good health and strength achieved through exercise

 The program promotes healthy eating and physical fitness.

Physical fitness is your ability to carry out tasks without undue fatigue. Learn about the components
of physical fitness: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and
body composition and why they are important.

Physical Fitness
While on vacation last year, I had an opportunity to ride a Segway. After only a few minutes of
wobbling, I felt like I had mastered this upright transportation technology, and I was able to travel
long distances with very little physical effort. We certainly live in the technology age, and the
advances we see in technology have simplified many physically demanding tasks. In fact, it can
make you wonder if all of this technology has eased our physical burdens so much that one day we
might be so physically unfit that we can no longer perform tasks without the help of technology. Our
ability to carry out daily tasks and routine physical activities without undue fatigue is called physical
fitness. While too much reliance on technology could make us less fit, we see that we can improve
physical fitness through the performance of different exercises. In this lesson, we will take a look at
the five components that make up physical fitness, how we can improve them and the benefits they
bring to our lives.

Cardiorespiratory Endurance
In the most general terms, a fit person is able to perform tasks with more sustainable energy and for
longer periods than an unfit person. But, fitness is more than just the ability to work longer; in fact, it
includes a number of components, one of which is cardiorespiratory endurance. This is a measure
of the circulatory and respiratory systems' ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients to and eliminate
waste products from cells. Your cells need oxygen and nutrients in order to fuel your muscles during
periods of physical activity. When your cells work they produce wastes that need to be transported
away. How efficiently your body does these tasks is a measure of your cardiorespiratory endurance.
You can build your cardiorespiratory endurance through aerobic exercise, which is a type of
exercise that uses oxygen to meet energy demands. The word aerobic means using oxygen, so
aerobic exercise is literally exercise that uses oxygen. This is the type of exercise that we might
consider with activities performed over time at low to moderate intensity, such as taking a
comfortable jog around the neighborhood, riding your bicycle or rowing a boat. Aerobic exercise is
important because it strengthens your heart and lungs by making them work harder. Did you ever
hear that really fit athletes have very low resting heart rates? That's because a high level of fitness
leads to a strong heart, which is able to pump a lot of blood with fewer heartbeats.

Muscle Strength and Endurance

 Physical Fitness Definition

Our physical fitness definition is very much oriented towards functional ability. We see it as
the ability to meet physical challenges, whether related to work, sport, recreation, combat,
or other life activities. A man’s physical fitness must be seen in the context of the specific
physical challenges he is likely to face. Thus the criteria for a physically fit firefighter,
policeman, or combat soldier are by necessity much more stringent than those for an
elderly, frail man who is challenged by daily activities such as climbing stairs, taking out the
trash or even getting up out of a chair.

There are several components of physical fitness including some that are not readily
improved by training, such as coordination, reaction time, peripheral vision, and height.
Since little or nothing can be done to improve these, our physical fitness definition below
includes only physical capabilities that are amenable to training. These are strength,
muscular endurance, aerobic endurance, speed, agility/quickness, flexibility, and balance:

