Bartley Center Wellness News – 76

April 2007

1.   Fitness Assessment

2.   Men & Body Image 

3.   Easy Exercises for each day of the week

4.   Quotes

5.   A Wellness Challenge

Wellness News quiz:

1.      At HCC, we offer a MicroFit computerized fitness profile program that can record, analyze, and track physical health and fitness measurements for ages 5 to 90. True/False

2.      Men who struggle with body image issues typically have an increased prevalence of substance abuse (i.e., alcohol, marijuana, hallucinogens, cocaine, etc.) as compared to women with body image concerns. True/False

3.      April is National Humor Month.  True/False

4.      Who said - “The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them.”

Answers are below in the reading material.

1. Fitness Assessment

Fitness Assessment is a vital part of your wellness lifestyle. Do you know how fit are you?

You can determine your fitness level by measuring the four major fitness components identified by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM):

• aerobic fitness
• muscular fitness
• flexibility
• body composition.

You may have some idea of how fit you are, but it is the specifics that direct you to set fitness goals, to monitor your progress and to maintain your motivation. Once you know the details, you can plan where you want to go. Use a watch that can measure seconds, a cloth measuring tape, a yardstick, some tape, and someone to assist you with the flexibility test. You can record your scores in a notebook or on a computer (keeping a periodic record of your fitness components can be a lifelong measuring stick to assist you in a complete wellness lifestyle). Below is a do-it-yourself fitness assessment that is a tool for tracking your fitness.

Check your aerobic fitness: One-mile timed walk and check your pulse before and after.

You can do the walk outside, inside or on a treadmill. Before and after the walk, check and record your pulse.

To check your pulse:

Option 1: carotid artery - place your index and third fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe.

Option 2: radial artery - check your pulse at your wrist. Place two fingers between the bone and the tendon over your radial artery, which is located on the thumb side of your wrist. 

When you feel your pulse, look at your watch and count the number of pulsations in 15 seconds. Multiply this number by 4 to get your heart rate per minute or 10 seconds x 6.

Muscular fitness: Push-ups - do knee push-ups or if you are already fit, do toe push-ups.  For both types: Lie facedown on the floor with your elbows bent and your palms next to your shoulders. Keep your back straight, push up with your arms until your arms are extended. Lower your body until your chest touches the floor. Push your body upward, returning to the starting position.  Count each time you return to the starting position as one push-up. Do as many push-ups as you can until you need to stop for rest. Record the number of push-ups you complete in your notebook.

Flexibility: Sit-and-reach test

This is to assess the flexibility in your legs, hips and lower back.  Here's how: place a yardstick on the floor, secure it by placing a piece of tape across the yardstick at the 15-inch mark.  Place the soles of your feet even with the 15-inch mark. Ask someone to place his or her hands on top of your knees to anchor them. Reach forward as far as you can, holding the position for two seconds. Note the distance you reached. Repeat the test two more times. Record the best of the three reaches. 

Body Composition: Waist circumference and body mass index

With a cloth measuring tape, measure your waist circumference at its smallest point — usually at the level of the navel. Record your waist circumference in inches in your notebook.Then determine your body mass index (BMI) — an indicator of your percentage of body fat — through a BMI table or look for an online calculator. If you'd rather do the math yourself, divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared and multiply by 703. Record your BMI with the rest of your scores in your notebook .

Keep track of your progress: take the same measurements six weeks after you begin your exercise program and periodically afterward. Each time you repeat your assessment adjust your fitness goals accordingly.

Note: At HCC we offer a MicroFit computerized fitness profile program that can record, analyze, and track physical health and fitness measurements for ages 5 to 90. The program includes over 40 tests in the areas of body shape and composition, cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, and flexibility - and you can add an unlimited number of your own tests to the program. The health and fitness tests included in the MicroFit Fitness Profile program are also based on the ACSM guidelines. Contact the Bartley Center 552-2161 or Community Services (552-2320).

In addition, each semester students enrolled in HFN 183 (Personal Training and Fitness Counseling) are involved in projects that stress working with “clients’ to assess fitness goals and involvement in personal fitness training.

2. Men & Body Image 

In general, society believes that body image and eating disorders are primarily a woman’s issue.  However, men can and do struggle with eating and exercise disorders, and body image. We still have little research and information on the effects of men with eating disorders.  We do know the more body dissatisfaction a man has, the more willing he is to engage in unhealthy behaviors such as eating disorders. Some men define their body satisfaction by the size of their muscles. Muscularity means they are masculine and have strength, power, respect, and confidence. This definition of masculinity can lead to unhealthy behaviors.  

Some Gender Differences and Body Image

• Men typically have clearer ideal weight perception than women.
• Men think women want a more muscular, lean body than women actually do.
• Men abuse laxatives and diet pills less frequently than women.
• Men who struggle with body image issues typically have an increased prevalence of substance abuse (i.e., alcohol, marijuana, hallucinogens, cocaine, etc.) as compared to women with body image concerns.
• Men are more likely to use anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing supplements than women.
• Men tend to binge more often than women
• Men are more likely than women to exhibit excessive exercise (weight training and endurance exercise)
• Men with body image issues often times have more sexual conflicts than women with body image issues.
• Men are less likely than women to seek treatment
• Men who struggle with body image issues often question masculinity regardless of their sexual orientation

3.  Easy Exercises for each day of the week (remember April is National Humor Month)

Exercise For Real Life: an easy daily program that non exercisers can utilize:

Monday:

• Beat around the bush.
• Jump to conclusions.
• Climb the walls.
• Wade through paperwork.

Tuesday:

• Drag my heels.
• Push my luck.
• Make mountains out of mole hills.
• Hit the nail on the head.

Wednesday:

• Bend over backwards.
• Jump on the band wagon.
• Balance the books.
• Run around in circles.

Thursday:

• Toot my own horn.
• Climb the ladder of success.
• Pull out the stops. A
• dd fuel to the fire.

Friday: Open a can of worms.

• Put my foot in my mouth.
• Start the ball rolling.
• Go over the edge.

Saturday:

• Pick up the pieces.

What a workout!

4.  Quotes:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Change is not merely necessary to life, it is life.” - Alvin Toffler

“Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.” - Maya Angelou

“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” -  Groucho Marx

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because people who mind don’t matter and people who matter don’t mind.” - Theodor Seuss Geisel

“There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.” -  Christopher Morley

“The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.” - Patricia Neal

“The second day of a diet is always easier than the first. By the second day you're off it.” - Jackie Gleason

“My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.” -  Buddy Hackett

tech support: CanYouFixTheSpacebarOnMyKeyboard?”

5. A Wellness Challenge - keep it simple: find and preserve the simplicity in well-being, live healthy by eating healthy and participating in regular, meaningful physical exercise. Not only does it sound simple, it is simple.