We’re constantly being told that physical fitness is very important for our health and well-being! But what in the world is it exactly?

There are two concepts of physical fitness. General fitness, which includes the state of your health and well-being, and specific fitness, which is based on your ability to perform specific sports or occupations.

How to determine your physical fitness

Exercise scientists have narrowed fitness down to the following components:

    • Cardiovascular endurance: the heart’s ability to deliver blood to working muscles and their ability to use it, and how well your heart and lungs work together to supply oxygen to your body during exertion and exercise. Aerobic exercises, such as cycling, swimming, walking, skipping rope, rowing, running, hiking or playing tennis, focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance. This is the most important component to develop as it enhances all the others.
    • Low muscular endurance: a single muscle’s ability to perform sustained work (e.g. rowing or cycling)
    • Muscular strength: the ability to exert maximum force, e.g. lifting the heaviest weight you can budge or the extent to which muscles can exert force by contracting against resistance, e.g. holding or restraining an object or person. It is possible to have muscular strength in one area, say your arms, while lacking strength in another area such as your legs.
    • Flexibility: the ability to move a joint through its full range of motion.
    • Agility: the ability to perform a series of explosive power movements in rapid succession in opposing directions, e.g. zigzag running or cutting movements.
    • Body composition: the proportion of fat in your body compared to your bone and muscle. It has nothing to do with your weight or figure, but if the ratio is good, you will look and feel better.
    • Balance: the ability to control the body’s position, either while stationary or moving, e.g. a gymnastics stunt.
    • Metabolic fitness: the ability of the body to burn fuel (food) efficiently for energy, e.g. eating that doughnut without it immediately going to your waist
    • Strength endurance: a muscle’s ability to perform a maximum contraction time after time, e.g. continuous explosive rebounding through an entire basketball game
    • Power: the ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive burst of movements. The two components of power are strength and speed (e.g. jumping or a sprint start)
    • Co-ordination: the ability to integrate the above components so that effective movements are achieved.

Your physical fitness, which is generally achieved through correct nutrition, exercise and enough rest, affects your mental capacity, productivity and stress management. In other words, you feel, perform and look better when you’re physically fit!

 

Our Employee Wellbeing Programme (EAP) is available 24 hours a day. If you want to know more about physical fitness, call us on the EAP number.

Sources:
David, B. et al. Training for physical fitness. Physical education and the study of sport. Spain: Harcourt Publishers.
Tancred, B. Key methods of sports conditioning. Athletics Coach, 29 (2), p. 19 www.fitness-after-50.com