Physical fitness
Under fitness is generally understood and often physical and intellectual well-being. Fitness expresses the ability to be efficient in everyday life and rather withstand loads. The notion is inaccurate, as it is not clearly definable as a fashion term and is interpreted differently by different people and stakeholders.
The risk of lifestyle diseases such as heart attack and obesity can be reduced by targeted fitness training. Concentration and learning ability can be increased. People who consider themselves active fit are considered to be healthier and live, statistically, longer.
For fitness of body and mind is part of a regular physical exercise, on the other hand, a healthy, balanced and nutritious as high-fiber diet. Unhealthy supplements ( doping, anabolic steroids ) are to be agreed with fitness just as the restriction to pure strength training as it is partly to be found in bodybuilding.
History of the fitness movement
The origin of modern thought as a fitness club free sports is the mostly middle-class life reform movement in the late 19th century. The movement in the open air (or even with the windows open ) was understood as a balance to the increasingly industrialized environment. It emerged at that time numerous power and the cities of art, light and air baths called. In them was strictly trained separately by gender. Also systems for home gymnastics (for example, from August Sandow or JP Müller) were widespread, with even then on efficiency and discipline emphasis was placed during training. Magazines such as " power and beauty " Fitness made known. Numerous fitness equipment such as rowing and cycling (spinning ) device date from this period. Initially, they were used mainly in sanatoria.
In National Socialism the fitness idea perverted ( Leni Riefenstahl, Hans Surén ) and a new Aryan ideal body was modeled, the other, especially disabled people excluded. The individual should be steeling himself to be the requirements imposed by the Darwinian struggle for survival of the peoples grown. These approaches were discredited after 1945.
Only in the 1960s, the fitness movement in Germany was from the United States re-imported and increasingly also commercialized. The most significant icons of the fitness movement are Arnold Schwarzenegger ( bodybuilding) and Jane Fonda (aerobics ). A pioneer in the fitness movement in Switzerland was Jack Günthard. His morning radio show " Fit with Jack" from 1975 should promote health awareness among the audience.
With the 1972 Olympic Games which was launched by the German Sports Federation 1970 jogging movement became very popular.
A real " fitness boom" began in the 1980s. A hallmark of this boom was the rapidly increasing number of so-called " Health Clubs" in which the fitness of the willing can work out a fee. Today, these studios are partly organized in chains.
Exercising in the presence
See sub- item: Exercising
Exercising is an extremely far more tangible concept. In principle, any healthy sporting activity is a form of fitness training, such as training in a sports club, in the gym or even the avoidance of escalators and elevators in favor of stairs - including movement in everyday life. Targeted fitness training usually includes cardio, strength training and coordination training. In compliance with health concerns with regard to the age, it is important for children and young people to improve their fitness, coordination and resilience.
Fitness and Health
Fitness has become an increasing importance in the context of preventive measures against diseases and the widespread disease / cancer disease of civilization. This is especially true for lung cancer and colon cancer. Therefore, the German Cancer Aid and self -help organizations to have " cancer month of March 2012" its appeal to healthy living and fitness in Germany combined with a comprehensive current information service that provides the nonprofit organization established by the X-ray doctor Mildred Scheel for free. Guides, Präventionsfaltblätter, posters and patient information movies on DVD can be ordered from the Cancer Aid or downloaded from the Internet.
The experts blame lack of exercise and obesity for the high disease rates in colorectal cancer. The Medical Director of the Center for Prevention and Sports Medicine, Professor Martin Hall (Technical University Munich) invites the citizens to every day for at least half an hour athletic move to achieve fitness and maintain.