Fitness Components

Submitted to:
xxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Submitted by:
Maheen Hashim Khan Burki
M.Phil Sports Sciences (2nd Semester)
Roll Number 13314- (2019-2021)
Department of Sports Sciences & Physical Education

Riphah International University

Faisalabad Campus
Physical Fitness
 Physical Fitness
Definitions:
• Physical fitness is the body’s ability to function efficiently and
effectively.

• Fitness is defined as the ability to meet the demands of

environment.

• Health and Fitness are closely linked. You can’t be Healthy

without being fit enough to meet the demands of your
environment. However, it is possible to be fit but not Healthy.

Example:
You can physically manage your everyday tasks (so you are
fit) but are constantly depressed about being no good at
anything. Remember, Health is complete Physical, Social and
Mental well-being.
 Components of Physical
Fitness
• Fitness is a blend of a number of different
physical qualities. Physical Fitness is only one
area of Total fitness. Other areas include mental,
social and emotional fitness. Fitness is constantly
changing and is influenced by many factors.

• Weakness in one fitness area may keep you from

improving in other areas. Physical fitness is made
up of 11 different parts or components: five are
Health related and six are Skill related
 Health
Related
Physical
Fitness
 Health Related Components

• “Helps to stay healthy”

• The health-related components of physical fitness are directly
associated with good health.

The five components of health related physical fitness are

following:
1. Body composition
2. Cardiovascular fitness
3. Flexibility
4. Muscular Endurance
5. Strength
 Cardiovascular fitness

• The ability to exercise your entire

body for long periods of time.

• Having good Cardio Respiratory

Endurance means being being
able to work your heart and lungs
for a long period of time. This
whole body work is AEROBIC –
working with oxygen.
 Cardio-Respiratory Endurance

CRE will improve if

the heart rate is
raised into the
training zone and
kept there for
at least 20 MINUTES.
 Benefits of Cardiovascular
Endurance Training 

•Strengthens heart muscle

•Increases lung capacity
•Reduces stress/enhances
mood
•Lowers unhealthy cholesterol
•Regulates blood pressure
•Aids sleep
•Prevents obesity (gives the
metabolism a boost)
 Fastest Ways to Improve
Cardiovascular Endurance
• Jogging 
• Cycling 
• Swimming 
• Football
• Rugby 
• Hockey
• Basketball
• Surfing 
 Muscular endurance
• Muscular Endurance is the
ability to work a particular
set of muscles for a long
period of time.
• Muscular endurance refers to
the fatigue resisting ability of
skeletal muscles when they
are contracted using less
than the maximal force for
an extended time period. 
How to Test Your Muscular
Endurance
• Method:
• Warm-up beforehand 
• Start in a standard push-up position
with your hands shoulder-width apart 
• Ensure your arms are at around 90
degrees at the bottom of the push-up
• Perform as many as you can without
fatiguing or breaking form
• Record your total amount of push-ups
and compare them to the average
amount for your gender and age!
 Exercise to Improve Muscular
Endurance

• Push-ups 
• Planks 
• Squats 
• Sit-ups
• Lunges 
Benefits of training
muscular endurance 
 Strength
• Strength is the maximum amount
of force a muscle or group of
muscles can exert. The force
depends on the size of the muscle.
The larger the muscle the stronger
it is.

• A degree of strength is important in

all activities, especially when
“weights” need to be thrown, held,
lifted or carried. “Weights” can be
mean many different things. E.g.
Javelins, balls, opponent.
How to Test Your Muscular
Strength
• Select the muscles/muscle group that you wish to test
the strength of 
• Choose a weight or resistance that you can use
multiple times before fatigue (for 7-10 reps)
• Work to exhaustion (you can’t perform any more
reps)
• Record how many reps you reached and the weight
used 
• Use the results to estimate your 1RM (one repetition
maximum)
• Your 1RM equates to the maximum amount of weight
that you’re able to lift during a certain exercise. 
To calculate
 Health Benefits of Muscular
Strength Training
• Builds and maintains muscle mass as you age 
• Boosts mood and energy levels 
• Aids bone health
• Burns excess calories (improves metabolic
rate)
• Shreds excess fat stores 
• Improves other components of fitness
(cardiovascular endurance, coordination, and
balance) 
 Strength and How to Build it

• Bicep curls with dumbbells

• Dumbbell rows 
• Barbell squats 
• Deadlifts 
• Barbell lunges
• Pull-ups 
• Tricep dips
 Flexibility
• Flexibility is the range of movement across
a joint.
• This gymnast has a very good range of
movement.
• This is an example of Static flexibility. The
performer “holds” the position.
• Dynamic flexibility is fast moving and
• “not held”.
• Performers in Martial Arts require dynamic
• flexibility to kick high and quick.
 How to Test for Flexibility

• Tips for the sit and reach test:

• Complete the test without shoes for accurate
results
• Keep your legs and knees straight, and have your
feet flat against the box 
• When leaning forward, do it slowly and steadily 
• Be sure to reach as far as you can
• Repeat the test three times, and calculate the
average result 
 Long Term Benefits of
Flexibility Training
• Increases athletic performance (due
to growing ROM (range of motion)
• Reduces chance of injury during
physical activity 
• Eases muscle aches, pains, and
cramps 
• Improves balance and posture 
• Quickens recovering after exercising
(improves blood flow) 
 Body Composition
• ‘The chemical composition of the body,
and the % of muscle fat and bone in the
body’

(Wilmore and Costil, 1999)

