What is Physical Fitness???

Physical fitness is to the human body what fine tuning is to an engine. It enables us to perform up to our potential. Fitness can be described as a condition that helps us look, feel and do our best. More specifically, it is: "The ability to perform daily tasks vigorously and alertly, with energy left over for enjoying leisure-time activities and meeting emergency demands. It is the ability to endure, to bear up, to withstand stress, to carry on in circumstances where an unfit person could not continue, and is a major basis for good health and well-being."

Physical fitness involves the performance of the heart and lungs, and the muscles of the body. And, since what we do with our bodies also affects what we can do with our minds, fitness influences to some degree qualities such as mental alertness and emotional stability.

As you undertake your fitness program, it's important to remember that fitness is an individual quality that varies from person to person. It is influenced by age, sex, heredity, personal habits, exercise and eating practices. You can't do anything about the first three factors. However, it is within your power to change and improve the others where needed.

A. Health Related Components

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.
 
 
 
B. Skill Related Components
 
1. Speed
- Speed is distance over time. We are all aware of kilometres per hour, or miles per hour. Running speeds are sometimes mentioned in metres per second. Speed is obviously extremely important in all forms of racing, but also in team and goal related sports when someone has the chance to 'runaway' from the opposition.
-The ability to move the entire body or a body part rapidly. Important in motor activities such as, basketball, baseball, soccer, and track.

2. Power
- Power is the ability to exert force quickly. A simple equation for power is: muscular strength X speed = Power. You can be very strong but not as powerful someone who is weaker but faster in the way they react. Power must have a speed component applied to it if you are trying to increase this.
-The ability to transfer energy into force at a rapid pace (a.k.a. explosive body movement). Necessary in such activities as sprinting or hitting a baseball or tennis ball.

3. Agility
- Agility is the ability to change direction rapidly. It is a necessary sport skill to run around opposition team members. It is trained by doing specific agility drills using cones and involves running sideways and forwards and backwards. Choose movement patterns that are specific to your sport.
-The ability to change the direction or the position of the body rapidly. Depends on the elements of speed and power.

4. Reaction Time
- Relates the time elapsed between stimulation and the beginning of a reaction to it.

5. Balance
- Being bipeds, we must always remain in a state of balance at all times or risk falling over. Some sports need more balance than others (e.g. gymnastics) but all sports need some amount of balance.
-The ability to maintain neuromuscular control of the body position. Important in most neuromuscular tasks, but is critical in activities such as gymnastics, springboard diving, and activities where an opponent attempts to upset you, such as in football or hockey.

6. Coordination
- Ability to organize complex movements effectively.
- The ability to perform complex motor skills in your sport. Running while kicking, passing, or catching a ball is extremely skilful and must be practised to be developed.

 

 
 
 
C. Fitness Testing
 
1. Endurance Tests

HARVARD STEP TEST
Description / procedure: The athlete steps up and down on the platform at a rate of 30 steps per minute for 5 minutes or until exhaustion. Exhaustion is defined as when the athlete cannot maintain the stepping rate for 15 seconds. The athlete immediately sits down on completion of the test, and the heart beats are counted for 1 to 1.5, 2 to 2.5, and 3 to 3.5 minutes.

Scoring: the score is determined by the following equation. score = (100 x test duration in seconds) divided by 2 x (total heart beats in the recovery periods).
excellent > 90 good 80 - 89 high average 65 - 79 low average 55 - 64 poor < 55

Equipment required:step or platform 20 inches (50.8 cm) high, stopwatch, metronome or cadence tape.

2. Strength and Power

ABDOMINAL ENDURANCE TEST
Description / procedure: The athlete lies on their back with feet flat on the floor and knees at right angles. With fingertips at the temples, the athlete curls up so the elbows touch the thighs. The shoulders must return fully to the floor. The number of complete sit-ups is counted in the prescribed time, ranging from 20 to 60 seconds (the technique used may vary).

Equipment required: timer, floor mat. other comments: The exact technique may vary between variations of this test, so you must ensure the technique being used is the same as used for the norms being utilised, and is documented with the results.
 
