option 3
fitness
choices
PDHPE in focus hsc course
c h a p t e r
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W h at d o e s e x e r c i s e m e a n t o d i f f e r e n t p e o p l e ?
meanings of exercise
critically examine questions such as:
– to what extent should exercise be a part of lifestyle?
– what does it mean to be fit?
The general dictionary meaning of exercise is performing bodily or mental activity, especially for training or
improvement. However, what exercise means and how it is relevant from one individual to another varies
considerably. Everyday walking from one place to the next, whether it be at school, a work place or home; or
just doing something physical like placing items on shelves or cleaning, all this is general exercise that is done
in our everyday lives without thinking about it as exercise. Exercise can also be planned and structured and
may include recreational activities, such as walking the dog or participating in gruelling competitive sports,
such as triathlons.
The amount of exercise a person does, and the type and intensity of the exercise, will vary according to
why the person wants to exercise. Generally, though, people say that they exercise to stay ‘fit and healthy’
and to reduce the risk factors associated with lifestyle diseases.
– exercise as a form of physical activity
Activities
1 and 2
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Physical activity can be considered as any form of exercise or movement. This can range from walking to
playing sports, or doing any number of daily routine activities such as cleaning, gardening or walking the
dog. So ‘exercise’ and ‘physical activity’ are synonymous, both refer to bodily movements.
As with all body movements the skeletal muscles in our body expend some amount of energy to
perform them. How much physical activity a person does depends on why they want to be physically
active. Many people may not feel the need to be involved in extra physical activity if their work
(occupational activity) involves such work as landscaping or brick laying, where they are constantly
moving and lifting; while others may feel that the work they perform around the house (household
activity) as daily chores is enough activity for them. On the other hand, people whose work is very
sedentary and stressful may feel that they need a planned activity program or exercise to keep themselves
healthy.
The intensity of an exercise regime varies depending on the needs of the individual and the resources
available. Exercise can be categorised into three levels of intensity, but it is also relative to the person:
• Light (low) intensity—the person exercising is breathing at a normal pace and can talk freely.
• Moderate (medium) intensity—the person exercising is breathing heavily but is still able to talk.
• Vigorous (high) intensity—the person can’t talk while doing their exercise.
fitness choices chapter 1
The measurement of physical activity and the intensity rate at which activity is performed will vary
according to the fitness, age and the ability of the individual. Evidence shows that a person’s health
benefits by adopting an active lifestyle from an early age and maintaining this lifestyle.
Light (low) intensity
M o d e r at e ( m e d i u m ) i n t e n s i t y
Vigorous (high) intensity
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
walking slowly
swimming, slow treading
gardening or pruning
bicycling, very light effort
dusting or vacuuming
conditioning exercise, light stretching
or warm up
• golf, powered cart
• beginner’s tennis
•
•
•
•
walking briskly
swimming, recreational
mowing lawn, power motor
bicycling 8–15 kph, level terrain, or
with a few hills
scrubbing floors or washing windows
weightlifting, nautilus machines or free
weights
golf, pulling or carrying clubs
tennis, doubles
race walking, jogging or running
swimming laps
mowing lawn, hand mower
bicycling more than 16 kph, or on
steep uphill terrain
• moving or pushing furniture
• circuit training
• tennis, singles
How much time a person has available to exercise will vary and this can impact on the intensity and
type of exercise they may participate in. High-intensity activities generally require less time, while lowintensity exercises generally require more time. Again, the degree of intensity and duration of activity is
relevant to the fitness, age and ability of the person.
A 60-year-old person may be able to walk as briskly and for longer than a 20-year-old because they
have maintained a high-activity regime for much of their lifestyle, while the younger person may only be
starting out on their exercise regime. Figure 1.1 illustrates the relationship between time and intensity.
ta b l e 1 . 1
Types of physical
activity according
to level of exercise
intensity
– exercise and its relationship to fitness
Fitness is the result of regular exercise, proper diet and nutrition, and proper rest for physical recovery. If
a person is fit, they generally have the ability to function efficiently and effectively, to enjoy leisure, to be
healthy, to resist disease, and to cope with emergency situations. Fitness is generally defined as the ability of a
person to live a happy, well-balanced life. It embraces the physical, social, intellectual and spiritual aspects of
their life. Once again, it is relative to an individual’s circumstances and why a person needs to be fit.
Fitness is a combination of health-related components and skill-related components. Healthrelated components include aerobic fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and
body composition. Skill-related components include agility, balance, coordination, speed, power,
and reaction time. Both sets of components interact and are interdependent. A deficiency in any
component can reduce an individual’s overall fitness.
