Maintaining a good level of physical fitness is important. However, it can be difficult to determine what fitness entails.
Experts define physical fitness as “one’s ability to execute daily activities with optimal performance, endurance, and strength with the management of disease, fatigue, and stress and reduced sedentary behavior.”
This description goes beyond being able to run quickly or lift heavy weights. Despite being important, these attributes only address single areas of fitness.
Being physically fit depends on how well a person fulfills each of the components of being healthy.
When it comes to fitness, these components are:
– Cardiorespiratory fitness – How well the body can supply fuel during physical
activity via the body’s circulatory and respiratory systems. In general, exercise encourages the body to become more efficient at taking on, distributing, and using oxygen. Over time, this improvement increases endurance and overall health.
– Muscular strength – in general, if a person works their muscles consistently and
regularly, they will increase in strength.
– Muscular endurance – Fitness can also include muscular endurance, which is the
ability of a muscle to continue exerting force without tiring.
– Body composition – Measures the relative amounts of muscle, bone, water, and
fat an individual has. A person can potentially maintain the same weight but radically change the ratio of each of the components that make up their body.
– Flexibility – is important because it improves the ability to link movements
together smoothly and can help prevent injuries. It is specific to each joint and depends on a number of variables, including the tightness of ligaments and tendons.
In general, fitness means different things to different people.
The important message is that embarking on any regular exercise will be of benefit to
a person’s health. The more exercise they do, the healthier they will look and feel.
Sources: Medical News Today
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