Scouting, Volume 70, Number 2, March-April 1982 Page: 8
58, 24, [32] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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FIVE STEPS
FOR FITNESS
FOR MANY OF US, the months-
long seige of cold, nasty winter
weather means spending most of our
time indoors and relatively inactive.
Instead of swimming, cycling, hiking,
or playing competitive sports, we pass
a lot of our leisure time reading,
watching TV, listening to music,
studying, playing parlor games—and
slowly getting out of shape.
Even with normally healthy, well-
conditioned young people, this can be
a problem. Simply because of pro-
longed physical inactivity, a person
who seemed to be in tip-top shape
in the fall can suddenly discover soft
muscles, lower endurance, extra
pounds, and a generally run-down or
"blah" feeling by the time the spring
thaw arrives.
Obviously, it's time to do some-
thing. Even if you aren't planning to
compete in the Explorer Olympics
this spring and summer, you'll still
want to get back on the right track
physically. After all, if you aren't
physically fit, you're certain to miss
out on a lot of the warm-weather fun
just ahead.
Fitness, quite simply, has three
important components. Some experts
call them, the "three S's"—stamina,
suppleness, and strength.
Regular exercise is the key to pos-
sessing sufficient quantities of all the
"three S's." And although there are
some cases in which a person has
stamina, suppleness, and strength
and is still overweight, exercise is
usually an important factor in weight
control as well.
There is, as far as we know, no
such thing as the "perfect" exercise,
but there are many good exercises.
The style and form of your exercise
program depends largely on you as an
individual. Some people, for example,
prefer to exercise alone or in private.
For many others, however, solo ex-
ercise is so boring and unstimulating
that it's hard to stick to. Young peo-
ple, especially, often enjoy physical
activity as part of a group. In the
weeks ahead, your post may want to
set up a "get-back-in-shape" exercise
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program as a major activity involving
the whole membership.
Here are some points to keep in
mind:
(1) Start slowly and pace yourself.
Nobody gets out of shape overnight,
so don't expect to get back in peak
condition instantly. Don't exhaust
yourself; it's unhealthy and it will only
make you hate what you're doing. As
your body adjusts to exercise, grad-
ually increase the length and inten-
sity of your workouts.
(2) Maintain a regular exercise
schedule. Strenuous exercise at ir-
regular intervals may well be worse
than no exercise at all. To insure the
maintenance of a proper fitness level,
set aside a regular time for exercise
daily, every other day, or at least three
times a week. As incredible as it may
seem, most experts agree that "three
times a week is twice as good as twice
a week."
(3) Heed your body's warning sig-
nals. If you still feel tired or exhausted
long after your workout, or if the
workouts seem to be getting more
difficult instead of easier, you may be
doing too much or doing the wrong
thing. Such symptoms as sleepless-
ness, dizziness, palpitations, chest
pain or extreme soreness in the joints
warrant a check with your doctor
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 70, Number 2, March-April 1982, periodical, March 1982; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353582/m1/78/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.