the muscles such as swimming or a basic stretching
program.

Science tells us that when it comes down to our overall health, adults, regardless of age, need to do two key types of physical activities:

For health benefits, physical activity should be moderate or vigorous and add up to at least 30 minutes a day.

Cardio - What’s Your Intensity?
Moderate: While performing the physical activity, if your heart is beating noticeably faster it is probably moderately intense: We need to do this level of activity for at least 30 minutes, most days of the week.

Moderate Physical Activities Include:

Vigorous: If you are breathing hard and fast and your heart rate is increased substantially during physical activity, it is probably vigorously intense.

Vigorous Physical Activities Include:

Some physical activities are not intense enough to help you meet the recommendations. Although you are moving, these activities do not increase your heart rate, so you should not count these towards the 30 or more minutes a day that you should strive for. These include walking at a casual pace, such as while grocery shopping, and doing light household chores.

Tips for Increasing Physical Activity

Make physical activity a regular part of the day. Choose activities that you enjoy and can do regularly. To meet the goal of 30 minutes a day of moderately intense physical activity, you don’t have to do all 30 minutes at once. Scientific evidence shows you get the same health benefits from breaking 30 minutes up into three 10-minute or two 15-minute intervals throughout the day, if you prefer. Daily activities like climbing several flights of stairs or parking farther away from store entrances are a good start.
But if you don’t do that activity for at least 10 minutes at a time, it doesn’t help you meet the recommendation for 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity. In addition, for most people, greater health benefits can be obtained by engaging in physical activity of more vigorous intensity or of longer duration.

Target Heart Rate and Estimated Maximum Heart Rate

A way of monitoring physical activity intensity is to determine whether a person's pulse or heart rate is within the target zone during physical activity.

For moderate-intensity physical activity, a person's target heart rate should be 50 to 70% of his or her maximum heart rate. This maximum rate is based on the person's age. An estimate of a person's maximum age-related heart rate can be obtained by subtracting the person's age from 220. For example, for a 50-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 - 50 years = 170 beats per minute (bpm). The 50% and 70% levels would be:

Thus, moderate-intensity physical activity for a 50-year-old person will require that the heart rate remains between 85 and 119 bpm during physical activity.

For vigorous-intensity physical activity, a person's target heart rate should be 70 to 85% of his or her maximum heart rate. To calculate this range, follow the same formula as used above, except change"50 and 70%" to "70 and 85%". For example, for a 35-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-
Active Living Resources Click here for additional resources and information.
related heart rate would be calculated as 220 - 35 years = 185 beats per minute (bpm). The 70% and 85% levels would be:

Thus, vigorous-intensity physical activity for a 35-year-old person will require that the heart rate remains between 130 and 157 bpm during physical activity.

Taking Your Heart Rate

Generally, to determine whether you are exercising within the heart rate target zone, you must stop exercising briefly to take your pulse.You can take the pulse at the neck, the wrist, or the chest. We recommend the wrist. You can feel the radial pulse on the artery of the wrist in line with the thumb. Place the tips of the index and middle fingers over the artery and press lightly. Do not use the thumb. Take a full 60-second count of the heartbeats, or take for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Start the count on a beat, which is counted as "zero." If this number falls between 85 and 119 bpm in the case of the 50-year-old person, he or she is active within the target range for moderate-intensity activity.

Read more:
CDC's Measuring Physical Activity Intensity

 

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