Physical activity

Physical activity involves training muscles and increasing heart rate to increase fitness levels. The NHS recommends adults (19-64 years old) to be physically active everyday, do at least 2 strengthening exercises a week for major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms), at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity. Moderate intensity activity is exercise that makes you get a little warmer and a little out of breath and that raises energy expenditure above resting level expanding over 200 kcal. Physical activity can be a fast paced walk for 20 min a day. Physical activity has many benefits such as; reducing risk to getting major illness, boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of depression and stress. Physical activity reduces risk of getting major illnesses such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and cancer by lowering blood pressure, strengthening your heart, raising your high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels which is the good cholesterol and lowering low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels which is the bad cholesterol and improving blood flow to the whole body. For example a football player or a boxer wouldn’t need to do any additional physical activity then what they already do as they should train much more than the recommended amount already. The modern problem is that most people use cars and public transport instead of going for a walk (exercise) this is because people have turned lazy and don’t do the recommended amount of exercise a week required. Some ways we can do the recommended amount of exercise are swapping the car/public transport for a walk, going for a jog, going to the gym to lift weights with the major muscles such as legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms. These are very simple ways to stay healthy and can be done at no cost whatsoever.
Alcohol

Alcohol is a drug that affects all organs in your body and is absorbed from your
small intestine and stomach into your bloodstream. Alcohol is measured in units when its being consumed. Adults are recommended to not exceed more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, However pregnant woman and children shouldn’t drink alcohol at all.  Alcohol can have a negative impact on your body and the way you feel, could also lead to death if used excessively. Excessive drinking could lead to stroke, cirrhosis, hypertension and depression. The NHS says that excessive drinking is drinking more than the recommended amount (14 units a week). Depression can be a result of excessive drinking because excessive drinking stimulates the brain regularly and makes the person happy, therefore when the brain stops being stimulated the person becomes very down and miserable, this is depression in severe cases. Alcohol is a body builders worst enemy, alcohol is proven to increase the stress hormone (cortisol), which can reduce the levels of growth hormone by as much as 72 percent. Alcohol is sold in most super markets and off license shops, alcohol can also be consumed in pubs, clubs and regular bars. Alcohol is very popular and addicting so people with a alcohol addiction should reduce their intake gradually week after week by 2 units, this will not give the body a shock and will slowly be less reliable on alcohol. Researches show that the reason why alcohol is addictive is because it makes the brain produce endorphins, these are the brain’s natural pain killers are also associated with pleasure and reward. This makes the consumer feel good when under influences and bad when not.
Smoking

Smoking is inhaling smoke to the lungs when something is lit. Smoking is very addictive and harmful. These are the most popular choices of smoke; cigarette, cigar, vape or cannabis. Smoking is very damaging to the lungs and could even lead to lung cancer and death because of all the chemicals found in the tobacco and vapes. Smoking is the main cause of death and illnesses in the UK, 7/10 smokers develop lung cancer. Passive smoke is also damaging to the lungs, this means that if someone around you is smoking then this will also affect your health. If you dont smoke then your able to consume more oxygen then someone who does smoke, also if you smoke then you are at risk of getting green teeth and nails from the tobacco. Smoking also leads to serious heart conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attacks or even strokes. When you breath in cigarette smoke it irritates the lungs and destroys lung tissues resulting in a decrease of air sacs and blood vessels in the lungs. People who try to quit smoking tend to go for the use of vapes and some get nicotine patches to stop them craving a real cigarette. After a few years of smoking the individual should clean their lungs by one of these methods;Controlled coughing, Drain mucus from the lungs, Exercise, Green tea, Anti-inflammatory foods, Chest percussion and steam therapy. These are all very effective and will help clean up the lungs after tar build up.

Stress

Stress is feeling anxious about an event that will or has taken place. Stress can result in a fight or flight response, for example if a person is going to have a fight then he either chooses to fight or run away because of the stress. Stress could also be good thing for example stress before a driving test could result in the individual to learn more and pass (stress= motivation). But on the other hand there is also bad stress which is for example flirting or stress during a sports game, to deal with this kind of stress there are breathing exercises and time management techniques that can help manage your reaction to the stressful situation. Stress is a mental reaction that tends to occur when an individual is loosing control of a situation. When someone is stressed there heart rate and blood pressure rise, this may cause sweating and feeling light headed. Stress levels can also be controlled by exercising physically because exercise makes you calm as your brain is supplied with more nutrients because of the higher heart rate during exercise, the nutrients help your brain to function properly.

Diet

A healthy diet is eating the right amount of food to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. A healthy diet has many benefits such as improved digestion and sleep, control of weight, increased energy levels and some evidence show decreased health issues. There are different types of diets; Low carb, the 5:2 diet, detox, cabbage soup. Diets are picked to suit the individuals needs for example a person that works physically and exercises will need to consume more calories then a person who has a office job. The reason for this is because during physical movement we use energy that we get from food (calories). The key components of a diet are safe amount of calories adequate for the individuals lifestyle, a balance of macro and micro nutrients, 5 a day, sufficient amount of water. Through out the day an average male who weighs about 80kg, is 6ft tall and has regular exercise is recommended to consume 2000 calories and drink 2 litters of water minimum. A healthy diet can be done by eating fruits 5 times a day and eating 33% of vegetables daily. If someone is overweight (male over 22% and woman over 25% body fat) they are required to reduce calories daily by no more then 5% in order to not ‘crash’. Crashing is not getting enough nutrients and putting your body into starvation mode, this will make someone feel very drowsy and ill.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
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