Physical Fitness and Its Components
Original Editor - User Name
Top Contributors - A Aishwarya, Manisha Shrestha, Sai Kripa, Kim Jackson, Rucha Gadgil and Wanda van Niekerk
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure. The energy expenditure can be measured in kilocalories. Physical activity in daily life can be categorized into occupational, sports, conditioning, household, or other activities.
Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and has as a final or an intermediate objective the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness.
Physical fitness is a set of attributes that are either health- or skill-related. The degree to which people have these attributes can be measured with specific tests. Physical fitness measures are closely allied with disease prevention and health promotion, thus it is common and appropriate to measure components of physical fitness before preventive and rehabilitative programs. Physical fitness can be modified through regular physical activity and exercise.
Component of Physical Fitness[edit | edit source]
The component of physical fitness can be broadly divided into health- related and skill-related.
[edit | edit source]
Good health have a strong relationship with health related components of physical fitness because it determines the ability of an individual to perform daily activities with vigor and demonstrate the capacities associated with low risk of premature development of the hypokinetic diseases.
The main aims of health-related fitness testing are :
- Educating clients about their present health-related fitness status in relationship to standard age and sex- matched normative values
- Providing data that are helpful for making clinical decision while prescribing exercises to address all fitness components
- Collecting baseline and follow up data that allow evaluation of progress by exercise program participants
- Motivating participants by establishing SMART goals
- Stratifying cardiovascular risk
There are five components of health-related physical fitness:
Body Composition[edit | edit source]
Body composition can be expressed as the relative percentage of body mass that is fat and fat-free tissue using a two-compartment model. It can be measured with both laboratory and field techniques that vary in terms of complexity, cost, and accuracy. Anthropometric methods are: Body mass index, Circumferences and Skinfold measurements. Hydrodensitometry weighing, plethysmography are some methods used in lab.
Muscular fitness[edit | edit source]
It include muscular endurance and strength. They determine bone mass, glucose tolerance, musculotendinous integrity, and ability to carry out ADLs. Muscle function tests are very specific to the muscle group tested , the type of contraction, the velocity of muscle movement, the type of equipment, and the joint range of motion.
Muscular strength: It is the muscle's ability to exert force. It can be assessed either statically or dynamically . Static or isometric strength can be assessed by using various devices such as dynamometer and tensiometers. 1 repetition maximum (1- RM), the greatest resistance that can be moved through the full range of motion in a controlled manner with good posture, is the standard for dynamic strength assessment.
Muscular endurance: It is the ability of muscle group to execute repeated contractions over a period of time sufficient to cause muscle fatigue, or to maintain a specific percentage of the maximal voluntary contraction for a prolonged period of time. Absolute muscular endurance is the total number of repetitions at a given amount of resistance is measured. Relative muscular endurance is the number of repetitions performed at a percentage of the 1 -RM (eg: 75%) which is in both pre- and post-testing.
Cardiorespiratory endurance[edit | edit source]
Cardiorespiratory fitness is related to the ability to perform large muscle, dynamic, moderate to high intensity exercise for prolonged periods. The performance depends upon the functional state of the respiratory, cardiovascular, and skeletal muscle systems. the criterion measure of cardiorespiratory fitness is determined by maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max).
Flexibility[edit | edit source]
Flexibility is the ability to move a joint through its complete range of motion. It is important in the ability to carry out ADLs and in athletic performance. It depends on a number of specific variables including distensibility of the joint capsule, adequate warm-up, and muscle viscosity. Flexibility is joint specific, thus, no single flexibility test can be used to evaluate total body flexibility. Goniometers, inclinometers, electrogoniometers, the Leighton flexometer and tape measures are some common devices to measure flexibility in degrees.
[edit | edit source]
It is also known as performance-related fitness component
- Balance
- Coordination
- Agility
- Reaction time
Sub Heading 3[edit | edit source]
Resources[edit | edit source]
- bulleted list
- x
or
- numbered list
- x
