5 Components of Physical Fitness

A famous quote by Joan Welsh "A man's health can be judged by which he takes two at a time - pills or stairs." Everybody knows how important it is to be in a physically fit condition. However, when starting a health program, people are often not aware of the main 5 components which have laid the foundation of physical fitness.

5 Major Health Related Components of Physical Fitness

The definition of physical fitness is relative. Physical fitness for athlete is different from a normal healthy person. Generally physical fitness can be defined as the ability of body to function normally throughout the day, ability to perform other usual activities and still have enough energy stored to manage excess stress in case of emergencies. The 5 major components which contribute to physical fitness are:

Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance is the component which helps to check if the heart and lungs are working in unison to provide oxygen and blood during the workout. Lungs bring oxygen to the blood. This blood is pumped by the heart for muscular and other systems of the body. Some of the best cardiovascular exercises are swimming, aerobics and skipping with a jump rope.

Muscular Strength
This component is one of the most considered components among the components of physical fitness, when thinking of a person being fit or in shape. Muscular strength means the ability of the muscles to lift weight. In a workout, it is important that you have weight training to build muscles so that the body is capable of lifting different amount of weights. Some examples of muscle strength training exercises are bench press, push ups, calf raises, etc.

Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance means the ability of muscles to perform repeated exercises without getting tired. Simply put, the ability to withstand more repetitions of the muscle training exercise. Some examples of the strength training exercises are running, cycling, cross-training on elliptical machine, etc.

Flexibility
After a workout, it is important that you perform stretching exercises to improve your flexibility. Flexibility component among the major components of fitness, tests the ability of all the joints in the body to move to their full range of motion. Stretching exercises like hamstring stretch, quadriceps stretch are examples of stretching exercises. When performing stretching exercises, it is important that you go slow and hold the position for an appropriate time. Yoga poses are an excellent way to improve your flexibility.

Body Composition
This component takes into account your body type, which is according to the height, weight, frame size and the proportion of the fat mass compared to lean muscle mass. One excellent way to determine the body fat is underwater weighing.

The 5 main components of physical fitness can be used to define an average person. However, for successful sports participation, there are around 6 major skills related components of physical fitness. These include speed, agility, balance, coordination, reaction time and power.

But, these are the requirements for athletes. For physical fitness you should have all the components in your workout. It is important that you consult your doctor, before entering any physical fitness program if you have any health condition. One of the best workouts which constitute maximum of the above components is swimming. Swimming is a cardio and strength training workout, which helps to build lean muscles. With swimming, there is a reduced possibility of any injury, and it also provides great flexibility and endurance to the body.