Five Components of Physical Fitness

Rod Ferris B.A. CPT(YMCA, ACE), CFC, CPAFLA (mailto:support@myfit.ca) — 2009-08-28

Five Basic Components of Physical Fitness Included in the five main basic components of physical fitness are:

Cardiovascular endurance – Of all the five components of physical fitness, perhaps the most prominent is cardiovascular endurance, as it is key for your overall health and performance. Cardiovascular endurance simply denotes the efficiency and capability of your heart to supply oxygen and nutrients to tissues as well as to eliminate toxic elements from your body. Some of the physical activities that help to achieve cardiovascular endurance are jogging, walking, swimming, and cycling.

Muscular Strength – This component of physical fitness is determined by the amount of force or strength that your muscles could pick up and exert at a time. Among all the physical fitness components, muscular strength is probably the only component that is directly connected to the amount and nature of activity or work-out you undertake. A well-devised fitness program, especially weight lifting and strength training, could help you to enhance the muscle’s capability to put forth force and retain contraction, thereby aiding to improve your overall health, in addition to strengthening your bones and reducing the chances of developing diseases such as osteoporosis.

Muscular Endurance – Even though muscular strength and muscular endurance are linked, both of them are different. Muscular endurance is all about your muscle’s ability to undergo repeated contractions without deteriorating. One of the significant ways to achieve muscular endurance is via switching up your exercise program and gaining from a continuum of exercises such as biceps curls, leg extensions, hamstring curls, and chest presses.

Body Composition – This implies the ratio of your body fat to body lean mass. If your body fat is high, it indicates that you are not fit enough to undertake even your day to day activities. Further, high body fat is associated with conditions such as obesity, coronary heart problems, arthritis, joint pains, and diabetes. On contrary, if your body lean mass is high, it means that your bones, muscles and tissues are healthy.

Flexibility – Last but not least is the physical flexibility, which indicates the ability of your muscles as well as joints to move at its fullest level. Improved flexibility could help you achieve a number of benefits such as healthy joints, strengthened back, and minimized risk muscle tendon injuries. Enhanced body movement flexibility could be accomplished through an appropriate fitness program. ]]>

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