WJEC/Eduqas GCSE PE: Study and Revision Guide

11 K N O W L E D G E A N D U N D E R S T A N D I N G AO1 Health, fitness and well-being Physical fitness can be defined as the ability to perform physical tasks effectively, whether in life generally or in a sporting context. A person working in an office, for example, requires lower levels of physical fitness than an Olympic athlete. Exercise can be defined as a form of physical exercise done to improve health or fitness, or both. This diagram demonstrates the benefits of exercise on health and well-being. Social ● Ability to deal with emotions ● Experience of coping with success and failure from competition ● Developing communication skills through collaboration as part of a team Physical ● Reduced body fat ● Strengthened heart, lungs and muscles ● Ability to achieve physical tasks with ease Mental ● Improved self-confidence ● Good levels of motivation ● Relief of stress Benefits of exercise Lifestyle choice: benefits and risks In life, we have to make many different choices that involve work, education, leisure time, the food we eat and the friends we keep. We do not often think about whether these choices will have a positive or negative impact upon our lives. Positive lifestyle choices include exercising regularly and eating a varied diet. They also include keeping yourself hydrated, getting sufficient sleep and balancing the requirements of school and work with commitments to self, family and friends. Attention to the avoidance of, or particularly the misuse of, drugs, alcohol and smoking will contribute significantly to a positive lifestyle. The benefits of making positive lifestyle choices include improvements to:  What benefits does exercise have? ● mental and social health, such as improved self-confidence, emotional happiness and interactions with others ● physical health, such as a reduction in body fat and obesity-related disorders. Negative lifestyle choices, with regard to a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, smoking and the misuse of drugs and alcohol, can result in, among other issues, hypertension , obesity, arthrosclerosis , diabetes and poor self-esteem. The effects of poor lifestyle choice include: ● for mental health, higher stress levels, a reduction in motivation and increased occurrences of dropping out of activities and lack of self-confidence ● for physical health, increases in the likelihood of cancer, diabetes and arthrosclerosis ● for social health, more feelings of isolation and loneliness and the lack of social engagement. K E Y WO R D S ● Exercise: physical activity done in addition to day-to-day living. ● Duration: how long something (e.g. training) lasts for. ● Intensity: how hard someone is working during exercise, measured as a percentage of maximal heart rate. ● Adherence: sticking with doing something. For example, exercise adherence is sticking to a training programme. ● Hypertension: abnormally high blood pressure. ● Arthrosclerosis: a disease in which fatty deposits build up on the arteries. ● Diabetes: a condition of having higher than normal levels of blood sugar. ● Heart rate (HR): number of heartbeats per minute (bpm). It is important that both mental and physical health are continually monitored. This will allow an individual to devise strategies to improve lifestyle choices. There are various forms of screening methods that could be employed, including physical tests, health questionnaires, and health monitoring that might involve checks of blood pressure, heart rate and calorie intake.