Type of Physical Fitness Component

1. Muscular Fitness

 

- The ability to exert maximum force, such as lifting the heaviest weight you can budge, one time. It is possible to have muscular strength in one area, say your arms, while lacking strength in another area such as your legs.

A. Muscular Strength
- Enhanced muscular strength often increases muscle and connective tissue size and density by enlarging cells, or "building" muscles. Apart from their aesthetic value, larger muscles and connective tissues are less prone to accidents and aid long term weight control, since muscle tissue burns more calories than fat, even while resting.

Tips for Building Muscular Strength:
- Stagger exercises. Concentrate on activities that work specific muscle groups. Work slowly with concentration on form and resistance to gravity. Directed energy provides the best effect, while helping to avoid injury. Anaerobic activity produces lactic acid build-up in muscle tissue, which can be temporarily painful. Stretching before and after workouts can prevent this condition. Like aerobic workouts, gradual progression of stress on muscles will increase muscular strength. Again, moderation is key to avoiding injury and realizing benefits. A warm-up is crucial to any workout. Rest. One or two days recovery time is necessary for maximum effect and injury prevention.

B. Muscular Endurance
- The measure of how well muscles can repeatedly generate force, and the amount of time they can maintain activity. Muscular Endurance is the practical use of raw strength. It is crucial for every fitness activity, from the mostly anaerobic weight lifting repetitions (or "reps") to intense aerobic activities like jogging (where specific muscles in the legs are used repeatedly.) Muscular endurance combines both aerobic and anaerobic energy.

Tips for Building Muscular Endurance:
- Like aerobic endurance and muscular strength, muscular endurance is increased through overload. Overworking the muscles makes them stronger and gives them more endurance. But don't overdo it. Moderate increases achieve the same result with lower risk of injury. When weight lifting, averaging three sets of 10-12 lift repetitions is an excellent way to build endurance. Rest in between workouts.

2. Cardiovascular Fitness

 

- The ability to do moderately strenuous activity over a period of time. It reflects how well your heart and lungs work together to supply oxygen to your body during exertion and exercise. Also called aerobic fitness.
- the body's ability to exercise whole muscle groups over an extended period of time at moderate intensity, utilizing aerobic energy. Your aerobic system uses oxygen to break down carbohydrates and convert them into lasting energy. Since it's a prolonged need, fats and proteins are also broken down, making aerobic workouts ideal for fat loss. Aerobic exercise also increases heart rate, strengthening the organ's ability to contract. Stronger contractions mean an improved, stronger blood flow, in turn making a body better equipped for exercise.

Tips for Cardiovascular Fitness:
- Maintain your workout for at least 15-30 minutes at your target heart rate. If you are having trouble maintaining 30 minute workouts, try staggering three 10 minute shifts throughout the day. Workout at least 3-4 times a week for lasting effects. Slowly increase your aerobic activities over a period of time to improve performance. Generally the more aerobic demands you make on your body, the stronger it gets. But be moderate. Slow gradations will help avoid injury. Rest. The body needs time to recover and grow. Alternating days and staggering intensity of workout can aid in your overall development and prevent injury. Paying attention to your body's messages -- soreness, tension, aches -- can help you figure out when to work and when to rest.

 

3. Flexibility

- The ability to move a joint through its full range of motion; the elasticity of the muscle. This is how limber you are.

- Flexibility is the ability to stretch your muscles and the tendons and ligaments that connect them to your bones. You increase flexibility by stretching the elastic fibers beyond their usual limits and maintaining that stretch for a few moments. The fibers will eventually adjust to these new limits.

Tips for Increasing Flexibility:
- You should stretch before a workout, but after warming up. Warmed-up muscles will be more limber, and less at risk for rips or pulls. Stretching after a workout helps relax strained muscles and prevent cramping. Stretching should never be painful. Stretch gently so you feel it, but not so much that you feel it hurt. Stagger stretching specific body areas throughout the day. For maximum results, stretch regularly, several times a day, at least five days a week.

4. Body Composition

- The proportion of fat in your body compared to your bone and muscle. It does not refer to your weight in pounds or your "figure-type."
- Body composition describes the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in your body. These percentages provide an overall view of your health and fitness in relation to your weight, health, and age. Weight and fat are often used together, but they are not interchangeable. Being overweight does not imply obesity -- in fact, many physically fit people are overweight due to muscle gain. However, being "overfat" poses health risks ranging from heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

 

- It's difficult to determine your body composition accurately. However, less precise and less demanding methods involving water displacement or skin fold measurement (where a special caliper is used to measure fat beneath the skin) can give good estimations.

Body Composition Basics:
- A healthy male's body should be approximately 12 percent to 18 percent fat.
- In females the number is slightly higher; approximately 14 percent to 20 percent fat.
- Doctors often offer body composition tests. Your local gym may also be able to evaluate your body composition. Knowing your body composition can help you formulate an exercise program and set sensible fitness goals. Resolving to turn fat into muscle (and not simply to lose weight) motivates you to work on fat-burning aerobic activities and anaerobic muscle-building activities as well. Either way, you are changing your overall body composition from less fat to more muscle. Avoid being "underfat." Body fat does have some benefits, not the least of which is energy storage and maintaining body temperature. 

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