Module II

Concept of Fitness

What is Fitness?

Fitness does not only refer to being physically fit, but also refers to a person’s
mental state as well. If a person is physically fit, but mentally unwell or
troubled, he or she will not be able to function optimally. Mental fitness can
only be achieved if your body is functioning well. You can help relax your own
mind and eliminate stresses by exercising regularly and eating right.

Why is it Important to Be Physically Fit?

People who are physically fit are also healthier, are able to maintain their most
optimum weight, and are also not prone to cardiac and other health problems. In
order to maintain a relaxed state of mind, a person should be physically active.
A person who is fit both physically and mentally is strong enough to face the
ups and downs of life, and is not affected by drastic changes if they take place.

How Can You Become More Physically Fit?

Becoming physically fit requires a change in life style as well. You will have to
incorporate a regular exercise routine in your life and also eat healthier. By
avoiding junk foods, fizzy drinks, bad habits like smoking and alcohol and by
getting adequate amount of rest, you will be able to become physically and
mentally fit. Just by eliminating all these food substances from your life, no
matter how temporarily, you will allow your body to detox and become
stronger. Make sure that you spend more time outdoors in the sun, and fresh air
and take part in more healthy activities. Fishing, bicycling, swimming, hiking,
and even playing football with your kids should be a part of your physically fit
lifestyle.

Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the
ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical
fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous
physical exercise, and sufficient rest.

Physical fitness refers to the ability of your body systems to work together
efficiently to allow you to be healthy and perform activities of daily living.
Being efficient means doing daily activities with the least effort possible. A fit
person is able to perform schoolwork, meet home responsibilities, and still have
enough energy to enjoy sport and other leisure activities.

Regular exercise and physical activity promotes strong muscles and bones. It
improves respiratory, cardiovascular health, and overall health. Staying active
can also help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk for type 2
diabetes, heart disease, and reduce your risk for some cancers.

Components of physical fitness

• Speed

Is the ability to cover a distance or complete a activity in a short amount of

time.

• Strength

It is the ability to overcome the resistance or act against the resistance.

• Endurance

It is the ability to participate in sports or involve in various activities for a long

duration or under the condition of fatigue.

• Flexibility

Flexibility refers mobility of the joints or range of motion of joints.

• Coordinative abilities

Coordination is the ability to integrate separate motor systems with varying

sensory modalities into efficient movements.

BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS

Research shows that regular physical fitness can help you to reduce your risk
for several diseases and health conditions and improve your overall quality of
life. Regular physical activity can help protect you from the following health
problems.

Heart Disease and Stroke;

High Blood Pressure

Obesity
Back Pain; By increasing muscle strength and endurance and improving
flexibility and posture, regular exercise helps to prevent back pain.

Osteoporosis; Regular weight-bearing exercise promotes bone formation and

may prevent many forms of bone loss associated with aging.

Self Esteem And Stress Management; Studies on the psychological effects of

exercise have found that physical fitness can improve your mood and the way
you feel about yourself. Researchers have found that fitness is likely to reduce
depression and anxiety and help you to better manage stress.

Disability; Running and aerobic exercise have been shown to postpone the
development of disability in older adults.

Physical fitness is made up of 11 parts - 6 of them health related and 5 skill

related. All of the parts are important to good performance in physical activity,
including sports. But the 6 are referred to as contributing to health-related
physical fitness because scientists in kinesiology have shown that they can
reduce your risk of chronic disease and promote good health and wellness.
These parts of fitness are body composition, cardiorespiratory endurance,
flexibility, muscular endurance, power, and strength. They also help you
function effectively in daily activities.

TYPES OF PHYSICAL FITNESS

There are three types of physical fitness

1) Health related physical fitness

2) Performance/skillrelated physical fitness and

3) Cosmetic fitness

HEALTH RELATED PHYSICAL FITNESS

Health-related fitness refers to the fitness which enables the person to remain
Both physically and psychologically strong enough to lead a healthy life
without any Diseases such as coronary heart disease, obesity or any other
disorders. Health-related Physical fitness deals with or is the fitness related to
some aspect of health. Health Related fitness focuses on optimum health and
prevents the onset of disease and Problems associated with inactivity. This type
of physical fitness is primarily influenced By an individual’s exercise habits;
thus, it is a dynamic state and may change. Maintaining An appropriate level of
health related fitness allows a person to meet emergencies, Reduce the risk of
disease and injury, work efficiently and participate and enjoy sports, recreation,
leisure. There are five components in health related physical fitness;

1) cardiovascular endurance

2) Muscular strength

3) Muscular endurance

4) Flexibility and

5) Bodycomposition.

