The following categories contain links to various sources on the web relating
to the field of personal fitness. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content of these websites, the usual information evaluation measures should be taken by the researcher. For tips on how to evaluate information found on websites go to our Evaluating Websites Tutorial.

The Physical Education & Athletics Research Guide provides tips on how to find books available in the Library collection, and and tips on how to find journal, magazine and newspaper articles available in MCC Libraries article databases.

Why Physical Fitness ?

• Exercise: A Healthy Habit to Start and Keep - This online brochure is part
  of the "American Academy of Family Physicians Health Facts" series.
• Fitness Training.net - This site provides information on the following components of fitness: Cardio-respiratory (CR) Fitness, Muscular Strength,  Flexibility, Nutrition and Fitness, Environmental Considerations, Injuries and Prevention.
• Healthy People 2010 - "Healthy People 2010 is the prevention agenda for the Nation. It is a statement of national health objectives designed to identify the most significant preventable threats to health and to establish national goals to reduce these threats."
• National Center on Physical Activity and Disability - "NCPAD encourages persons with disabilities to participate in regular physical activity to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent secondary conditions."
• Physical Activity for Everyone - This site from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides information on physical activity guidelines for adults, children, and older adults.
• Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General - The Surgeon General's report provides a comprehensive review of the impact of physical activity on health status.
• The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports - This site provides links to publications about physical activity, fitness, health, nutrition and sports, and links to resources offered by other Federal government agencies.
• Yahoo/Health/Fitness - This site provides an in-depth list of fitness topics with links to many associated websites.

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Creating a Healthy Lifestyle

• HealthierUS.gov - "The HealthierUS initiative is a national effort to prevent and reduce the costs of disease, improve people's live, and promote community health and wellness." This site features links to learn more about physical activity, nutrition, preventive screenings, and healthy choices.
• Healthy Living - This page from MedlinePlus® provides links to information on elements that contribute to a healthy lifestyle, and tips for staying healthy for children, teenagers, men, women and seniors.
• American Cancer Society - This site provides information about the different types of cancer including prevention and treatment methods.
• American Heart Association - This site provides information related to the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases.
• American Institute of Stress - A non profit organization established in 1978 to serve as a clearinghouse for information on all stress related subjects.
• Healthy Minds.org - Healthy Minds is a public information website sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association that provides information about different types of mental illness.
• American Psychological Association (APA) - A scientific and professional organization that represents psychology in the United States.  The "Psychology Topics" section of this site provides links to information on a wide range of topics from Addictions to Workplace Issues.
• CDC'S Smoking & Tobacco Use - This page from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides links to basic information on the health effects of smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, how to quit smoking, access to the Surgeon General's Reports related to tobacco, and fact sheets.
• MyHeartCentral.com - This site provides information about how to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.
• The Humor Project - This site provides information and practical ideas related to humor.
• National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) - This site from the U. S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides access to factsheets and publications on alcohol and drug abuse.
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) - This site provides information about heart and vascular, lung, and blood diseases.
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) - This site provides information about the signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options for numerous mental disorders.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) - This site provides information on drugs of abuse and related topics for medical & health professionals, researchers, parents & teachers, students & young adults. Content on this site is also available in Spanish.
• National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) - This site provides information concerning the causes, prevention, detection and treatment of osteoporosis.
• National Stroke Association - This site provides information about the symptoms of stroke, including risk factors, prevention, and recovery.
• OncoLink - From the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, this site provides a collection of links to information on Cancer Types, Cancer Treatment, Coping with Cancer, and Cancer News.
• Relaxation Techniques - This site provides relaxation exercises with links to facts about stress and methods of measuring stress.

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Starting Your Own Fitness Program

• Fitness Programs: 5 Steps to Getting Started - The page from MayoClinic.com provides information on assessing your fitness level, designing your fitness program, and monitoring the progress of your exercise program.
• Exercise: How to Get Started - This page from FamilyDoctor.org, a website of  the American Academy of Family Physicians provides information about exercise, and illustrations of warm-up and cool-down stretches.
• Physical Activity & Public Health Guidelines - These guidelines developed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA) outline exercise recommendations for healthy adults under and over age 65.
• Starting an Exercise Program - This page from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) provides tips on beginning and maintaining an exercise program.

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The Cardio-Respiratory System & Developing Cardio-Respiratory Fitness

• Loyola University Medical Education Network - Learn Your Arteries - This site allows you to select any part of the human body and view the arteries that provide for blood flow.
• American Heart Association - Here you will find information on heart related diseases & conditions, tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and a link to access the Heart & Stroke Encyclopedia.
• Franklin Institute Science Museum/The Heart: An On-Line Exploration - This site provides information about the structure and function of the heart and how to monitor and maintain heart health.
• Get Fit - This page on the American Council on Exercise (ACE) website provides links to access the following resources: Exercise Library, Fit Facts™, Health & Fitness Tips, and Fitness Q&A.
• PE Central - This site provides information for health and physical education teachers, parents, and students about developmentally appropriate physical education programs for children and youth.
• The Exercise & Physical Fitness Page - This site from the Dept. of Kinesiology and Health at Georgia State University provides information about what aerobic exercise is, its benefits, the different types, and tips on how to get started.

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Improving Muscular Strength, Endurance & Power

• Beginning a Weight Training Program - An overview from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) of the benefits, equipment, limitations and precautions associated with weight training.
• Get Fit - This page on the American Council on Exercise (ACE) website provides links to access the following resources: Exercise Library, Fit Facts™, Health & Fitness Tips, and Fitness Q&A.
• Weight-Training and Weight Lifting Safety - An article from FamilyDoctor.org which provides basic guidelines for weight lifting.