 Strength
Strength is an important aspect of our physical fitness definition, and is the ability to
exert force. The strength required of a sport or other physical activity is specific to the
movements involved and the speed at which force must be exerted. For example, a tennis
player exerts force at high speeds against the relatively low inertial resistances of his
body, the racket and the ball, while a football lineman must exert high force against an
opposing player at movement speeds restricted by the other players resistance. That is
why these athletes have very different kinds of bodies and must train differently to
produce optimal performance.
 Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance is the ability of muscles to repeatedly exert a specified amount of
force that is less than maximum. Generally, men who can exert higher maximal force can
also do more repetitive movements at a given resistance. For example, a man who can lift
a maximum of 100 lbs can generally do more repeated lifts with 50 lbs than a man who
can lift a maximum of 80 lbs. However, athletes trained and suited for endurance sports
can usually do more repetitions with a given percentage of their maximum lifting
capability than those athletes trained and suited for sports requiring high strength. From
another point of view, strength athletes have a higher maximum lift than would be
predicted by the number of repetitions they can do with a lighter weight while endurance
athletes have a lower maximum lift than would be predicted.
 Aerobic Endurance
Aerobic endurance must be included in any physical fitness definition. It is the ability to
sustain large-muscle physical activity over time periods ranging from several minutes to
several hours. Such activity is largely fueled by the aerobic (oxygen-utilizing) metabolism
of carbohydrates and fats. Thus, the rate (e.g. running speed) at which such activity can
be sustained largely depends on the rate at which oxygen can be delivered to the muscle
cells and processed to produce energy. This in turn is dependent on the rate at which the
heart can pump blood (heart rate times volume pumped per beat), the hemoglobin
(oxygen-carrier) content of the blood, and the rate at which the mitochondria, the
muscles' energy factories, can break down carbohydrate and fat to produce energy,
carbon dioxide and water.
 Speed
Speed is a key component of a physical fitness definition because of its wide application
to many human activities. It is the maximal velocity that can be reached by part or all of
 the body. The speed of a sprinter is greater than that of a distance runner, although the
distance runner can sustain his speed much longer. In some sports, the body as a whole
does not move fast, but a part of the body does. In baseball pitching, for example, the
hand and ball accelerate to great speed while the body as a whole barely changes its
location.
 Agility/Quickness
Another component in our physical fitness definition is agility. It is the ability to rapidly
change the body’s momentum from one direction to another. This requires either
acceleration in any direction from dead stop or deceleration in the direction one is
traveling and acceleration in a new direction. Based on Isaac Newton’s second law,
acceleration/deceleration is proportional to the ratio of force to mass. Thus, if two men
can exert equal force on the ground, the one with a lower body mass will show greater
acceleration. From another point of view, if two individuals have the same body mass, the
one who can exert more force on the ground will show greater acceleration. In addition to
the ability to accelerate, agility requires a certain degree of flexibility, which aids in going
over, under, and around obstacles.

"Quickness" is a colloquial term referring to the ability to accelerate. It differs from

“agility” in that “quickness” sometimes refers to the ability to accelerate in one direction
only, while agility always implies the ability accelerate in multiple directions. A sprinter
who gets off the starting blocks first is referred to as “quick.” However, he may be caught
over the race distance by an opponent who is not as “quick” but who reaches a greater
top speed. For example, Usain Bolt, the current top sprinter in the world, doesn’t get out
of the blocks as fast as some of his opponents but he reaches a higher top speed and
usually runs them down.

 Flexibility
Flexibility refers to the range of motion through which a body joint can be flexed or
extended and the ease with which this is accomplished. Some activities like ballet,
gymnastics, and Olympic weightlifting require excellent flexibility, while most daily life
activities and many sports such as football and boxing do not require great flexibility.
More flexibility is not always better. People who are extremely flexible may be susceptible
to joint injuries, while those who are less flexible risk muscle injury.
 Balance
Balance is the ability to maintain desired body posture and position while standing or
moving on a stable or unstable surface. As beings who stand and move on two legs we
have complex mechanisms to keep our balance. Yet balance varies among individuals and
tends to decline with age.

NOTE: Some sources include body composition and power in their physical fitness
definition. We do not include these for the following reasons:

 We consider body composition more related to health than to physical fitness. Some men
with excess body fat can nevertheless perform at elite athletic levels. High body weight
may even aid some athletes to perform (e.g. Sumo wrestlers, football lineman). Yet
despite being physically fit for the challenges they face, such athletes may be at increased
risk for disease.

 We do not differentiate power from strength. "Power" is often used to mean the ability to
accelerate the body or a sports implement. However, acceleration requires force, and
strength is the ability to exert force. Thus, instead of placing power in its own physical
 fitness category, we refer to speed-strength, which is the ability to increase force quickly
and continue exerting force as the body or implement reaches high speeds.
Source: http://www.mens-fitness-and-health.com/Physical-Fitness-Definition.html

Overview
Being physically fit depends on how well a person fulfills each of the
components of being healthful.

When it comes to fitness, these components include

 cardiorespiratory fitness

 muscular strength

 muscular endurance

 body composition

 flexibility.
So, you can tell if someone is physically fit by determining how well they
perform in each component.

Here we will look at them all individually.

Cardiorespiratory performance
Cardiorespiratory endurance indicates how well our body can supply fuel
during physical activity via the body's circulatory and respiratory systems.
Activities that help improve cardiorespiratory endurance are those that cause
an elevated heart rate for a sustained period.

These activities include:

 swimming

 brisk walking

 jogging

 cycling
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.

How does heart health change with exercise?

