LESSON 1 A WAY TO KEEP FIT

Activity 1: Let Me Think

Directions: Complete the table below by listing all physical activities you have
engaged in before and activities you are engaged in at present.

When I was a kid, I used to… Now I’m a young adult, I do…
What is physical activity?

It is any movement made by the muscles of

the body that requires exertion of energy
such as running, swimming, dancing, etc.
Exercising is considered physical activity but more structured and planned
Why do we need regular exercise?
a. Aerobic Activities
Aerobic activities
Aerobic activities are are also
also called
called “cardio”
“cardio” exercises.
exercises.
Normally, these
Normally, these activities
activities increase
increase our
our heart
heart and
and breathing
breathing
rate. These
rate. These activities
activities cause
cause us us to
to sweat
sweat profusely,
profusely, and
and
breathe harder.
breathe harder. Our Our heart
heart pumps
pumps blood
blood more
more vigorously,
vigorously,
causing oxygen
causing oxygen to to circulate
circulate throughout
throughout ourour body.
body. This
This
allows us
allows us to
to sustain
sustain our our aerobic
aerobic exercise
exercise for
for a few
few minutes.
minutes.
Such activities
Such activities like
like jogging,
jogging, running,
running, swimming
swimming andand dancing
dancing
are some
are some examples
examples of of aerobic
aerobic exercises
exercises which
which improve
improve our
our
cardiorespiratory fitness.
cardiorespiratory fitness. It
It also
also helps
helps us
us to
to prevent
prevent disease
disease
like cardiovascular
like cardiovascular disease,
disease, diabetes,
diabetes, and
and osteoporosis.
osteoporosis.
Most aerobic
Most aerobic activities
activities cancan bebe done
done onon a
a daily
daily basis.
basis. To
To be
be
physically fit,
physically fit, it
it is
is important
important to to engage
engage inin aerobic
aerobic activities
activities

Aerobic, Muscle Strengthening, and Bone Strengthening

Activities: How Do They Work and Differ?
 Running or jogging Cardio kickboxing
Walking Zumba
Swimming
Stationary bike

Aerobic Exercise Examples

Frequency - Always Intensity – To be effective, Time – More time spent doing Type - Running, jogging,
consider the number of aerobic aerobic exercises should be done in aerobic exercises means more sprinting, swimming, and
exercise sessions per week. When moderate intensity, that is, our heart calories burned and an increase in playing contact sports
doing cardio exercises, especially rate should be 60 to 80% of our endurance. We can at least do 20 such as basketball are
to lose weight, frequency is an maximum heartrate. First, determine minutes per session at first, then
some activities that we
important factor to make it more the target heart rate by getting the gradually increase it to 60 minutes.
effective. Start cardio exercises for maximum heart rateand the can do to improve our
at least 3 recommended heart rate range. This heart rate. It is also
days a week for the first few will then tell how hard we important to try different
weeks, with not more than 2 days’ should exercise during our training. exercises and activities to
rest between sessions. Afterwards, avoid boredom.
we can gradually increase the
frequency of exercise to 5 days a
week.

Guidelines for Aerobic Exercise

 b. Muscle strengthening
activities are exercises in
which groups of muscles
work or hold against a force
or some weight. Muscle
strengthening activities help
build good muscle strength.

Muscle Strengthening Activities

Strengthening exercises work muscles as they move against resistance. This resistance
can come from workout machines, free weights or barbells, elastic bands, water, stairs,
hills, cans of vegetables from the pantry -- even your own body weight as you do a
pushup.
 During muscle strengthening activity, muscle
contraction occurs. The repetitive contractions
during exercise can cause damage to the
muscle fibers. Our body repairs these muscle
fibers when they get damaged. The repair
happens after exercise while muscles are at
rest. New muscle fibers are produced to
replace or repair those that were damaged.

The muscles in our body then start to grow larger and stronger. This
stimulation and repair process is called muscle hypertrophy
 Building strong bones begins in childhood. The best time to build bone density is during years of rapid
growth. We essentially develop the skeleton that must last our lifetime when we are between the ages of
10 and 18 years old. Our peak bone mass in maximum strength and density is achieved in our late
twenties.
Weight-bearing exercise during the teen years is essential to reach maximum bone strength. A teen's
physical activity should include 20 to 30 minutes of weight-bearing exercise at least 3 to 4 days each
week.
•Brisk walking and hiking
•Jogging/running
•Dancing
•Jumping rope
•Hopscotch
•Tennis, badminton, ping pong, and pickleball
•Team sports, such as basketball, soccer, and volleyball
•Stair climbing

Bone Strengthening Activities

bone strengthening activities can increase bone
density throughout our skeletal system. This is
called bone hypertrophy.
Children and adolescents need at least 60
minutes of physical activity every day.
Include activities that make their hearts
beat faster, build muscles (like climbing or
doing push-ups), and strengthen bones (like
running or jumping). A guide to activities
that school-aged children and adolescents
can do to meet the recommended activity
levels is below. Encourage children to do any
activity they enjoy, as long as the activities
are safe and appropriate for their age and
skill level.

WHAT ARE SOME AEROBIC, MUSCLE

STRENGTENING AND BONE
STRENGTHENING ACTIVITIES?
SUMMARY