Ladies: How do I keep myself safe at a party Function

New social settings like parties are a fun way for you to spend time with your friends. Most of the time parties are safe, but sometimes things can happen that can make a party a dangerous place to be. It's important to know what to do if a party gets out of control and how to keep yourself safe.

• Never walk away with strangers.
• Never be alone with someone who has been drinking or taking drugs.
• Do not drink alcohol or do drugs.
• Tell your parents and friends where you are going.
• Never get in a car with someone who has been drinking or doing drugs.

For more: http://www.girlshealth.gov/

Playing sports can help Fitness Health

Playing sports can help you through tough periods and put you on the path to a healthy adult life. The Women's Sports Foundation has conducted research on the link between academic success and sports for women and girls. Their research shows that:

• Girls who participate in sports are less likely to do drugs, less likely to get pregnant, and more likely to graduate from high school than those who do not play sports.
• Half of all girls who participate in sports have higher than average levels of self-esteem and less depression.
• 80 percent of women identified as key leaders in Fortune 500 companies participated in sports during their childhood.
• Women who are student athletes graduate at higher rates than women students generally.

What kind of sports or exercise would you like to participate in? In picking a sport the focus should not be on what particular sport you excel in, but what sport you enjoy most!


If you are quiet, shy, or just not very athletic, go for walks with a friend or your mom. Try hiking or swimming on the weekends as a family. You might also try noncompetitive dance, gymnastics, aerobics, or ice skating classes. Learn about playing sports with an illness or disability.

If you are a bit of a “tomboy“ and always seem to want to play with the boys at the park, go for the more competitive sports. Enroll in either co-ed or all-girl sports such as softball, soccer, basketball, field hockey, or track. Let’s not forget football!

Even if you consider yourself a “girly-girl,” you can enjoy participating in sports as well. Dance and cheerleading often are overlooked when considering sports, but they are physically demanding and are excellent forms of exercise.

Exercise: Keeping safe and Injury-free

Important exercise safety tips

• See your doctor for a sports physical before you start a sport.
• Don’t exercise when it is really hot and humid out. You do not want your body to overheat or get dehydrated. Also, if you live in an area with high air pollution, exercise early in the day or at night and avoid congested streets and rush hour traffic.
• Drink water before, during, and after exercise or sports competitions. Read more about the water your body needs.
• Make sure you warm up and stretch your muscles for 5 minutes before and after workouts to make your muscles more flexible. It is easer to get hurt if your muscles are not stretched. It is also important to increase the intensity of your workout gradually. If you exercise intensely right away, you could risk getting hurt. Check out tips on how to stretch before exercising.
• See a doctor or let your parents/guardian know if: 1) You are in severe pain, 2) you see swelling around where you got hurt, or 3) The pain gets in the way of sleep and activities. Don’t jump back to your regular exercise after getting hurt because you could get hurt again. Follow your doctor’s orders for how to care for your injury and when you can be active again. This includes following instructions for use of pain medicine.
• Follow the rules of the game! The rules are there, in part, to keep you safe.

Using the right equipment

When you exercise or play sports, it is important to use the right safety equipment.


Helmets are needed for sports such as baseball, softball, biking, snow skiing, and rollerblading. Make sure you wear the right helmet for the sport you are playing and that it is not too loose. Also make sure that the helmet you wear for biking has a sticker from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which means that it is safe for this activity.
Mouth guards protect your mouth, teeth, and tongue. You should wear a guard if there’s a chance you could get hit in the head while taking part in activities such as volleyball, basketball, or martial arts. You can find mouth guards at sport stores or your dentist. It will also help keep your mouth safe to take out your retainer.

Special eye protection is needed for sports such as ice hockey, soccer, and basketball. Goggles and face masks should fit snugly and have cushion for a comfortable fit. If you wear glasses, you need to get fitted for guards that fit over your glasses. You could also buy special prescription goggles, which cost about $60 or more. These guards and goggles are made with a special plastic called polycarbonate (say: pahl-ee-kar-buh-nayt). This special plastic will not hurt your eyes.


