Physical Fitness Defined PDF

Physical Fitness Defined The Meaning, Concepts and Components of Physical Fitness A. Health-Related Fitness B. Performance-Related Fitness C. Benefits and Parameters of Physical Fitness The Meaning, Concepts and Components of Physical Fitness Physical Fitness is the ability to perform one's daily...

Physical Fitness Defined The Meaning, Concepts and Components of Physical Fitness A. Health-Related Fitness B. Performance-Related Fitness C. Benefits and Parameters of Physical Fitness The Meaning, Concepts and Components of Physical Fitness Physical Fitness is the ability to perform one's daily task efficiently without undue fatigue but with extra "reserve" in case of emergency. Being physically fit means being able to perform one's daily task efficiently without undue fatigue and still have an extra energy to enjoy leisure activities and / or meet emergency demands. Based on this definition, there are (3) three important aspects that an individual should be able to meet in order to be considered physically fit. These include: 1. Being able to perform one's daily tasks without getting too tired before the end of the day. These daily activities include: a. Waking up in the morning to prepare for school or work b. Going to school or office on time c. Attending classes regularly d. Doing assignments in the library e. Meeting other individual, classmates and peer groups f. Going home g. Doing homework and household chores Enjoying leisure time in some form of recreational activities. Leisure time is the amount of time that is left after the daily routine activities of an individual have been accomplished. Recreation, on the other hand, refers to any activity that is participated in by the individual during leisure time on voluntary basis because it provides an immediate satisfaction to the individual. Recreation takes place in the form of: a. Watching TV or movies b. Talking to friends over the phone c. Reading books and magazines articles d. Doing arts and crafts e. Listening to radio f. Playing sports 3. Meeting emergency demands such as: a. Doing important errands b. Performing social obligations c. Attending to visitors d. Attending to household problems Concepts of Physical Fitness 1. Organic Vigor — refers to the soundness of the heart and the lungs, which contributes to the ability to resist diseases. 2. Endurance — is the ability to sustain long-continued contractions where a number of muscle groups are used; the capacity to bear or last long in a certain task without undue fatigue. 3. Strength — is the capacity to sustain the application of force without yielding or breaking; the ability of the muscle to exert effort against the resistance. 4. Power refers to the ability of the muscle to release maximum force in a shortest period of time. 5. Flexibility - it is a quality of plasticity, which gives the ability to do a wide range of movement. 6. Agility — is the ability of an individual to change direction or position in space with the quickness and lightness of movement. 7. Balance is the ability to control organic equipment neuro-muscularly; a state of equilibrium. 8. Speed — is the ability to make successive movements of the same kind in the shortest period of time. Components of Physical Fitness The components of Physical Fitness are divided into two categories the health- related components (Flexibility, Cardiovascular Endurance, Muscular Strength, Muscular Endurance and Body Composition) and the skill -related components (Agility, Balance, Coordination, Power, and Speed). I. Health-Related Fitness Health-Related Fitness is a function of body's adaptation to exercise. It could be developed and maintain through the regular and proper exercise program. There are atleast five (5) components of Health-Related Fitness. They are as follows: A. Muscular Strength refers to the ability of the muscle to exert maximum effort in brief duration. It may be developed through isotonic, isometric, or isokinetic contractions. Isotonic Contractions are voluntary contractions in which muscles shorten and lengthen alternately. The muscle contracts at varying speed against a resistance. These contractions are of two types: 1. Concentric Contraction — refers to muscles that shorten during exercise. There is no movement that occurs and the length of the muscle remains unchanged. 2. Eccentric Contraction --- refers to the muscle that lengthens during an exercise. Muscles exert force due to an outside resistance. The most common example of isotonic contraction is calisthenics exercise. This makes use of a body segment or the entire body weight as a form of resistance during an exercise. Some of the most traditional calisthenics exercises that are being performed to increase muscular strength are push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups. Another approach to develop muscular strength involving isotonic exercise is through the use of weights. Isometric Contractions are another type of contractions in which the muscles are contracted against an immovable resistance. The exercise provides maximum contraction of muscle; however, there is no observed movement during the exercise. This is done for about 5 seconds. Isokinetic Contractions are similar to isotonic contractions but the muscles are exposed to fixed machines with variable degrees of resistance. Through the range of movement, resistance is equal to the force applied. Two physiological benefits derived from strength training: 1. Increase muscle strength by 10-25% within 6-8 weeks; and 2. Increase muscle size or muscle hypertrophy B. Muscular Endurance refers to the ability of the muscle to endure a sub maximal effort for a prolonged period of time. Performing a strength exercise such as push-up over a long period of time or performing the same exercise for many continuous repetitions is a demonstration of muscular endurance. One basic requirement in achieving muscular endurance is muscular strength. Muscle endurance is developed by employing the different strength training exercises mentioned above either for longer periods of time or an increased number of exercise repetitions. C. Cardiovascular Endurance refers to the ability of the heart, blood vessels and the lungs to adapt to physical exertion for a prolonged duration. Usually, the heart rate is increased from the resting pulse rate to target heart rate that the individual has to sustain for a period of 20 to 60 minutes. With high levels of endurance, an individual has more energy and has the ability to sustain different types of activities. It is also likely that coronary heart disease (CHO) is prevented. There are important variables to consider when engaging in any cardiovascular endurance program. These are: 1. Intensity which refers to how stressful the exercise is. 2. Duration which refers to how long will the exercise be performed. 