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Women and sports: reflections on health and policy
Published in Ellen Lewin, Virginia Olesen, Women, Health, and Healing, 2022
Mary Boutilier, Lucinda SanGiovanni
We conceptualize exercise as a particular form of physical activity and use this term to refer to "reasonably vigorous or continuous physical activity" (Johnson et al. 1975: 1; italics in original). Physical fitness is defined as the ability to engage in fairly vigorous physical activities and includes those qualities believed essential to a person's health and general wellbeing. Generally, there are four dimensions that are essential to physical fitness: circularespiratory capacity, muscular endurance, strength, and flexibility (Johnson et al. 1975: 25-30).
Peri-operative medicine
Published in Henry J. Woodford, Essential Geriatrics, 2022
Prehabilitation aims to improve health status in advance of the stress of surgery. Smoking cessation four to six weeks prior to surgery has been shown to reduce post-operative complications, including pneumonia, myocardial ischaemia and impaired wound healing.14 Reducing alcohol intake, when relevant, to within recommended levels (i.e. 14 units per week or less) also reduces the incidence of post-operative complications. Exercise training for periods of four to six weeks can meaningfully improve physical fitness. Ideally, this would include resistance training to increase muscle mass. Screening for nutritional status before surgery is appropriate. A protein intake of 1.5 to 2 g/kg is recommended to address pre-operative malnutrition, especially when aiming to improve muscle mass. Inspiratory muscle training can improve respiratory muscle strength and reduce the risk of post-operative pneumonia.
Exercise, Natural Immunity, and Cancer: Causation, Correlation, or Conundrum
Published in Ronald R. Watson, Marianne Eisinger, Exercise and Disease, 2020
Laurie Hoffman-Goetz, Brian MacNeil
At this point, it may be useful to consider a review by Caspersen et al.13 on the differences between physical activity, exercise, and physical fitness. Physical activity refers to any activity that results from muscular contraction and is best thought of as the total energy expenditure throughout a day, including sleep and occupational and leisure activity. The majority of epidemiological studies examine physical activity to varying degrees of completeness. Exercise is a portion of physical activity, but is a distinct subset due to the intention of those performing the activity to maintain or improve some aspect of physical fitness. The vast majority of studies on natural immunity examine responses to exercise only and not the broader category of physical activity. Finally, physical fitness is a set of attributes including cardiovascular and muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition. Physical fitness is determined in part by a genetic element. Confusing data may evolve from these unapparent differences if epidemiological studies measure physical activity (assessed by occupational status) and cancer risks, while laboratory studies of natural immunity focus only on exercise. Improved methods of determining physical activity and its components in epidemiological studies may greatly assist interpreting results from exercise-based laboratory studies. Likewise, assessing natural immune function during various components of physical activity is warranted.
Evaluation of a physical activity promotion intervention for adults with whiplash associated disorders: a single-case experimental design study
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2022
Carrie Ritchie, Kelly Clanchy, Michele Sterling, Robyn Tate, Esther J. Smits, Melissa Day, Jane Nikles, Jenna Liimatainen, Sean M. Tweedy
Neck pain is the most frequent symptom, though it is common for individuals with WAD to experience a range of other physical impairments and psychological distress [4,5]. Additionally, individuals with persistent WAD may have the lower aerobic capacity and decreased isometric strength compared with age-matched individuals with no neck pain [6]. It is not known if this reduced physical fitness is associated with an increased risk of ongoing pain and disability. However, it is well established that reduced physical fitness results from reduced levels of physical activity (PA) and is associated with an increased risk of preventable morbidity and mortality [7]. The World Health Organization recommends accumulating at least 150 min of moderate-intensity physical activity each week to confer benefits for all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular and mental health [7]. While the average PA levels of individuals with WAD are unknown, individuals with chronic non-traumatic neck pain have lower levels of leisure-time PA [8]. Furthermore, this reduced PA is associated with an increased risk of ongoing neck pain [8]. Given that levels of self-reported pain and disability are higher in individuals with WAD compared to individuals with chronic non-traumatic neck pain [9], it may be that individuals with chronic WAD are insufficiently active for good health, increasing their risk of preventable morbidity and mortality, and compounding the effects of WAD.
The mediating roles of sleep quality and sedentary behavior between physical fitness and depression among female college freshmen
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2022
Xiaoxia Zhang, Xiangli Gu, Tao Zhang, Jean M Keller
Physical fitness refers to one’s physical capacity and motor function in this study, which is categorized into health-related physical fitness (e.g., body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength) and skill-related fitness (e.g., power, coordination), respectively.13 Physical fitness has been recognized as a promising health marker and predictor for a variety of physical and mental health disorders.14,15 Studies have shown individuals with higher levels of physical fitness are more likely to perceive better psychological well-being and quality of life compared to those with lower levels of physical fitness.16–18 Although associations between physical fitness and mental health have been thoroughly studied, only a few studies focused on the association with depression specifically. For example, in a 3-year prospective study of 6,677 young females aged 22–27 years, Ball and colleagues found a higher risk of depression in overweight and obese females compared to those with a healthy weight (odds ratio = 1.21 vs. odds ratio = 1.33, respectively).19 People’s cardiovascular and metabolic-related health issues are also highly correlated with depression.20 These studies indicated a negative correlation of physical fitness toward depressive symptoms, while more empirical evidence is needed to examine how the various components of physical fitness correlate with depression and what is the underlying mechanism of those relations.
Exploring the role of the biokineticist in diabetes self-management: a survey of patients’ knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about exercise
Published in Journal of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa, 2022
T Sookan, A Vaizie, T Pillay, S Moodley, S Naidoo, K Naidoo
Despite the higher level of adherence to exercise reported in this study, compared with elsewhere in the country, the utilisation of exercise is still sub-optimal.4,6 A significant gap also exists between participants’ understanding and willingness to engage in exercise for their health, and the actual number who do so. This could be related to a lack of information and guidance on how to effectively utilise exercise to manage T2DM. There were many misperceptions identified around exercise, such as participants’ opinion that daily activity was synonymous with physical exercise and that people with T2DM could not engage in strenuous exercise like weightlifting, cycling and running. This suggests that, even among those participants who reported exercising regularly, the effectiveness of exercise in controlling their T2DM could be minimal due to incorrect frequency, duration and intensity of the exercise. Physical limitations such as lower limb pathology, visual impairment and lack of physical fitness further inhibited efforts to exercise.