What is Physical Activity?
Physical activity simply means movement of the body that uses energy. Walking, gardening, briskly pushing a baby stroller, climbing the stairs, playing soccer, or dancing the night away are all good examples of being active. For health benefits, physical activity should be moderate or vigorous intensity.
Why Is Physical Activity Important?
Regular physical activity can produce long term health benefits. People of all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities can benefit from being physically active. The more physical activity you do, the greater the health benefits.
How Much Physical Activity is Needed?
Physical activity is important for everyone, but how much you need depends on your age.
Adults should do at least 2 hours and 30 minutes each week of aerobic physical activity at a moderate level OR 1 hour and 15 minutes each week of aerobic physical activity at a vigorous level.
Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day. Most of the 60 minutes should be either moderate- or vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity, and should include vigorous-intensity physical activity at least 3 days a week.
There is not a specific recommendation for the number of minutes young children should be active each day. Children ages 2-5 years should play actively several times each day.
Physical activity is generally safe for everyone. The health benefits you gain from being active are far greater than the chances of getting hurt.
Poteau High School Track:
The PHS Track is open to the community!
1 lap = 1/4 mile
4 laps = 1 mile
12 laps = 3 miles (almost a 5k! A 5k is 3.1 miles)
Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the ever-increasing demands of life. Surveys show that many Americans experience challenges with stress at some point during the year.
In looking at the causes of stress, remember that your brain comes hard-wired with an alarm system for your protection. When your brain perceives a threat, it signals your body to release a burst of hormones to fuel your capacity for a response. This has been labeled the "fight-or-flight" response.
Once the threat is gone, your body is meant to return to a normal relaxed state. Unfortunately, the nonstop stress of modern life means that your alarm system rarely shuts off.
That's why stress management is so important. Stress management gives you a range of tools to reset your alarm system.
Without stress management, all too often your body is always on high alert. Over time, high levels of stress lead to serious health problems. Don't wait until stress has a negative impact on your health, relationships or quality of life. Start practicing a range of stress management techniques today.
The first step in successful stress relief is deciding to make stress management an ongoing goal, and to monitor your stress level.
Once you start monitoring your stress level, the next step is identifying your stress triggers.
Once you've identified your stress triggers, you can start thinking about strategies for dealing with them. Identifying what aspect of the situation you can control is a good starting point.
Don't feel like you have to figure it out all on your own. Seek help and support from family and friends. You may want to ask them what stress-relief techniques have worked well for them.
Many people benefit from daily practice of stress-reduction techniques, such as deep breathing, massage, tai chi or yoga. Many people manage stress through practicing mindfulness in meditation or being in nature.
And remember to maintain a healthy lifestyle to help manage stress — eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Having a healthy lifestyle will help you manage periods of high stress.
Stress won't disappear from your life. And stress management isn't an overnight cure. But with ongoing practice and incorporation of resiliency into your lifestyle, you can learn to manage your stress level and increase your ability to cope with life's challenges.
Almost everyone can benefit from learning relaxation techniques. Relaxation techniques can help to slow your breathing and to focus your attention on the here and now.
Common relaxation techniques include meditation, tai chi and yoga. But there are more-active ways of achieving relaxation. For example, walking outdoors or participating in a sports activity can be relaxing and help reduce stress.
It doesn't matter which relaxation technique you choose. What matters is that you select a technique that works for you and that you practice achieving relaxation regularly.
10 Tips Nutrition Education Series
The Ten Tips Nutrition Education Series provides consumers and professionals with high quality, easy-to-follow tips in a convenient, printable format. These are perfect for posting on a refrigerator.
These tips and ideas are a starting point. You will find a wealth of suggestions here that can help you get started toward a healthy diet. Choose a change that you can make today, and move toward a healthier you. These tips are also available in Spanish.
Choctaw Nation P.A.C.E. Program
The P.A.C.E. Club Program is a program designed to promote the importance and awareness of regular physical activity through walking or running for a healthier lifestyle. This program is free and open to the public. CDIB not required. You must reside in the Choctaw Nation service area to be a member.
To find out more, visit this site: https://www.choctawnation.com/promoting-active-communities-everywhere-pace
Need to Quit Smoking?
Free Resources Available:
Toll free telephone number: 1-800-QUIT-NOW
Poteau Public Schools are Non-Smoking and Non-Tobacco 24/7 at all sites!
Hand Washing Facts:
The Solution to Pollution is
While soap may not kill all
viruses, thorough hand washing
will decrease the viral counts to
a point below the infectious
80% of all infectious diseases
are transmitted by touch.
According to experts, without a
vaccine, the single most
important thing you can do to
prevent getting the flu is to wash
The two layers of bacteria.
The outer layer of bacteria found
on your hands is termed
“Transient Flora”. This layer is
potentially the most dangerous
for transmitting disease from one
person to another. Fortunately, it
is also the most easily eliminated
by hand washing. The deeper
layer is called “Resident Flora”.
This bacterial population is more
likely to be made up of
innocuous bacteria such as
Staphylococcus epidermidis and
(diptheroids); and is more
resistant to washing, since they
occupy the deeper layers of skin
Hand washing can also prevent spreading the Flu and/or other communicable diseases!