Activity 3
Figure 1.1
Time depends on
intensity
60
Time (minutes)
60 minutes
45
30–60 minutes
30
20–30 minutes
15
Low intensity
(less than 3.0 METs)
(less than 3.5 kcal/min)
Moderate intensity
(3.0 to 6.0 METs)
(3.5 to 7 kcal/min)
Vigorous intensity
(greater than 6.0 METs)
(more than 7 kcal/min)
Source: Ainsworth, B.E. et al. 1993, ‘Compendium of physical activities: classification of energy costs of human physical activities’, Medicine and
science in sports and exercise, 25(1), pp. 71–80
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Most people would usually identify a fit person as being an elite athlete who competes at a high level
within their chosen sport or activity. This is because many believe the words ‘physically fit’ to mean a
‘height of fitness’, ‘in excellent shape’, or to be much fitter than the average individual; however, fitness
can be viewed in two ways.
General fitness
This is where a person works towards broad goals of overall health and wellbeing, with a regular moderate
workout regime and healthy diet to improve general good health in muscle tone, healthy skin, hair and nails,
while preventing age or reducing lifestyle-related health issues such as heart and organ complications that
accompany poor diet and inactivity.
Specific or task-oriented fitness
Figure 1.2
Defence force in
training
This is a person’s ability to perform in a specific activity with
a reasonable efficiency, for example, sports or military service.
Some examples where specific training prepares athletes to
perform well in their sports are:
• 100 metre sprint—the athlete must be trained to work
anaerobically throughout the race, which also involves speed
and power
• marathon—the athlete must be trained to work aerobically
and their cardiovascular endurance must be built-up to a
maximum
• football—the athlete must have a combination of anaerobic
and aerobic components, as well as agility, speed and
coordination.
Defence force personnel, firefighters and police officers
undergo regular fitness testing to determine if they are
capable of the physically demanding tasks required for their
job before they are employed.
To improve fitness, customised exercise or training
programs can be designed to suit an individual’s requirements
and lifestyle in order to promote and maintain their physical
fitness. Many people now research on the internet for a
vast variety of activities and programs available so that they
can design their own program. However, this can be a risky
undertaking, as often the general public may not have the
professional knowledge and skills to design an exercise program
that specifically meets their physical capabilities and needs.
the value that people place on exercise and fitness
analyse a range of opinions about the value that people place on fitness
Values are judgments and opinions that people take on, which are shaped by the society in which they live.
These values can have a powerful influence on the way a person lives their life, who they choose to be with,
the type of work they do, and what sport they choose to play. This process that shapes a person’s life is called
socialisation.
Values and attitudes will vary from one culture to another, with gender, age, socioeconomic status and
ability; however, in most societies there is usually a dominant culture that has a large influence on physical
activity and fitness. Other major influences on one’s values of fitness include family, peers, social groups
and the media.
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fitness choices chapter 1
– changing attitudes to fitness
Fitness has been a concern of our governments from as early as the 1930s. In New South Wales in 1939,
the National Fitness Council was established to promote physical fitness in the general community; and it
Activities
advised the Education Department on the best ways of implementing physical fitness in school children. The
4 and 5
government perceived that changes in technology in the home and workplace were indicating a decline in
health and fitness in our society. However, in the 1930s the main reason for fitness promotion was to prepare
Figure 1.3
the individuals going off to war.
A step aerobics class
Despite the recognised health benefits, physical activity levels are
lower in industrialised countries, such as Australia. Labour-saving
devices (such as dishwashers and clothes dryers) and passive forms of
entertainment (such as computers, television, video games and the
internet) have increased the leisure time spent in sedentary activities or
work environments.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s there was a large positive shift
towards fitness attitudes and the ‘fitness boom’ came alive. The
introduction of the ‘Life. Be in it’ campaign promoted people to think
about their health and activity, and contributed to the mass movement of
‘joggers pounding the pavement’ in an endeavour to decrease morbidity
and mortality rates.
In the 1980s, more people started going to the gym, taking aerobic
classes, getting into lycra, and ‘getting physical’ with Olivia NewtonJohn. Health promotion continued, with an increasing range of media
PHIL SHELDON: Jogging really was huge in
production and awareness of activities available, which gave rise to more
women, in particular, participating and enjoying all levels of physical
the ’70s. It was this type of thing—people
activities. Fitness centres and gyms promoted the concept of a holistic
wanted to run, it was a sense of freedom.
approach to improving an individual’s health and promoting a healthy
You could literally run away from your
lifestyle.
stress, run away from worries, run away
Over the past 20 years there has been a significant increase in the
from bad health. But again, you see, the
purchase of fitness equipment. For example, home gyms, walking
machines, fitness balls and fitness videos have become easy to use in
balance wasn’t there because you saw
the home and therefore readily available when a person wants to do a
these scrawny people with wonderful
‘workout’. Although a fitness centre provides a social atmosphere and
looking legs, great legs and these tiny little
there is a larger range of equipment available, many prefer the privacy of
scrawny bodies and thin little wizened
their home.
arms. It really wasn’t good, you know.
There is little data on the physical activity patterns of Australian
People said, ‘Well, let’s change’. And they
children and adolescents. However, many activities that are now widely
undertaken by young people involve very little physical activity. In
started to look towards weights. And the
2000, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found from their Children’s
gym work started to come in. And for
participation in cultural and leisure activities survey, that the most popular
men particularly, I think, the crossover was
leisure activity outside school hours during the previous two weeks was
going from running to going into a gym
watching television and videos (undertaken by 97% of boys and girls
to working out to a thing called circuit
aged 5–14 years) (ABS 2001). Playing electronic or computer games was
also a popular leisure activity (69% of boys and girls combined).
training. They’d move from squash—the
This decrease in levels of physical activity is believed to have
big boom in the ’60s—to running—huge
contributed to doubling the overweight and obesity numbers among
in the ’70s—to suddenly getting into
Australian children and adolescents over the past two decades. However,
circuit training and circuits in the ’80s, and
there is now a shift where computer and electronic companies are
then moving on to aerobics.
designing games that are getting children off their lounges and moving,
even if it is in their own lounge rooms. A person can now learn to dance
Source: George Negus Tonight, ‘Fitness’,broadcast 6.30
pm on 01/09/2003
or play tennis with the use of the television and a computer game.
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The value a person places on physical fitness is
dependent on many factors and will be different
for every individual and their lifestyle. Attitudes
to fitness will change according to everyday
experiences and what motivates a person’s need to
participate in an activity. Figure 1.5 outlines the
motivators for physical activity; these are
applicable to any stage of a person’s life. For
example, a young child may play in a sporting
team to be with friends and improve their skills,
or a teenage boy may participate in dirt bike
racing for the sense of risk taking and
competition, while a 60-year-old person might
compete in a half marathon for their own
personal achievement.
–
Figure 1.4
Child using Wii
boxing game
Activity 6
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fitness as a commodity
The ‘fitness boom’ in the 1980s has contributed
to fitness being a big business today. The high
community profile of fitness has created a
growth industry in which everything from
deodorant, energy drinks to clothing are
essential for a person to achieve the fitness
they desire. To participate in an aerobics class
a person understood that they needed to have
the ‘right’ attire and footwear, and so created a
promotion in the fashion industry. Companies
like Nike and Reebok took advantage of the
situation as a profit-making commodity and
produced items such as leotards, tights, shorts,
socks, headbands and wristbands, shoes and
tracksuits. These companies and others were
sending the message to aerobic participants
that it was not just how well a person did the
aerobics class, but how they looked while doing the class.
With the health and fitness industries currently in growth phases of their lifecycles, both at a
professional level and also with the social and recreational sports person, service areas that offer potential
opportunities for business in fitness include:
• health and medicine
• personal training
• product research and design
• fitness centres
• coaching clinics
• diet and nutrition
• marketing and promotions
• adventure sports
• equipment hire and sale.
• camps and holiday tours
The job of being a fitness leader has changed greatly over the past few decades, and looks certain to
continue changing. In the mid-20th century, fitness leaders were declining and often just amateur fitness
enthusiasts conducting exercise classes in a community centre or hall. Throughout the second half of the
20th century, public interest in fitness increased, as did the capacity of people in more affluent countries
to pay people to help them improve their level of health and fitness.
fitness choices chapter 1
Growth due to interest, demand and economic potential has led the fitness industry to develop in
different ways in different countries. What was once dominated by amateurs and volunteers, has become
an industry that employs people in a wide range of roles, such as gym managers, life coaches, personal
trainers, strength and conditioners, health consultants, fitness leaders and recreation officers.
Figure 1.5
Motivators for
Being with
friends
people to participate
Being with
family
Rewards–
intrinsic or
extrinsic
Health and
wellbeing
Motivators for people
to participate in fitness
activities
in fitness activities
Learning and
improving
skills
Personal
achievement
Competition
Risk taking
Tension
release
Activities
Activity 1 (Page 194)
Access the following website on physical activity guidelines provided by the Deparatment of
Health and Ageing. Answer the following about the information given.
1.Explain the statement ‘Great reasons to be active’.
2.Discuss the difference between the physical activity recommendations of 5–12 year olds
and 12–18 year olds.
3.Outline the ‘Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults’.
4.Explain why the government has outlined the need for physical activity recommendations
for children and young people.
www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-physÂÂ
act-guidelines
Activity 2 (Page 194)
Walking up a flight of stairs burns almost five times more calories than riding an elevator.
Outline the reasons why you would ‘walk up the stairs’ compared to ‘taking an elevator’.
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Activities cont.
Activity 3 (Page 195)
Using the survey below, interview at least 10 people from a range of age groups and gender.
From the results of your survey answer the following questions. This exercise can be done
individually, in pairs or as a class (for a broader cross-section).
1.Analyse the relationship between fitness and one’s health.
2.What importance is fitness to different age groups?
3.Explain what common influences specific groups have on fitness.
Survey: ‘Fitness and you’
Age:
Gender: M / F
How important is exercise and fitness to you? Why is it important?
Do you participate in daily exercise and fitness activities?
How important was exercise and fitness to you 10 years ago?
How important do you think exercise will be to you in 10 years time?
What influencing factors have contributed to your attitude to fitness?
Has your attitude to fitness changed over time? Why?
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fitness choices chapter 1
Activities cont.
Activity 4 (Page 197)
Watch and discuss the ‘Life. Be in it’ campaign.
www.lifebeinit.org
ÂÂ
Activity 5 (Page 197)
1.Select TWO different cultures and discuss the types of activities they may participate in,
why they may participate in these types of activities, and what value they place on exercise.
2.Describe how the individual’s attitude to physical fitness is influenced by:
• family
• peers
• social groups
• media.
Activity 6 (Page 198)
Read the article below, ‘Healthy pay-off’.
If fitness centres are making these large amounts of money, are they ‘cashing in’ on the
public, as statistics show? Visit your local fitness centre and discuss what do you think of the
prices and services they offer.
Æ ÆF e a t u r e a r t i c l e
Healthy Pay-Off
Aussie kids might be becoming obese but
their ‘over 50’ parents and grandparents
are pumping iron and sweating it out in
fitness centres to beat the ageing process
food in the ever-shortening intervals we give
ourselves is creating a nation whose very
affluence is creating problems with obesity,
diabetes, heart disease and cancer in numbers
never before seen.
It has also created a backlash of people
and the short-sightedness of the medical
trying to get active again, observed most
profession.
noticeably in the rise of health clubs.
No, you are not imagining it. There are
Fitness First—an owner of gym and
more people doing tai chi in the park, running
swimming pool complexes catering to the
on the beach and going to the gym. Running
busy middle classes—opened in 2001 with
hard to stay ahead of the so-called ‘diseases of
10 clubs it bought from the Healthland
affluence’, Australians are taking up exercise
Australia group. Fitness First now has
in record numbers as our health deteriorates.
32 clubs with the aim of opening 10 new
All those hours sitting at desks, sitting in cars,
sites a year, says the company’s finance
sitting in front of TVs and wolfing down fast
director Mark Forrest CA.
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Æ ÆF e a t u r e a r t i c l e
c o n t .
‘We started with turnover of $50m in
2001; it’s now $100m and we’re projecting
$132m for next year. There’s been a growth
in the health and fitness market in general
and we’ve been successful in rolling out
clubs that meet the demand.’
Forrest says the membership numbers
of the Fitness First phenomenon have
grown from 60 000 in the group’s first year
of business to the 200 000 projected for
the end of 2004—it’s part of a national
trend that now sees 8% of the population
belonging to some sort of health/fitness
club, expected to be closer to 16%
by 2010.
‘Australians are spending more on
staying healthy,’ says Forrest. ‘And it’s new
demand. The whole market is growing—
our research says that we’re not getting our
members from other clubs, they are people
who have decided to start a fitness regime.’
The Dollar Value
Trying to establish an exact figure
for the size of the fitness and wellbeing
industry in this country is not easy. There
is no simple category for what people
do—under their own steam—for fitness,
wellbeing and preventative health care. The
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
(AIHW) in recent papers has estimated
that in terms of government sector
spending, preventative health initiatives
would not exceed 2% of the total health
budgets of the Commonwealth, states
and territories. Then there is the $1bn
that Australians spend each year on gyms
and fitness centres; and the estimation
by Professor Alastair MacLennan that the
complementary and alternative health care
industry is worth $2.3 billion per year, two
thirds of which is spent on products such
as vitamins, mineral supplements, herbal
treatments, homeopathic mixtures and
traditional Chinese medicines.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions
of the authors appearing in Charter are
not necessarily those of the Institute of
the Chartered Accountants and should be
viewed as such.
Mark Abernethy
Review
Questions
Source: www.charteredaccountants.com.au (CHARTER: 01 Feb 2004):
switzer media and publishing
1. Analyse the ways in which exercise can contribute to
one’s health.
2. Discuss the term ‘exercise’ in relation to one’s fitness.
3. Explain how one’s fitness can promote a healthy
lifestyle.
4. Outline how the fitness industry and the media have
contributed to the value that people place on exercise
and fitness.
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