Lifetime fitness activities are the focus of physical education programs throughout the United States. The emphasis on teaching lifetime fitness activities emerged during the latter half of the 20th century as lifestyles became more sedentary because of less physical housework, more screen viewing and changes in technology that allow for less labor in many tasks, such as gas lawnmowers replacing push mowers.
Activity Categories
Sports activities, from golf to volleyball to swimming, are lifetime fitness activities. Sports, however, are not the only activities that count. Fitness activities generally fall into two categories: moderate activities and vigorous activities. Moderate activities include line or ballroom dancing, canoeing, biking on level ground, sports in which you throw and catch like baseball and walking. Vigorous activities include fast dancing, heavy gardening, jumping rope, hiking uphill, running, swimming and sports that require lots of running such as basketball.
Significance
Lifetime fitness activities help protect against chronic diseases, especially those that affect the cardiovascular system. In fact, as the amount of physical activity increases, the risk of death from a cardiovascular event decreases, notes Wener W. K. Hoeger and Sharon A. Hoeger, authors of "Lifetime Physical Fitness and Wellness." Vigorous-activity exercise provides the best benefit.
Time Frame
You must participate in lifetime physical activities frequently enough for them to be effective. For kids and teens, this means one hour or more of physical activity daily. For adults, that means a minimum of two hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise such as gardening or playing doubles tennis or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise like karate, soccer or swimming each week. Guidelines also call for performing muscle-strengthening activities such as yoga, calisthenics or weight training twice a week, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Many high schools offer classes on lifetime physical fitness, which include guidelines for regular physical activity. Some students learn to design their own fitness plans or programs, similar to the advice adults get in health clubs.
Education
Children need to learn about lifetime fitness activities to gain health benefits from them, hence the push in school physical education programs. The idea is to equip youth with enough skills and ideas to inspire an active lifestyle beyond the classroom and school years. In elementary school, the focus is on basic movement skills such as throwing and dodging. High school programs should allow students to choose the activities they like best so they can refine their skills and pursue such activities for a lifetime, according to the National Association for Sport and PE. The stairway to lifetime fitness curriculum model has youths take more and more responsibility for their own levels of activity, wellness and fitness as they age.
References
- Howard County Public School System: Lifetime Fitness -- "Essential Curriculum"
- UNC: "Lifetime Fitness -- Activity Program Manual 2009-2010"
- "Physical Education for Lifetime Fitness"; National Association for Sport and PE; 2011
- "Lifetime Physical Fitness and Wellness"; Wener W. K. Hoeger, Sharon A. Hoeger; 2008
- "Performance Based Assessment for Middle and High School Physical Education"; Jacalyn Lea Lund, Mary Fortman Kirk
- "PE4Life"; PE4life; 2006
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