Health and Fitness

Photo By:FitnessThealth

Traditionally, experts have defined five key components of physical fitness:

1. Body composition (the relative amount of fat and lean tissue in the body).
   
   
2. Cardiorespiratory or aerobic fitness
   
   
3. Flexibility
   
   
4. Muscular strength
   
   
5. Muscular endurance

But the effects of nutrition, sleep, and mental and emotional health on fitness also cannot be ignored, says Jeffrey E. Oken, MD, associate director of the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois.

EXERCISE AND WEIGHT LOSS

As we all know, you have to burn more calories than you eat and drink to lose weight. Weight loss is all about reducing the amount of calories you eat and drink. That's most important to shedding the pounds, according to the CDC.

Start with a few minutes of exercise at a time. Any exercise is better than none at all, and this will allow your body to slowly get used to exercise.

Your goal is to exercise for at least half an hour most days of the week to get the full benefit of exercise.

You can do anything that will work your heart and lungs, such as walking, biking, jogging, swimming, fitness classes or cross-country skiing. Mowing the lawn, going dancing, playing with the kids all count if they get your heart pumping.

If you don't exercise and are a man over 45 or a woman over 55, or have a medical condition, ask your doctor if you should avoid certain activities.

Photo By:FitnessThealth

IT'S  MORE THAN AESTHETICS

Health and fitness are about more than the way you look, the

appearance, diet or the weight you lift at the gym. It's about:

How you feel.

Your quality of life.

The focus you have at work.

Your ability to move .

Your psychological  state.

When you're really healthy, you're in a better mood and you can do more physically. You can do things like walk your dog, hike, or paddle. If you can't do these things, it can drastically affect your experience and limit your quality of life.

CONSISTENCY

Certainly people achieve results by going on extreme diets or participating in exercise competitions. However, the percentage of people who stick closely to these plans is tiny. These challenges are often completed in a short period of time and are accompanied by strict guidelines for success and failure, both of which

neither of which is good for physical or emotional health.

When you set extreme goals, you are more likely to feel defeated if you "blow it." When expectations aren't so high, you're more likely to stay consistent and enjoy your journey. You don't put pressure on yourself to be perfect. If you eat something "bad" or skip a workout, you wake up the next day and keep going because it's just part of your lifestyle now. This approach is much easier to achieve and leads to more consistency in the long run.

HOW TO BOOST YOUR METABOLISM WITH EXERCISE.

Your next workout could set you up for a faster metabolism.

Your metabolism includes all the processes your body performs to turn food into energy and keep you going. Some people have a faster metabolism than others.

Whether your metabolism is fast or slow depends on factors beyond your control, including your age, gender, and genes. Sometimes a sluggish thyroid can affect your metabolism. But once you figure out that this is normal, it's up to you to speed it up. Focus on what really makes a difference: exercise.

Muscle cells need a lot of energy, which means they burn a lot of calories. They burn more calories than fat cells, even if you don't exercise. So the time you spend exercising pays off long after you've stopped sweating.

As you age, exercise becomes increasingly more crucial. Your metabolism normally slows down as you get older because you lose muscular mass. Exercise can halt that slip.