A Guide to Fall Fitness and Diet

The importance of fitness and creating a diet plan is just as important in the fall as any other time of year

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Dylan Zilla

Soccer season brings dramatic play-by-play reports from head coach Brian Sorrell

Fitness: a term that is known worldwide, but not carried out by everyone. Fitness doesn’t just include physical activity, but diet as well. It’s fall time currently, one of the best months to be active, because of the cool and refreshing weather. For people who aren’t playing a winter sport, check out this article. There are many forms of fitness to chose from. The forms are body composition, flexibility, muscular strength, muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance. Read on to learn more about each one, and find out which one is right for you!

The good thing about fitness is that there are so many different types, so if you don’t like one activity there are others to choose from. Let’s look at each kind of fitness focus.  First, body composition, which is the ratio of fats, proteins and water in your diet. Next is flexibility, which is how you can stretch your body. Muscular strength is third, which is the ability of a muscle group to develop maximal force against some form of resistance, such as weights or weight machines. Then there’s muscular endurance, which is the ability of a muscle to sustain repeated contractions against a resistance for an extended period of time. Lastly, cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen to the working muscles, and the ability of the muscles to use oxygen to produce the energy they need to work hard.

The good thing about fitness is that there are many activities and sports that may meet the requirements in multiple categories. A way of staying fit in the fall is by playing sports. Fall sports include: soccer, baseball, ice hockey, golf, and swimming. As said in “Better Health,” soccer increases aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health, lowers body fat and improves muscle tone, builds strength, flexibility, and endurance, and increases muscle and bone strength.

However, soccer is a very tiring sport, so if you are interested in playing it, make sure you have plenty of fluids on hand, and rehydrate regularly. By playing baseball, it is said that athletes can build upper body strength

“Baseball, a commonly played American sport is popular,” according to LHS Senior Aaron Adams.

very quickly from swinging, catching, and throwing a baseball. Throwing and swinging a baseball requires strength from many parts of the body like the triceps, biceps, shoulders, and chest muscles. Playing baseball also benefits your health by producing Vitamin D from the sunlight, and improving concentration.Drew Ramos, 11th grader at Lafayette High school, says, “Baseball is a good way to stay fit.”

If you play ice hockey the sustained energy and muscular strength required in a hockey helps develop fitness and endurance, and muscle strength. Playing hockey is a great way of developing your body’s leg muscles, including the hamstring, hips and calves. It also improves the endurance of shoulder muscles, triceps and forearms. Playing ice hockey includes both aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Aerobic is nonstop exercise and anaerobic is short bursts of energy. But ice hockey comes with some drawbacks, too. Some common injuries that occur from aggressive game play are lower back problems, neck injury, foot injury, tendonitis, head injury, black eye, broken teeth, frostbite, and cuts.

Golf, the hardest sport, requires both mental and physical strength.

 

Playing golf is another sport which you can get a lot out of. Many people don’t think of golf as a sport and completely ignore the fact that golf takes skill and concentration. You also have to have a good pair of walking legs to play golf. Playing golf also benefits mental well-being, it reduces stress and anxiety and helps you lose weight from walking. Luke Clarke, 11th grader at Lafayette High school, says, “Golf is underrated and it helps you lose weight.”

Lastly swimming, one of the hardest sports in my opinion. Swimming keeps your heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off your body. Builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness. Swimming helps you maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart and lungs, and tones muscles and builds strength. Swimming is also good for people with injuries and disabilities, and also helps with weight loss.  Colby, 11th grader at Lafayette High school, says “Swimming is a good exercise and team bonding experience.”

According to folk wisdom, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”
Chobani, a famous dairy product, sits on the counter unopened.

If you don’t feel like being active and playing a sport, you could go on a diet. A diet helps people lose weight. When planning a diet you need to be careful of eating too much of one thing. The key number of meals per day is 3-4 (Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. With an occasional mid-day snack.). Examples of healthy foods are fruit, grain foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fiber varieties, lean meats, and poultry. More healthy foods include fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds, and legumes/beans. Also dairy such as milk, yogurt, and cheese. The five healthy food groups are vegetables, fruits, grains, proteins, and dairy. Since this is a fall edition some healthy fall foods to eat include apples, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger roots, squash, and garlic!