1) CARDIO-RESPIRATORY FITNESs (cardiovascular endurance)

It is the ability of the heart and lungs to work together to provide the needed
Oxygen and fuel to the body during sustained workloads. Cardiorespiratory
fitness or Cardio-vascular fitness refers to the integrated functional capacity of
the heart, lungs, vascular system, and skeletal muscles to utilize oxygen to
expend energy.

Examples would be jogging, cycling and swimming.

Assessment: Cardiovascular endurance is assessed by the Cooper 12minute Run

test.

2) MUSCULAR STRENGTH

It is the amount of force a muscle can produce. Muscular strength is necessary

in almost all sports events. When muscles are used regularly, they become
strong and facilitate to do things like push, pull, jump, twist, turn, and
bend.Having muscular strength can keep you from being easily fatigued.

Examples of activities involving muscular strength are bench press, leg press or
bicep curl.

Assessment: The muscular strength is measured using Grip dynamometer.

3) MUSCULAR ENDURANCE
It is the ability of the muscles to perform continuously without fatigue. When
you have muscular endurance, your muscles are able to perform repeated
movements for long periods of time without become tired. Many daily activities
as well as sports activities require muscular endurance. Examples would be
cycling, step machines and swimming. Curl up or situp test is a commonly used
test of muscular endurance.

4) FLEXIBILITY

Flexibility is the ability of each joint to move through the available range of
motion for a

Specific joint. Quality of life is enhanced by improving and maintaining a good

range of

Motion in the joints. Loss of flexibility can be a predisposing factor for physical
issues

Such as painsyndromes or balance disorders. Exercise including stretching often

helps improve flexibility. Flexibility of an individual depends upon joint
structure, ligaments, tendons, muscles, skin, tissue injury, fat(oradipose)tissue,
body temperature, age and gender. The sit and reach test is most often used to
test flexibility.

5) BODY COMPOSITION

Body composition is a term used to describe the different components that,

when taken together, make up a person's body weight. The human body is
composed of a variety of different tissue types including lean tissues (muscle,
bone and organs)that aremetabolically active, and fat(adipose) tissue that is not.
In other words body composition is the amount off at mass compared to lean
body mass.

There are tests forms assuring the amount of body fat or body composition,
which are based on body dimensions; examples are Body Mass
Index(BMI),Waist to Hip Ratio and skinfold method.

SKILL/PERFORMANCE RELATED PHYSICAL FITNESS

The components of skill related physical fitness refers to those aspects of fitness
which form the basis for successful sports activity participation. There are six
components
1) Speed

2)Strength

3)Coordinative Abilities

4)Power

5)Endurance

6)Agility

1) SPEED

2) STRENGTH

Strength is the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to exert force against

resistance. It is a key component of physical fitness and is essential for
performing daily activities, enhancing athletic performance, and preventing
injuries

Thereare3typesofstrength:

a) Maximum Strength

The maximum force that a muscle or muscle group can generate in a single
effort.
Example: One-repetition maximum (1RM) in weightlifting.

b) Explosive Strength

The ability to exert a maximal amount of force in the shortest possible time.

Example: Activities like sprinting, jumping, or throwing.

c) Strength endurance

The ability to sustain a submaximal force over an extended period.

Example: Long-distance running or repeated lifting of moderate weights.

3) COORDINATIVE ABILITIES

Coordinative abilities facilitate to perform complex motor exercises and require

Coordination of body various body parts like arm, eye, foot etc. it indicate
integration of Nervous system and muscular system to carry out harmonious
movements with various bodyparts. Development of coordinative abilities is a
requirement for success in all sports. There are 5 basic coordinative abilities;
reaction time, rhythm, balance, kinaesthetic differentiation and space and time
orientation.

4) POWER

Power is the capacity that enables an athlete to apply the greatest amount of
their Maximal strength in the shortest period of time. It is the speed at which
strength can be Applied or the rate at which force can be developed. Power is
crucial for many sports Like shot put.

5) ENDURANCE

I).Aerobic Endurance
Aerobic means"with oxygen",because here oxygen intake is higher or at least in
balance With the body´s oxygen demand

II)Anaerobicendurance

Anaerobicmeans"withoutoxygen".In this type of endurance, the body continue

activity For a shortperiod without the supply of oxygen.

6) AGILITY

Agility is the ability to change the direction of the body in an efficient and
effective manner. It is the rapid whole body movement with change of velocity
or direction in response to a stimulus. Agility is a combination of other qualities
like balance, speed, strength and co-ordination and it is an important component
of many team sports.

COSMETIC FITNESS

Having a stronger or more developed body will be appreciated and eventually

people with Stronger body became more confident and it boosts their self-
esteem. Cosmetic fitness Simply means to working out for the purpose of
looking fit. Physical fitness denotes the Individual capacity to carry out daily
physical task.

