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Fitness and Health - Brian Sharkey and Steven Gaskill
Fitness and Health
by Brian Sharkey and Steven Gaskill
NEW, 440 pages
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About Fitness and Health
Discover how to achieve the maximum benefits of physical activity. This sixth edition of Fitness & Health is your guide to both a deeper understanding of the exercise–health relationship and a map for meeting your individual needs and goals. The book clearly explains how the body responds to physical activity, why physical activity is so beneficial to health, and the way in which physical activity enhances these areas of fitness:
- Aerobic and muscular fitness
- Weight control
- Performance in work and sport
- Energy and vitality
Authors Brian Sharkey, former president of the American College of Sports Medicine and a world-renowned fitness authority, and sport physiologist and Olympic coach Steven Gaskill present a wealth of research-based advice and activities. They provide information on aerobic fitness and prescription, which emphasizes sustained fitness, and incorporate the latest research and nutrition information regarding weight control.
Considered a classic, this revised and updated edition has already helped thousands of readers experience firsthand the benefits of more physical activity. Make Fitness & Health a priority and you, too, will be rewarded.
About Brian J. Sharkey
Brian J. Sharkey has nearly 40 years of experience as a leading fitness researcher, educator, and author. Sharkey served as director of the University of Montana's Human Performance Laboratory for many years and remains associated with the university and lab as professor emeritus. He is also a consultant with the U.S. Forest Service in the areas of fitness, health, and work capacity.
Sharkey is past president of the American College of Sports Medicine and served on the NCAA committee on competitive safeguards and medical aspects of sports, where he chaired the Sports Science and Safety subcommittee, which uses research and data on injury to improve the safety of intercollegiate athletes. He also coordinated the U.S. Ski Team Nordic Sportsmedicine Council.
About Steven Gaskill
Steven Gaskill is in the department of health and human performance at the University of Montana. Gaskill worked for the U.S. ski team for 10 years as head coach of the Nordic combined (ski jumping and cross-country skiing) and cross-country teams and as director of the coaches' educational programs. He has coached at three Olympic Games, and 20 skiers who have trained under him have competed in the Olympics. In 1992, the U.S. Ski Association named him the U.S. Cross-Country Coach of the Year.
Reviews of this book
"In this age of trendy diets and looming obesity statistics, this book couldn't be more useful. Fitness researcher, educator, and author Sharkey (health & human performance, emeritus, Univ. of Montana), who first published this renowned guide in 1974, here teams up with Olympic coach Gaskill
(health & human performance, Univ. of Montana) for the sixth edition. Known as the “thinking person's fitness book,” this work discusses not only how to eat and exercise well but also why one should adopt such a lifestyle. The authors maintain a focus on the emotional as well as physical benefits of exercise and support their recommendations with relevant research studies and statistics. The book's scholarly nature makes it a staple in many college health courses, but in this particular edition, which encourages engaging in “the active life” rather than just focusing on performance, Sharkey and Gaskill also draw in the average reader by including straightforward sample fitness programs, training tips, activities, and basic injury care. Their relaxed tone and dispersed inspirational quotes from such luminaries as Chinese Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu and science fiction/fantasy author Ursula K.
Le Guin also engage readers. Essential for academic and larger public libraries.”
Jennifer Johnston, formerly with San Bernardino P.L., CA
Library Journal, October 15, 2006
About Fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness (a state of health and well-being) and specific fitness (a task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations). Physical fitness is generally achieved through exercise.
In previous years, fitness was commonly defined as the capacity to carry out the day’s activities without undue fatigue. However, as automation increased leisure time, changes in lifestyles following the industrial revolution rendered this definition insufficient. These days, physical fitness is considered a measure of the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypokinetic diseases, and to meet emergency situations.
Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health or wellness. It is performed for various reasons. These include strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance and for enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent the "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also improves mental health, helps prevent depression, helps to promote or maintain positive self-esteem, and can even augment an individual's sex appeal or body image Childhood obesity is a growing global concern and physical exercise may help decrease the effects of childhood obesity in developed countries.
Types of exercise: exercises are generally grouped into three types depending on the overall effect they have on the human body. Flexibility exercises, such as stretching, improve the range of motion of muscles and joints. Aerobic exercises, such as cycling, swimming, walking, skipping rope, running, hiking or playing tennis, focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance. Anaerobic exercises, such as weight training, functional training or sprinting, increase short-term muscle strength.
Fitness and Health
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