Kenneth Gardner - THE FITNESS CLUB ARE YOU physically fit? Maybe most of you have responded in the affirmative. How do you know how physically fit you are anyway? The following should help:-
Having the ability to continue doing physical activities over a long period of time
Being able to withstand stress
Being able to presevere under difficult circumstances where most others would give up
Not experiencing fatigue from ordinary efforts
Always feeling full of energy
Not being exhausted from unexpected demanding physical exertion
Being physically fit exists in degrees across a broad spectrum some of us are woefully unfit while others experience excellent levels of fitness and are able to enjoy life much more because we tend to enjoy better health. Remember good health is wealth.
Being physically fit benefits the heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles as a result of the regular stimulation provided by physical activity. This also makes more energy available for active leisure time and emergencies and simultaneously improving physiological and psychological benefits.
Some elements of physical fitness can be measured quite easily while others are more subtle example vigour, alertness, fatigue and enjoyment. The elements or components that can be more easily measured can be categorised as health- related fitness and skill-related fitness.
Skill- related fitness factors are more important for participation in sports and work that require high levels of physical input. Skill-related fitness includes agility, balance, co-ordination, speed power and reaction time. Some simple definitions follow:
Health- related physical fitness includes cardiorespiratory endurance, body composition and musculoskeletal fitness.Cardiorespiratory endurance involves the ability to continue or persist in strenuous tasks involving large muscle groups for extended periods of time. The ability of the circulatory and respiration systems to adjust to and recover from the effects of whole body exercise or work.
High levels of cardiorespiratory endurance indicates a high physical work capacity which is the ability to release relatively high amounts of energy to do physical work over an extended period of time. The term aerobics connotes the idea of cardiorespiratory endurance.
The physical fitness component body composition, refers to the relative amounts of fat and lean body tissue (muscle, bone, water) that comprise the body. Musculoskeletal fitness is comprised of flexibility, muscular strength and muscular endurance. Flexibility is the functional capacity of the joints to move through a full range of movement this is specific to each joint of the body. Muscles, ligaments and tendons largely determine the amount of flexibility that exist at each joint.
Muscular strength is the maximal one effort force, that can be exerted against a resistance. It is the absolute maximum amount of force that one can generate in an isolated movement of a single muscle group. The stronger the individual, the greater the amount of force that he can generate.
Muscular endurance is the ability of the muscles to apply a submaximal force repeatedly or to sustain a muscular contraction for a certain period of time for example, sit ups, push ups, lifting weights 10-15 times.
Each of these components of health related physical fitness can be measured separately and specific exercises can be applied to the development of each. We can be strong but lack flexibility, or have a strong heart and good lung endurance but lack muscular strength. To develop overall physical fitness each of the components must be included in the exercise prescription. Prescriptions should reflect the various training principles that are the formulae used to ensure that the medicinal values of exercise are guaranteed.
Kenneth Gardner, Exercise Physiologist at The G. C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport.
