STAYING FIT DURING PREGNANCY

Like many other attitude, our thinking on fitness during pregnancy has changed in recent years.  No longer is a pregnant woman treated as fragile.  A woman needs to be quite careful when carrying a baby, but these days a doctor is more likely to advise against a sedentary lifestyle for...

FITNESS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Along with six necessary elements to include in your fitness program, you should consider many additional issues when you start a fitness program. Should I see My Doctor Before I get Started? This issue has probably kept thousands of people from ever beginning a fitness program.  The...

DEVELOPING A CARDIO RESPIRATORY FITNESS PROGRAM

For people of all ages, cardio respiratory conditioning can be achieved through many activities.  As long as the activity you choose places sufficient demand on the heart and lungs, improved fitness is possible.  In addition to the familiar activities of swimming, running, cycling, and...

GUIDELINES FOR STATIC STRETCHING

Take the following precautions to reduce the possibility of injury during stretching: ·         Warm up using a slow jog or fast walk before stretching. ·         Stretch only to point at which you feel tightness or...

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS OF CARDIO RESPIRATORY (AEROBIC) FITNESS

Aerobic fitness can help you to do the following: Complete and enjoy your daily activities. Strengthen and increase the efficiency of your heart muscle. Increase the proportion of high- destiny lipoproteins in your blood. Increase the capillary network in your body. Improve...

AGING PHYSICALLY

The period between 45 and 64 years of age brings with it a variety of subtle changes in the body’s structure and function.  When life is busy and mind is active, these changes are generally not evident.  Even when they become evident, they are not usually the source of profound concern. ...

COMPONENTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS

Physical fitness is characterized by the ability to perform occupational and recreational activities without becoming unduly fatigued and to have the capacity to handle unforeseen emergencies.  The following sections focus on cardio respiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance,...

BECOMING PHYSICALLY FIT

When your day begins early in the morning, then you go to class or work or immerse yourself in recreational activities, and your day does not end until after midnight, you must be physically fit to keep up the pace.  Even a highly motivated college student must have a conditioned, rested body...

COPING WITH THE STRESS IN THE AFTERMATH OF 9/11

Certainly our country as a whole experienced a great deal of stress from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  A poll of 560 adults conducted 3 to 5 days after Sept. 11 showed that 44 percent of adults reported one or more substantial symptoms of stress, such as having difficulty concentrating,...

MANAGING STRESS: EFFECTIVE COPING STRATEGIES

The research on how people cope with crisis and stress in their lives has shown that people tend to resolve problems within 2 weeks of experiencing a crisis.  Because stress involves a disruption in your equilibrium, and the body does not function well in a chronic state of disequilibrium,...

PERFECTIONISM

Perfectionism leads to undue stress, because perfection is an unattainable goal.  By setting the standard at perfect, you will set yourself up to fail.  Perfectionists tend to be their own worst critic; they are harder on themselves than anyone else is on them, and they are also critical...

USING TIME EFFECTIVELY

An overwhelming number of students identify time management as the reason for their academic success or failure.  Setting priorities and goals, balancing academic life with your social life, and finding time for sleeping, eating, exercising, and working along with studying is an essential...

STUDENT STRESS

Going to college has been likened to “crossing into a new culture,” and there are unique challenges and stressors that students face.  Similar to going to live in another country, students must learn new customs and traditions, new ways of doing things, a new language, and must leave comfortable...

THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF STRESS

Stress can be costly, taking a toll on our physical and mental health as well as our finances. Constant arousal and increased levels of adrenaline in your system will eventually wear down your body’s immunological system.  As this occurs, you will be less able to cope with stress, and so...

SOURCES OF STRESS

There are other causes of stress besides experiencing positive or negative events in your life.  What events or situations trigger stress for you?  For some it is financial worries, for others it might be relationship conflict, and for others it is work - related stress.&nbs...