3. Frequency which refers to the number of times the individual will exercise each week. 4. Mode which refers to the kind of activity, selected such as brisk working or jogging. Physiological Benefits of Cardiovascular Training Program 1. Decreased resting heart rate; 2. Decreased recovery time from a bout of exercise; 3. Increased blood volume and red blood cells to transport oxygen throughout the body; 4. Stronger heart muscle allowing it to eject more blood (stroke volume) with each heartbeat. If this occurs, the heart can rest longer between beats; 5. Increased number of capillaries for efficient exchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nutrients between blood and body cells; 6. Decreased rate of respiration; 7. Increased aerobic capacity which allows the body cells to utilize oxygen for better work efficiency; and 8. Prevent and/or reduction of the risk of developing coronary heart diseases. Activities that develop cardiovascular endurance 1. Prolonged brisk walking 6. Continuous swimming 2. Prolonged jogging 7. Rowing 3. Stationary bicycling 8. Aerobic dancing 4. Prolonged skipping rope 9. Hiking 5. Playing basketball 10. Playing football D. Flexibility is the ability of the muscles and joints to go through a full range motion. Flexibility reduces the risk of injury, enhances performance and prevents muscle soreness. It is achieved through stretching designed to lengthen or elongate soft tissue structures and thereby increase the range of motion. Flexibility is influenced by three factors: 1. Structure of the joints; 2. Amount of tissues surrounding the joint; and 3. Extensibility of the ligaments, tendons and muscle tissue that connects the joints. It involves four basic movements, namely: flexion (bending of a body segment), extension (straightening a body segment), abduction (moving a limb away from the body), and adduction (moving a limb toward the body). Body flexibility is achieved through stretching specific segments of the body. To achieve good flexibility, exercise should be performed daily. For very tight muscle-joint area, it is highly recommended that flexibility exercises be done at least twice a day. Types of Stretching (Basic Methods Used to Develop Joint Flexibility) 1. Ballistic Stretching. Ballistic stretching uses muscle contractions to force muscle elongation bobbing (i.e. up and down) movement quickly elongates the muscle with each repetition; the bobbing also activates the stretch reflex response (Nelson & Kokkonen, 2007). Usually, this type of stretching uses in sports like gymnastics and performs in a controlled manner. Example: Ballistic stretching - forward bending done in rapid bouncing movement 2. Static Stretching. This involves slowly stretching a segment of the body to the farthest point and holding that position for at least 15-30 seconds. This type of stretching is fairly endorsed by many physical educators and exercise psychologists because stretch is easy and pain free and the risk of injury is very minimal. It is performed without a partner and each stretch is easy and pain- free. Once the stretcher has achieved its full range of movement and begins to feel a mild discomfort (muscle tension) in the body part being stretched, the position is held statically. Example: Static stretching — seated hamstring stretch 3. Dynamic Stretching. Dynamic stretching is the use of a muscle's own force production and the body's momentum to take a joint through the full available range of motion (Clark & Lucett, 2010a). Dynamic stretching is beneficial for any sport that involves dynamic movement, especially in sports like athletics, Football etc. that prepare the body to move better specifically before start of an exercise or competition. Mason (201 la) suggested that in performing this stretching the movement should be in a slow, controlled way, relaxed, and breath steadily to execute properly. Example: Alternate lunges (right & left) 4. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). It involves the contract-relax approach to stretching. During the contract-relax, the partner attempts to move the limb at its lengthened range of motion and isometrically resists the partner's attempt to move the limb into a deeper stretch. Then, the stretcher relaxes the limb and the partner slowly moves the segment into a new range. This type of stretching can be done active (i.e. w/o partner) or passive (i.e. w/ partner). Example: PNF hold-relax hamstring stretch Fitness Benefits of Flexibility Exercise 1. Increased range of muscle joint motion; 2. Reduced muscle stiffness and increased body relaxation; 3. Improved blood circulation in specific body segment; 4. Reduced incidence of injury during a major sport event; and 5. Reduced risk of cardiovascular problems in exercise. E. Body Composition refers to the proportion of lean body mass to fat body mass. It stresses one's relative fatness or leanness in relation to height. In recent years, body composition has gained wide acceptance in exercise science as one of the components of health-related fitness. Its inclusion was earlier opposed since supporters believe that fitness is for everyone, including the slim and overweight. In addition, being fat has some genetic predisposition that may be quite difficult to alter. Somatotypes Somatotyping or body typing is a system of classifying an individual according to the shape of the body. It was developed by Sheldon during the 1940's and 1950's. He noted that the physique of the body may be categorized into three distinct types: a) Ectomorph, b) Mesomorph, and c) Endomorph. 