Do your lungs always feel like they want to stop working whenever you engage in a physical fitness exercise? Is there a constant look of regret and exhaustion on your face? Your eyes want to pop out and your stomach growls consistently?
If yes, then you need to know more about physical fitness, its importance, and its components so you can grow to achieve your dream state. “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is a proverb that cuts across many scopes, including physical fitness.
It is a step-by-step process.
What is Physical fitness?
Physical fitness is the body’s ability to function effectively and efficiently without undue fatigue in work or leisure activities. It is the ability to meet emergency situations and resist diseases.
Let me break it down for you, then. Physical fitness is the way your body reacts when you perform rigorous activities and react to unprecedented situations. Also, the way your body can fight against diseases from a lifestyle of no exercise describes the state of your fitness.
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Many do not realize there are health benefits to putting your body through unwanted activities. It has both physical and mental benefits (dare I even say spiritual).
In our world today, laziness, obesity and sedentary are celebrated. It is pertinent to understand the advantages of the counter lifestyle of exercise and fitness.
Physical fitness represents different ideologies to different people. To some, it is a way of life (ask David Goggins). To others, it can be an escape into an alternate universe (Doctor Strange still dey learn).
Whatever it represents to you, what actually matters is that you are staying fit and you’ve chosen the better way of life. To better strengthen your mental portfolio, you must understand the components, tests, activities, and types of physical fitness.
Components of Physical Fitness
Physical fitness comprises two components: Health-related fitness and Skill-related. This broad section covers subsets that would help achieve elite and maximum coordination of your body.
Health-related fitness
Health-related fitness considers all exercise and workout plans that would help boost your health status. It negates the ugly art of being sedentary. Skill-related fitness is particular to sports personnel and how they can achieve “Ronaldo status” (I coined that). This means being at the top of your game, and achieving glory whilst maintaining your fitness.
There are five sub-components under health fitness namely;
Muscular Strength
This is the maximum pull or push that can be exerted one time by a muscle group. Examples of activities under muscular strength include;
- Push-ups
- Pull-ups
- Weight lifting
The greater the muscle strength, the better you can carry out activities involving pulling, lifting, and pushing.
Cardiovascular Endurance
This is the ability of the lungs, heart and blood vessels to deliver adequate amounts of oxygen to the cells to meet the demands of prolonged physical activity. Cardiovascular endurance ensures your body can go on for a long time when performing moderate-high-intensity exercises.
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Flexibility
This is the ability of the muscles and joints to go through a full range of motion without the risk of injury or tear. Examples of activities under flexibility include; shoulder stretch, zipper test, sit and reach, etc.
Body Composition
This refers to the proportion of lean body mass to fat body mass. The generally accepted method of measuring body composition is Body mass index. Weight divided by height is the formula for Body Mass Index (BMI).
Any result below 25.0 means you are underweight and anyone above 25.0 signifies potential obesity.
Muscle Endurance
This is the ability of the muscle to exert maximal effort in a brief duration. Endurance is the ability to keep going and perform repetitive motions of less intensity over time e.g Planking.
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Skill-related Fitness
There are six sub-components under skill fitness namely;
Speed
The ability to perform a task or move from one point to another in the shortest possible time. Speed can be developed over time when one runs track events e.g 40-meter sprint.
Agility
It refers to the ability to quickly shift or change the direction of the body from one point to another. Ability can be improved by the Hexagon agility test. People who are agile are likely to be good at soccer, diving, wrestling, and ice skating.
Power
Power is the ability to perform one maximum effort in the shortest possible time. It is the product of both strength and speed. The Power jump is a good way of combining speed and strength.
The more your power, the farther you’d be able to jump.
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Balance
Balance is the ability to stay in equilibrium in relation to changes in body position. There are two types of balance;
- Static Balance: This is balance demonstrated in a stationary position
- Dynamic Balance: This is balance demonstrated when the body is moving.
Reaction time
The amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus. To measure your reaction time, you can try the stick drop test. Cognitive, attentive, and motor functions are several variables that affect reaction time.
Coordination
This is the integration of hand and/or foot movements with senses. It can be tested with the Stick flip coordination test.
Reasons why is Physical fitness important
Doctors prescribe physical fitness for better health. Some importance of physical fitness includes; improved blood flow, body fitness, weight loss, and stress relief amongst others. Listed benefits include;
Memory Boost
Studies in children and young adults show that the part of the brain that holds the memory; the hippocampus, grew after every aerobic exercise. When you stay physically fit, you allow yourself to stay sharp and boost some skills-related fitness traits.
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Improved Concentration
People who participate in exercises have high focus levels. They have the ability to ignore distractions and settle on a single task. Aerobic exercises improve retention (if you like, don’t concentrate).
Improved Mental Health
The amygdala is the part of the brain that receives stimuli such as anxiety, fear and stress. Physical fitness activities can improve the capacity of people to handle such feelings.
Slowing Cognitive Decline
Physical fitness helps to delay the mental wear and tear in dementia that comes with old age. Studies have shown that people who exercised when they were younger are less likely to experience memory loss with old age.
Others include;
- Protection of the body against age-related decline
- Improved heart and lung rate
- Increases lean mass and strength
- Improved cholesterol levels
- Prevention in the management of diabetes
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How to turn Physical Fitness into a habit
Maintaining physical fitness is hard, and many people get discouraged after a few days of dedication. They find out their willpower will be tested and they will be pushed to the limits. Habits are created over time and can be nurtured.
Here are a few tips on how to maintain a fitness habit:
- Ensure not to choke your training plan. Spread them throughout the week and ensure you abide. Slowly but steadily is the goal.
- Choose exercises that are right for you. This would require you to research about your body type and what is needed to achieve your desired goal.
- Break your session: It isn’t compulsory to take your 30 minutes or one hour at a stretch. Break them but ensure you finish.
- Ensure to include muscular and strength activities a couple of times during the week.
With these, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a child or an adult, one would be able to turn physical fitness into a habit.
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Closing Remark on Physical fitness
After all said and done, one shouldn’t jump into an ideology without a reason. Examine yourselves and see reasons why staying fit is a priority. Don’t try to think pain is always gain as you might be punishing yourself. Take things as they come. It took years to gain that weight and it won’t take overnight to lose it.
Choose an activity that suits you and solidify yourself in it. One can also look for people with similar stories and motivations to ensure continuity. Most importantly, plan and set goals for yourselves.
Whoever fails to plan, plans to fail.
