Physical Fitness Components

Taking care of one’s health means improving the overall fitness – physical, emotional and nutritional. Let’s tackle the physical aspect of fitness and understand how by implementing all of the physical fitness components into one’s training sessions can help meet the physical demands of one’s sport or recreational activity of choice and to perform it successfully.

When talking about physical fitness components, we must first distinguish between health related components of fitness and skill related components of fitness, since both are very important for achieving our fitness goals.

Health related components

     Cardio Respiratory Endurance

     Muscular Strength

     Muscular Endurance

     Flexibility

     Body Composition

Cardio Respiratory Endurance – strengthens your cardiovascular and respiratory system, which when working smoothly together, your cells get the needed oxygen and nutrients and your muscles utilize best the energy available to them. This helps your ability to exercise continuously for extended periods without tiring. Run or speed walk, swim, dance, or do interval training to improve your cardio respiratory endurance.

Muscular Strength - the extent to which muscles can apply force by contracting against resistance (if talking weights, think the amount of weight that can be lifted).

Muscular Endurance – muscles ability to perform repetitive contractions (again if talking weights, think of the number of lifts, meaning lifting lighter weights for longer period of time).

NOTE: Resistance training for muscle strength and endurance can be performed without weights as well, for example: training with you own body weight, like doing push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats and you can try doing it slower (slow motion training) for building strength, or holding in certain position for endurance (squat and hold or plank). The options are limitless really.

Flexibility – the ability to maximize the range of motion. Stretching helps maintain flexibility, yet many people overlook it. Stretching should be done at the beginning and at the end of a training, because it lowers the risk of injuries, but you can do a full training of flexibility exercises as well. Lack of flexibility can limit your daily life or inhibit the achieving fitness goals. Flexibility helps in proper execution of techniques in sport, supports proper posture and helps you move in remarkable positions.

Body Composition – takes into consideration the total body mass, muscle-to-fat ratio and regional fat distribution such as fat cells concentrated around the middle of the body. Maintaining healthy body composition can be summed up in two words – less fat. Excessive body fat can reduce your performance and negatively affects your health.

Skill related components

     Agility

     Balance

     Coordination

     Speed

     Power

     Reaction time

Agility – ability to minimize transition time between body positions and directions of the body. Agility helps you perform series of movements in rapid succession in opposing directions.

Balance - ability to control the body's position either stationary or while moving. Balance helps you stay upright or in control of body movements.

Coordination - the ability to integrate several body parts in order to execute movements smoothly and accurately. Whether its sports, dancing or simple tasks like walking, one needs good coordination of eyes, hands, feet etc. to properly perform movements, or learn new skill.

Speed – the ability to move quickly, or quickness of movement of limbs.

Power – the ability to apply maximal force in minimal time when performing any physical activity.

Reaction time - the interval time between the presentation of a stimulus and the initiation of the muscular response to that stimulus.

Implementing all of the physical fitness components into your training increases chances for your body to meet the physical demands of the activity you have chosen to learn and perform. Therefore, you are more likely to perform it properly and to achieve better results.

For example, if you are a dancer cardio respiratory endurance can help you dance longer, muscular strength and endurance can ease difficult movements, like floor work, improve your posture and increase stability. Flexibility will allow you bend and flex and curl and stretch in ways you never thought possible, just remember to maintain lean body composition to help you with everything above. Combining the health related components of fitness with a bit of passion, determination, lot of discipline and practice will perfect your skill related components of fitness and you will dance upon the mountains like a flame in no time.