THE best way to keep fit through exercise is to make it fun. Everyone can find some type of enjoyable exercise, whether it's sports, dancing, walking, or swimming. One of the best ways to find and keep a fitness routine is to pick a partner or team to join you. When you exercise with other people, it's more fun. You and your friends can try out different types of activities or you can pick one that you really like.
Here are enough choices to keep you busy for a while, including some unusual sports. Circle the ones that interest you.
Aerobics
Archery
Badminton
Baseball
Basketball
Baton twirling
Bicycling
Bowling
Boxing
Calisthenics
Canoeing
Cardio machines
Cheerleading
Circuit training
Croquet
Cross-country skiing
Curling
Dancing
Diving
Downhill skiing
Fencing
Field hockey
Figure skating
Fishing
Frisbee
Gardening/Lawn mowing
Golf
Gymnastics
Handball
Hang gliding
Hiking
Hockey
Home repair
Horseback riding
Horseshoes
Household tasks
Hunting
Inline skating
Jai alai
Juggling
Kayaking
Kickboxing
Lacrosse
Martial arts
Mountain biking
Orienteering
Paddleball
Pedometer
Pilates
Polo
Racquetball
Rock climbing
Roller-skating
Rope jumping
Rowing
Rowing machine
Rugby
Running
Sailing
Shuffleboard
Skateboarding
Skating
Sledding
Snowboarding
Snowshoeing
Soccer
Softball
Squash
Stationary bike
Stretching
Surfing
Swimming
Table tennis
Tai chi
Tennis
Track and field
Trampoline
Unicycling
Volleyball
Walking
Water aerobics
Water polo
Wrestling
Yoga
Other:_________
Getting Started and Staying Safe
If you have a tough time exercising at first, remember, what matters is that you are doing it. Keep focused and keep going. Don't worry if you're not the fastest or the strongest person. If you are not in the habit of exercising, it will take some effort to get into shape. However, working to become fit should not damage your body. If you are
injured, stop exercising and check with an adult to see whether you need medical attention.
Ask Your Teacher
If you want to test your fitness skills, consider participating in the President's Physical Fitness Test. This test measures fitness in five events: curl-ups; shuttle run; endurance run/walk; pull-ups or push-ups; and V-sit, or sit and reach. Ask your physical education or gym teacher whether you have this competition at your school.
Fitness in the News:
Learning standards: identifying the causes of obesity, editorializing
1. Even though we live in an era of information overload and there is much in the news about good health and good eating, more people are overweight now than ever before. Can you find anything in the newspaper that explains this? What, in your opinion, has brought our society to this crisis of obesity? Write an editorial explaining your thoughts and use illustrations from the newspaper to support your theory.
2. Based on the newspaper photos you see today, what percentage of the people pictured would you say are overweight? Do you think there is a prejudice against overweight people?
Credits: This Hot Topics supplement has:
Content by Abby and Zach Horn,
Illustrations by Zach Horn
NIE activities by Debby Carroll
Editing by Ken Bookman
Design by Gilbert & Associates
?? Copyright 2005 Hot Topics Publications Inc.
Copyright 2007 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.