REGULAR PHYSICAL EXERCISE

How to Fit Regular Physical Exercise in to Your Busy Schedule

We all know that regular physical exercise is crucial to our health. But it can be a challenge to fit a regular exercise program into your daily schedule. These tips should enable you to make time for regular exercise that fits in with your lifestyle.

Regular Exercise for Busy Moms

Finding the time and energy for regular exercise whey you have small children can be challenging. Try out these ideas:

If possible, walk your child to school. Even if you live quite a distance from school, you could consider parking a short distance from the school and walking your child from there. That way your child also gets used to regular physical exercise, so you grow fit and healthy together.

Children love to play with other children. So find out if there is a crèche at a nearby gym, and leave your child to have fun while you work out.

Your regular physical exercise program doesn’t have to involve long sessions in the gym. A visit to the swimming pool or the local park will give you both plenty of exercise, plus you’ll have fun.

Regular Physical Exercise for Office Workers

If you’re sitting at a desk all day, regular physical exercise is essential if you want to avoid piling on the pounds. But long working hours and commutes can make it difficult to fit in a regular exercise program.

If you’re short on time when you finish work, take a walk at lunchtime. Also, if you don’t live too far away, consider walking or cycling to work.

And think carefully about how you spend your leisure time.  When you’re finished work, you may be so tired that you can’t bring yourself to even think about getting regular physical exercise. But chances are, once you begin a fitness program, you will realise that regular exercise makes you feel a lot more alert and energetic than an evening slumped in front of the TV.

Exercise for Home Workers

If you work from home, chances are you won’t want to waste your time making regular trips to the gym to get some exercise. But you can easily fit exercise into your daily program without venturing far from home.

Take a break from work and have a short walk. Or if it’s too cold and walking doesn’t appeal, consider a home fitness DVD. If you don’t feel like doing anything too strenuous in the middle of your working day, a yoga DVD may be a great choice for you. And 20 minutes spent exercising should be easy to fit into your working day. Plus you have the convenience of a shower to use once you’re done.

Whatever your lifestyle, fitting regular physical exercise into your schedule is essential to your health and well-being.

You also need to participate in sports and sporting activities .Below are the  importance of various sports to your health

7 IMPORTANCE OF SPORTS

Sports play important role in promoting  gender  equality and empower women ,reducing child mortality ,reduce poverty and hunger  and can play an important role in combating HIV and AIDS ,malaria and malaria .The following are 7 explained importance of sports  in global community .

1)REDUCING POVERTY AND HUNGER

Sports reduce lifestyle –related conditions  which can prevent people from working and or imposing health care costs through :increased physical activity levels ,sports –based public education and social mobilization campaigns in support of prevention and vaccination initiatives  and sport programs are successful in reducing health risk  behavior .

2)REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY

Sports contribute in reduction of child deaths and disability from measles ,malaria and polio as a result of sports –based vaccination and prevention campaigns .

3)PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN

Sports play an important role in improving health and well –being for girls and women through physical activity and access to health information through sport based programs .

4)IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH

Sporting programs help in increased access to reproductive and sexual   health information discussion  and services for women and girls .Sports also reduce the risk of adolescent pregnancy in sport participants in some contexts .

5)COMBAT HIV AND AIDS  ,MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES

Risk of HIV infection is reduced as a result of sport programs aimed at prevention education and improving health risk behavior. Sports  also reduce stigma and improve health  for some people living with HIV and AIDS , contributing to their increased social and economic inclusion .It contribute in increased vaccination rates for measles and polio and increase  reach and effectiveness of malaria ,tuberculosis  and other education and prevention campaigns .

6) DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP  FOR DEVELOPMENT

Global partnerships  to leverage elite and mass sport events and high – profile  athletes to promote positive health messages .

7) ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY  EDUCATION

Sports increase health and physical fitness of primary school children .It reduce school absenteeism through :increased physical activity  and sport based health and disease prevention education for children and families

Sports  and physical activities play an important role in the community and should be taken seriously .The above 7 importance of sports  highlight  the need  to participate in sports for all members of the global community.

PROMOTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Everyone and every organization has the role of promoting physical activities .Physical activities have the following benefits : they improve your mood , they reduce stress , reduce depression , reduce chances of : cancer , obesity and diabetes , they keep you fit , help you maintain a healthy body and maintain good weight

SPORTS ORGANISATIONS

They can ensure that sport programs include youth oriented activities to engage and retain young athletes .They can educate coaches to incorporate appropriate health-related fitness training in relation to growth and maturation .They should identify and lower the barriers to participation in sports .Sports organizations should also collaborate with parents , youth , school personnel to design and deliver sports programs that attract and retain young people .They should ensure fast collaboration with international , regional , and national physical activity networks .They can also improve  the quality and delivery of sport programs for youth developing athletes .  The organizations  should also research into the efficiency and effectiveness of delivering of sports and physical activity programs  for youth

GOVERNMENT

The government should also advocate physical activity and health promotion on global health and regional agency agendas .The government should also enable fast collaboration with international ,regional , and national physical activity promotion networks .The government can also place health and physical activity higher on the national political agenda .It can also develop , implement and evaluate policy to promote sports and physical activities in young people .It can also enhance funding for young involvement in sport and physical activity programs across sectors .It should also support multi-sectorial policies and provision  of school wider community (sport , recreation , health agencies ) partnerships to improve physical activity opportunities for young people .The government can Also ensure that providers of recreational programs for young people limit the time spend in sedentary pursuits such as television watching , video game playing , and computer use .It should also support research to better understand the role of physical activity in the health  trends of young people

      EDUCATION SYSTEM –with regards to the education , the government can : provide effective Physical Activities  in schools delivered by qualified personnel at all levels of curriculum .Lessons can also be provided  of Physical Activities  totaling 120 to 180 minutes per week .Ensuring that opportunities for Physical Activities are provided in a variety of settings and are embedded within the curriculum .The government can also implement adaptable whole of school models that utilize multiple component strategies and routes of entry .The government can also allocate adequate resources to Physical Activity Programs

     HEALTH CARE SYSTEM – Mandatory education for health care professionals should be provided on prescription of Physical Activities for young people .Collaboration between health care professionals and other providers of Physical Activities and sport in the community .Revise the health care financing system to include reimbursement for individualized lifestyle counseling and follow up

NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

Sport for Development programs can be evaluated for efficiency of their outcomes and impact .Non -governmental Organizations can also develop  a filter for partnerships to ensure sustainability , equity , allocation of resources , community ownerships and buy-in , and to limit unintended consequences of Physical Activities and sport programming .Non -governmental organizations can also use Physical Activity as sport as platforms to develop social capital and social cohesion

THE MEDIA

Media can disseminate positive messages /information about the benefits of physical activity. The media  can organize regular programs to promote physical activity .Ensure journalists ( sports journalists , health journalists , or science journalists ) are knowledgeable about , and can advocate for Physical Activity

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

They can develop local legislation and policy to support physical activity .They can allocate safe indoor and outdoor spaces for physical activity , play and sports .They can also organize community programs .Local governments can also support physical activity initiates initiated by various sectors and actors .They can also help strengthen national public policy in support of physical activity through local action

ECONOMIC POLICY MAKERS

They  should look seriously at the health , social and economic benefits of physical activity .They can also take measures to allocate resources to relevant sectors and initiatives .They should encourage public and private sector to invest in physical activity .They should also support physical activity programs .They can allocate more funds for physical activity and other health promotion programs

EDUCATION AND CULTURE SECTOR

They should make school sport facility available for public use when not in use by students .They should also commit to physical  education as an integral part of the school curriculum .They can also ensure that all schools have  at least one teacher trained in physical education .They should provide opportunities for students to engage in sport and physical activity during and after school .They should increase physical activity in cultural and leisure programs and events .They should contribute to the data collection , research , evaluation , analysis to improve physical activity levels and mobilise sport as a communication and public education platform

SPORT SECTOR

It should allocate proportion of sports funds to promote physical activity .It should include education on the benefits of physical activity in sport sector training programs .It should also make community use of local sport facilities easy and convenient .It should promote sports for all regardless of race , social status , gender , disability and other factors

RESEARCH RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that research be conducted with respect to sport . to assess if : 1) current structure of the organized  sport are adequate to meet the needs  of young people and 2) Coaches are adequately prepared to cope with the unique pedagogical physiological and psychological needs of young people during growth and development

To use new non-invasive technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy and near-infra red spectroscopy to better understand responses to exercise and young people’s fitness during growth and maturation

To evaluate setting and types of young people’s habitual Physical Activity , sport participation  and fitness through large scale , standardized  national  and international surveys .To evaluate the effects of Physical Activity promotion interventions on intermediate factors , and at long –term follow-up with objective measures of behavior , fitness and health outcomes .To better –define the dose-response mechanisms and effects of Physical Activities and sedentary behavior on fitness and health during growth and development

To assess which method of Physical Activity promotion is the best for a given population taking into consideration factors such as disease state , social- economic conditions , culture , ethnicity , gender and age

To assess reach and implementation issues beyond attendance rates in intervention to establish the potential for wider implementation .To use effective measures of Physical Activity whenever possible to enhance the quality assessment and interpretation of data