Physical form

Physical fitness is the capacity of the human body to satisfy the demands imposed by the
environment and daily life. Fitness is a state of body and mind that helps develop a dynamic
and positive life and is likely to affect almost all phases of human existence. Muscular
strength, energy, vigor, good functioning of the lungs and heart , and a general state of
alertness are obvious signs that a person is in good physical shape. This is usually calculated in
relation to functional expectations, that is, it is normal to perform periodic tests that
measure strength , resistance , agility , coordination and flexibility . Stress tests are also
used (using an ergometer, for example), which evaluate the body's response to powerful and
sustained physical stimulation.

The term physical fitness is used from two perspectives: the general
one (sufficient capacity to maintain a healthy physical state) and the
specific one (oriented toward specific objectives and based on the ability
to perform sports activities or certain occupations). To have good physical
shape, regular physical activity, an appropriate diet and rest after exercise
are necessary. Good physical fitness can prevent or even treat many
chronic health problems caused by an unhealthy lifestyle or age.

The following parameters are often considered to determine physical

fitness: agility , balance , body composition , cardiovascular endurance ,
coordination , joint flexibility and range of motion, muscular strength and
endurance, and speed. Many sources also cite mental and emotional
health as an important part of the form. This is often represented with a
triangle divided into three sections: physical, emotional and mental.
Therefore, you can be physically fit but suffer from mental illness or have
emotional problems. The "ideal triangle" shape is one that is balanced in
all areas.
sport

Sport . Physical activity in which a set of rules must be respected and

which is carried out with a competitive zeal and produces a winner.
Sports are entertainment for those who practice them and for the
spectators. It is governed by the federations of the different specialties.

Concept
There are multiple ways to relate this concept, according to
Manuel García Ferrando, a Spaniard whose field of study is the
Sociology of Sports , suggests that there are three essential
elements of every sport:

 Human physical and intellectual activity .

 Competitive in nature.
 Governed by institutionalized rules.

Such characteristics must be understood to be present variably in

different sports forms. In some modalities the physical effort will
be greater than in others, in the same way that the intensity will
vary depending on the type of result sought. In other sports
modalities, intellectual qualities such as: degree of concentration,
strategy or tactics will be more precise, although it is evident that
only a dualistic and anachronistic conception of the human being
will attempt to rigidly separate the physical and intellectual
dimensions, since human behavior , including of course the sports
car, is essentially comprehensive.
The competitive nature of sport is present in all modalities,
although it is more evident, and important, in some than in others.
The athlete seeking high-level competition, or the team seeking to
win a game in a professional league, represent the paradigm of
what it is to compete in sport, although perhaps they do not
compete with less enthusiasm and zeal than the group of children.
and girls participating in a school championship, or the hiker who
alone strives to summit a mountain peak. All of them, elite
athletes and modest athletes, professional athletes and amateur
athletes, are motivated by the same competitive desire, although
the consequences of sporting events have different results.
The rules are as essential to sport as to the human movement they
regulate; they are always present in sports competition, although
the way in which compliance is ensured will vary from one form of
sport to another.
In formal sport, it is the sports judges legitimized by the Sports
Federations that appoint them, who are responsible for ensuring
that the participants faithfully comply with the officially approved
rules, punishing the offenders, while in informal sport, that is, the
practiced Outside of federation control, it is the participants
themselves who try to comply and enforce the rules, although in
this case the system of rewards and punishments will probably be
more flexible than that which operates in formal federated sport.
The European Sports Charter defines the term sport as: all forms
of activities that, through participation, organized or not, aim to
express or improve physical or mental condition, the development
of social relationships. and obtaining results in competition at all
levels.
recreation

The word recreation is derived from the Latin: recreational and

means "to restore and refresh the person." Traditionally,
recreation has been considered light and passive and more as
something that relieves the individual of the weight of work.
However, today, recreation is conceptualized as any type of
pleasant activity or enjoyable experiences (passive or active),
socially acceptable, a rich, free and abundant life, developed
during free time (either individually or collectively). , in which the
participant voluntarily gets involved (participates due to intrinsic
motivation), with free and natural attitudes, and from which
immediate satisfaction is derived, they are voluntarily chosen by
the participant in their search for satisfaction, pleasure and
creativity; The individual expresses his spontaneity and originality,
since he has chosen them voluntarily, and from which he derives
enjoyment or pleasure.
If we refer to recreation as the process of change and permanent
improvement of man, recreating means becoming more human and
more perfect in each daily activity. And then this recreation is an
objective, which integrates all the acts of human life, if we talk
about recreation as a recreational process, we are referring, no
longer to the whole, but to a part of human activity; whose
purpose is to be an instrument or means to achieve the
aforementioned comprehensive recreation. In the words of
Meléndez Brau, Nelson ( 1999 ), the most important function of
recreation is to provide the individual with well-being, expression,
healthy development of their creative abilities, and expansion of
their personal horizons. Consequently, the fundamental mission of
the recreation professional is to educate for free time.
Third, F. M, ( 1998 ) defines it as: “ The activity or activities
(including inactivity) when freely chosen, in which the individual
engages during his or her free time. Free time is a period of time,
recreation is a content of this time (in activity), even when they
are closely related they are not synonymous .