It is important to wear the right footwear for your sport. Check with your coach or an athletic shoe salesperson about what shoes to wear.

Wrist, knee, and elbow pads can help prevent broken bones when you are inline skating/rollerblading, skate or snow boarding, or playing sports such as hockey.
Over-exercising and how it can hurt you

Exercise is a very important part of being healthy. But for teens who exercise too much, it can become an addiction and lead to physical and emotional harm. Some teens use extreme, repeated activity to lose too much weight. For these girls, exercise helps them to control a powerful fear of being "fat."

How do you know if your exercise habits are unhealthy? Here are some signs:

• Feeling irritable if you can’t exercise
• Making exercise your highest priority
• Exercising when injured
• Planning your life around exercise

Over-exercising can hurt your body. Working-out too often can lead to:

• Pulled muscles
• Stress fractures
• Knee trauma
• Shin splints
• Strained hamstrings
• Ripped tendons

Missed Period


A missed period also is a concern for girls and women who over-exercise. Your body needs a certain amount of fat to function and to have regular periods. Eating right and exercising is important for having a healthy body, but some girls take it too far. Too much exercising or very strict dieting can use up your body fat and delay your period, or cause it to stop until you gain some weight back. Not having menstrual periods is called amenorrhea—a sign that hormone patterns have changed. Women who suffer from anorexia and elite women athletes who train seriously for competition often have amenorrhea.

Over-exercising also can harm your emotional health. It is linked to:

* Depression
* Eating disorders

Sometimes, teens over-exercise along with having an eating disorder such as anorexia. People with anorexia take extreme steps to lose weight, including not eating at all. This combination puts your health in danger.

If you think that you may be over-exercising or have an eating disorder, talk about it with someone you can trust. Talk to a school counselor or nurse. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to bring it up. If you think that your friend may have one of these problems, help them find someone to talk to. Be supportive and let them know you care about them.

Girls Participate in Sports is Good Excerise

Playing sports can help you through tough periods and put you on the path to a healthy adult life. The Women's Sports Foundation has conducted research on the link between academic success and sports for women and girls. Their research shows that:

* Girls who participate in sports are less likely to do drugs, less likely to get pregnant, and more likely to graduate from high school than those who do not play sports.
* Half of all girls who participate in sports have higher than average levels of self-esteem and less depression.
* 80 percent of women identified as key leaders in Fortune 500 companies participated in sports during their childhood.
* Women who are student athletes graduate at higher rates than women students generally.

What kind of sports or exercise would you like to participate in? In picking a sport the focus should not be on what particular sport you excel in, but what sport you enjoy most!

If you are quiet, shy, or just not very athletic, go for walks with a friend or your mom. Try hiking or swimming on the weekends as a family. You might also try noncompetitive dance, gymnastics, aerobics, or ice skating classes. Learn about playing sports with an illness or disability.


If you are a bit of a “tomboy“ and always seem to want to play with the boys at the park, go for the more competitive sports. Enroll in either co-ed or all-girl sports such as softball, soccer, basketball, field hockey, or track. Let’s not forget football!

Even if you consider yourself a “girly-girl,” you can enjoy participating in sports as well. Dance and cheerleading often are overlooked when considering sports, but they are physically demanding and are excellent forms of exercise.

Various Exercising Getting a Good Workout

To know if you are exercising hard enough and also at a safe level, you will need to figure out your target heart rate. Your target heart rate can depend on the type of exercise you are doing.

Moderate exercise includes activities like fast walking, swimming, dancing, or water aerobics.

Vigorous exercise includes activities like jogging, aerobics, basketball, fast swimming, or fast dancing. This level of exercise is more intense.

