Components of Fitness Part 1: Health

Here are some ways to work each component:

1. Cardiorespiratory Endurance- Walking, jogging, swimming, dancing or riding a bike. By

improving your cardiovascular fitness, you’ll be able to perform more activity without shortness
of breath.

2. Muscular Strength - Strengthening exercises, lifting weights or walking stairs. By improving

your strength, daily activities such as carrying shopping bags, walking stairs and even standing
up will be much easier.

3. Flexibility/Mobility - Stretching exercises, mobility exercises, yoga or foam rolling. With more
flexible muscles and mobile joints, we can move as we should and help prevent any injuries.

4. Muscular Endurance - High repetitions with strengthening exercises, dancing, swimming,

rowing. When we feel what’s commonly referred to as ‘lactic acid’ build up in our muscles, this is
our muscles fatiguing. When we improve our muscular endurance, we’ll get less muscle fatigue
for each activity.

When we are consistent with all of the above components of fitness ( and eating healthy), our
body composition will improve.
Components of Fitness Part 2: Skill

As you can see, there are many components of fitness, which is why I recommend all different
types of activities to continue with your exercises.

Although some activities you do may not seem like “exercise”, you are most probably working
different components of fitness.

For example, gardening will help with strength, balance and coordination.

These components of fitness are important to your everyday tasks and preventing falls and can be
trained and improved at any age.

Balance - We all know the importance of good balance for keeping on our feet and performing
most tasks.

Coordination - It’s how well our body synchronises with each other. Is related to most of our
everyday activities. Writing, cleaning, exercising or any activity where we have to trust our hands
to do what our brain is telling us is coordination.

Reaction Time - How quickly we respond to our environment. An example, If we weren’t to see a
hole in the floor, and step in it, how quickly can we recover to avoid a fall?
Agility - In our daily lives, we must negotiate obstacles such as furniture and objects on the
ground. These obstacles require the ability to change our walking pattern and stepping over or
around them. This makes agility an important factor in our day to day life both for movement and
for preventing falls.

Speed - You may think speed is not so important as we age. But keeping up a safe speed up is
important for almost all tasks. (Think about crossing a road in the time the lights take to change).
Something we must not neglect our exercise programs.

Power - An important component of fitness to help keep us at our best. It has even been shown
that working on power (Basically building strength at a faster speed) can lead to greater functional
gains.

Examples of exercises to improve all of these components: Exercise videos, ball games/catch,
creative activities like painting, balance exercises, yoga, dance, Tai Chi, yoga. Try different (safe)
speeds when walking.

Which Body Type Are You? Ecto, Meso or Endomorph

A body type is the characterization of human body composition that is influenced by the bone
structure, metabolism, muscle mass and fat mass. Keeping these characteristics in mind, the body
can be classified into 3 types: ectomorph, endomorph and mesomorph. Each body type requires
different needs and you should apply the appropriate lifestyle, diet and working out frequency and
intensity to ensure optimal health.

Generally speaking, endomorph body types are curvier due to increase fat accumulation, meso-
morphs have a more muscular body, while ectomorphs have a lean body type with low fat compo-
sition.

Physical activity and a balanced diet can help to modify physical appearance, which is your so-
matotype, but it does not change your genetics or biotype. Therefore, if you stop exercising and
eating healthy, you may return to your original body type.
The main body types
Body types can be classified in accordance with their characteristics:

Ectomorph
People with an ectomorph body are thinner and leaner. They tend to have narrow shoulders and
long extremities. Women may have a narrow thigh and smaller breasts.

These people tend to have a faster metabolism and can lose weight easier as a result. They also
have more difficulty gaining muscle. Learn more about ectomorph body types.

Recommended diet: Because it is harder to gain muscle, you should increase your daily protein
intake, as well increase foods with healthy fats, lean meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes
and whole wheat grains.

Recommended workout: Ectomorph body types should include some aerobic exercise, but should
prioritize heavy lifting, like strength training and pilates to promote muscle mass gain. Read these
tips on gaining muscle from our personal trainer.

Endomorph
People with an endomorph body type are usually shorter in stature and have a curvier, wider
frame. Women with this body type tend to have a larger thighs and associated with a pear shape
due to a large amount of accumulated fat. Learn about other characteristics of an endomorph body
type.

People with this body type generally have a slower metabolism, higher fat composition and have
difficulty with losing weight, although they easily gain muscle mass.

Recommended diet: Endomorph diets will need to be more restrictive to help with weight loss.
A low carb diet may be a good approach, as it helps to keep you fuller for longer and promotes
weight loss. It is important for people with endomorph body types to avoid eating sweets,
processed food and fatty foods if they are looking to lose weight. This calorie calculator may be
helpful to determine how many calories are recommended per day.

Recommended workout: It is important to include strength training in your workout routine to

promote muscle gain. Aerobic exercise, like the elliptical machine or stairmaster, can also help to
burn fat and become leaner.

Mesomorph
People with a mesomorph body type are lean and muscular, even without engaging in physical
activity. People with this body type tend to have a longer torso, low amounts of abdominal
fat, a smaller waist, a fast metabolism and tend to gain muscle easily. Read more about the
characteristics associated with a mesomorph body type.

Recommended diet: People with a mesomorph body type easily gain muscle mass and therefore
do not need to consume as much protein. Strict diets are not necessary, but you should maintain
a balanced diet that is rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole wheat grains, lean protein and
legumes to maintain ideal body fat and muscle mass percentages.

People with mesomorph characteristics can also gain body fat. Therefore, you should avoid
refined sugars (found in cakes, ice cream and cookies), processed foods (ready-made sauces,
fast food, instant pasta) and fatty foods (like fried foods, crackers or fatty meats).

Mesomorphs should alternate aerobic exercise (e.g. cycling or running) with strength training to
maintain ideal body fat and muscle mass percentages.