Health/Wellness Information

What is Fitness?
The quality or state of being fit, suitable, qualified or competent². Although many use the word fitness to mean "physical fitness", fitness is actually much broader.

What is Physical Fitness?
Physical Fitness is the positive state of well-being allowing you enough strength and energy to participate in a full, active lifestyle of your choice³. Physical fitness is "the general capacity to adapt favorably to physical effort. Individuals are physically fit when they are able to meet both the usual and unusual demands of daily life, safely and effectively with undue stress or exhaustion⁴."

Why Physical Activity?
Regular physical activity that is performed on most days of the week improves health by reducing the risk of many diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer¹. Physically activity is important for the health of muscles, bones and joints, helps control weight, reduces depression and anxiety, and promotes psychological well-being¹.

The Elements of a Physical Fitness Conditioning Program
A total physical fitness conditioning program includes: aerobic fitness, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility.

• Aerobic Fitness -- A sedentary lifestyle carries a substantial health risk^6,7. Significant health benefits can be obtained by including a moderate amount of physical activity (e.g., 30 minutes of brisk walking, 15 minutes of running, or 45 minutes of playing volleyball) on most, if not all, days of the week¹.

• Muscular Strength and Endurance -- muscular strength is the ability of a muscle to exert a force against a resistance muscular endurance is the ability of muscles to work strenuously for progressively longer periods of time without fatigue³. Supplementing an aerobic fitness program with strength developing exercises at least twice per week for adults improves musculoskeletal health¹.

• Flexibility -- Flexibility is often the forgotten element of physical fitness conditioning programs. Flexibility is defined as the functional range of motion achievable without injury for a certain joint and its corresponding muscle groups^3,8. Stretching should be preformed three times a week or more preferably after moderate or vigorous physical activity⁸. Stretches should be held for 15 to 30 seconds without bouncing which can cause injuries⁸. If increased flexibility is a goal, holding stretches even longer is beneficial.

Wellness is more than just Physical Fitness
Wellness is a state of being described as positive health⁵. It includes physical fitness, but is multi-dimensional. The dimensions of wellness spell SPICE.

• Spiritual -- Values and Ethics
• Physical -- Fitness, Nutrition, Sleep
• Intellectual -- Quest for Continuous Learning
• Community -- Family, Friends, Environment
• Emotional -- Self Esteem, Positive Outlook, Mental Health

Balancing your wellness needs
In graduate school, students are often extremely busy working on the "intellectual" aspect of wellness to the exclusion of other areas. Remember that you are a complete person. Ignoring your spiritual, physical, community, or emotional needs can eventually compromise your intellectual development and health. Depression affects many students during their graduate career. Taking care of your spiritual needs (by participating in your religion or by taking time to meditate or pray), your physical needs (getting enough exercise and sleep and eating well), your community needs (by maintaining social contact with friends and family) and your emotional needs (having time for yourself) can help you make it through your graduate program successfully.

Before starting a fitness program:
It is a good idea to consult Student Health before beginning a fitness program, especially if you are not currently physically active. Physical activity does contain risks (falling, injury, even death). In comparison, being sedentary also contains risks (increased rates of disease leading to death)^6,7.

Taking Stock
Taking stock before you set goals helps you to evaluate what areas you are doing well and what areas you might improve in. Moderate changes in your current behavior can have big impacts on your overall health. If you are sedentary, walking just 30 minutes a day greatly reduces your risk of many diseases. If you smoke or otherwise use tobacco, quitting may be the most important health change you can make. If you exercise regularly but don’t eat healthfully, making some improvements in your diet could have the biggest impact on your overall health.

References

¹ Physical Activity and Health, A report of the Surgeon General Executive Summary.

² Oxford English Dictionary.

³ Fitness through Aerobics and Step Training by Karen S. Mazzeo, Morton Publishing Company, 1993.

⁴ American Medical Association.

⁵ Toward a Uniform Definition of Wellness: A Commentary. President’s Council of Physical Fitness and Sports Research Digest Series 3, Number 15, December 2001

⁶ The Surgeon General's report on Physical Activity and Health: The link between physical activity and morbitity and mortality.

⁷ Cost and Consequences of Sedentary Living: New Battleground for an Old Enemy. President’s Council of Physical Fitness and Sports Research Digest, Series 3, Number 16, March 2002.

⁸ Current Issues in Flexibility Fitness. President’s Council of Physical Fitness and Sports Research Digest, Series 3, Number 10, June 2000.