3 Physical Health
What is it?
Physical Health relates to taking care of our body through proper maintenance to ensure functioning.
Physical activity can look like running, dancing, gardening, swimming, yoga, weightlifting, walking, and so much more!
Why is it important?
Consistent physical activity provides many benefits.
Exercise can support academic performance:
- Exercise is an integral part of reducing burnout as students (Chen et al., 2022).
- Individuals who exercise have greater brain volume (the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal cortex) used for thinking and memory (Ferrer-Uris, 2022).
- Physical activity helps reduce stress and anxiety while improving mood and sleep (Alnawwar, 2023).
Physical Activity Guidelines:
According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion:
- Move more and sit less!
- Some activity is better than none.
- Any amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity has health benefits.
For substantial health benefits:
- 150-300 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic activity OR 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic activity spread throughout the week.
- At least 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening activity (spread throughout the week).
- Exercising more than 300 minutes per week can improve health even more!
Examples of moderate aerobic activity include brisk walking, swimming, biking, or mowing the lawn. Exercise in this category leads to quicker breathing, but not being out of breath. (You can talk to someone, but you can’t sing.)
Examples of vigorous aerobic exercise examples include running, swimming laps, or aerobic dancing. Exercise in this category causes deep and rapid breathing. You can only say a few words before having to pause to take a breath. (Mayo Clinic, 2023).
Tools You Can Use
1. Ideas to incorporate physical activity into your life:
- Click on muscle groups for specific workout ideas.
- Generate workouts based on what type of workout equipment is available to you, your fitness goal, and your fitness level.
- Watch small clips of how to do the motions to assist your technique and posture.
- A free app based on fitness level, tracks your activity, has free workout programs you can participate in, and has short articles based on aspects of physical activity (rest, mindfulness, etc.).
- Dancing workouts included!
- If you don’t have access to a gym, here are home workout ideas to incorporate into your daily routine.