Recreation Features
Characteristics of recreation according to Lopategui Cosino, E (
2003 ). The recreation has the following attributes or
characteristics:

 It happens mainly in free time.

 It is voluntary, the person chooses it without compulsion of
imagination.
 Recreation provides enjoyment and pleasure.
 It offers immediate and direct satisfaction.
 It is expressed in a spontaneous and original way.
 It offers opportunity for self-expression and draws fun from it.
 It gives the individual the opportunity to express their
creativity.
 Provides a change of pace from everyday life.
 Recreation is healthy, constructive and socially acceptable.
 Includes both passive and active activities
 It can be new

According to Meléndez Brau, Nelson (1999), recreation should be

characterized by:

 Have fun
 Pleasurable use of the activity
 Activities that are joyful for the individual who is preparing to
carry them out

Contraction

Physical condition

According to the everyday use of the Spanish language, condition (from Latin condicĭo,
condiciōnis ) is the nature or nature of something; the state, the special situation in which
something or someone is found; the situation or circumstance indispensable for the
existence of another, the aptitude or disposition; the circumstance that affects a process
or the state of a person or thing.

In some authors we can distinguish their concern for the relationships with certain phenomena
related to the concept. And since the beginning of the 20th century, recognized studies have
appeared:

Lian , in 1916, considered that physical fitness implies a relationship between tasks that must be
performed and the ability to execute them.

Half a century later, Aapherd (1958) understands it as the set of components that an individual
must possess in order to have an efficient function that satisfies their own needs perfectly, and as a
contribution to society. Sandino , in 1964, stated that it is the state of personal physiological
balance consistent with a general physical and sports preparation, which is a function of a specific
athletic specialty. Morenhouse Karpovich (1965) states that “aptitude” is the relationship
between the task and the ability to perform it, while Physical Condition “implies that after a few
weeks of training, there is sufficient capacity to be able to perform the task and then be suitable for
such work."

Only a year later Legido (1966) stated that it is the set of anatomical and physiological qualities
that a person must have in order to be able to carry out physical efforts, work, muscular exercises,
sports, etc. and, the following year, Clarke (1967) specifies that Physical Condition is the ability to
perform physical work “daily with vigor and effectiveness”, and that its product is the delay in the
onset of fatigue, with the least energy expenditure. and avoiding injuries, which is why it must be
practiced with maximum mechanical efficiency. We consider that the concept does not change if
physical activity is carried out with a moderate intensity and gradually increases, since in this way
adequate work capacity is also achieved.

Beginning in the 1970s, Jiri Kral considers that “it is a state in which the morphological and
functional possibilities give rise to a good adaptation to the existing influences of the environment,
and an optimal capacity for resistance against other influences.” In 1978 Matas explained it “as the
sum of physical and organic qualities that a person must have in order to be able to make different
physical efforts” and, that same year, Le Boulch specified the Physical Condition based on the fact
that movement is part of a relationship objective. between an organism and its environment. It
distinguishes two types of activities: one adaptive and the other non-specific exploration.

Parlebas, in 1981, abounds in motor skills as a concept that encompasses all motor situations,
which refer to psychomotricity or sociomotor skills, to the world of work (ergomotricity) or to play
or “loisir” (ludomotricity); which can be traditional or institutional (sports). It can be stated that
movement is a fundamental part of carrying out almost all human activities. In that same decade of
the '80s, Álvarez (1983) specifies that "the key elements of Physical Condition are aptitude or
anatomical condition and physiological condition." We can add the psychological condition as a
determining factor for the performance of a task. A year later, Ariel González understands it as
“the sum of physical and psychological qualities (...) and its development as training of the
condition.”

Barbany, Bieniarz, Carranza, Fuster and others (1986) state that Physical Condition is “the
set of qualities or motor abilities of the subject, susceptible to improvement through physical work”
and Ruiz (1987) states that basic motor skills are phylogenetically linked to human evolution,
having to meet several requirements:

a. They are common to all individuals.

b. Phylogenetically speaking, they have allowed the survival of human beings.

c. They are the foundations of subsequent motor learning – sports or not.

We share Ruiz's criteria since HMB arise innately in man and, therefore, have been evident since
primitive times, gradually evolving with the development of Humanity: the development of science
and technology.

Grösser (1988) considered Physical Condition “as the weighted sum of all the physical or
conditional capacities important for the achievement of sporting performances achieved through
the personality of the athlete. It is developed through the training of physical abilities or qualities,
physical conditioning, whether general, basic for all athletes, or special, specific for specialists in a
sport. Rigal in that same year (1988) proposed that motor skills will, therefore, be “the set of
functions that allow movements in human beings.” And Zatsiorski (1988) specifies that the
concept of physical (motor) quality covers those aspects of motor skills:

1. Those that “manifest themselves in the same characteristics of the movement and have the
same standard. Example: maximum speed.

2. Those that “possess analogous biochemical and physiological mechanisms and require the
manifestation of similar psychic properties.”

Already at the end of the century, in 1990, Navarro said that “Physical Condition is a part of
the total condition of the human being and includes many components, each of which is specific in
its nature. It therefore involves the combination of different aspects to varying degrees.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “Physical Condition as comprehensive

physical, mental and social well-being” as it appears in the Dictionary of Sports Sciences (1992).

In his book, Verjorshanski (2000) presents this definition: “ Physical Condition is the ability
to perform a specific task, withstand the demands of that task under specific conditions in an
efficient and safe manner where the tasks are characterized by a series of elements that incur in
concrete physical and psychological care.”
 Entering the 21st century, there are two authors who already relate physical condition to health,
just as the researcher expected:

Bouchard, cited by Zaragoza (2004) states that “while the factors of Physical Condition related
to performance depend fundamentally on genetic factors, the components of physical condition
related to health are more influenced by physical practices, being associated these, with a low risk
of developing diseases derived from a sedentary lifestyle.”

Rodríguez (2006) defines “Physical Condition as the dynamic state of energy and vitality that
allows people to carry out usual daily tasks, enjoy leisure time [actively], face unforeseen
emergencies without fatigue.” excessive, while [allowing] to avoid hypokinetic diseases, and to
develop the maximum intellectual capacity, fully experiencing the joy of living.”

In Cuba, Hermenegildo José Pila Hernández had said: “ Physical efficiency or motor
performance, as it is also known, constitutes the expression of the development of physical
capabilities (developed innate abilities that are based on psycho-physiological and morphological
particularities of the organism). , achieved as a consequence of the educational and training
phenomenon, as well as the influence on the interaction of the environment on the human
organism as a social being.”

Later developed for this work, other important concepts for the research in which the Physical
Condition had to be applied, complex concepts are derived such as: the Physical Condition of
the older adult, evaluation of the Physical Condition, in general; evaluation of Physical Condition in
the elderly, among others.

Within this stage of the work, it was found that some authors, such as Grösser, in 1988,
“understand by test of (...) sports motor condition (...) that procedure carried out under
standardized conditions, in accordance with scientific criteria for “the measurement of one or more
empirically delimitable individual-level characteristics of the condition.” It also states that to use
motor condition tests as an informative measurement process in sports practice and science,
certain principles are necessary, including: 1) standardized conditions for all subjects; 2) exact
instructions, warm-up, previous attempts, consideration of time; 3) scientific character; 4) accuracy
criteria, such as validity, reliability and objectivity; 5) Economical: can be done in a short time,
requiring few materials and devices, easy to handle and without many calculations, etc.

Léger, in 1981, developed its Adult Physique Condition evaluation tests, bringing together the main
Physical Condition tests for adults, whose proposal takes into account the assessment of aerobic
capacity, anthropometric measurements, flexibility and strength. -muscular resistance.

Eurofit (1983) is a battery developed by the Committee for the Development of Sport of the
Council of Europe, whose purpose was the unification of the tests, given the important list of
batteries and the numerous criteria in the region, between 1978 and 1988. . It was called the
Eurofit Battery and is based on the principle of the “Sports Charter for All”, published in 1983
aimed at children in the first instance and, later, adapted for adults in 1995 with an orientation
towards the practice of physical activities. and sports regularly and pleasantly.

And in 1993, Mateo points out how already in the 80s the proposals for tests to measure
Physical Condition were moving away from the concept of performance and closer to that of
health.

Conclusion

After this analysis of numerous definitions of Physical Condition and its evaluation, we have
appreciated that both have emerged in recent decades, approaching the term health, with the
search for the physical and mental well-being of the individual and being able to contribute to the
prevention of diseases and improving the quality of life.

Obviously the element terms and definitions will never be definitively resolved, it will continue,
as it has continued until today, in constant change and updating, depending on contemporary
currents, new forms and methods to be used in the field of pedagogical and methodological
updating, in the investigative work. in the field of Physical Education and Sports, in the very
dynamics in which new stages of human knowledge are updated and developed, to which without a
doubt we must adapt our way of interpreting and applying new technologies, but all in function to
achieve the well-being and health of human beings.