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The Musculoskeletal System

• Biology of the Musculoskeletal System - This section on Bone, Joint, and Muscle Disorders from the Merck Manual Home Edition provides links to information on aging's effects, bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, tendons and burses.
• Loyola University Medical Education Network - The Bone Box - The site provides Information and diagrams of bones of the human body.
• Loyola University Medical Education Network - The Master Muscle List - This site allows you to select any muscle in the human body and get a diagram as well as the origin, insertion, action and nerve control.

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Increasing Flexibility through Stretching & Practicing Safe Fitness

• Warm Up Right - An article from the Arthritis Today magazine on warm up and stretching exercises to use as part of your exercise routine.
• Warm Up Activities & Stretching Exercises - An article from the The Stretching & Sports Injury Report on how to warm up properly to reduce the risk of sports injury.
• Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) - The GSSI Library provides information on hydration, sports nutrition, training & performance, medical conditions & sports injuries, and youth in sports.
• The Home Stretch - This article from the University of California at Berkeley WellnessLetter.com website presents information on ballistic and static stretching and provides an illustrated basic warm-up stretching program.
• Safe Exercise - This page from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) provides guidelines for safe exercise and information on overuse and traumatic injuries, risk factors and first aid.
• Preventing Back Pain at Work and at Home - Suggestions from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) on how to lift properly to avoid strains and sprains.
• Lifting Techniques - From Back.com, the do's and dont's of bending and lifting.
• Back Pain - Contents of this page from MedlinePlus® include: Diagnosis/Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention/Screening, and Anatomy/Physiology.
• Low Back Pain - This site from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) presents information on the causes, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of low back pain.

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Eating Right

• Ask The Dietitian - This site provides information about many topics related to nutrition using a question and answer format.
• American Diabetes Association - This site provides information for health care professionals and the public on the different types of diabetes.
• American Dietetic Association - This site provides food & nutrition information for consumers and health care professionals.
• FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) - This site provides information about food labeling, food additives and foodborne illness.
• USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center - This site provides information concerning dietary guidelines and food labels.
• Nutrition Analysis Tool (NAT) - A web based computer program developed by the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Campaign, which gives you the ability to analyze foods eaten for various nutrients.
• Fast Food Facts - Interactive Food Finder - This site provides nutritional information about foods and beverages from various fast-food providers.
• FoodSafety.gov - This site is maintained by the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and includes sections on Foodborne Pathogens, National Food Safety Programs, Consumer Advice, News & Safety Alerts.
• MyPyramid.gov - From the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture this site offers personalized eating plans, interactive tools to help you plan and assess your food choices, and dietary guidelines.
• More People Trying Vegetarian Diets - A reprint of an article on vegetarian diets originally published in the FDA Consumer.
• Vegetarian Diet - Categories of information about the vegetarian diet on this page from MedlinePlus® include Overviews, Nutrition, Specific Conditions, Related Issues, Children, and Teenagers.
• The Vegetarian Resource Group - Here you will find vegetarian recipes, information on nutritional elements for vegetarians, as well as guides & handouts for foods that meet specific criteria, and excerpts from The Vegetarian Journal.

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Limiting Your Body Fat through Diet & Exercise

• Body Composition Tests - Information from the American Heart Association on how to calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI).
• Growing Stronger: Strength Training for Older Adults - This site provides Information on this strength-training program developed by experts at Tufts University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It also provides links to additional health, fitness, and nutrition resources.
• Obesity: Halting the Epidemic by Making Health Easier - This 2009 report on obesity is provided by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Included in this report are body mass index maps of the United States population.
• Choosing a Safe and Successful Weight-Loss Program - From the Weight Control Information Network (WIN), a national service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, this site discusses features a responsible and safe weight-loss program should have.
• Weight and Obesity - Links to diet and weight control information courtesy of the Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC).
• Eating Disorders - This page from MedlinePlus® provides information on the following aspects of eating disorders: PreventionScreening, Coping, Diagnosis, Research, and Treatment.
• National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) - This site provides general information as well as audience-specific information on eating disorders for women and girls, men and boys, family and friends, educators and coaches, and treatment professionals.

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Becoming a Wise Consumer

• Selecting and Effectively Using series... - Online downloadable brochures in PDF format from the American College of Sports Medicine. Topics in this series include selecting and effectively using: a health/fitness facility, an elliptical trainer, stair stepper/stair climber, a home treadmill, pedometers, a stationary bicycle, and many others.
• HealthClubs.com - The consumer website of the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) provides information on how to choose a health club, benefits of exercise, and a link to find an IHRSA registered club in your area.
• Buying Home Exercise Equipment - From the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) this site provides a list of things to consider when deciding to purchase exercise equipment for your home.
• Gear to Go - Part of the America's Walking Public Broadcasting System (PBS) Series website, this page offers advice on choosing the best fitness clothing and gear, and tips for picking the right walking shoe.

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Contacting the Teacher

Roscoe Hastings teaches PE 101 Co-ed Personal Fitness. Students taking this course online may contact him using the "Communicate" link available in their SLN ANGEL Course Map page, by e-mail at rhastings@monroecc.edu, and telephone (585) 292-2000 mbx 6707.

P. Czaja, Revised 8/2009, http://www.monroecc.edu/go/library