Chapter 1

1

Health, Fitness, and Health, Fitness, and PerformancePerformance

Edward T. Howley

C H A P T E R

Different Goals, Different Requirements

• Health

• Fitness

• Performance

Frequency, duration, intensity, and type of activity vary depending on goals.

Different Sides of the Same Coin

• Health (these benefits occur independent of changes in body weight)

• Delay death, avoid disease, enjoy life, withstand challenges, improve systolic blood pressure and lipid profiles, lose body fat

• Fitness• Continue with health benefits; greater reduction in risk

of CVD; greater reduction in diastolic blood pressure; enhanced glucose control; greater increase in CRF; development of components of fitness

Leading Causes of Death in the U.S. (2007)

• Cardiovascular disease (31%)

• Cancer (23.2%)

• Chronic lower respiratory disease (5.3%)

• Accidents (5.1%)

• Alzheimer’s disease (3.1%)

Actual Causes of Death

• Smoking (18.1%)

• Poor diet and physical inactivity (15.2%)

• Alcohol consumption (3.5%)It naturally follows that delaying death involves refraining

from tobacco exposure and improving diet and activity habits.

Subcategories of Physical Activity

• Self-care or daily tasks

• Occupational or leisure-time activities

• Recreational activity

• Structured activity (exercise) or competitive sport

Physical Activity and Health

• Impact of regular physical activity on health• Improved cardiorespiratory health

• Improved metabolic health

• Improved musculoskeletal health

• Reduction in certain types of cancers

• Improved mental health

• Improved functional ability and overall reduction in falls

Previous PA Guidelines Emphasized Fitness in Order to Improve Health

• 1972 (AH)• Begin at 75% HRmax, 3 days ∙ week, 15-20 min

• 1973 (YMCA)• 80% VO2max, 3 days per week, 40-45 min

• 1975 (ACSM)• 70-90% VO2max, 3-5 days per week, 20-45 min

New Insight: Harvard Alumni (Paffenbarger, 1978)

• >2,000 kcals expended through LTPA (regardless of intensity) yielded a 36% decrease in the risk of developing a heart attack

• The focus of physical activity shifted from higher intensity (fitness) to:• Health outcomes

• Volume of activity (frequency, intensity, duration)

• Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA)

Putting It All Together: Physical Activity Recommendations in the 1990s

• 1992• Physical inactivity declared a major risk factor by the

AHA

• 1995• ACSM/CDC publish public health PA guidelines

• At least 30 minutes of moderate activity 5 days per week

• 1996• Surgeon general’s report backs up the 1995 ACSM/CDC

recommendation

• Focus is on PA for improving public health

Major Groups and Their Recommendations: Rationale for the

Different PA Guidelines• ACSM/CDC

• 30 minutes, moderate activity, 5 days per week

• Intent: health benefits

• 2002 Institute of Medicine• 60 minutes moderate PA daily

• Intent: health benefits and prevention of weight gain

(continued)

Major Groups and Their Recommendations: Rationale for the

Different PA Guidelines (continued)

• 2002 International Obesity Task Force• 60-90 minutes moderate PA daily

• Intent: prevention of weight regain in those who have lost a large deal of weight

• 2003 International Association for the Study of Obesity• 45-60 minutes moderate PA daily

• Intent: prevention of weight gain

How Much Is Enough? Updated (2007) ACSM PA Guidelines for Reducing Chronic

Disease• 30 minutes moderate intensity, 5 days per

week

• Or 20 minutes vigorous, 3 days per week

• Or some combination of the twoDoing more than the minimum (i.e., 60 minutes moderate)

increases the health benefits.

2008 U.S. Physical Activity • First set of national guidelines

• Substantial health benefits occur at a PA volume of 500 to 1,000 MET minutes per week.

• One minute of vigorous-intensity is equal to 2 minutes of moderate-intensity activity.

• 150 minutes of moderate activity per week

OR

• 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week

Fitness: The Next Level• Greater reductions in risk of CV disease with

vigorous versus moderate activity

• Components of health-related fitness• Relative leanness

• Cardiorespiratory fitness

• Muscular strength

• Muscular endurance

• Flexibility

Performance Goals: Daily Tasks and Sport Performance

• Performance-related fitness components• Speed

• Agility

• Balance

• Power

• Coordination

• Reaction time

• Most of the text deals with health and fitness