Health & Fitness (AQA GCSE Physical Education (PE))

Health & Fitness

Health

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as:

A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

• Health encompasses various aspects including:

  • cardiovascular fitness

  • muscular strength and endurance

  • flexibility

  • mental well-being

• Additionally, health is impacted by overall lifestyle choices that contribute to optimal functioning and quality of life

• Ill health refers to being in a state of poor physical, mental and/or social well-being

Fitness

• Fitness is defined as:

The ability to meet the demands of the environment

• The environment can place a variety of demands on a person meaning that different fitness levels are required

  • Those living a sedentary lifestyle have a lower fitness demand than those living a highly active lifestyle

• Fitness can be broken down into

  • Health-related components: such as body composition, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance

  • Skills-related components: such as agility, speed, coordination, power, balance, reaction time

The Relationship Between Health & Fitness

• The relationship between fitness and health is cyclical

• A good fitness level increases the ability of a person to cope with the demands of daily life

  • Good fitness promotes good health

  • Physical and mental fitness are then improved

  • This promotes ongoing and /or improving levels of fitness

  • It also minimises the likelihood of ill health or disease

    • However, it does not remove the chances of becoming unwell entirely

    • Fitness can be increased if a person is still able to train despite ill health

• Decreased fitness can occur because of ill health

  • Poor health can result in an inability to train

  • This results in lower fitness levels

• It is also worth noting that overtraining can result in decreased fitness as the body is more prone to illness

• Individuals should adopt a balanced approach to physical education and lifestyle choices to maximise overall health and fitness

Increased health and fitness promote further increases in health and fitness whereas decreases in health and fitness can result in further decreases