PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DEFINITION ACSM PROFESSIONAL

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DEFINITION ACSM PROFESSIONAL

Recognition of the other domains in the development of a total program equips the exercise professional with a significant tool in knowing when to refer an individual to other health care providers for healthy lifestyle guidance that lies outside the exercise professional’s scope of practice.įIGURE 8.1. The exercise professional must be cognizant that an exercise program is just one element contributing to the overall health of a person. Exercise has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on many of the aspects of the domains outside of Physical Health ( 2, 7). Exercise programs clearly have the preponderance of their effectiveness in the Physical Health Domain, but the interactions between the components of all of the domains are undeniable. The Domains, as listed in Box 8.1, describe the broad realm of the involvement in achieving overall health of the whole person. What much of the research in this area over the past 40+ years has elucidated is that physical activity and/or exercise plays a key role in the prevention, management, and rehabilitation of disease processes in conjunction with other healthy lifestyle behaviors. In addition, the ACSM has also added the component of the pattern of the activity to be an important consideration in exercise programming ( 2).Ī recent PubMed search performed by the authors of this chapter using the past 40 years as a time frame and searching the term exercise and chronic disease returned over 18,000 research articles that have been published regarding the effects of exercise/physical activity as an intervention in the prevention of, management of, and rehabilitation for many chronic diseases (often known as Special Populations) since the publication of the first edition of the GETP ( 4). In the current (10th) edition of the GETP10 ( 2), these five components of exercise prescription are reported as Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type ( FITT) with the Volume of exercise added along with the Progression component to produce the acronym FITT-VP. These five components are applicable to the development of exercise programs for persons regardless of age, functional capacity, and presence or absence of CHD risk factors or CHD. This chapter also presents the new guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) as published in the 10th edition of the ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription ( GETP10) ( 2).Įxercise prescription includes the type, intensity, duration, frequency and progression of physical activity. This chapter addresses specific guidelines for physical activity and/or exercise programming. However, high-risk individuals, specifically those with symptoms of disease, may require medical evaluation and clearance prior to initiation of physical activity. Most individuals can begin a formal physical activity program without consultation with a health care provider. In addition, it is important to consider other components of a healthy lifestyle such as resistance, flexibility, and neuromotor training. Several recent national standards emphasize the benefits of regular aerobic physical activity and/or exercise and encourage all of us (no matter our age) to engage in at least 20–60 minutes of these behaviors for a minimum of 3 days per week ( 2, 6, 9, 11, 12). Despite all the research and the increased public awareness concerning physical activity and/or exercise, millions of Americans continue to avoid regular physical activity ( 2). Countless physical and mental health benefits have been attributed to increased physical activity. Various forms of physical activity have been shown to increase longevity as well as the quality of that increased lifespan. Conversely, sedentary behaviors are counterproductive to health. General Principles of Exercise Prescriptionįor additional ancillary materials related to this chapter, please visit thePoint.Ĭommon sense, the ancients, modern research, and practice all point toward the indisputable fact that an important part of a healthy lifestyle is physical activity.

Physical activity definition acsm