Nothing on earth can be as enjoyable as a healthy body. Those with an unfit and unsound body may find this beautiful world to be a bitter place. Your physical fitness directly affects your mental health and spirit. So, you need to know how fitness can be achieved. But, the importance of the fitness components is undeniable as they may help you build a fit body. Let’s explore the 10 components of fitness and evaluate your fitness level.
10 Components of Physical Fitness
Cardiovascular/Cardiorespiratory Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance is one of the most important components of physical fitness. It refers to the ability of your circulatory and respiratory system to endure the force of sustained physical activities such as running, cycling, swimming, etc. Improving your cardiovascular endurance is important for the activities that keep your heart rate elevated for a longer period. For improving this component of fitness, you don’t need to do anything strenuous. You can improve it by gradually working on an activity that you enjoy.
Body Composition
Body composition is another health related component of fitness. It refers to the relative balance of the amount of muscle, bone, fat, and other parts of the body. Your total body weight does not affect your fitness if your body composition is perfectly balanced. So, if you have larger muscles and bones, it is natural that your weight will be greater than the person having smaller muscles and bones. Your body composition matters, not your weight.
Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance refers to the ability of the muscles of your body to continue to perform an exercise or activity without fatigue. The muscular endurance of the different muscles of your body can vary from each other. So, you need to improve the muscular endurance of the muscles that lack it. Perform the exercises that target to improve the muscular endurance of those particular muscles.
Muscular Strength
Muscular strength refers to the capacity of your muscles to produce physical energy during activity or exercise. Muscular strength is regarded as one of the most important fitness components that can establish you as a fit person. For making your muscles stronger, work them against resistance, whether with exercise bands or weight benches.
Flexibility
Your fitness also depends on the flexibility of your joints. Flexibility refers to the range of motion around the joints of your body. Good flexibility of the joints prevents muscle soreness and many kinds of injuries throughout all the stages of your life. It is an essential fitness component for performing the daily activities and exercises without hurting yourself.
Speed
Speed is one of the skill related components of fitness. It refers to your ability to minimize the time span of a repeated movement. This component is totally skill based. Lacking in speed does not mean that you are not fit. However, speed is necessary for every activity we do. So, it’s important that you increase your speed as much as you can. You can perform the sprint drills to work on your speed.
Coordination
Coordination is a fitness component that refers to your ability to combine and execute several distinct movement patterns balancing with a singular activity. Boxers, footballers, climbers, etc. possess good coordination skill. They need to combine different movement patterns with a single activity. As it is a skill-based component of fitness, you cannot but practice a lot to improve your coordination.
Agility
Agility is one of the most complex skill based components of fitness. It refers to your ability to minimize the transition time from one movement sequence to another. You must be patient and perseverant if you want to improve your agility. An agility ladder can be an excellent tool to assist you to improve your agility and speed. Footballers generally possess this skill much quicker than the others.
Balance
Balance is an important fitness component that refers to your ability to control the placement of your body’s center of gravity about its support base. Core strength plays an important role to improve your balance. So, working on core strength exercises can improve your balance. You can also perform some yoga moves to improve your balance.
Accuracy
Accuracy is another fitness component that is purely skill based. It refers to your ability to control the movement in a fixed direction and at a fixed intensity. Accuracy is very important for sports such as football, baseball, cricket, basketball, etc. There is no alternative of practice to improve your accuracy. The more you practice, the more accuracy you achieve.
These are the 10 fitness components that evaluate your physical fitness. The above components have been arranged according to their importance in determining the fitness of your body. You might lack accuracy, and you can still be a fit person, but you are not a fit person if you lack cardiovascular endurance or muscular endurance.
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