Maintaining a good level of physical fitness is something that we should all aspire to do. But it can be difficult to determine what fitness entails. Let's explore the five components of physical fitness.
The physical fitness is defined as "a set of attributes that people have or achieve that relates to the ability to perform physical activity." This description goes beyond being able: not just “fitting into my favorite jeans,” “being able to run a marathon,” or “bench pressing twice my body weight,” run fast or lift heavy weights. These attributes only address single areas of physical fitness. This article provides details of the five main components of physical fitness.
- Body composition:
This refers to the relative amount of muscle, fat, bone, and other vital parts of the body. Body composition can provide a better evaluation of overall health than weight or BMI alone, so it is important to maintain a level of body fat that is neither too low (below 3-5% for men and 8-12% for women), nor too high (above 20-25% for men and 29-35% for women). A variety of body fat measurement tools exist including calipers and bio-electrical impedance devices, and although some are more accurate and expensive than others, all can help you monitor changes.
2 . Cardiorespiratory Endurance:
Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability of the body's circulatory and respiratory systems to supply fuel during physical activity. This means being able to sustain an elevated heart rate. Activities like walking, swimming, and bicycling will all lead to improvement. People who regularly take part in these activities are more likely to be physically fit in terms of cardiorespiratory endurance. It is important to begin these activities slowly and gradually increase the intensity. Exercising increases cardiorespiratory endurance in a number of ways.
The heart muscle is strengthened so that it is able to pump more blood per heartbeat. At the same time, additional small arteries are grown within muscle tissue so that blood can be delivered to working muscles more effectively when needed.
3 . Flexibility:
Flexibility is the range of motion around a joint. Maintaining good flexibility helps protect the muscles and joints from injury in all kinds of activity. Flexibility is increased by various activities, all designed to stretch joints, ligaments, and tendons. There are three types of exercise that are generally utilized to increase flexibility:
Dynamic stretching - the ability to complete a full range of motion of a particular joint. This type of flexibility is used in standard "warming up" exercises as it helps ready the body for physical activity.
Static-active stretching - holding the body or part of the body in a stretched position and maintaining that position for a period of time. One example of static-active stretching is the splits.
Ballistic stretching - only to be used when the body is already warmed up and limber from exercise, it involves stretching in various positions and bouncing.
A basic stretching program, such as 10-15 minutes of light stretching for the upper body, lower body, and core after a workout, may be all you need to improve this oft-neglected fitness component.
4 . Muscular Endurance:
Fitness can include muscular endurance, which is the ability of a muscle to continue exerting force without tiring. Endurance training does not necessarily generate muscles of a larger size. This is because the body focuses more on the cardiovascular system, ensuring that the muscles receive the oxygenated blood they need to keep functioning. Another important change in muscles that are specifically trained for endurance concerns the different types of muscle tissue - fast twitch and slow twitch fibers:
Fast twitch fibers - contract quickly but get tired quickly. They use a lot of energy and are useful for sprints. They are whitish in color as they do not require blood to function.
Slow twitch fibers - best for endurance work, they can carry out tasks without getting tired. They are found in core muscles. These fibers appear red as they rely on a good supply of oxygenated blood and contain stores of myoglobin.
Different exercises will promote fast twitch fibers, slow twitch fibers, or both. A sprinter will have comparatively more fast twitch fibers, whereas a long distance runner will have more slow twitch fibers. You can improve muscular endurance by doing sustained activities such as walking, swimming, or bicycling. When it comes to weight training, completing longer sets (12-25 repetitions) would be considered working in the endurance range.
5 . Muscular Strength:
Muscular strength is the ability of the muscles to exert force during an activity. There are a number of ways to measure muscular strength. Generally, lifting or pushing something of a set weight in a prescribed position and comparing the results against any given population is the best way.
In general, if a muscle is worked consistently and regularly, it will increase in strength. There are various ways of putting your muscles through rigorous activity, but anything that works a muscle until it is tired will increase muscle strength over time.
In general, fitness means different things to different people. The important take-home message is that embarking on any regular exercise will be of benefit to your health. The more exercise that is carried out, the healthier an individual will look and feel.
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