- Before you try to meet any other requirements, have your physician give
you a thorough health examination. He or she is to use the Scout medical
examination form. Describe the examination. Tell what questions you asked
about your health. Tell what recommendations your doctor made. Report
what you have done about them. Explain the following:
- Why physical exams are important.
- Why preventative habits are important in maintaining good health.
- Diseases that can be prevented and how.
- The seven warning signs of cancer.
- Have an examination made by your dentist. Get a statement saying that
your teeth have been checked and cared for. Tell how you care for your
teeth.
- Explain to your merit badge counselor verbally or in writing what personal fitness
means to you, including:
- Components of personal fitness.
- Reasons for being fit in all components.
- What it means to be mentally healthy.
- What it means to be physically healthy and fit.
- What it means to be socially healthy. Discuss several healthy social traits.
- What can you do to prevent social, emotional, or mental problems.
- From the PERSONAL FITNESS merit badge pamphlet, answer the questions
titled "Evaluating Your Personal Fitness" and list several signs of poor personal
fitness. Describe your activity in the eight areas listed.
- With your counselor answer and discuss the following questions:
- Are you free from all curable diseases? Are you living in such a way that
your risk of preventable diseases is minimized?
- Are you immunized and vaccinated according to the advice of your family
and school physicians?
- Do you understand the meaning of a nutritious diet and know why it is
important for you? Does your diet include foods from all the food groups?
- Is your body weight and composition what you would like it to be and do
you know how to modify it safely through exercise, diet, and behavior
modification?
- Do you carry out daily activities without noticeable effort? Do you have
extra energy for other activities?
- Are you free from habits relating to nutrition and the use of alcohol,
tobacco, drugs, and other practices that could be harmful to your health?
- Do you participate in a regular exercise program or recreational activities?
- Do you sleep well at night and wake up feeling refreshed and energized for
the new day?
- Are you actively involved in the religious organization of your choice and do
you participate in their youth activities?
- Do you spend quality time with your family and friends in social and
recreation activities?
- Do you support family activities and efforts to maintain a good home life?
- Explain the following about physical fitness:
- The components of physical fitness.
- Your weakest and strongest component of physical fitness.
- The need to have a balance in all four components of personal fitness relate
to the Scout Laws and Scout Oath.
- Explain the following about nutrition:
- The importance of good nutrition.
- What good nutrition means to you.
- How good nutrition is related to the other components of personal fitness.
- The three components of a sound weight (fat) control program.
- From the PERSONAL FITNESS merit badge pamphlet, perform the physical
fitness test (chapter 8) with your patrol leader, Scoutmaster, parent, or adviser
before doing the next two requirements. Be evaluated above the 50th percentile in
the aerobic endurance test, flexibility test, and muscular strength test.
- Aerobic Endurance Test
- There are several tests that can used. They are the 9 or 12 minute run and the 1 or
1+ mile run. In the timed run, the objective is to run as far as you can in the
allotted time (9 or 12 minutes). In the distance run, the objective is to run the given
distance (1 or 1+ miles) in the shortest time. Walking is permitted but the Scouts
should not stop. If they need to stop running, they should walk until they can
continue to run.
- Flexibility Test
- By using the sit-and-reach test, boys should remove their shoes and sit down
facing the sit-and-reach box with knees fully extended and flat on the floor and
feet up against the end of the board. The arm are extended forward with the hands
placed on top of each other with palms down. The boy bends at the hips and
reaches forward along the measuring scale four times. Record the farthest reach.
- Muscular Strength Test
- Using timed sit-ups, the boy lies on his back with knees flexed, feet on the floor,
and heels 12 to 18 inches from the buttocks. The arms are crossed on the chest
with the hands on the opposite shoulders. The feet are held by partners to keep
them in touch with the floor. The boy curls to the sitting position until the elbows
touch the thighs. Arms must remain on the chest. The number of sit-ups that the
boy can correctly do in 60 seconds is the score.
- Outline a 4-week physical fitness program using the results of your physical fitness
tests. Use the guidelines in chapter 8 to write your program. Use exercises to
develop aerobic endurance, upper body muscular strength, and flexibility of the
lower back and legs. Have the program approved by your Scoutmaster or adviser
and your parents.
- Fulfill requirement 1 for this merit badge
- Complete one of the four aerobic endurance tests, the flexibility test, the
muscular strength and endurance test, and the body composition
measurements.
- Fill in your results on the record sheet and chart your percentile ranks for
each test (using the norms found in the appendix) on the progress chart.
- Determine the types of exercises you want or need to do, the amount of
time you have to exercise, and the equipment or facilities that are available
for your use.
- If muscular strength exercises are to be a part of your program, determine
how many push-ups and pull- ups you can do.
- Use the guidelines discussed in the text concerning cardiovascular
endurance, flexibility, and muscular strength and endurance to determine the
frequency, intensity, and duration of your exercises.
- Write your exercise program out for each day of the week on a sheet of
paper. Have it approved by your adviser or Scoutmaster and parents.
- Retest yourself after 2 full weeks of exercising. Also retest for the number
of pull-ups and push-ups you can do. Record the results of this test on the
record sheet and graph the percentile ranks on the progress chart.
- Retest yourself after another 2 full weeks of exercising and record your
results on the record sheet and progress chart.
- Carry out the physical fitness program you write in requirement 7. Keep a log of
all your exercises (i.e. How long you exercised; how far you ran, swam, or biked;
how many exercises you did; your exercise heart rate; etc.). Test yourself again
after two weeks of exercise on the information sheets provided in the PHYSICAL
FITNESS merit badge pamphlet. Compare improvements. Describe your
experience.
- Describe your long-term plans regarding your personal fitness.
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