What’s Up Friends!
Today I wanted to go over the 5 Components of Health Related Fitness with you!
This is a common Physical Education Knowledge Standard in most states and PE programs.
I like to cover these components when I’m going over Fitness Testing with my students. We review the Health Related Fitness Components Poster that you can see in the video below and try to set goals for where we want to be by the end of the year and make plans to work towards those goals throughout the year.
Let’s take a look at the 5 Health Related Components of Fitness…
In case you don’t have time for the video, let’s break them down below…
Cardio Vascular Endurance
First up Cardiovascular Endurance…
Cardiovascular Endurance is your heart and lungs ability to get oxygen from the air, put it into your blood to keep your body moving. Your Cardiovascular System is what helps you to do activities such as run, swim, jog, jump rope, and lots of other activities.
The main test use to measure Cardiovascular Endurance in PE Classes is the Mile Run or the Pacer Test.
For tips on giving the PACER Test check out the video below:
Muscular Strength
Next up is Muscular Strength…
Muscular Strength is the ability of your muscles to perform ONE rep of an activity with the MAXIMUM force it can. For example, a vertical jump test would be a measure of muscular strength.
In a vertical jump test, we would measure how high you can jump one time. This will tell us how strong your lower body muscles are and how much strength they can perform at their maximum force exertion as you jump up into the air as high as you can.
Another example of a strength test would be performing a maximum lift on a squat or bench press for 1 repetition.
Muscular strength can sometimes be confused with Muscular Endurance, but they are different…
Muscular Endurance
Muscular Endurance is is your muscles ability to do an exercise over and over again repeatedly.
A common way to measure muscular endurance is through a pushup or curl-up (or sit-up) test.
When we practice the curl-up or push up test, we test those muscles ability to perform over and over again.
How I like to remember the difference between Strength and Endurance
Muscular Strength = How Much
vs.
Muscular Endurance = How Many
Are Muscular Strength and Muscular Endurance related?
Of course! If you have good Muscular Endurance, more than likely you will also have good Muscular Strength and vice versa since they are both measuring the capacity of your muscles in different ways.
Tips for the Curl Up Test
Tips for the Push Up Test
Flexibility
Flexibility is your body’s ability to bend, stretch, and move and the range of motions you have at your joints.
If you can stand up straight, then bend down and touch your toes, this will give you an idea of how flexible you are in your legs and lower back.
Flexibility is important because it helps to prevent injuries along with allowing you to move more proficiently and allows you to be more comfortable when performing any activities.
Daily stretching is a great way to maintain and increase flexibility. You can also participate in activities that will naturally help you to increase your flexibility, like Yoga, Dance or Gymnastics.
At my school, I measure flexibility using the Sit and Reach Test, which measures flexibility in your legs and lower back.
Body Composition
Last but not least is Body Composition.
Body Composition is referring to what your body is made up of. Particularly, the amount of fat, muscle, and lean tissue in your body.
The most common way we measure Body Composition is with height and weight, even though that’s not the most accurate way to measure.
Most schools don’t have fancy equipment so they commonly use height and weight as a measurement for Body Composition since all you need is a scale and measuring tape.
Your body composition can be control by many different factors, but the 3 main factors I always highlight for my students are getting good sleep, staying active and eating healthy foods like vegetables and fruits.
The type of food you eat, the amount of exercise and activity you get each day and how much sleep you get can have a very beneficial or negative impact on your body composition.
That’s it!
That is the basics of the 5 Components of Health Related Fitness.
If you’d like to see How I do Fitness Testing at my School Click Here.
You might also find our Fitness Resources on TPT helpful as well (also available in our membership)
Let us know if you have any questions and have a great day!
Have Fun and Teach On!
Tancred (1995)[1] believes that: "One of the misconceptions in the sports world is that a sports person gets in shape by just playing or taking part in their chosen sport. If a stationary level of performance and consistent ability in executing a few limited skills is your goal, then engaging only in your sport will keep you there. However, sportsmen and women must participate in year-round conditioning programs if they want the utmost efficiency, consistent improvement, and balanced abilities. The bottom line in sports conditioning and fitness training is stress, not mental stress, but adaptive body stress. Sportsmen and women must put their bodies under a certain amount of stress (overload) to increase physical capabilities."
Health & Fitness
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its constitution of 1948 as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
Fitness is the ability to meet the demands of a physical task.
The Components of Fitness
Basic fitness can be classified into four main components: strength, speed, stamina and flexibility. However, exercise scientists have identified nine components that comprise the definition of fitness (Tancred 1995)[1]:
- Strength - the extent to which muscles can exert force by contracting against resistance (e.g. holding or restraining an object or person)
- Power - the ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive burst of movements. The two components of power are strength and speed. (e.g. jumping or a sprint start)
- Agility - the ability to perform a series of explosive power movements in rapid succession in opposing directions (e.g. Zigzag running or cutting movements)
- Balance - the ability to control the body's position, either stationary (e.g. a handstand) or while moving (e.g. a gymnastics stunt)
- Flexibility - the ability to achieve an extended range of motion without being impeded by excess tissue, i.e. fat or muscle (e.g. executing a leg split)
- Local Muscle Endurance - a single muscle's ability to perform sustained work (e.g. rowing or cycling)
- Cardiovascular Endurance - the heart's ability to deliver blood to working muscles and their ability to use it (e.g. running long distances)
- Strength Endurance - a muscle's ability to perform a maximum contraction time after time (e.g. continuous explosive rebounding through an entire basketball game)
- Coordination- the ability to integrate the above-listed components so that effective movements are achieved.
Of all the nine fitness elements, cardiac respiratory qualities are the most important to develop as they enhance all the other components of the conditioning equation.
Physical Fitness
Physical fitness refers to an athlete's capacity to meet the varied physical demands of their sport without reducing the athlete to a fatigued state. The components of physical fitness are (Davis 2000)[2]:
- Body Composition
- Endurance
- Flexibility
- Strength
- Speed
Motor Fitness
Motor Fitness refers to an athlete's ability to perform successfully in their sport. The components of motor fitness are (Davis 2000)[2]:
- Agility
- Balance
- Coordination
- Power (speed & strength)
- Reaction Time
Improving your condition
Identify the most important fitness components for success in your sport or event. Then, design sport/event specific conditioning and training programs to enhance these fitness components and energy systems.
Conditioning Exercises
The following are examples of general conditioning exercises:
Why should I exercise regularly?
Not convinced about the benefits of a regular training regime, then read the benefits of exercising page.
I am new to training, so what should I do?
Visit the general fitness training program page to get an insight into a simple weekly training program that will help develop your general fitness level.
Tests for fitness components
In their research, Suni et al. (1996)[3] found that the following tests appeared to provide acceptable reliability as methods for the field assessment of health-related fitness for adults:
- Standing on one leg with eyes open for balance
- Side-bending of the trunk for spinal flexibility
- Modified push-ups for upper body muscular function
- Jump and reach and one leg squat for muscular leg function
References
- TANCRED, B. (1995) Key Methods of Sports Conditioning. Athletics Coach, 29 (2), p. 19
- DAVIS, B. et al. (2000) Training for physical fitness. In: DAVIS, B. et al. Physical Education and the study of sport. London: Harcourt Publishers, p.121-122
- SUNI, J. H. et al. (1996) Health-related fitness test battery for adults: aspects of reliability. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 77 (4), p. 399-405
Page Reference
If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:
- MACKENZIE, B. (1997) Conditioning [WWW] Available from: //www.brianmac.co.uk/conditon.htm [Accessed