The heart changes and improves its efficiency after persistent training.
However, more recent research shows that different types of activity change
the heart in subtly different ways.

All types of exercise increase the heart's overall size, but there are significant
differences between endurance athletes, like rowers, and strength athletes,
like football players. Endurance athletes' hearts show expanded left and right
ventricles, whereas strength athletes show thickening of their heart wall,
particularly the left ventricle.

How does lung health change with exercise?

While the heart steadily strengthens over time, the respiratory system does
not adjust to the same degree. Lung function does not drastically change, but
oxygen that is taken in by the lungs is used more effectively.

In general, exercise encourages the body to become more efficient at taking

on, distributing, and using oxygen. This improvement, over time, increases
endurance and overall health.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends aerobic exercise 3-5

times per week for 30-60 minutes, at an intensity that keeps the heart rate at
65-85 percent of the maximum heart rate.
 Health benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness
Cardiorespiratory fitness has been found to help reduce the risk of conditions
including:

 heart disease

 lung cancer

 type 2 diabetes

 stroke

Strength
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines muscular
strength as "the ability of muscle 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.

How does muscle structure change with exercise?

Muscles consist of elongated muscle cells. Each muscle cell contains
contractile proteins - actin and myosin - that give the muscle its strength.
These fibers contract together, producing the so-called power stroke. The total
force depends on the number of these units contracting in unison.
 To build muscle, the following criteria must be met:

 muscles are regularly exercised

 the individual has taken in enough protein

The exact mechanism of muscle building is not fully understood, but the
general principles are well known. Training causes the muscle cells to expand
and there is an increase in actin and myosin production.

Also, in untrained muscles, fibers tend to fire in an asynchronous manner - in

other words, they do not fire in unison. As they become trained, they learn to
fire together as one, increasing maximum power output.

Normally, the body prevents the muscles from over-exerting themselves and
becoming injured. As the muscle is trained, the body starts to disinhibit the
muscles' activation - more power is allowed to be exerted.

Endurance
Fitness can include muscular endurance, which is the ability of a muscle to
continue exerting force without tiring. As mentioned above, strength training
builds bigger muscles. Endurance training, on the other hand, 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.

Body composition
Body composition measures the relative amounts of muscle, bone, water, and
fat.
 An individual can potentially maintain the same weight but radically change
the ratio of each of the components that make up the body.

For instance, people with a high muscle (lean mass) ratio weigh more than
those with the same height and waist circumference who have less muscle.
Muscle weighs more than fat.

physiology/pb03.html" target="_blank">depends on the activity that the

individual is being trained to carry out.

These measurements of body fat content were taken from high-level

sportsmen and women of different disciplines:

 Basketball - men 9 percent and women 13 percent

 Cross-country skiing - men 5 percent and women 11 percent

 Golf - men 13 percent and women 16 percent

 Kayaking/Canoeing - men 13 percent and women 22 percent

 Swimming - men 12 percent and women 19 percent

 100-, 200- and 400-meter racers - men 6.5 percent and women 14 percent

 Boxing - men 7 percent

 Wrestling - men 8 percent

How is body composition calculated?

Caclulating body composition accurately can be a painstaking task. There are
a number of accurate methods, this is just one:

First, weight is measured on standard scales. Next, volume is measured by

submerging the individual in water and measuring the displacement.
 The proportions of water, protein, and mineral in the body can be ascertained
by various chemical and radiometric tests. The densities of water, fat, protein,
and mineral are either measured or estimated.

The numbers are then entered into the following equation:

1/Db = w/Dw + f/Df + p/Dp + m/Dm

Where: Db = overall body density, w = proportion of water, f = proportion of fat,
p = proportion of protein, m = proportion of mineral, Dw = density of water, Df =
density of fat, Dp = density of protein, Dm = density of mineral.

Other methods include dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, air displacement

plethysmography, bioelectrical impedance analysis, total body imaging (MRI and
CT), and ultrasound.

Flexibility
Flexibility is the range of movement across a joint. Flexibility is important
because it improves the ability to link movements together smoothly and can
help prevent injuries. Flexibility is specific to each joint and depends on a
number of variables, including the tightness of ligaments and tendons.

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.
There are a number of ways to improve flexibility. A daily stretching regimen can
be the simplest and most efficient way of achieving whole body flexibility.

Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/7181.php