Assessment of physical fitness components

1. Cardio vascular endurance is assessed by the Cooper 12 minute Run test.
Cooper 12 minute Run test
The test is based on the high correlation between the distance someone can run (or walk)
In 12 minutes and their VO2 max value (capacity to utilise oxygen while exercising).In this
Test the person run or walk in a running track as far as possible in a 12 minute period.
Cones may be placed at various distances to enable measuring of the distance. The participant
shall be allowed for a short warm up of 10 to15 minute before performing the testing. After
the completion of the running for 12 minutes the total distance covered is
recorded in meters. The result is then compared with the norms and recommendations
for the age and gender with the following table.
2. The muscular strength is measured using Grip dynamometer
Grip strength is typically measured in pounds, kilograms, or Newtons by squeezing a type of
muscle strength testing equipment, known as a dynamometer, about three times in each hand.
3. Curl up test/sit up test is commonly used test of muscular endurance
The curl up test measures muscular endurance of the abdominals and hip-flexors. The
Subject lies on a cushioned, flat surface with knees flexed, usually at 90 degrees. The
Hands may be placed by the side of the head. The subject raises the trunk in a smooth
motion, keeping the arms in position, curling up as head move to-ward the knees and then
the trunk is lowered back to the floor to the starting position completing one curl up.
Scoring: The completion of one complete curl up (up and back)counts as one. The total
Number of correctly performed sit ups that were performed in one minute is recorded.

4. Sit and Reach Test measure of flexibility

The sit and reach test is a common measure of flexibility, and specifically measures the
Flexibility of the lower back and hamstring muscles.Procedure: This test involves sitting bare
foot on the floor with legs stretched out straight ahead. The soles of the feet a replaced flat
against the sit and reach box. With the palms facing down wards, and the hands on top of
each other or side by side, the subject reaches forward along the measuring line. This is the
starting position. Then, stretches the hands forward as much as possible and holds that
position for at one-two seconds while the distance between starting point and final stretched
point is recorded.
Scoring: The score is recorded to the nearest centimetre or half inch as the distance
Reached by the hand using zero at the level of the feet.
5. Assessment of Body composition
Under water weighing is considered the most accurate way for body fat measurement,
however because of the size and expense of the equipment needed very few places are set up
to do this kind of measurement. There are other tests for measuring the amount of body fat or
body composition, which are based on body dimensions; examples are Body Mass Index
(BMI), Waist to Hip Ratio and skin fold method.
BMI(kg/m 2) = Weight in kg/ Height in M squared
WHR= Waist circumference/ Hip circumference
Skin fold Measurements: skinfold calipers

FITNESS BALANCE

Fitness is a general state of good health, usually as a result of exercise and

nutrition. Physical fitness is considered a measure of body’s ability to function
effectively and efficiently in work and leisure activities, to be health to resist
hypokinetic disease and to meet emergency situation. Fitness balance means to
possess all the physical fitness components like cardiovascular endurance,
strength, flexibility and body composition in adequate balanced proportion

All these components of physical fitness contribute one way or the other to the
overall fitness of the individual to successful carryout day today activities
gracefully and remain physical y fit and health and enjoy life to the fullest.
Cardiovascular endurance is the most important aspect of fitness. It is basically
how strong your heart is, which can potentially add years ones life. The heart is
the most important muscle in the human body and if it is kept healthy then
numerous health problems can be avoided. Cardiovascular endurance keeps up
the energy level of the person facilitating all sort of physical activities and also
guard against the incidents of coronary heart diseases and hypertension.

Strength and endurance of muscles of the trunk help maintain correct posture
and prevent such problems as law back pain. Minimum levels of muscular
strength and endurance are need for routine task of living. Individual with very
low levels of muscular strength and endurance are limited in the performance of
regular activities and have to lead a restricted life

Flexibility or range of motion around the joint also ranks as an important

component related to fitness balance. Lack of flexibility in the lower back and
posterior thigh is thought to cause low back pain. Extreme lack of flexibility
also has a deleterious effect on quality of life by limiting performance.
Similarly, excess body fat is clearly related to several health problems,
including cardiovascular diseases, type 2(adult diabetes melitieous) and certain
forms of cancer. Body composition is affected by diet, but exercise habit play a
crucial role in preventing obesity and maintaining acceptable levels of body fat

Taking these facts into consideration it is evident that all these components
should be equally developed to achieve fitness balance. While doing exercise
the activity should be such that it contributes towards the development of all
these components. In each week there should be separate sessions for flexibility
development, strengthening exercise and aerobic exercises. Cross training will
be effective in this respect because it combines different types of exercises
involving various parts and muscles of the body developing all types of fitness
variables leading towards overall fitness or balanced fitness.