Understanding Physical Fitness

• Physical fitness refers to the capacity of body systems to function effectively together.
• Physical fitness helps you to be healthy and perform daily activities and tasks.
• Being physically fit means completing everyday tasks with the minimum possible effort.
• A fit individual can handle school, home duties and have enough time for sports and activities.
• According to the MIT Medical Center, physical fitness is to the human body as fine-tuning is to an engine.
• Fitness enables us to perform up to our potential.
• Fitness helps individuals look, feel, and do their best.
• Physical fitness involves the performance of the heart, lungs, and muscles.
• Fitness influences mental alertness and emotional stability.
• When a person is fit, they:
• Have the energy to be productive.
• Have stamina and a positive outlook
• Have a reduced risk for health problems such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
• Have increased physical strength and endurance.
• Have a higher quality of life and have the chance for a longer life.
• Health is an individual attribute that varies from person to person.
• Age, sex, heredity, lifestyle patterns, exercise, and eating habits are factors that influence health.
• Only lifestyle, exercise, and eating habits are modifiable.

Eleven components of physical fitness

• Physical fitness can be understood by analyzing its components.
• Health-related fitness is fitness programs that are prescribed to improve the general health of the individual.
• Five components of physical fitness related to health:
• Cardiorespiratory endurance
• Muscular endurance
• Muscular strength
• Body composition
• Flexibility
• Health-related fitness standards are the minimal requirements for maintaining good health.
• These standards reduce the risk of chronic illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries.
• Motor-skill-related fitness programs improve athletic ability.
• Six skill-related fitness components:
• Agility
• Balance
• Coordination
• Power
• Reaction time
• Speed

Defining wellness

• Wellness involves consistently practicing healthy habits.
• Wellness leads to better physical and mental health and allows one to prosper.
• The World Health Organization defines wellness as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. Wellness is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
• The National Wellness Institute views wellness as a conscious, self-directed, and evolving process of achieving full potential.
• Wellness matters because everything we do is connected to our well-being.
• Reaching optimal wellness decreases tension, reduces likelihood of illness, and ensures positive relationships.

Defining biomechanics

• Biomechanics examines how biological organisms' systems and structures react to external forces and stimuli.
• Biomechanics studies the movement of the body, including muscle, bone, tendon, and ligament interaction.
• Biomechanics is part of kinesiology, focusing on the mechanics of movement.

Elements of biomechanics

• There are (5) important elements or components: motion, force, momentum, levers, and balance.
• Motion: The movement of a body or object across space; speed and acceleration are major elements of motion.
• Force: Push or pull that causes a person or object to accelerate, decelerate, stop, or change direction.
• Momentum: The product of a weight and its velocity when is moved.
• Levers function via the arms and legs: a lever has these three parts – the resistance arm, the fulcrum, and the axis of rotation.
• Balance refers to stability
• The alignment of the body's gravitational center over the base of support is a fundamental principle of balance.
• A good sense of balance is needed for many recreational and physical activities.

Principles Used in Biomechanics

• Dynamics studies moving systems undergoing acceleration and deceleration.
• Kinematics studies motion patterns, including velocity variations in time, position, displacement, speed, and acceleration.
• Kinetics studies what generates motion and the forces and durations involved.
• Statics studies systems at equilibrium, whether at rest or moving at a constant velocity.
• The primary objective of biomechanics of sport and physical exercise is to increase performance.
• A secondary objective is injury prevention to allow athletes to engage longer and increase their effects.

Applications of Biomechanics

• Biomechanics aids in our understanding of how muscles function and move.
• Biomechanics can be applied to diseases like arthritis and cerebral palsy.
• Medical Treatments: Orthotics improve body alignment, prosthetics replace lost limbs.
• Sports Equipment: Design equipment to improve athlete performance, reduce injury risk.
• Fundamental body movements are the foundations for activities like games and sports.
• Fundamental body movements should not be confused with sporting abilities
• Numerous studies state that students are more likely to actively engage in physical activities. If they learn fundamental body movements at a young age.

Types of Fundamental Body Movements

• Locomotor movements refer to the body moving from one location to another. There are eight major movements that are classified as rhythmic movements:
• Walking
• Running
• Hopping
• Leaping
• Jumping
• Skipping
• Galloping
• Sliding
• Non-locomotor movements, sometimes called axial movements, do not allow the body to travel. These include:
• Bending
• Shaking
• Stretching
• Swaying
• Swinging
• Turning
• Twisting
• Wiggling
• Fundamental movement skills use various body parts (feet, legs, shoulders, etc.).
• The learners will need these foundations for more specialized skills to participate in various games, sports, and leisure activities.

Movement skills

• Body Management: Balancing, maintaining postural control, and equilibrium of the body in motion and stillness.
• Locomotor skills are moving the body in any direction – walking, running, jumping, etc.
• Object Control utilizes implements and objects – balls, hoops, bats, and ribbons.

Movement Concepts

• Body Awareness: Learning body parts and how they move.
• Spatial Awareness: Knowing how much space the body occupies.
• Directional Awareness: Understanding left and right, up and down, and front and back.
• Temporal Awareness: Understanding movement-time relationships.
• Relationship Awareness: Understanding how the body makes movements, or with whom.

Movement Strategies

• Movement refers to various approaches that help a team successfully achieve a movement outcome or goal.
• Games and sports use identical movement strategies to achieve success.

Movement Principles

• Movement provides a foundation for activities in an environment, with or without any equipment.
• Balance: Capacity to sustain the body's gravity line within the support base.
• Centering: Body's core, all movements emanate, and hold you as you move together.
• Center of Gravity: Balance point that supports weight equally across all sides.
• Posture: Body's assumed position either with muscle support or coordinated action.
• Gesture: The use of the body to convey emotions and ideas.
• Rhythm: Pattern and emphasis of beats.
• Breathing: Using inhalation and exhalation to give fluidity and harmony.