1. An ectomorph body type is characterized as lean and small body build with greater surface area to mass ratio. Bone size is relatively small with slender limbs and low muscle mass. 2. A mesomorph body type has a relative predominance of muscles. The bones are usually large and heavy with massive limbs, thus contributing to greater weight than the ectomorph body type. 3. An endomorph body type is characterized by a relative predominance of soft roundness and large digestive viscera. There is a greater percent of body fat when compared to lean body mass. Somatotypes are of special interest to fitness enthusiasts and athletes. It helps the individual understand the extent of weight reduction or weight gain he/she expects to achieve given a well-defined exercise program. Among athletes, somatotype is highly correlated to excellent sport performance depending on the type of sport event. For instance, it has been found that among track and field athletes, physical characteristics of those successful in shot put differ from those successful in marathon. This suggests that for one sport event, a specific body type may dictate one's superior performance over another. However, some body type is not only limited to one particular shape but can be a combination of two body types (e.g. ectomorph and mesomorph) for instance, a high jumper athlete in athletics. II. Performance Related Fitness It refers to the quality of one's movement skill. It includes 5 general components namely: 1. Balance is the ability to maintain equilibrium in relation to changes in body position. Balance can be categorized into static and dynamic balance. Static Balance is the ability to maintain equilibrium in a fixedposition such as standing on one foot or on a balance beam. Dynamic Balance is the ability to maintain one's equilibrium while the body is in motion. Walking on a balance beam is one example of this type of balance. 2. Coordination is the harmonious working relationship between the skeletal muscle and nerves in one aspect of movement. Hand-eye coordination is demonstrated in certain sport skills such as catching, passing, dribbling or volleying a ball. 3. Agility is the ability of an individual to quickly shift or change direction of the body from one point to another. 4. Speed is the ability to perform a task or move from one point to another in the shortest possible time. It is also the time spent finishing or completing a performance after the initial movement has been made. Speed is influenced by the reaction time which is the time elapsed when the "go" signal has been made by an official of the first motor response. 5. Power is the ability to perform one maximum effort in a short period of time. It is a product of both strength and speed as seen in many sport activities such as track and field and weightlifting. 6. Reaction Time is the ability to react to the interval of time between the signal to respond (stimulus) and the beginning of the response. Benefits of Physical Fitness 1. Vitality. Muscles are basic for all body action. They increase in strength with activity and deteriorate from lack of it. Fit muscles use less energy to perform the same task, leading to an increase in vitality. 2. Posture. A physically fit person is able to maintain his general postural alignment better than one weak musculature. Good fitness as a program stresses the development of antigravity muscles, which maintains good abdominal wall and the arm and shoulder girdle. 3. Relieves Low back Pain. A lack of physical activity has been found to be major cause for some cases of pain in the lower back. Most adults who suffer from low-back pain are relieved from this pain by exercises that strengthen the back and abdominal muscles. 4. Retards Aging Process. Continued participation in regular exercises of the proper amount and severity is of considerable value in postponing that usually takes place as a person grows old. 5. Physical fitness and Ability to Meet Emergencies. Body that is accustomed to sedentary living habits can usually operate ineffectively even though it is operating at near maximum effort. 6. Neuromuscular Skill. The smooth, efficient coordination of the muscular system is improved as a result of regular participation in physical activity. 7. Relaxation. Overactive minds in underactive bodies often need physical outlets for accumulated emotional and muscular tensions that seem to be relieved by actions of the skeletal 'Muscle. 8. Improvement of Personality and Social Skills. Participation in games and sports aids in improving the personality and in developing desirable social skills. 9. Mental Fitness. Because of the mental and physical relaxation that often results from physical activity, regular exercise is thought by many to be of considerable value in aiding the natural mental processes to function with increased efficiency. 10. General Growth. The physically fit person usually possesses a high degree of general resistance, which enables him in successfully avoiding minor illness. The Parameters of Physical Fitness Many proponents of physical education have various ideas on how to measure physical fitness. Educators on physical education today separate the various disciplines into four measurable parameters, which are: 1. Muscular Endurance 2. Muscular Strength 3. Cardio-respiratory Endurance 4. Joint Flexibility The above parameters are considered the hard core of physical fitness. Without strength, participation in physical activity is not possible and the fitness of the individual is limited. When muscles are weak or lack endurance, all movements are curtailed, since all movements depend on the strength of the muscle or groups of muscles. A fit individual can maintain a lower heart rate during activity which can supply a greater volume of blood with each contraction of the heart and can recover more quickly after exercise than a less fit individual. As the late president John Fitzgerald Kennedy said, "Physical Fitness" is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body; it is the basis of dynamic, creative, and intellectual activity in that intelligence and skill can function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong."