Introduction
Exercise is an integral part of a person’s fitness, and, consequently, physical health. However, a concrete fitness program must be created in order to achieve one’s goals and avoid excessive exhaustion and injuries. Moreover, a person must first establish the goals of the program in terms of health, general physical activity, and diet. Thus, knowing the aforementioned factors, it is possible to make an appropriate fitness program.
Explaining the Benefits, Effects, and Drawbacks of Fitness Components
Firstly, it is necessary to describe the benefits of regular physical activity and the components of an adequate fitness level. Without regular exercise, a person can receive higher risks of obesity and cancer, as well as a worse response to cancer treatments. However, if a person does work out, they can improve their metabolic, musculoskeletal, and cardiovascular health. Moreover, a person’s mental and cognitive will see a large improvement as well (“Exercise, 7 benefits”, 2019). The components that are integral to achieving and maintaining an adequate level of fitness are nutrition and physical activity (Burridge et al., 2022). Hence, it is important to monitor and improve one’s diet and amount of exercise, as they are good for both physical and psychological health.
Identifying Program Goals
Secondly, it is an efficient decision to make the short-term and long-term goals of the fitness routine a person will be taking. For example, an obese person is willing to drop at least 5 kilograms in weight in 8 weeks as a short-term health goal. A long-term goal will be reducing their weight to the normal amount based on their height and age within 6 months.
Because they increase the utilization of fat for energy and cause ketosis, which reduces hunger, ketogenic diets are known to help people lose weight (Crosby et al., 2021). Hence, switching to a ketogenic diet is the short-term nutrition goal of this fitness plan, which is designed for fast weight loss. In the long term, a person will have to switch to the Mediterranean diet, as the ketogenic diet can cause fatigue due to a lack of protein (Burridge et al., 2022). The Mediterranean diet contains a healthy amount of carbohydrates, dietary proteins, lipids, water, and micronutrients and prevents obesity (Cena & Calder, 2020). Thus, the nutritional and health goals of this program are designed to lower weight.
Planning Nutrition
The Mediterranean diet is chosen for this fitness program due to its inherent benefits for physical health. The Mediterranean diet has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, including a decrease in the incidence of cardiovascular outcomes, according to research (Guasch‐Ferré & Willett, 2021). Additionally, it lowers the risk of metabolic syndrome, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity.
Additionally, research shows that the Mediterranean diet improves glycemic management in diabetic patients and is linked to lower incident diabetes rates when compared to control diets. According to prospective studies, following the Mediterranean diet enhanced longevity by reducing mortality, particularly cardiovascular mortality. Additionally, it has been linked to a decreased incidence of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, and age-related cognitive decline (Guasch‐Ferré & Willett, 2021). Hence, the Mediterranean diet is beneficial for one’s health and is thus chosen for this fitness program.
Planning Physical Exercises
However, it is crucial to establish general physical activity goals for the plan as well. A healthy amount of exercise includes aerobic (dynamic) and anaerobic (strength) training. A healthy person is expected to do at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise and to conduct at least two anaerobic training sessions weekly (Burridge et al., 2022). This will serve as a long-term goal for this plan, which the person should be able to achieve within 6 months.
For a short-term goal, a person should be able to do aerobic exercise for 75 minutes per week within 8 weeks, as it promotes weight reduction. Without any clear health contradictions, this program is suitable across the lifespan of an adult (Burridge et al., 2022). Hence, physical activity goals include aerobic and anaerobic training minimums for healthy adults.
Both aerobic and anaerobic exercise contribute greatly to one’s health. Aerobic training greatly increases aerobic capacity, executive function, and cortical system (Stern et al., 2019). Aerobic exercise has a stronger effect on executive function as age increases, indicating that it may slow down the effects of aging. In people as young as 20, increased cortical thickness shows that aerobic exercise benefits brain health. Studies show that after anaerobic training, increases in object control and locomotor skills can be seen (Babiarz et al., 2022).
Object control skills and locomotor skills both increase significantly after sufficient strength training. Significant improvements are made in various aspects of cognitive performance, including frontal lobe activation, executive function, and visuospatial working memory ability. In terms of mental health, disturbances in mood significantly decline after strength training.
Leg presses, bench presses, sit-ups, push-ups, and chair sit-to-stand after training all show improvements in physical strength and endurance. Following training, lean tissue mass rises considerably after training as well (Babiarz et al., 2022). Hence, aerobic and anaerobic training contribute greatly to one’s physical and mental health and thus are included in this fitness program.
Conclusion
Thus, the program for achieving and maintaining an adequate level of fitness is complete. Regular exercise is crucial for both physical and psychological health since it lowers the risk of cardiovascular and oncological diseases and improves overall well-being. With properly set goals and healthy dietary and physical activity plans, a person will be able to improve and preserve their health for many years to come.
References
Babiarz, M., Laskowski, R., Grzywacz, T. (2022). Effects of Strength Training on BDNF in Healthy Young Adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 1-14. :13795. Web.
Burridge, K., Christensen, S. M., Golden, A., Ingersoll, A. B., Tondt, J., & Bays, H. E. (2022). Nutrition and physical activity: an obesity medicine association (OMA) clinical practice statement 2022. Obesity Pillars, 1, 1–16. Web.
Cena, H., & Calder, P. C. (2020). Defining a healthy diet: evidence for the role of contemporary dietary patterns in health and disease. Nutrients, 12(2), 1–15. Web.
Crosby, L., Davis, B., Joshi, S., Jardine, M., Paul, J., Neola, M., & Barnard, N. D. (2021). Ketogenic diets and chronic disease: weighing the benefits against the risks. Frontiers in Nutrition, 8, 1–11. Web.
Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity. (2021). Mayo Clinic. Web.
Guasch‐Ferré, M., & Willett, W. C. (2021). The Mediterranean diet and health: a comprehensive overview. Journal of Internal Medicine, 290(3), 549–566. Web.
Stern, Y., MacKay-Brandt, A., Lee, S., McKinley, P., McIntyre, K., Razlighi, Q., Agarunov, E., Bartels, M., Sloan, R.P. (2019). Effect of aerobic exercise on cognition in younger adults: A randomized clinical trial. Neurology, 92(9), e905-e916. Web.
