The Components of Fitness & Exercise Physiology
Submitted by: Joanne Haven, Candidate for Master’s Degree, USSA
The desire to achieve the perfect body or a better quality of life has been driving the fitness industry over the course of the past two decades and it shows no signs of slowing down. Regardless how an individual approaches health and fitness, a general understanding of the components of fitness and exercise physiology are required.
There are five components of fitness. They are as follows:
- Cardiovascular Endurance - provides a base for all fitness levels as it reflects the ability of the heart to pump adequate amounts of oxygenated blood to working muscles. A decrease in cardiovascular endurance has detrimental effects on exercise and day to day life performance.
- Muscular Strength - is required in both athletics as well as in daily activities. It is the body’s ability to perform an exercise over a short period of time before fatiguing. For the elderly population simple muscular strength is essential for day-to-day activities such as lifting grocery bags.
- Muscular Endurance - can also be applied by both athletes and the average person. The muscles in the body need to be able to sustain a movement for an extended period of time. Depending on an individual’s needs this can be gained through a variety of strength training exercises that involve low weight and high repetitions.
- Flexibility - in terms of exercise physiology is often over-looked or disregarded as unnecessary. However, flexibility improves muscular function as well as mental health. This has been evident in the ever popular practices of Yoga and Pilates.
- Body Composition - is the accumulation of the previous four principles. An individual with a developed cardiovascular system, muscular strength and endurance, balanced with flexibility will more often than not have a higher muscle to fat ratio.
Each of the five components of fitness and exercise physiology can be developed and performed on their own. However if they are united they have the potential to build upon each other and ultimately improving health, fitness, and the quality of life.