What is fitness

Being physically fit and healthy involves having a fit: 1. Mind 2. Body 3. Fitness is the ability to function efficiently in an active environment that suits your personal interests and goals.

You should have your own unique definition and create a baseline that you can build on throughout your life. Your fitness goals should always be realistic and something you look forward to as part of your active lifestyle. Whether it's running a marathon or taking a walk, always operate in an environment that you can manage. Bob Greene on behalf of The Best Life.

National Academy of Sports Medicine. Your healthcare provider HCP has probably suggested regular physical activity to help cut down on joint pain or flare-ups from arthritis. But how do How to Exercise the Right Way: 10 Steps. The hearts of endurance athletes show expanded left and right ventricles, whereas those of strength athletes show thickening of the heart wall, particularly the left ventricle.

Although the heart steadily strengthens over time, the respiratory system does not adjust to the same degree. Lung size does not change, but the lungs do use oxygen more effectively.

In general, exercise encourages the body to become more efficient at taking on, distributing, and using oxygen. Over time, this improvement increases endurance and overall health. Cardiorespiratory fitness can help reduce the risk of conditions including:. There are a number of ways to measure muscular strength. Generally, lifting a set weight in a prescribed position and comparing the results against any given population is the best way.

In general, if a person works their muscles consistently and regularly, they will increase in strength. There are various ways of putting the muscles through rigorous activity, but anything that works a muscle until it is tired will increase muscle strength over time.

Muscles consist of elongated muscle cells. Each muscle cell contains contractile proteins, called actin and myosin, that give the muscle its strength. These fibers contract together, producing the so-called power stroke. The total force depends on the number of these units contracting in unison. Scientists do not fully understand the exact mechanism of muscle building, but the general principles are well known.

Training causes the muscle cells to expand, and there is an increase in actin and myosin production. Also, in untrained muscles, fibers tend to fire in an asynchronous manner. In other words, they do not fire in unison. As a person trains them, however, they learn to fire together as one, thereby increasing maximum power output. Fitness can also include muscular endurance, which is the ability of a muscle to continue exerting force without tiring.

As mentioned above, strength training builds bigger muscles. Endurance training, on the other hand, does not necessarily generate muscles of a larger size. This is because the body focuses more on the cardiovascular system, ensuring that the muscles receive the oxygenated blood they need to keep functioning. Another important change in muscles that people specifically train for endurance concerns the different types of muscle tissue: fast twitch and slow twitch fibers.

Fast twitch fibers contract quickly but get tired quickly. They use a lot of energy and are useful for sprints. That means being able to rely on your body to perform when you need it to, whether it be doing daily household tasks, enjoying a brisk walk on a beautiful fall day, running a race or bench pressing your own body weight. Only you can set your fitness goals. When you are opting for a physical program in the gym, or you wanted to have gym membership to be able to be physically fit, you have to incorporate different exercises that tackle the components physical fitness which we discuss in future posts This is to ensure that you begin to feel the changes in your body after about a week of consistent training and nutrition.

The Conan Fitness 14 Week Challenge incorporates, strength training , cardiovascular training, mobility, and nutrition in one complete package and is suitable to ALL fitness levels, from beginners to advanced people who are looking for a programme to follow and get them to their goals. Previous Next. Long runs and swims are among the methods employed in measuring this component.

Muscular strength — The ability of a muscle to exert force for a brief period of time. Upper-body strength, for example, can be measured by various weight-lifting exercises.