Body Fitness and Health Essay

Body shapes differ in body fat levels and muscle accumulation and are determined by genetics. People have different body shapes, with men having rectangular shape and women having hourglass shape.Body Fitness and Health Essay

The society has focused on how people appear, but an individual’s view of his/her own appearance may not meet the society’s expectation. This paper focuses on body fitness and health as factors to an ideal image.

According to Zygmunt (1995, p.114), “body types can be classified into three; endomorph, mesomorphs and ectomorphs”. In endomorph, both sexes tend to have larger thighs and hips. They also have short legs and high wastes.

The second body type is the mesomorphs, whose body appearances are athletic build. They are likely to lose weight as compared to endomorphs. The ectomorphs have low body mass and narrow hips and shoulders.

Their whole body shape appears like a ruler. Fashion and beauty magazines put photographs of models that have perfect bodies, such as women with curves.Body Fitness and Health Essay

Yuill and Barry (2008 p. 36) argues that “both male and female do different types of exercises so that they can acquire their preferred body shapes and due to complex social relations, especially in the universities, females are anxious of their body shapes and the need for being attractive to their male fellows while seeking their approval”.

Media and cultures has been a factor that has led to men and women dissatisfaction of their bodies. Older women are likely to be more satisfied as compared to younger ones who will do all kinds of exercises to have a perfect body figure.

Men also spend time on weight training to achieve the same images as those that appear on the media. They do exercises such as jogging, cycling, swimming, shoulder presses, and squats.

Young women focus on their hips and abs and they concentrate on exercises such as sit-ups, and rope jumping. Exercises boost self-image as well as good eating habits, which encourages healthy skin and hair growth.Body Fitness and Health Essay