As Pete Tancred once said, “no one athlete gets in shape by just playing or participating in his sport. He has to be involved in some extra fitness and year-round conditioning programs. Their bodies must be put under a certain amount of physical; stress to perform in the right way.” In this article, we will explain how to improve 5 components of fitness.
Being fit goes far beyond the standard descriptions of a bikini body and tanned-up popping muscles; it is made up of many other components that all need to be incorporated into the workout and exercise schedule. There are five major components of fitness:
- Cardiovascular endurance
- Muscular strength
- Flexibility
- Muscular endurance
- Body composition
Cardiovascular endurance
This is also known as cardiorespiratory endurance of fitness.
It concerns the health and proper functioning of the heart, lungs, and general circulatory system. It deals with the body’s ability to take in oxygen and transport it to the body tissue, muscles, and organs needing it. And also, it has been specifically tested during intensive exercise and physical activity through the exertion of the body.
The fitness components of physical fitness are emphasized considering the rates of death due to poor cardiovascular health (the US loses up to 630,000 people every year to heart problems and related diseases.) So, here are a few methods you could take up to improve your cardiovascular endurance:
- Running and walking: as with high-intensity interval training, this is an excellent activity to get the heart pumping. You could start with just fifteen minutes every day then increase the period of time and intensity when it begins to feel a little too easy. You will soon start feeling physically fit.
- Aerobics: Aerobics, especially dances, are fun and very useful in boosting cardiovascular health and improve hand-eye coordination.
- Bike riding and swimming: these could double up as both exercise and fun activities. They involve some exertion of heart muscles and are also useful for strengthening the legs muscles and promoting lean mass.
Cardiovascular fitness and health should be a priority looking to live a long life and overall physical fitness without any heart problems. Give it just 15 minutes of your day, be consistent, and have fun while you are at it!
Muscular strength
This refers to the amount of force any one group of body muscled can produce in a single effort.
It is generally measured by the weights that one can lift and requires some intense strength training to be effective. It is muscle specific which means that one group of muscles could be strong and another weak. You should balance your strength training to target all your major muscles groups.
The extent of strength training will largely depend on individual body types as well as goals and health status. For instance, if one aims to build body mass, then their training should have plenty of volumes as well as intensity.
Muscle strength also requires a great deal of muscle endurance and it is almost impossible to gain one without the other. To improve your muscular strength:
- Engage in weight training ( exercises using your body weight and/or lifting heavier weights )
- Use strength bands in your workout
- Try some heavy garden work such as digging and shoveling
- Try climbing hills and mountain (this boosts both strength and cardiovascular strength)
- Engage in aerobics
- Climb a couple of stairs every day
- Bike cycling
You can combine your muscular strengthening workout with other routines such as cardio. But be sure, that you get enough recovery time.
Flexibility
This is more concerned with the joints. It refers to the range of motion around any given joint. It is an essential part of total fitness as it means movement without hindrance, good balance, and agility as well as coordination. Flexibility depends on some factors such as:
- Age: The youth is typically more flexible than their older counterparts.
- Gender: To their body compositions (regarding fat tissue and lean muscles), men are generally more flexible than women.
- Body composition: People with more fat tissue tend to be less flexible than those with more non-fat tissue.
- Behavioral habits: People who often engage in physical exercise are usually more flexible than those who do not.
A lack of endurance flexibility can cause you a lot of problems and generally make life very uncomfortable. Take, for example, the elderly who can barely lift their legs to walk. They often need help with a lot of things such as picking things up. Flexible people are less likely to get injured or lag in any physical activities such as athletics. Because of that, it is very important to perform proper stretching exercises, that includes static stretching.
Muscular endurance
Muscular endurance is an essential determinant of overall muscle health. It refers to the ability of your muscles to withstand given amounts of resistance. It is their ability to perform the continuous intense exercise without giving in to fatigue. That is especially important—and evident—in strength training, particularly in workouts that are targeting the specific muscle groups.
Just like in muscular strength, muscular endurance is specific to muscle groups. One group of muscles may be incredibly enduring and others weak. Training should, therefore, be aimed at building endurance in all the major muscle groups. Its intensity will, however, depend on your personal fitness goals. For instance, someone training in endurance just to be able to carry their shopping up a few blocks of stairs will not need nearly the same amount of intense training an athlete will.
Exercises that will help you improve your muscle endurance include:
- Push-ups: They improve strength and endurance in both arms and the chest.
- V-ups: These are essential tips for improving endurance in the lower and upper abdomen.
- Planks: These are perhaps the best exercises to condition the core. They also increase endurance in the glutes, abs, back, and the hamstrings.
- Calf raises: They help build the gastrocnemius and soleus muscle mass.
Body Composition
Body composition is the body’s ratio of fat to that of non-fat. High levels of body fat generally point toward being unfit. Maintaining a healthy and balanced body composition should be a priority to everyone, usually because of the life-threatening problems and sicknesses associated with an unbalanced body and lifestyle. Such problems include heart disease problems, low energy levels, problems with metabolism, and poor emotional health.
To Sum Up
As it turns out, healthy body composition is almost guaranteed if the other fitness components are taken care of. Regular cardio, strength training, workout for improving muscular endurance, and flexibility exercises are all going to contribute well towards a healthy body fat content.
Conclusively, a good exercise routine program should incorporate all these five fitness components to improve overall fitness. Whatever your goals are be it improving muscular mass, calorie burning targets or weight loss in general it will help. Where needed ask your personal trainer for guidance
Together with healthy eating you should be able to achieve your fitness goals. Incorporate these physical activity guidelines into your routine and let us know how you get on. Also take a look at ACSMS physical activity guidelines which outline the scientific health and fitness benefits of physical activity.
