Fitness

"Fitness" is actually a broad term which differ in meaning from person to person, but it refers to your own optimal health and overall well-being. Being fit not only means physical health, but emotional and mental health, too. It defines every aspect of your health. Smart eating and active living are fundamental to fitness. According to some expert, fitness includes five essential components, flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, muscular strength, and body composition. Fitness is vitally important to health and wellness as well as to the ability to engage in normal activities of daily living (ADLs) without excessive fatigue. Physical activity and exercise training programs should be designed with the intent of improving each of the key components of health-related physical fitness in addition to preventing chronic disease (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis etc.)

Difference Between Fit and Healthy

Most people believe being healthy and being fit are one and the same. In reality, those are two separate states of physical being. Some people can be really fit, and not very healthy, and some can be very healthy and not very fit. The best benefits are found with trying to get a balance out of both sides, this requires us to identify the difference between fitness and health.

So let’s define the difference. Health has been defined by the World Health Organization as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It includes aging well, longevity, quality of life, freedom from pain etc.

Fitness, on the other hand, is defined as a set of attributes that people have or achieve that relates to the ability to perform physical activity. Fitness is made up of many components, and the following factors need to be considered when discussing fitness levels:

1.    Endurance (Cardiovascular and Cardio-Respiratory): This is the body’s ability to use and deliver oxygen to body.

2.    Stamina (Muscular Endurance): This is body’s ability to store, process, and use energy.

3.    Strength: This is the ability of muscles or a muscular unit to apply force.

4.    Flexibility: The ability to maximize the range of motion of a joint.

5.    Power: The ability of your muscles to maximize their force in a minimum amount of time.

6.    Speed: The ability to minimize the amount of time it takes you to accomplish a task or movement.

7.    Coordination: The ability to combine several different movement patterns in a single distinct movement.

8.    Accuracy: The ability to control a movement in a given direction or intensity.

9.    Agility: The ability to minimize the time going from one movement to another.

Fitness involves activity of some sort that stimulates various systems of the body and maintains a certain condition within the body. Health, on the other hand, involves every system of the body and is only achieved through a lifestyle that supports health. Exercise won’t remove the damage from chemicals, or improve immune system damage or weakness from depleted foods. Only sound nutrition can support good health. Of course, fitness can also support health and will improve health if it is part of a way of life. Our health is mainly the result of thousands of daily nutritional decisions.

Some Tips to Stay Fit

• Get Enough Sleep - Getting enough sleep is important to maintain a fit and healthy body.  A minimum of 6-8 hours of sleep helps the body heal, repair and rejuvenate one’s health. When some person do not get enough sleep, it negatively affects metabolism and impacts mood, concentration, motor skills, stress hormones, cardiovascular health, and the immune system.

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  Eat a Balanced Diet - One of the best ways to stay fit and healthy is to eat a balanced diet. A balanced diet consists of different food items in appropriate quantity and quality as per the requirement of an individual.
  

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  Exercise Daily - Exercise is key to maintaining a fit and healthy body.  If you can take out some time to exercise or walk at least for half an hour or one hour, you can shed the extra weight of your body as well as improve blood circulation and enhance muscle fitness.

• Avoid Smoking and Drinking -

  
  One of the most effective ways to stay fit and healthy is to abstain from addictive habits, i.e., smoking and drinking. A majority of millennials and Gen X are addicted to smoking and drinking. Peer pressure, stress and other situations often lead to these types of bad habits which affect the lungs. The data will help understand the impact on the body. Cigarettes contain over 4000 chemicals compounds and 400 toxins, including tar, DDT, Carbon Monoxide. People get addicted to cigarettes due to the presence of nicotine. Smoking can lead to lung cancer, heart attack, and stroke. Coronary artery disease also can lead to cancers of the mouth, throat, pancreas, uterus etc.

• Do Not Skip Meals - If you want to stay fit and healthy, do not skip meals, especially breakfast. Breakfast helps keep our body energized and fueled, which is essential to ensure mental and physical performance. This is important to maintain a healthy weight because you will not overeat later to satiate the appetite.

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  Drink More Water - There are several solutions if you are wondering how to stay healthy. One such easy way is to stay hydrated. You must have at least 16 glasses of water a day to maintain a healthy digestive system and energy.  To ensure the optimal functioning of our body, we have to keep our body hydrated, and there can be no better alternative than water.
  

• Cleanse Your Body - One of the best ways to stay fit and healthy is to purify your body. This point may seem similar to the previous tip as the purpose is to detoxify the body, but both have different functions and impacts on the body. To cleanse your body, you must follow a healthy diet enriched with fruits and juices and devoid of spices.

Conclusion

There are many ways to exercise along with many healthy foods you can eat to help stay fit. When exercising it is good to make sure your pulse rate is good, and that you warm up your muscles before exercising and to make sure you do a cool down to help your muscles cool down. When making sure you are exercising right or eating right it is best to use an activity check to keep track of all the different kinds of activity you do. To make sure you eat right it is best to check the nutrition label on the back of every food to make sure you are consuming the right amount of calories.