1. Stop exercising briefly to take your heart rate (pulse). Take it within 5 seconds of when you stop exercising. We recommend taking your pulse at the wrist (as shown in the picture). You can feel your pulse on your wrist in line with the thumb. Place the tips of the index and middle fingers over the artery and press lightly. Do not use the thumb since it has a pulse of its own. Take a full 60-second count of the heartbeats, or take it for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Start the count on a beat, which is counted as "zero."

2. Later, when you're back on your computer, using the calculator below, figure out your target heart rate. The calculator will give your maximum and minimum heart rate. This is called your target zone. See if the number you remembered as your pulse falls within this zone. Try to exercise in this zone.



You can also try using the talk/sing test to make sure you are working out at the right level.

• If you can talk while you are doing a physical activity, you are probably moving at a pace that is good for you.
• If you are too breathless to talk, you should slow down.
• If you can sing while you are doing a physical activity, you may not be working hard enough; so, you should pick up the pace!

You may be looking to measure your exercise success in pounds, or by how much weight you lose. If so, it is important to know that muscle weighs more than fat, so weighing yourself won’t tell you if you are fit. Being able to exercise in your target heart rate zone is a better sign of your fitness level. It is still important to be at a healthy weight for your age, which can be measured by your Body Mass Index (BMI).

No more excuses-make Excerise work for you

If you think getting fit is difficult, you are not alone. Many people find it hard to get started, for many different reasons. Do any of these reasons sound like you?

• I can’t exercise because I don’t have any equipment
• I don’t have time to exercise
• I don’t know how to exercise
• My parents/guardian aren’t active
• Exercise sounds so boring to me
• Equipment or health clubs cost too much

two girls stretchingIf you can relate to any of these statements, it is important that you read on for tips on leading an active lifestyle. You don’t have to be an athlete or be involved in an organized sport to be fit. You just have to sit less and move more! It is also important to get other members of your family moving, too.

Make a fitness plan

There are lots of other things that might get in the way of regular exercise. You might think your schedule is full or you are not sure how to get started. For each situation, there is a solution.


I am too busy!

Try exercising after school, or pick a time that works best for you each day. It's up to you to make the time and effort.

Excercise bores me!

Try out different activities. Sick of jogging? Try rollerblading. Not interested in lifting weights? Try Pilates

Its hard to stick with!

Try exercising with a friend or a family member to give one another support.

I don't have equipment or access to a health club!

Choose activities that don’t require special equipment, such as jogging or walking.

Find resources within your community that are either low-cost or free, such as park and recreation programs.


I don't Know how!

Start with activities that you don’t have to learn new skills for, such as walking climbing stairs, or jogging. Exercise with friends who are either beginners like you, or who are more experienced and can teach you what they know. Take a class to learn new things, such as a Pilates class at your community center or health club

Body Fitness Basics: Exercise

You need to exercise for about 60 minutes every day. Setting aside 60 minutes all at once each day is one way to get in enough exercise. If you wait until the end of the day to squeeze it in, you probably won’t exercise enough or at all. If you’re not active for 60 minutes straight, it’s okay to exercise for 10 or 20 minutes at a time throughout the day.

Different exercises

No matter what your shape – apple, pear, ruler, or hourglass – there's an exercise for you!

• Pick exercises you like to do and choose a few different options so you don’t get bored. Get some great exercise ideas.
• Aim to exercise most days of the week. If you’re not very active right now, start slowly and work your way up to being active every day.

There are three levels of physical activity.

• Light – not sweating; not breathing hard (slow walking, dancing)
• Moderate – breaking a sweat; can talk but can’t sing (walking fast, dancing)
• Vigorous – sweating, breathing hard, can’t talk or sing (running, swimming laps)

No matter what level you are exercising at, the activity can be one of two types.

Exercise Type	What is it?	Why do it?
Resistance exercise (2 or more days each week)	Weight-training using weight machines and resistance bands, or doing push-ups	Increases strength Builds muscles
Weight-bearing exercise	Walking, running, hiking, dancing, gymnastics, soccer, and other activities that work bones and muscles against gravity.	Makes bones stronger

What kind of exercise does your body need?

