-Assist students in understanding the essentials of lifelong wellness -Provide problem-solving and critical-thinking opportunities to build bridges to greater understanding -Empower students to overcome fitness and wellness barriers, make healthier choices, and modify their behavior -Provide an individualized approach to behavior-changing strategies and help unmotivated, sedentary students as well as elite athletes This text provides complete information, strategies, and motivation to help students improve the way they look, feel, and perform. The theme of this book is change--how students can take charge of their lives; overcome the many barriers to achieving fitness and wellness; and make lifestyle changes to help themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Research shows that behavioral change and motivation are vital to helping people adopt physically active, healthy lives. "Physical Fitness and Wellness, Third Edition" not only offers a chapter on this topic, but also weaves motivational and behavior-changing strategies throughout the book. Covers facets of fitness and wellness that other texts overlook To help students learn how to change, the authors provide much more than just the basics of fitness and wellness. They recognize that students must consider many factors in attempting to accomplish their fitness and wellness goals. Thus, this book not only addresses traditional aspects of fitness but also explores other influences, such as stress, nutrition, chemicals, injuries, environmental factors, and more. This new edition also integrates issues of special interest to minorities and women and contains more extensive, updated references. Self-directed and individualized approach In addition, the authors recognize that each student is unique and that one fitness and wellness plan does not fit all--so they offer an individualized approach. They provide strategies to help the unmotivated, sedentary student take that first step to improve health, and strategies for the highly motivated, fit student to meet even higher goals. This book allows each student to do a self-assessment and create goals based on that self-assessment. Special student-friendly features -Study aides, including chapter objective lists, user-friendly tables and figures, same-page glossary definitions of key terms, and thorough chapter-ending summaries -Electronic and Web-based ancillaries, including a presentation package, test package, and sample course outline with other support materials -Application activities, such as discovery activities, service-learning activities, and thematic sidebars addressing behavioral change and motivational strategies -Self-analysis tools to open each chapter: 10-question true-false Awareness Inventories and Analyze Yourself forms to fill out -Myth and Fact Sheet sidebars "Physical Fitness and Wellness, Third Edition" will help students understand the essentials of lifelong wellness, learn how to improve their personal wellness, and--through Service-Learning Activities--communicate positive healthy messages to others. Students will be able to identify misconceptions about health issues and will be empowered to make healthier choices in their own lives.