“For bodily exercise profits a little…”1
Physical activity is one of the major components of a healthy lifestyle. The Bible acknowledges that physical activity is beneficial for a healthy life. Physical exercise is a planned, structured, repetitive activity performed to improve health or fitness. Physical activity is defined as ”any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure above a basal level.”The benefits of physical activity are clearly stated in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition, as shown below. These benefits should motivate you to engage in a variety of physical activities to support a healthy lifestyle. The word “little” implies that the benefits last while you are still physically alive; whether for 70 and 80 years or 120 and 969 years, these are short lifespans compared to eternity with Christ Jesus in heaven.
Physical activity is one of the major components of a healthy lifestyle. We define a healthy lifestyle as a way of living that individuals intentionally adopt, maintain, and practice daily to prevent and control disease, improve their physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being, and enhance their quality of life.
One of the most important steps you can take to experience a healthy lifestyle is to be physically active. Adopting, maintaining, and continually making healthy choices for a healthy lifestyle requires behavioral change. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM,2001), “Behavior can be changed, and those changes can influence health. However, “Initiating and maintaining behavior change is complex and difficult” (Pellmar, Brandt, and Baird, 2002). According to DiClemente et al (2019), “Before behaviors can change, the determinant(s) of behavior, the nature of the behavior, and motivation for the behavior must be understood.” There are several behaviors change theories and models that can be applied at multiple levels of influence on human behavior, using a socioecological approach: which states that “human behavior shapes and is shaped by multiple levels of influences.” Such levels of influence include intrapersonal (individual), interpersonal (family, friends, peer groups), organizational, community, and public policy.
WLT provides the fundamental truth, rooted in God’s word, for behavior change that promises benefits in this life and in the life to come. This truth brings profound change to individuals’ hearts and minds, transforming their character, behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, enabling them to easily adopt, maintain, and continually make healthy daily choices. When individuals adopt a healthy lifestyle, they serve as a model for other family members, including children, and for the broader community. Many diseases, injuries, disabilities, and premature deaths from heart diseases, strokes, cancers, and diabetes can be prevented or reduced with behavior change.
WLT uses evidence-based information and interventions from The Community Guide and Promising interventions from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans,2nd edition, CDC.gov/physical activity, and Truth from the Holy Bible to help you acquire the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and beliefs you need to adopt, sustain, and continually practice daily healthy choices to prevent and control disease, improve yourphysical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being, and enhance your quality of life.
Physical activity is one of the most important actions that you can take to improve your health. First, we begin with the benefits of physical activity to motivate you to adopt, maintain, and deliberately practice it. For young people, engaging in physical activity early in life increases the likelihood of preventing preventable non-communicable diseases later in life and improving quality of life.
BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY(Adults and Older Adults)
(PAGA 2ND edition)
Research studies have provided more information about the specific health benefits of physical activity. For example, regarding the lowering of “risk of all-Cause mortality,” the study shows that physical activity delays death from all causes, including heart disease, some cancers, and other causes of death.
As you follow WLT, you gain equitable opportunities to acquire knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills that enable you to adopt, sustain, and continually make healthy choices for a healthy lifestyle.
Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure above a basal level. Physical exercise is a planned, structured, repetitive activity performed to improve health or fitness. “All exercise is physical activity, but not all physical activity is exercise.”Studies have identified three main types of physical activity and the health benefits associated with each. They include aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening activities. The other types of physical activity include flexibility and balance.
Aerobic physical activity is also known as endurance or cardio activity. Aerobic activity is the ability of yourbody’s large muscles to move rhythmically for a sustained period. This activity increases your heart and respiratory rates above normal to meet the demands of physical activity. There are three components of aerobic activity: intensity, which is how hard you work; frequency, which is how often you do aerobic activity; and duration, which is how long you do the activity in any one session.
Intensity is how hard a person works during an activity or exercise. It can be stated in terms of absolute or relative intensity.
