Understanding Health and Fitness

Health and Fitness

In this course, Dr Katie Hesketh (University of Birmingham) explores health and fitness. In the first lecture, we think about health and fitness as concepts and the guidelines around them. In the second lecture, we think about the components of fitness. In the third lecture, we think about the principles of training. Next, we think about training plans and their components. In the fifth and final lecture, we think about warming up and cooling down. Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash

Understanding Health and Fitness

In this lecture, we think about health and fitness as concepts and the guidelines around them, focusing in particular on: (i) understanding health to be a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing; (ii) understanding fitness to be the ability to meet the demands of the environment; (iii) poor mental health as a key example of being physically fit but still in ill health; (iv) Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), characterised by low energy intake and overtraining resulting in an inability to perform; (v) the Public Health Agency (PHA) guidelines, which state that adults should complete 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week, including two sessions of strength training; (vi) further guidelines for children that recommend 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per day, including strength and balance training; (vii) some key physical benefits of exercise being improved heart function, weight management and reduced disease risk; (viii) some key mental and social benefits of exercise; (ix) differences in reasons behind physical activity guidelines across age groups.