Importance of Healthy Lifestyle

Everyone has a unique way of defining a healthy lifestyle in that some people believe that health is living a life free of diseases. For others, a healthy lifestyles involves having and exercise schedule weekly. Although the definitions are different, it is important to live a healthy lifestyle in order to maintain a balanced physical and mental well-being. Unhealthy lifestyle such as poor diet, smoking, and lack of physical activity poses one to the risk of premature death and health decline. Although there a many determinants of a healthy lifestyle, physical activity and balanced diet are the leading factors for health and quality life. A well balanced diet that contains, fruits, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and minerals is important for maintaining adequate levels of energy and it is be accompanied by physical activity in order to build strength and control weight gain. Additionally healthy lifestyle involves allowing the body to have enough rest and by doing so, the body is protected from diseases.  In this paper, healthy lifestyle in relation fitness testing which acts as a means of assessment and increases literacy among the youth will be discussed. Increases habits of carrying out physical activities lead to fitness while at the same time fitness testing.is carried out in order to assess the ability of a person to carry out the activities.

Introduction

Fitness testing is an emerging field for physical education which is part of a long history in physical testing especially among the youth. In past few decades, both political and social requirements have stressed on the need for carrying out fitness testing especially in the United States. Schools and the military have given emphasis on the need for this noble course.  While fitness components are standard, the protocol and the tests that are carried out are different depending on the setting (Rikli & Jones, 2013). People are unique therefore they require different programs of fitness, therefore they should apply the basic fitness principles so that they can not only feel good but also have a unique lifestyle. It is important for people to assess their fitness and ensure that they exercise regularly. As much as healthy lifestyle involves having an ideal body weight, it is unique depending on the structure of a person’s body. During a health assessment, the body fat is assessed in order to determine if there is excess distribution of fats especially in the abdominal area since it poses one to the risk of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers. BMI is used as indirect measure of fatness and involves calculation of the relationship between height and weight. In order to attain such a balance, one should remember to take fats and carbohydrates moderately and avoiding foods that have negative effects to the body. This paper will review the past and current literature on fitness testing and also give limitations and strengths of how the process was carried out in the past.

Fitness and healthy living

Nowadays, people have come to a realization that fitness promotes long life which is the reason there is prolonged research on improving reliability and validity of the tests. It is the role of state and nongovernmental organizations to promote policies, standards and guidelines for appropriate fitness testing.  Currently, physical testing and fitness for young people are conducted on mandatory and voluntary basis and in some places, routine monitoring is emphasized (Rikli & Jones, 2013). For instance, in Texas, there is mandatory testing is done for the youth in grade 3 to 12. Additional measures have been put in place with regards to inclusion of fitness measures in surveys that involve nutrition examination and National health. Fitness testing involves test such as cardiovascular fitness, body composition and physical activity. Previous fitness testing  revealed that cardiovascular tests were not always done and due to this, there was high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases risk factors.

According to research, exercising regularly is essential since it allows the body to gain enough oxygen and gain muscles while burning excess fats. Oxygen is important to the body since it initiates proper working of muscles and also enhances the working of the heart. This can be achieved through conducting aerobics since they are important element of fitness. Healthy lifestyle also ensures that the muscles are flexible therefore health fitness also involves measuring of whether the hips, lower back and thighs are flexible.  It is also worth noting that having balance while moving muscles should not be taken for granted. According to research, people who are unable to maintain balance are at a risk of sustaining injuries.

One of the major tests carried out in fitness tests is cardiovascular endurance that involves testing on whether the body can perform muscle and whole body exercises for longer periods at a high intensity (Rikli & Jones, 2013). The role of this test is to establish the relationship between body weight, blood pressure, pulmonary and cognitive function and the risk factors to cardio metabolism. In terms of economics, it is important to carry out the test since they save one the cost is associated with management of cardiovascular diseases.

Muscle skeletal tests are also done in order to determine the strength, endurance and power of the muscles (Rikli & Jones, 2013). The components of muscles fitness are measure individually and there is no given time that a single test can be conducted. Studies show that there is a relationship between muscle strength and body composition. While the tests cannot be used for in the context of heath, their relationship with health outcomes cannot be determined but they are important for education purpose.

Other important tests conducted include flexibility of body tissues that include connective and muscle tissues. These tests are important in determination of individual’s flexibility in different motions. According to clinical theory, there is a complex interaction between different components of musculoskeletal muscles. Although it is quite evident that adults have limited flexibility, such factors are difficult to especially when one is a youth and the issues that they be having may manifest themselves in the later years.

Lastly, according to the past literature it is quite evident that in people started learning about healthy lifestyles from many decades ago. However, the major limitation is that there was too much emphasis on diet and exercise without considering fitness testing. Although fitness testing was late introduced, it was limited to the youth which is why the government and nongovernmental organizations emphasized that it should be done in schools since it was majorly for the youth. As much as it had limitations, the major advantage it that it was taken seriously and in some schools it was mandatory. Currently, healthy living and fitness testing is on the higher level has been embraced in almost all instructions.

References

Rikli, R. & Jones, C. (2013). Senior fitness test manual. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.