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Health Related Fitness

Fitness is such a broad term and a complex subject which can include health and skill related fitness. Health related fitness is often divided into several other components which form our overall health status:


Cardiovascular Fitness (Aerobic Fitness)

This is also sometimes known as stamina and is the ability of your body to continuously provide enough energy to sustain submaximal levels of exercise. To do this the circulatory and respiratory systems must work together efficiently to provide the working muscles with enough Oxygen to enable aerobic metabolism.

This type of fitness has enormous benefits to our lifestyle as it allows us to be active throughout the day, for example walking to the shops, climbing stairs or running to catch a bus. It also allows us to get involved in sports and leisure pursuits.

If we have good cardiovascular fitness then our health is also good as it helps with:

  • Fat metabolism

  • Improved delivery of Oxygen

  • Faster removal of waste products

  • Decreased levels of stress

Strength

Strength is vitally important, not only in sports but in day-to-day life. We need to be strong to perform certain tasks, such as lifting heavy bags or using our legs to stand up from a chair. Strength is defined as the ability of a muscle to exert a force to overcome a resistance.

Strength is important for our health as it enables us to :

  • Avoid injuries

  • Maintain good posture

  • Remain independent (in older age)

Flexibility

Flexibility is the movement available at our joints, usually controlled by the length of our muscles. This is often thought to be less important than strength, or cardiovascular fitness. However, if we are not flexible our movement decreases and joints become stiff. Flexibility in sports allows us to perform certain skills more efficiently, for example a gymnast, dancer or diver must be highly flexible, but it is also important in other sports to aid performance and decrease the risk of injury.

In daily activities we must be flexible to reach for something in a cupboard, or off the floor. It also helps:

  • Prevent injuries

  • Improve posture

  • Reduce low back pain

  • Maintain healthy joints

  • Improve balance during movement

Muscular Endurance

Muscular endurance, unlike strength, is the ability of a muscle to make repeated contractions over a period of time. This is used in day-to-day life in activities such as climbing stairs, digging the garden and cleaning. Muscular endurance is also important in sports, such as football (repeated running and kicking), tennis (repeated swinging of the arm to hit the ball) and swimming (repeating the stroke).

Body Composition

Body composition is the amount of muscle, fat, bone, cartilage etc that makes up our bodies. In terms of health, fat is the main point of interest and everything else is termed lean body tissue. The amount of fat we carry varies from person to person and healthy averages vary with gender and age. A healthy amount of fat for a man is between 15 & 18% and for women is higher at 20-25%. It is important to maintain a healthy percentage of body fat because:

  • Excess body fat can contribute to developing a number of health problems such as heart disease and diabetes

  • Places strain on the joints, muscles and bones, increasing the risk of injury


 

Skill Related Fitness


 

As well as the traditional components of health related fitness, the term fitness can be broken down into skill components. These are important in performing the more technical aspects of many sports.

Speed

Most sports and activities require some form of speed. Even long distance running often requires a burst of speed to finish the race ahead of your competitors. Speed is defined as the ability to move a body part quickly. Speed is not always about how quickly you can move your whole body from A to B. It also relates to body parts. For example, when playing golf, the speed of your arms and upper body in creating the swing are vital in driving the ball over a long distance.

Reaction Time

Reaction time is how quickly your brain can respond to a stimulus and initiate a response. This is important in most sports. The most obvious being responding to the gun at the start of a race, but also a goalkeeper saving a penalty, or a badminton player reacting to a smash shot. The examples in sport are endless!

Agility

Being agile is all about being able to change your diection and the speed at which you are travelling, quickly and efficiently. This is common in sports such as football and rugby where the player with the ball dodges a defender, or in badminton or tennis, moving around the court quickly to reach the shuttlecock/ball in time.

Balance

Balance is the ability to maintain equilibrium whilst stationary, or moving. Balance whilst moving is often called dynamic balance. Balance is important in all kinds of sporting situations, most noteably in gymnastics and ballet but also contact sports where having good balance may prevent you being tackled to the floor! Balance is linked to agility, as in order to quickly and efficently change direction you must be balanced.

Coordination

Coordination is the ability to use the body parts and senses together to produce smooth efficient movements. We have all seen someone who is uncoordinated, their movement looks awkward and shaky. Being co-ordinated is vital in all sports, for example hand-eye coordination in racket sports and the co-ordination to use the opposite arm and leg when sprinting.

Power

Power is the product of strength and speed. When we perform a task as quickly and as forcefully as we can, the result is powerful. For example, a sprint start, a shot-put or javelin throw or long-jump.