Sedentary lifestyles
- A sedentary lifestyle involves little or no physical activity, such as sitting at a screen for long periods.
- Consequences: weight gain or obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), type 2 diabetes, poor sleep, poor self-esteem, and lethargy (tiredness).
Obesity and performance
- Obesity is having a lot of excess body fat. It is often measured with the body mass index (BMI), where a BMI over 30 is classed as obese.
- Obesity limits stamina and cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, agility and speed.
- It can cause ill health (such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes), depression and low confidence.
- In a few sports, extra body weight can help, such as sumo wrestling or some positions in rugby.
Somatotypes
- Endomorph: a pear shape, with wide hips, narrow shoulders and more fat. Suits sports needing a heavy body, such as sumo wrestling or a rugby prop.
- Mesomorph: a muscular wedge shape, with wide shoulders and narrow hips. Suits sports needing power and strength, such as sprinting or gymnastics.
- Ectomorph: tall and thin, with narrow shoulders and hips and little fat or muscle. Suits long-distance running or the high jump.
- Most people are a mixture of the three.
Key terms
- Sedentary lifestyle
- A lifestyle with little or no physical activity.
- Obesity
- Having a large amount of excess body fat.
- Somatotype
- A classification of body shape.
- Endomorph
- A pear-shaped body type with more fat.
- Mesomorph
- A muscular body type with wide shoulders and narrow hips.
- Ectomorph
- A tall, thin body type.
- Lethargy
- A lack of energy.
- Hypertension
- High blood pressure.
Practise Sedentary lifestyles, obesity and somatotypes: 11 questions