Fitness Activities

What is it?
A variety of different activities designed to encourage you to participate in a personal health and fitness programme, which will enable young people to show an improvement in general fitness. Participants will also develop knowledge of how to maintain and monitor fitness, for a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle. Activities included under this heading are: aerobics, aquarobics, step aerobics, multi-gym, circuit training, jogging, skipping and other keep fit activities

Safety Message
Participants should receive appropriate instruction from a qualified fitness instructor, on how to safely operate gymnasium equipment, and warm up and cooling down techniques. Suitable clothing should be worn for all exercising.

Ideas/Aims
The following list contains suggested points, which you might want to think about/undertake when doing any of these physical activities:
• Why do we exercise and how can it affect us?
• What are the signs of exercising too much, and what should you do if you recognise them?
• Try out different exercise machines at a gym which exercise different muscles, but remember to receive training in the use of them before starting the activity.
• Why not take up a different exercise technique, such as Aerobics, Aquarobics, or Step Aerobics? Make progress in one of these, and have some understanding of the activity, such as the intensity of the exercise, the duration, and the range of movement involved.
• Take up jogging as an activity and set yourself targets, (e.g. run/walk to a set distance, increase the distance over a period of weeks, decrease the time for a set distance, or increase the distance for a set time.) Find out about the treatment of injuries, which may occur, e.g. blisters, sprained ankles.
• Develop your skipping techniques, especially speed and duration, and increase the frequency of training sessions, in following different exercises (e.g. slow running steps with rebound, running steps, step-hop, pas-de-bas and other dance steps, or different sequences of steps.)

Review/Assessment
The reviewer/assessor should ensure the young person understands and appreciates the importance of warming up prior to exercise and cooling down after, exercise, and why exercise is an important component of health. The participant should show improvement in the chosen fitness activity, over the required period of time.

Governing Body/Organisation
Exercise Association of England Ltd, Solecast House, 13-27 Bronzewick Place, London, N1 6DX

Keep Fit Association, Francis House, Francis Street, London, SW1P 1DE
Tel: 020 7233 8898
web site: www.keepfit.org.uk