Unit 15, Task 1 Resub
Unit 15- Promoting health and wellbeing
LO1- Understand reasons for maintaining a healthy lifestyle
P1- Describe the personal benefits of a healthy lifestyle
P2- Explain the benefits to society of following a healthy lifestyle
M1- Analyse the impact on health of adverse lifestyle choices
Laura Palmer
Christy Gates
, In this assignment I will be describing the personal benefits to living a healthy lifestyle, I will also
explain the benefits to society of individuals living a healthy lifestyle. Finally, I will analyse the
impacts on health of adverse lifestyle choices.
P1- Describe the personal benefits of a healthy lifestyle
Katherine is a 28-year-old woman. She likes to maintain a healthy lifestyle, by exercising weekly, and
eating a healthy diet.
There are many physical benefits to exercise. Exercise can help reduce the risk of many illnesses that
can be prevented due to the lifestyle someone lives. Conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, and
type 2 diabetes, can be prevented if individuals take regular exercise. By exercising weekly Katherine
has been able to maintain a healthy weight and has increased her muscle mass and the tone to her
muscles which has helped offer her skeletal system support. She previously used to experience back
pain often until she built up her core muscles, which has taken pressure off her back. The increased
muscle mass and tone has meant that she has good posture which benefits her physical health as it
means she is less likely to have aches and pains as her musculoskeletal system can take more strain.
It makes simple daily tasks easier, as it has increased her energy levels and she does not feel as tired
after doing simple daily tasks. “Regular exercise tones muscles and helps create good posture, which
puts less strain on muscles; poor posture causes many aches and pains. Muscle strength and tone,
developed by regular exercise, will make daily tasks such as gardening and shopping easier. It will
also help to prevent injury as good posture reduces the strain on muscles, tendons, and ligaments. If
muscles are not used, they will shrink.” (Ferreiro Peteiro et al., 2016)
As she has carried out exercise regularly her heart has grown bigger, which has resulted in a lower
pulse rate as more blood is pumped at each heartbeat. Individuals who exercise regularly have a
larger heart, as the heart muscle contracts more often and powerfully. The resting heart rate of
individuals who exercise regularly is lower, as the heart muscle is bigger. The individual also has a
quicker recovery time from exercise, as the heart can pump more blood, therefore taking less time
for the heart rate to come down to a normal resting heart rate. “The pulse is how many times a
minute the arteries expand and contract in response to the heart. It is identical to the heart rate.
Individuals who are physically fit often have a low resting pulse rate and their pulse rate returns to
normal quickly after exercise. This is because they have a large stroke volume (their heart can pump
a lot of blood with each beat).” (Ferreiro Peteiro et al., 2016)
Exercise increases the efficiency of the lungs. “Aerobic exercise makes the lungs work harder as the
body’s need for oxygen is increased. The result is greater lung efficiency, which improves stamina
and overall health. The stronger the lungs, the more oxygen the body has available and the easier it
is for the body to recover and do what it needs to do to stay healthy. Lung capacity either shrinks or
expands based on how active the individual is. Exerting energy in high-intensity sports, such as
football, running, cycling, rowing, squash and hockey, pushes the body to the maximum and lungs
will expand.” (Ferreiro Peteiro et al., 2016)
Weight bearing exercises help to increase an individual's bone density. Weight bearing exercises can
help to reduce the chance of developing osteoporosis or help to treat osteoporosis. However,
exercise will need to be modified if individuals already have musculoskeletal conditions, as some
exercise, such as contact sport, would be dangerous to an individual with osteoporosis. “While
exercise is good for health, weight-bearing exercises are more beneficial in increasing bone density.
These are exercises that individuals do while supporting their own weight, as opposed to sitting on a
bike or swimming, for example, using cross trainers, fast walking, outside or on a treadmill, low