• Body mass = lean body mass plus body

fat

• Average male= 12-15% fat

• Average female- 18-20% fat
 How to Test Your Body
Composition
Proportion of bone, muscle and fat in an athlete.
Body composition can be measured three ways;
1- Somatotypes
• Endomorph – Short/fat
• Mesomorph- muscular
• Ectomorph – Tall/thin
2- Body fat determination
• Densitometry – Submerging the athlete in water
to determine lean body mass (LBM) in
comparison to fat mass (FM)
• Skin fold measurements – Skin thickness is
measured at various sites on the body.
3- Body mass index (BMI)
 Benefits of Good Body
Composition
A good body composition:
• Creates a toned, lean figure
• Boosts the body’s functional capability 
• Speeds up metabolic rate (torches
calories even when resting) 
• Prevents heart disease, high blood
pressure, and type 2 diabetes 
• Encourages permanent weight loss 
 Methods of Training
Body Composition

• HIIT training 
• Circuit Training 
• Strength training
 Skill Related Components

• “Help to perform well in sports and activities”

• The skill-related components of physical fitness are
associated more with performance than with good health.
• The six components of skill-related physical fitness are
following:
1. Agility
2. Balance
3. Coordination
4. Power
5. Reaction time
6. Speed
 Agility

• the ability to change

the position of the
body quickly and to
control the movement
of your whole body.
 The Illinois Agility Run
 The person undertaking the test must lie face down behind
the start.
 On the command ‘go’ they must leap up and complete the
course indicated in the diagram, as fast as possible.
 Carry out the task twice, timing each attempt using a
stopwatch and record the fastest time.

The faster the time, the better the

levels of agility
 Benefits of Agility Training

• Other prevention of injuries (lower

back, ligament damage, etc.) 
• Recovery time boost (through
constructing a stronger
musculoskeletal system)
• Enhanced cognitive function 
 Activities Requiring Agility
 Good levels of agility allow a sports person to
be able to change body position at speed to:

 avoid being tackled by an opponent as seen in

Ice Hockey;

 beat and go round a defender

as seen in Rugby;

 perform complicated moves as demonstrated

in diving;

 go round unforeseen obstacles

vital in Giant Slalom when skiing.
 Balance

• “the ability to retain the centre of

mass of a body over the base of
support”

when stationary when moving

 How can Balance be Tested?

• The most common test used is the:

Stork Stand
The longer the
time, the better
the person’s ability
to balance
Benefits of Improving • Exercises to Train Your
Balance in the Body
Balance 
•Enhanced • Balance boards 
performance • Squats 
during sports and • Tai Chi 
athletic activities • Yoga 
•Improved
cognitive function 
•Increased injury
prevention, even
during everyday
life 
 Coordination

• “the ability to use two or

more body parts
simultaneously”

• Good co-ordination is
essential for skilful
performance in all sports.
 How to Test Your Coordination

• Make a mark on a wall with some tape, as well as a

mark on the floor (around 2-3 metres away)
• Grab a tennis ball and stand behind the line
• Throw the ball from an underarm position against
the wall, aiming for the marker, and catch it in the
opposite hand 
• Alternate between the hands, always aiming for the
mark 
• Test yourself for around 30 seconds, measuring the
amount of successful catches 
• Improve over time by practising this method and
beating your personal best, as well as performing the
exercises in the exercise section below. 
 Types of Coordination

• Hand-eye
• Foot-eye
• Head-eye
 Power

• Power is ‘ the ability to

do strength exercises
quickly’

• Power = strength x
speed
 Benefits of Explosive Power
Training
• Improved cardiovascular function 
• Enhanced strength (due to large
muscle groups being contracted at a
rapid pace) 
• Increased endurance as time goes
on (the body uses less effort to
produce force)
• Rapid calorie burning (through the
intensity that the muscles are used
during the workout) 
• Boosted overall performance in
sports and athletics  
 How to Train for Explosive
Power
• Kettlebell Swings 
• Squat Jumps 
• Box Jumps 
• Medicine balls 
 Reaction Time

• The time between the

presentation of a stimulus and
the onset of movement.
• Close your eyes…
• Imagine you are a sprinter in the
blocks…
• You hear the gun fire…
• Then you start to move your body…
• The time between hearing the gun
and initiating your movement is
your REACTION TIME
 How can Reaction Time be Tested?

 The person undertaking the test stands

in a comfortable position, with one hand
held out.

 Another person holds a ruler, the

bottom of which is in line with the hand.

 The ruler is dropped and must be

trapped or grabbed as fast as possible.

 The distance the ruler drops is taken as

the measure of response time. Repeat 3
times and record the shortest distance.
 Types of Reaction Time

• The sports person has to react • The sports person has to react
to one stimulus, for example to many stimuli, for example
the gun at the start of a sprint. receiving a ball in football.
 Speed
• the differential rate an
individual is able to
perform a movement
or cover a distance in
a short period of time
 A cricket bowler only uses part of their
The swimmer will
cover 100 metres in a body to generate speed.
swimming pool in
seconds. They are
displaying whole
body speed.

In football speed is necessary as short bursts

are required throughout the game.
 Benefits of Training for Speed

• Injury prevention (improves your

range of motion and flexibility)
• Improved cardiovascular endurance 
• Better metabolic rate and fat burning 
• Increase in bone strength
• Muscle growth (particularly in the
lower body, as it is high-intensity
rather than long-duration) 
 Best Exercises to Improve Speed

• Deadlifts
• Box jumps
• Tyre flips 
• Sled pushes 
 Key Points
• The 5 components of physical fitness that are directly
health-related and the 6 components of physical fitness that
are skill-related (or sports-related) should be incorporated
into your daily exercise routines.

• Combining all 11 components of fitness into your exercise

program will certainly make you stronger, faster, improve
your balance and increase your flexibility. 

• Improving upon all the components of physical fitness will

help you to perform daily routine tasks without fatigue and
exhaustion.
Thank you