Physical Activity
 Play
 Leisure & Recreation
 Active leisure
 Outdoor & adventurous activities
 Physical Education
 Sport
Play
 An activity undertaken purely for enjoyment or
amusement and has no other objective
 Usually associated with children but can be adults as
well
 What is the difference between adults and children at
play?
 What can be achieved through play?
Spontaneou
s
Few/change
able rules
Childlike
Fit to the
environmen
t
PLAY
Flexible
Intrinsic
value
Fun
Little
Organisatio
n
Leisure
 Leisure - Time during which you have no obligations to
work or family and are free to engage in self-directed
and chosen activities
 Active Leisure – being physically active in leisure time
 19th C – only rich and privileged had leisure time
 Now, most people will have some amount of free time
depending on commitments and responsibilities
Free-time
Enjoyment
Leisure
Relaxation
Freely
chosen
activities
Physically
active
Sporadic
Active
leisure
Enjoyment
Not always
sportbased
Flexible
Recreation
 Recreation - Engaged in activities that refresh, relax
or enable the recreation of oneself after the rigours of
work or day-to-day life
 Physical Recreation - Engaged in physical activities
that refresh, relax or enable the recreation of oneself
after the rigours of work or day-to-day life
Refresh mind
& body
Activities for
selffulfillment
Recreation
Creativity
Recuperating
& recovering
from stress
OAA
 Outdoor & Adventurous activities
 OR – recreation that takes place and uses the natural





environment
Adventure Activity – a form of outdoor recreation that
involves a degree of challenge and risk
OE - Learning in and about the outdoors
The setting is natural or semi-natural environment which
adds a degree of risk or unpredictability
Can be artificial facilities e.g. climbing walls, ski slopes,
man made lakes for water sports, swimming pool for
canoeing’
Urban Adventure – adventurous activities in the city e.g.
parkour, Rat race adventure
Risks of OAA
 Beginners – perceived risk
(completely safe)
 Experts –actual risk
(dangerous/fatal)
 Perceived Risk – predictable
and safe setting but offering
challenge and sense of
adventure
- activity may appear
dangerous but with staff
training, RA, safety guidelines, it
is completely safe and risk is
imagined
 Actual Risk – avoided by
equipment and preparation.
Risk is the attraction for many
participants. Not part of OE
Constraints on OE
 Funding
 Specialist training for staff – expensive and time
consuming
 Health and safety issues
 Facilities are too widespread – no easy access
 Staff not willing to give up time
Physical Education
 ‘Physical Education is the learning of physical,
personal, preparatory and qualitative values through
formal physical activity in schools’.
 Fundamentally physical
 Also personal, social, lifestyle and emotional
development
Sports
 Sports are institutionalised competitive activities that involve vigorous physical
exertion or the use of relatively complex skills by individuals whose
participation is motivated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors’
Coakley, 1982
 Intrinsic
 Extrinsic
 Institutionalised
 Competitive structure – leagues, cups organised by NGB
 Standardised rules set by NGB
 Rules enforced by officials
 Strategies, specialisation of players, training, specialist equipment
 Code of conduct – written and unwritten
Sports are institutionalised competitive activities that involve vigorous
physical exertion or the use of relatively complex skills by individuals whose
participation is motivated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors’
Coakley,
1982
Institutionalised
Intrinsic
Extrinsic
Competitive
structure – leagues,
cups organised by
NGB
Internal
Medals/prizes
Standardised rules
set by NGB
Selfsatisfaction/fulfillment
Money
Rules enforced by
officials
Fun/enjoyment
Fame
Strategies,
specialisation of
players, training,
specialist equipment
Desire to win
Praise
Code of conduct –
written and
unwritten
Demands of
the job
Healthy Balanced Lifestyle
 Equilibrium, Quality & Wellness
 What makes up a healthy lifestyle?
Lifelong Physical Activity
 Health enhancing
movement as part of
daily life
 Continued throughout
life
 Life-long participation
 E.g. yoga, gym, walking
programme
Lifetime Sports
 Can be enjoyed over the course of a lifetime, into
middle and old age
 E.g. ?
 Badminton
 Tennis
 Table tennis
 These sports don’t need to be highly competitive or
high impact, can be played at a more recreational
level
Benefits of Regular Physical Activity
 Benefits can be physical, mental and social
 Can help to improve quality of life
Physical
 Obesity has doubled between 1980 & 2000
 7/10 men, 6/10 women in UK
 50% less risk of CHD if physically active
 Physical activity and healthy diet can prevent
certain types of cancer
 Preserve bone density – reduce chance of
osteoporosis
 Lower blood pressure
Mental
 Reduce stress
 Relieve anxiety and depression
 Academic performance can be improved
 Improve mood
Social
 Increase self-esteem
 Improve self-control & self-discipline
 Self-realisation – get to know our strengths,
weaknesses, likes, dislikes
 Feeling of belonging and integration
 Reduce anti-social behaviour
Sedentary Lifestyles
 UK becoming more sedentary than ever
 7/10 adults are sedentary – moderately active for less
than 30 mins/week
 Rural to Urban society
 Modern technology
 Exercise is now a lifestyle choice and not necessity
Recommendations
 Adults – 30 mins moderate activity at least 5
times/week
 Children – 60 mins each day ideally, but at least
2x/week