1. How Exercise and Diet Affect Fitness
Lesson 2

2. Describe the relationship between exercise and physical fitness.
Today, many people don’t get enough physical activity to stay fit. Therefore, we need to exercise. Exercise is any activity that maintains or improves your physical fitness.

3. To improve your fitness, you need to exercise your body more than you normally do. This increased amount of exercise is called overload. Overload tires your muscles. Your body also uses fuel so that your muscles can work during an overload. Your body heals itself and replaces this fuel while you rest. Muscles are made stronger during rest. Overload followed by rest gets your body ready for more hard exercise. If you slowly increase overload, your fitness keeps improving. Be careful, though. Too much exercise can cause injury.

4. Different activities improve different components of fitness
Different activities improve different components of fitness. For example, stretching does not improve your muscular strength as much as lifting weights does. So, lifting weights is the better exercise for improving muscular strength. Stretching is better for improving your flexibility.

5. Explain how diet affects fitness.
You need to eat well to get the most from exercise. Food is fuel for physical activity. Food also provides building blocks for strong muscles and bones. Fruits and vegetables give quick energy. They also provide vitamins and minerals, which help your body repair itself after exercise.

6. Breads and pastas give you the energy you need for exercise.
Lean meats and beans give you the protein your body uses to build strong muscles.
Dairy products and green, leafy vegetables provide calcium. You need calcium for strong bones and muscles.
You need good fuel to do your best during exercise. Junk food and foods high in fat don’t provide good fuel. Not eating enough food also hurts how well you exercise. If you don’t eat enough food, you won’t have enough energy to keep going.