What Is Physical Fitness ?

Physical Fitness 

Fitness  has been defined as  the ability to

 - carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness,

- without undue fatigue, 

- with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and to

- meet unforeseen emergencies

Physical fitness measures are closely allied with disease prevention and health promotion, 

Components of Physical Fitness

Physical fitness can be broadly divided into 3 

1. Metabolic,

2. Health-related  and

3. Skill-related.

                                                                                                                             Metabolic Fitness 

Metabolic Fitness refers to how well your body can produce energy, use nutrients, and regulate hormones 

  For Example, if your  Blood Pressure, Pulse rate, and Blood Insulin are within the referred range means that your metabolic health is good 

 
                                                                                                                        Health-related Fitness 

Body Composition

Body composition is the practice of breaking down the human body into its components including body fat mass, muscle mass, bone, tissue, and water. Body composition is essentially dissecting exactly what you’re made up of.  It shows

· Fat found in muscle tissue

· Subcutaneous fat – that which is just under the skin

· Visceral fat – that which surrounds organs.

BMI

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilograms (or pounds) divided by the square of height in meters (or feet).

A high BMI can indicate high body fatness.

BMI screens for weight categories that may lead to health problems, but it does not diagnose the body fatness or health of an individual. 

Waist Hip Ratio

WHR measures the ratio of your waist circumference to your hip circumference.

It determines how much fat is stored on your waist, hips, and buttocks.

Muscular Endurance

Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to perform repetitive contractions against a force for an extended period.

The greater your muscular endurance the higher number of repetitions you could complete.

Muscular Strength

 Muscular strength is the amount of force you can put out or the amount of weight you can lift.

Flexibility

Flexibility is the amount of movement you have around a joint, like your knee or hip.

Being flexible helps you have safe and healthy joints and muscles.

Since not all joints are the same, just because you’re flexible in one joint doesn’t mean you’ll be flexible in others.

Cardio-respiratory Endurance

Although it is related to physical activity and exercise it is not the same and is generally defined as the ability of the

- Circulatory   (Heart, Blood Vessels ) and 

- Respiratory systems  (Lungs ) to supply oxygen to skeletal muscle during aerobic exercise. 

Skill related Fitness 

Balance

Balance refers to an individual's ability to maintain their line of gravity within their Base of support (BOS).  

It can also be described as the ability to maintain equilibrium, where equilibrium can be defined as any condition in which all acting forces are canceled by each other resulting in a stable balanced system. 

For example - standing on one leg with eyes closed 

Co-ordination

The definition of coordination is the ability to execute smooth, accurate, controlled motor responses (optimal interaction of muscle function).

Muscle Power

Muscle power is the ability to produce speed or large forces in a specified amount of time—a vital component of functional performance. 

Examples of functional activities requiring greater muscle power are jumping, snatch lifting, and sprinting

Agility

Agility  refers  to the ability to rapidly and smoothly initiate, stop, or modify movements while maintaining postural control,

For example, two jumps forward and one jump backward rapidly

Reaction time

Reaction time may be defined simply as the time between a stimulus and a response.

  For example, buzzing sounds moving a finger, Stumping in cricket matches.

Speed

Speed relates to the ability to perform a movement within a short period.

Speed combined with strength will provide power and force.

The Sprint test is one example of a test that can be used to examine a person's speed.

REFERENCES : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16700660/,   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3920711/

     Author -  V.PRABHAKARAN ., Cardio - Physiotherapist ., Shadow Clinics.