Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction to the Active Life -- Physical Activity, Fitness, and Health -- Health Benefits of Activity and Fitness: Activity and fitness reduce the risk of many diseases -- Activity and Mental Health: How activity helps us deal with stress while reducing anxiety and depression -- Activity and Personal Health: Assess your health and the need for a pre-exercise medical exam -- Aerobic Fitness -- Understanding Aerobic Fitness: Identify aerobic exercise and the factors that influence aerobic fitness -- Aerobic Fitness: The Training Effect: Understand how systematic exercise stimulates changes in the body -- Improving Aerobic Fitness: Develop a personal aerobic fitness program based on your fitness level and goals -- Aerobic Fitness Programs: Make your exercise program safe and enjoyable with training tips, sample fitness programs, and solutions to common exercise problems -- Muscular Fitness -- Understanding Muscular Fitness: Identify the components of muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility -- Benefits of Muscular Fitness: Understand how exercise changes muscle and ways to minimize muscle soreness -- Improving Your Muscular Fitness: Create a personal muscular fitness program -- Activity and Weight Control -- Nutrition and Health: Understand the basics of good nutrition -- Energy and Activity: Learn to calculate your caloric intake and expenditure -- Activity, Diet, and Weight Control: Why activity is better than dieting -- Weight-Control Programs: Start a personalized weight-control program focusing on activity, food choices, and behavior -- Performance in Work and Sport -- Performance at Work: Explore the relationship between fitness and work capacity -- Performance in Sport: Prepare for athletic competition safely and effectively -- The Environment and Performance: Minimize environmental problems like temperature extremes, humidity, high altitude, and air pollution -- Vitality and Longevity -- Age, Activity, and Vitality: Activity and healthy habits counteract the effects of aging and improve longevity -- The Psychology of Activity: Incorporate psychological skills into a successful fitness program -- Activity and the Quality of Life: Consider how physical activity contributes to your quality of life.

Completely updated and redesigned, this book has been a staple of fitness professionals for years. It is the ideal reference for those who want to learn how to improve and maintain their health through regular and enjoyable physical activity. Logically organized, clearly written and effectively illustrated, this text incorporates the latest in fitness research. Photos.