OF FITNESS
COMPONENTS OF
FITNESS
SKILL FITNESS
Agility
Co-ordination
Balance
Power
Reaction Time
PHYSICAL FITNESS
Aerobic Endurance
Muscular Endurance
Body Composition
Flexibility
Speed
Muscular Strength
AEROBIC
ENDURANCE
Aerobic endurance is how efficiently you are able to keep your muscles supplied with oxygen and nutrients, whilst exercising.
Another name that can sometimes be used for aerobic endurance is
Cardiorespiratory
endurance/ Fitness or
Aerobic Fitness.
A way to improve your physical fitness would be training.
MUSCULAR
ENDURANCE
Your muscles need a good supply of oxygen and a good supply of energy in the form of glycogen (a type of sugar that is broken down to release energy) to be able to work properly.
A good level of these factors is when your muscles can keep exerting force for a reasonably long time.
BODY COMPOSITION
This is a measure of how much of your body is made up of fat-free mass, of vital organs and how much of it is made up of fat.
It is important for you to have a good balance of the two. Some sports performers, such as rowers, require a large muscular mass to give them power and strength, however other sports performers require lower muscular mass, such a marathon runners.
FLEXIBILITY
This is the ability to move all of your joints throughout their full range of movements.
The strength of the muscle and how elastic the ligaments and tendons are at the joints determine the flexibility of them.
For example gymnasts have to be flexible so that they can twist their bodies into different shapes when performing routines or vaults. SPEED
This is how long it takes for an individual or an object to travel a certain distance. The faster something moves the greater the speed. Speed can be calculated by: Distance/Time
An example of speed could be how fast a runner will sprint 100m or rugby players catching their opponents. MUSCULAR
STRENGTH
This is the amount of force that is generated by one of your muscles when it is contracting. Force is measured in
Kilograms or Newton's.
There are two types of muscular strength these are:
Explosive strength
Dynamic strength
AGILITY
This is the ability for a sports player to move and change direction quickly, precisely and under control.
For example a basketball player has to change direction quickly when dribbling past other players.
Also in football, a player needs to drive the ball towards the net in order to score.
CO-ORDINATION
This is the ability to move two or more parts of the body at the same time efficiently and accurately, while ensuring a smooth flow of movement.
For example a high level of co-ordination is required when throwing a dart to hit the correct target.
Another could be when hitting a tennis shot.
BALANCE
This is the ability to keep the body stable, when still or moving, by keeping the centre of gravity over the base of support.
There are 2 types:
Static balance – this is performed when little or no movement takes place, for example a handstand
Dynamic balance – it is performed when movement takes place during balance, for example a backflip
POWER
This is the ability to combine strength with speed and it is expressed by the time it takes to perform a task. An example of this would be a boxer, they need power to be able ton punch hard and fast. REACTION TIME
This is the time it takes to respond to a stimulus.
Your reaction time is the interval time between the presentation of a stimulus and the initiation of the muscular response to that stimulus. For