Components of Fitness
“Those who have no time for nutrition & exercise had better reserve a lot of time for disease”
This info is designed to explain how your body functions in relation to your level of activity and lifestyle. Explaining the components of fitness to help guide you on your journey to better health.
ACSM/AHA Physical Activity and Public Health Recommendations
The recommendations by the ACSM and AHA indicate that to promote and maintain good health, all healthy adults between 18 and 65 years of age need:
- Moderate-intensity aerobic activity (increasing the heart rate)
- 30 minutes, 5 days a week or
- Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (rapid breathing & increased heart rate)
- 20 minutes, 3 days a week
- Activities that maintain or increase muscular strength and endurance
- 8 to 10 exercises with resistance, generating fatigue after 8 to 12 repetitions, 2 days a week on nonconsecutive days.
METABOLIC SYNDROME
Approximately 64 million or 34% of adults have metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together that increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. It is important to know whether you are at risk; but even if you are not at risk, these health indicators can also serve as guidelines for improving your health.
You have metabolic syndrome if at least 3 of the following 5 markers are present:
- Waist circumference: 40 inches (men), or 35 inches (women)
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- excess body fat around the waist
- Fasting triglycerides: 150 mg/dL
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- abnormal triglyceride levels
- HDL-C: <40 mg/dL (men) or <50 mg/dL (women)
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- abnormal cholesterol levels
- Blood pressure: 130/85 mm Hg or use of hypertensive medication
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- increased blood pressure
- Fasting glucose: 100 mg/dL or use of hyperglycemia medication
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- high blood sugar (pre-diabetic)
Physical fitness consists of five components:
Cardiovascular Endurance:
- The ability of the heart and lungs to deliver blood and oxygen to the muscles during exercise
Muscular Strength:
- The amount of force that can be exerted by the muscles
Muscular Endurance:
- The number of repetitions or length of time a muscle can continuously exert against a constant force
Flexibility:
- The range of motion of a joint that is influenced by related muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones.
- When joints are not regularly moved through their entire range of motion, muscles and ligaments shorten in time and flexibility decreases
Body Composition:
- The amount of fat and lean body mass within the body
Burning Calories:
During the first 15 minutes of aerobic activity, glycogen or sugar within the muscles is used for energy. Fat metabolism for energy doesn’t occur until about 15 to 20 minutes after beginning aerobic activity. This is why it’s important that aerobic duration be at least 30 minutes. Aerobic sessions greater than one hour continue to burn fat but not at the same rate as the first hour.
- At rest we burn 70% of calories from fat and 30% from carbohydrates
- Low intensity exercise – 3 to 4 calories per minute
- Vigorous-intensity exercise – 8 to 10 calories per minute
Types of exercises:
Aerobic:
Oxygen is available to muscles (you are not out of breath)
- Aerobics class
- Stationary bike
- Rowing machine
- Brisk walking
- Jogging
- Swimming
Anaerobic:
Oxygen is not available to muscles (you are out of breath or doing heavy weight lifting)
- weight training
- sprinting
- racquetball
- tennis
- basketball
- football
- baseball
Bones:
Bone tends to grow stronger and thicker the more it is exercised, especially when the exercise is weight-bearing. The stronger and thicker the bones, the less likely they are to fracture.
- Studies show that the bone density increases with physical activity
- When muscles pull on bones, they become stronger
- Bones tend to lose calcium and become weak and brittle with age
- Fractures are more common for the elderly
- Women are susceptible to osteoporosis, particularly after menopause
- Due to the loss of estrogen
Exercises which overload the bones; increase and maintain bone density, either by impact or resistance include:
- Walking
- Jogging
- aerobic dance
- weight training
Benefits of Aerobic Training:
(Physiological Adaptations)
- A higher Maximal Oxygen Uptake
- able to exercise longer and more intensely
- An increase in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood
- red blood cells increase
- A decrease in heart rate at rest
- your heart becomes stronger and doesn’t have to work as hard during rest and with activity
- An increase in the number and size of the Mitochondria
- your body creates more “energy factories” to generate more energy
- An increase in the number of functional Capillaries (exchange of oxygen & carbon dioxide)
- your body is more efficient at eliminating waste products
- Lower blood pressure and blood lipids
- your body is more efficient at delivering blood and burning fat
Benefits of Strength Training:
- Prevents Sarcopenia
- loss of lean body tissue (muscles), strength, and function
- Muscle tissue burns more energy than fat
- So you will burn more calories at rest
Benefits of Good Muscle Flexibility:
Flexibility is the natural range of motion of body joints. Good flexibility promotes healthy muscles and joints.
- When joints are not regularly moved through their entire range of motion, muscles and ligaments shorten in time and flexibility decreases (use it or lose it!)
- Repetitive movements through exercise without proper stretching, also causes muscles and ligaments to tighten.
- Regular stretching keeps your muscles from tightening and ensures they are able to move freely; preventing muscle sprains from routine activity and exercise.
- Muscles tend to shorten following exercise or prolonged activity; so you should make it a point to stretch after exercise or prolonged physical activity of any kind.
Benefits of stretching:
- Increases circulation to the muscles
- Relieving stiff muscle pain
- Improves and maintains good postural alignment
- Improves personal appearance and self-image