Physical fitness

Physical fitness is the ability to be physically active, to move and respond to the environment. People can take various tests to measure their physical performance. Such tests are necessary for some occupations, such as soldiers and firefighters.

Physical fitness has two components: general fitness (a state of health and well-being) and specific fitness (the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations).

Components of physical fitness

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports — a study group sponsored by the United States Government — declines to offer a simple definition of physical fitness. Instead, it developed the following chart:[1]

Physiological Health-related Skill related Sports
Metabolic Body composition Agility Team sport
Morphological Cardiovascular fitness Balance Individual
Bone integrity Flexibility Coordination Lifetime
Other Endurance Power Other
Muscle strength Speed
Reaction time
Other

Health-related components: those factors that are related to how well the systems of your bodywork.

Body composition is the relative percentage of body fat compared to lean body mass (muscle, bone, water, etc)

Cardiovascular fitness: the ability of the circulatory system (heart and blood vessels) to supply oxygen to working muscles during exercise.

Flexibility: the range of movement possible at various joints.

Accordingly, a general-purpose physical fitness program must address those issues.[2]

Ancient icons of physical fitness

Related pages

References

  1. "President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports definitions for health, fitness, and physical activity".
  2. "Six fundamentals of physical fitness".