Your exercise should increase your heart rate and move the muscles in your body. Swimming, dancing, skating, playing soccer, or riding a bike are all examples of exercise that does these things.

Looking at fitness and your body closer up, your exercise should include something from each of these four basic fitness areas:


Cardio-respiratory endurance is the same thing as aerobic endurance. It is the ability to exercise your heart and lungs nonstop over certain time periods. When you exercise, your heart beats faster, sending more needed oxygen to your body. If you are not fit, your heart and lungs have to work harder during exercise. Long runs and swims are examples of activities that can help your heart and lungs work better.

Muscular strength is the ability to move a muscle against resistance. To become stronger, you need to push or pull against resistance, such as your own weight (like in push-ups), using free weights (note: talk to an instructor before using weights), or even pushing the vacuum cleaner. Regular exercise keeps all of your muscles strong and makes it easier to do daily physical tasks.


Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle, or a group of muscles, to keep pushing against resistance for a long period. Push-ups are often used to test endurance of arm and shoulder muscles. Aerobic exercise also helps to improve your muscular endurance. Activities such as running increase your heart rate and make your heart muscle stronger.

Flexibility is the ability to move joints and use muscles as much as they can possibly be used. The sit-and-reach your toes test is a good measure of flexibility of the lower back and backs of the upper legs. When you are flexible, you are able to bend and reach with ease. Being flexible can help prevent injuries like pulled muscles. This is why warming up and stretching are so important. If you force your body to move in a way that you aren’t used to, you risk tearing muscles, as well as ligaments and tendons (other parts of your musculoskeletal system).

Exercise	Muscles Worked
Push-ups	Chest, shoulders, arms, abdominals
Sit-ups	Abdominals
Jumping Jacks	Calves (lower leg), inner/outer thigh, butt
Running	Calves, front/back thigh
Jumping rope	Calves, thighs, abdominals, shoulders, arms
Swimming	Nearly all major muscles
Dancing	Nearly all major muscles (depending on type of dance)
Walking	Arms, calves, front/back thigh, abdominals
Squats	Calves, front/back thigh, butt
Inline Skating	Inner/outer thigh, butt
Hula Hoop	Lower back, abdominals

Why health fitness matters

Exercise is an important part of a lifetime of good health! Exercising is also fun and is something you can do with friends. It also can help you:

• Feel less stressed
• Boost your self-esteem
• Feel more ready to learn in school
• Keep a healthy weight
• Build and keep healthy bones, muscles, and joints

There are many ways it can help you, both today and in the future.

Short-term, long-term benefits

Short-term benefits of exercise are the body's responses right after starting. The long-term benefits are improvements that occur over weeks, months, and years from regular exercising or training.

Some short-term benefits include:

* Helps you feel good about yourself
* Relaxes and refreshes your body
* Gives you a break from daily routines and worries

Some long-term benefits include:

* Lowers high blood pressure
* Helps you lose weight and gain strength the healthy way by lowering body fat and increasing muscle
* Lowers risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis (bone loss)

Most people can benefit from exercise. In fact, making physical activity a regular part of your life early on is one of the most important things you can do to improve your health. If you have an injury or think there is a health reason why you may not be able to exercise safely, talk with your doctor before starting a new exercise program or sport. You should also talk with a doctor first if you have:



* Asthma
* High blood pressure
* Heart trouble
* Dizzy spells
* Extreme breathlessness after physical activity
* Arthritis or bone problems
* Severe muscle, ligament, or tendon problems
* Fatigue or feel tired most of the time

Get moving!



Group of friends in a swimming poolThe more time you spend in front of the television or playing video games, the less time you have to be active. Not being active is called sedentary (say: sed-un-tair-ee). Leading a sedentary lifestyle can cause weight gain and even obesity (dangerously high weight), which can lead to type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure. These three health issues can hurt your heart and make it easier for you to get certain diseases. Make physical activity a regular part of your life. It can help you protect your health!