Summary
Key features of cardiovascular and nutrition program
The key features of my cardiovascular and nutrition program are (American Heart Association):
- The program trained participants on ways of preventing and ceasing the smoking of tobacco, which is a major contributor to cardiovascular diseases.
- The importance and conduction of regular physical exercise.
- Effective ways of reducing stress and managing it.
- The importance of regular screening and detection of cardiovascular diseases.
- The importance of healthy eating and nutritional education.
- The process of weight management.
- Detecting and managing cardiovascular diseases.
- General training on cardiovascular training such as the use of external defibrillators and resuscitation.
- Promotion of health behaviors in the environment.
- The importance of occupational health and safety.
- Provision of information on calorie intake.
- The composition of a healthy diet.
- Prescription for physical exercise.
- Duration and frequency of physical exercise.
Explanation of why these key features were emphasized
The program emphasized prevention and cessation of tobacco smoking because the practice is harmful directly to the person smoking and to the surroundings, including the people around, which contributes to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates. Physical activity on a regular basis is important in maintaining good health and promoting healthy living, in addition to preventing cardiovascular risk factors from developing in individuals. There is a positive correlation between the development of cardiovascular diseases and stress among individuals living in a growingly demanding environment, which highlights the importance of training on stress reduction and management. Screening and early detection of cardiovascular diseases are important for the identification of predisposing factors such as hypertension, abnormality in blood lipids, obesity, diabetes, and advocating for behavior change.
Maintenance of the ideal weight and provision of continuous nutritional education forms the basis of preventive actions and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. General training in cardiovascular diseases helps individuals in providing the necessary support and first aid in case of unexpected development of problems. The promotion of a healthy environment is critical mainly because of the various aspects of the environment that contribute to heart problems. Because of the role of occupations in developing heart conditions, training participants on safety and healthy workplaces help in the prevention of such diseases. The other areas focus on the provision of nutritional information, which helps in ensuring healthy meals and enable people to calculate calories taken at every meal. Physical activity is a major aspect of the cardiovascular training and nutrition program because of the significance of exercise in minimizing risky factors and maintaining healthy (American Heart Association, 2007).
Benefits of cardiovascular training
According to IDEA Health and Fitness (1997, p. 32), “benefits of cardiovascular training include enhanced athletic performance, improved body composition, lowering the risk for cardiovascular disease and enhancing the possibility of establishing a healthy adult lifestyle.” Cardiovascular training results in a healthy heart able to pump oxygenated blood to the entire body. Furthermore, training enhances the heart’s activity because it relies on oxygenated blood for the muscles to work effectively by reducing heart strain and minimizing the chances of developing heart diseases. Cardiovascular training minimizes the chances of heart attacks and stroke because it reduces the levels of cholesterol in the cardiovascular system. Other than the vascular system, training helps in maintaining general body health and normal functioning of body organs such as bones and improves mental health through more production of endorphins.
Benefits of healthy eating
Healthy eating does not necessarily prevent the taking of various foods, but more focus is on including more healthy foods in the diet because of the numerous health benefits to the body. Healthy eating enables people to lead healthier and longer lives with a great feeling about one’s health. A person is able to have lots of energy to engage in recreation and work. Healthy eating supports the maintenance of an ideal weight and boosts the immune system, which helps the body in fighting infections. Furthermore, healthy eating means low cholesterol levels in the body, strong bones and spine health, and maintenance of normal blood sugar levels (Stanton, 2007).
How the exercise physiology principle of progression was implemented
The principle of progression was important in determining the “optimal level of overload that should be achieved and an optimal time frame for the overload to occur” (Boone, 2013, p. 45). Using the progression principle, the trainee program uses a systematic increase of activities over time to achieve cardiovascular and muscular fitness while eliminating injury risks. The principal informed the use of basic skills before implementing advanced activities. Spotters are important in checking the progression of individuals and determining the level of load at every stage. Furthermore, the principle contributes to an understanding of clients’ responses to various regimens to perfect the cardiovascular training.
How the exercise physiology principle of specificity was implemented
The principle of specificity was used to accomplish cardiovascular overload by facilitating the local circulation of blood among participants. This is in light of every participant having his or her objective for cardiovascular training. Cardiovascular diseases have several things in common, which make the implementation of the specificity principle easy. The goal is to enhance heart health and general body fitness and weight management, which informed the program’s focus on overall body strength, healthy eating and cardiovascular wellness (Raven, 2013). The training was designed to meet individual objectives.
How the exercise physiology principle of rest and recovery was implemented
In cardiovascular training, the exercise physiology principle of rest and recovery was implemented to allow appropriate time for participants to achieve recovery from training activities and enable the body to adapt to the new changes. The rest and recovery period lasted between five and ten minutes, which allowed the physiological system to achieve its resting level gradually without the risk of muscle stress. The principle was implemented gradually because of the vigorous nature of the activity. The goal was to give the heart muscles adequate time to adapt to changes in the body, especially reduced blood flow. In fact, the decreased flow also ensured that the amount of oxygen reaching the body organs reduced significantly. Implementation was possible, especially through walking slowly (Raven, 2013).
Likelihood of implementing this 16-week program
Given the time and components of the cardiovascular and nutrition training program, the likelihood of successful implementation is high. Successful implementation results from an apparent realization of the significance of cardiovascular training as a major part of ensuring people lead healthy lives. Indeed, cardiovascular and nutrition training are important components of every health exercise program. The design of the training enables people to link diet and physical exercise, which facilitate the consumption of the right meals and performance of the ideal exercises to achieve the ideal body condition and energy levels. Experts in the training program would provide consultation on healthy eating and physical activity regimen (Raven, 2013).
The likelihood of subsequently implementing the exercise physiology principle of permanency at the end of the 16-week program
The cardiovascular and nutritional training used a moderate and balanced approach to enhance chances of permanency. The program involved sensible and flexible exercises, which increased in intensity progressively. It is important to adopt consistency in training because it ensures that participants are characterized by high chances of succeeding in their activities. This means participants can perform the activities for a given period, take a rest and restart again throughout life, which kills potential boredom. Above all, healthy eating advocated by the program enhances general health and fitness (Raven, 2013).
References
American Heart Association. (2007). Physical Activity and Public Health: Updated Recommendations for Adults From the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Circulation. 12(116), 1081-1093.
Boone, T. (2013). Introduction to Exercise Physiology. Burlington. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
IDEA. (1997). Exercise for Children and Teens. San Diego, CA: IDEA Health & Fitness Association.
Raven, P. B. (2013). Exercise physiology: an integrated approach. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Stanton, R. (2007). Healthy eating for families. Millers Point, N.S.W.: Murdoch.
Nutrition Table 1: Hypothetical Day 1’s Meal Plan.
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Nutrition Table 2: Hypothetical Day 2’s Meal Plan.
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Nutrition Table 3: Hypothetical Day 3’s Meal Plan.
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