Physical health is critical for overall well-being and is the most visible of the various dimensions of health, which also include social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and environmental health. Some of the most obvious and serious signs that we are unhealthy appear physically. Addressing this dimension is crucial for anyone attempting to sustain overall health and wellness.
Physical health is defined as the condition of your body, taking into consideration everything from the absence of disease to fitness level.
Physical health is critical for overall well-being, and can be affected by:
- Lifestyle: diet, level of physical activity, and behaviour (for instance, smoking);
- Human biology: a person’s genetics and physiology may make it easier or harder to achieve good physical health;
- Environment: our surroundings and exposure to factors such as sunlight or toxic substances;
- Healthcare service: good healthcare can help prevent illness, as well as detect and treat illnes
There are five components of physical fitness that you need
The 5 components of physical fitness are often used in our school systems, health clubs and fitness centers to gauge how good a shape we are truly in. The 5 components that make up total fitness are:
- Cardiovascular Endurance
- Muscular Strength
- Muscular endurance
- Flexibility
- Body Composition
Total fitness can be defined by how well the body performs in each one of the components of physical fitness as a whole. It is not enough to be able to bench press your body weight. You also need to determine how well you can handle running a mile etc.
Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the heart and lungs to work together to provide the needed oxygen and fuel to the body during sustained workloads. Examples would be jogging, cycling and swimming. The Cooper Run is used most often to test cardiovascular endurance.
Cardiovascular endurance (also known as cardiorespiratory endurance or aerobic fitness) refers to your body's ability to efficiently and effectively intake oxygen and deliver it to your body's tissues by way of the heart, lungs, arteries, vessels, and veins. By engaging in regular exercise that challenges your heart and lungs, you can:
- Maintain or even improve the efficient delivery and uptake of oxygen to your body's systems
- Enhance cellular metabolism
- Ease the physical challenges of everyday life
Muscular strength is the amount of force a muscle can produce. Examples would be the bench press, leg press or bicep curl. The push up test is most often used to test muscular strength.
Consider Your Goals
The extent to which you train for strength is, again, determined by your own health and fitness goals. For instance, if your focus is on health, you know you should be strong enough to lift a heavy box or to easily stand up from a chair. In this circumstance, enhanced muscular strength may be a byproduct of a workout routine focused more on developing muscular endurance.
If, however, you want to develop muscle mass or to be able to lift heavier weights at the gym, your training regimen should be focused more on lifting heavy weights.
Muscular endurance is the ability of the muscles to perform continuous without fatiguing. Examples would be cycling, step machines and elliptical machines. The sit up test is most often used to test muscular endurance.
Flexibility is the ability of each joint to move through the available range of motion for a specific joint. Examples would be stretching individual muscles or the ability to perform certain functional movements such as the lunge. The sit and reach test is most often used to test flexibility.
Body composition is the amount of fat mass compared to lean muscle mass, bone and organs. This can be measured using underwater weighing, Skinfold readings, and bioelectrical impedance. Underwater weighing is considered the “gold standard” for body fat measurement, however because of the size and expense of the equipment needed very few places are set up to do this kind of measurement.
Body fat composition refers to the amount of fat on your body. For example, a 100-pound person with a 25% body fat composition will have a lean body mass of 75 pounds.
To qualify as fit:
- Men must have a body fat composition lower than 17 percent
- Women must have a body fat composition lower than 24 percent
The average man tends to have about 18 to 24 percent body fat, while the average woman has 25 to 31 percent body fat.
Physical health and mental health
A clear distinction is often made between 'mind' and
'body'. But when considering mental health and physical health, the two should
not be thought of as separate.
Poor physical health can lead to an increased risk of developing
mental health problems. Similarly, poor mental health can negatively impact on
physical health, leading to an increased risk of some conditions.
Since the founding of the NHS in 1948, physical care and
mental health care have largely been disconnected.
People with the highest levels of self-rated distress
(compared to lowest rates of distress) were 32% more likely to have died from
cancer.1,2 Depression has been found to be associated with an increased risk of
coronary heart disease.
Lifestyle Factors
These lifestyle factors can influence the state of both your
physical and mental health.
Exercise
Physical activity in any form is a great way to keep you
physically healthy as well as improving your mental wellbeing.
Research shows that doing exercise influences the release and uptake of
feel-good chemicals called endorphins in the brain. Even a short burst of 10
minutes brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood.
Read the Let's Get Physical report for more
on the positive health benefits of physical activity.
Physical activity means any movement of your body that
uses your muscles and expends energy. From tending your garden to running a
marathon, even gentle forms of exercise can significantly improve your quality
of life. For more tips on the ways in which you can build physical activity
into your routine, download our Let's get physical booklet.
Diet
Good nutrition is a crucial factor in influencing the way we
feel. A healthy balanced diet is one that includes healthy amounts of proteins,
essential fats, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water.
The food we eat can influence the development, management and prevention
of numerous mental health conditions including depression and Alzheimer's.
Smoking
Smoking has a negative impact on both mental and physical
health. Many people with mental health problems believe that smoking relieves
their symptoms, but these effects are only short-term.
- People
with depression are twice as likely to smoke as other people.
- People
with schizophrenia are three times as likely to smoke as
other people.
Nicotine in cigarettes interferes with the chemicals in our
brains. Dopamine is a chemical which influences positive feelings, and is often
found to be lower in people with depression. Nicotine temporarily increases the
levels of dopamine, but also switches off the brain's natural
mechanism for making the chemical. In the long term, this
can make a person feel as though they need more and more nicotine in
order to repeat this positive sensation.
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