 
PUSH-UP TEST
Description / procedure: Can be the total number of push-ups completed or the number completed in a set time period. The starting position is with the hands and feet touching the floor, the body and legs are in a straight line, the arms extended and at a right angles to the body.

Modifications: Modifications of this procedure are to have the knees on the ground or to have the hands resting on a chair. The athlete then lowers themselves until the chest touches the floor, then extends the arms back to the starting position.

Scoring: The number of correctly completed push-ups is recorded.

Equipment required: floor mat, timer target population: sports in which upper body strength is important, such as rowing. advantages: testing easy and quick to perform.
 
3. Flexibility

SIT AND REACH TEST
Description / procedure: This test involves sitting on the floor with legs out straight ahead. Feet (shoes off) are placed flat against the box. Both knees are held flat against the floor by the tester. The athlete leans forward slowly as far as possible and holds the greatest stretch for two seconds. Make sure there is no jerky movements, and that the fingertips remain level and the legs flat.

Scoring: The score is recorded as the distance before (negative) or beyond (positive) the toes. Repeat twice and record the best score.
The tabl e below gives you a guide for expected scores (in cm) for adults
Men
Women
Super
>+27
> +30
Excellent
+17 to +27
+21 to +30
Good
+6 to +16
+11 to +20
Average
0 to +5
+1 to +10
Fair
-8 to -1
-7 to 0
Poor
-19 to -9
-14 to -8
Very Poor
< -20
< -15
 
 
Equipment required: sit and reach box (or a ruler can be used, held between the feet)

Validity: This tests only measures the flexibility of the lower back and hamstrings, and is a valid measure of this.
 
4. Body Composition

BODY MASS INDEX
(BMI) BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It takes a person's weight in kilograms and divides it by their height in meters squared. For instance, if your height is 1.82 meters, the divisor of the calculation will be (1.82 * 1.82) = 3.3124. If your weight is 70.5 kilograms, then your BMI is 21.3 (70.5 / 3.3124).

SKINFOLD MEASUREMENT
Description / procedure: Estimation of body fat by skinfold thickness measurement. Measurement can use from 3 to 9 different standard anatomical sites around the body. The right side is usually only measured. The tester pinches the skin at the appropriate site to raise a double layer of skin and the underlying adipose tissue, but not the muscle. The callipers are then applied 1 cm below and at right angles to the pinch, and a reading taken 2 seconds later. The mean of two measurements should be taken. If the two measurements differ greatly, a third should then be done, then the median value taken.
 
5. Body Mass and Structure

Body size, structure and composition are separate yet interrelated aspects of overall physique. Body size refers to the volume, mass, length and surface area of the body, body structure refers to the distribution or arrangement of body parts such as the skeleton and muscle-fat distribution, while body composition refers to the amounts of these constituents of the body.

STANDING HEIGHT
Description / procedure: measurement the maximum distance from the floor to the highest point on the head, when the subject is facing directly ahead. Shoes should be off, feet together, and arms by the sides. Heels, buttocks and upper back should also be in contact with the wall.

Equipment required: stadiometer or ruler placed against a wall

Reliability: Height measurement can vary throughout the day, being higher in the morning, so should be measured at a consistent time of day.

BODY MASS
Description / procedure: measurement of body mass, with shoes off and minimal clothing.

Equipment required: Scales, which should be calibrated for accuracy using weights authenticated by a government department of weights and measures.

Reliability: To improve reliability, weigh routinely in the morning (12 hours since eating) and after voiding. Hydration status can also affect

6. Agility Tests

SHUTTLE RUN TEST
Description / procedure: This test requires the athlete to run back and forth between two parallel lines. Place cones 10 metres apart or use line markings. The quickest time to run a certain number of shuttles is determined. The athlete starts at one cone, and runs between the cones a number of times.

Modifications: The test procedure can be varied by changing the number of shuttles performed, having the athlete pick up and return objects from some turning points. equipment required:marker cones, stopwatch, non-slip surface.