Absolute intensity is the amount of energy expended during an activity, without regard to the individual’s physiological capacity. For aerobic activity, absolute intensity is typically expressed as the rate of energy expenditure, for example, kilocalories per minute or metabolic equivalents of task (METs). The metabolic equivalent of task is the energy expenditure required to perform a specific activity. 1 MET is the energy expenditure of sitting at rest. This generally corresponds to an oxygen uptake of 3.5 milliliters per kilogram of body weight per minute. Physical activities are frequently classified by their intensity using the MET value as a reference. (PAGA,2ND edition).
The absolute intensity of activity is classified as light, moderate, or vigorous.
Light-intensity activity is non-sedentary waking behavior that requires 1.6 to 2.9 METs; examples include
Moderate-intensity activity requires 3.0 to 5.9 METs; examples include
Vigorous-intensity activity requires 6.0 or more METs; examples include
(PAGA 2nd edition)
Relative intensity is the level of effort required to do an activity. Less fit people generally require more effort than more fit people to perform the same activity. Relative intensity can be estimated on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 represents sitting and 10 represents the highest possible level of effort. Moderate-intensity activity is a 5 or 6. Vigorous-intensity activity begins at a level of 7 or 8.
The guidelines reference four levels of aerobic physical activity: inactive, insufficiently active, active, and highly active. This classification relates to the health benefits a person obtains at a given level and to how to become more active. The focus is on aerobic physical activity at these levels. Other types of physical activity, such as muscle-strengthening, are no less important.
Inactive is not getting any moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity beyond basic movement from daily life activities.
Insufficiently active is doing some moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity but less than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity or the equivalent combination. This level falls below the target range to meet the key guidelines for adults.
Being active means getting 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. This level meets the key guideline target range for adults.
Highly active is doing the equivalent of more than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. This level exceeds the key guideline target range for adults. (PAGA 2ND EDITION)
Muscle-strengthening activities include resistance training and weightlifting, which involve the body’s muscles working against an applied force or weight. Examples:
Three components of muscle-strengthening include: • Intensity, or how much weight or force is used relative to how much a person can lift; • Frequency, or how often a person does muscle-strengthening activity; and • Sets and repetitions, or how many times a person does the muscle-strengthening activity, like lifting a weight or doing a push-up (comparable to duration for aerobic activity).
It is critical to work all the major muscle groups of the body, the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms, because the effects of muscle-strengthening activity are limited to the muscles doing the work. (PAGA 2NDedition)
Bone-strengthening activity can sometimes be called a weight-bearing or weight-loading activity. It applies force to the body’s bones, promoting bone growth and strength. This force is commonly produced by impact with the ground. Examples of bone-strengthening activity include
These examples show that bone-strengthening activities can also be aerobic and muscle-strengthening.(PAGA 2nd edition)
Balance activities involve maintaining the body’s equilibrium while stationary or moving. It can improve the body’s ability to resist forces that cause falls. Examples include
Flexibility is the range of motion possible at a joint. Flexibility exercises enhance a joint’s ability to move through its full range of motion. Flexibility varies by joint and depends on several variables, including the tightness of specific muscles and tendons.
Physical fitness is“the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and respond to emergencies.” Physical fitness includes several components:
Cardiorespiratory fitness is the ability to perform large-muscle, whole-body exercise at moderate-to-vigorous intensities for extended periods of time.
Musculoskeletal fitness is the integrated function of muscle strength, endurance, and power that enables work performance.
Flexibility is the range of motion available at a joint or group of joints
Balance is the ability to maintain equilibrium while moving or while stationary. Speed is the ability to move the body quickly.
(PAGA 2nd edition)
The key guidelines for adults focus on aerobic and muscle-strengtheningactivities. Each provides important health benefits, as shown above.
WLTenables individuals, families, and communities to engage in physical activity to support healthy lifestyles.
Follow us on our website, blog, and social media platforms, and at conferences, seminars, workshops, community spiritual events, as we use evidence-based health education and health promotion interventions to provide equitable opportunities to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and insights needed to adopt and sustain healthy lifestyles and lead purpose-driven, transformative lives.