Physical Fitness as Defined

A person who is free from illnesses and can do physical or sports activities and still has an extra energy to do
more activities is considered to be physically fit. Physical fitness is a combination of health fitness and body fitness.
Health fitness refers to your body’s ability to fight off diseases. Body fitness, on the other hand, is refers to the ability
to do strenuous physical or sports activities without getting tired easily. It is not enough for someone to only look
good and feel good in order to be called physically fit. An individual should also take into consideration his kind of
lifestyle including the food he takes every day because it can lead him to better health.

Health Related Fitness This is primarily associated with disease prevention and functional health. Participating in
regular health-related fitness helps you control your weight, prevents diseases and illness, improves mood, boosts
energy and promotes better sleep.

Health Related Fitness Components

1. Body Composition – The combination of all the tissues that make up the body such as bones, muscles, organs and
body fat.

2. Cardiovascular Endurance – The ability of the heart, lungs, blood vessels, and blood to work efficiently and to
supply the body with oxygen.

3. Flexibility – The ability to use your joints fully through a wide range of motion.

4. Muscular Endurance – The ability to use muscles for a long period of time without tiring.

5. Muscular Strength – The ability of the muscles to lift a heavy weight or exert a lot of force one time.

Skills Related Fitness Components

1. Agility – The ability to change body positions quickly and keep the body under control when moving.

2. Balance – The ability to keep the body in a steady position while standing and moving.

3. Coordination – The ability of the body parts to work together when you perform an activity.

4. Power – The ability to combine strength with speed while moving.

5. Reaction Time – The ability to move quickly once a signal to start moving is received. 6. Speed – The ability to
move all or a part of the body quickly.

Physical Activity and Exercise

Activities done by the skeletal muscles that utilize energy is called Physical Activity. Activities you are
doing at home or in school are considered to be physical activity. It is classified into 4 domains:
occupational, domestic, transportation, and leisure time.

1. Occupational – These are the activities you do at your work place. Lifting computers and books, going
your friend’s desk or preparing lunch at the pantry.

2. Domestic – These are the activities you do at home. Washing clothes and dishes, gardening,
carpentry, baking or cleaning the house.

3. Transportation – These are the activities that involves travelling. Riding a jeepney, tricycle,
motorcycle, or bikes.
4. Leisure Time – These are the activities you do during recreational activities. Playing, swimming, hiking
or craft making.Exercise according to a study by Buckworth and Dishman, is the “planned, structured,
repetitive bodily movements that someone engages in for the purpose of improving or maintaining
physical fitness or health

Aerobic, Muscle-strengthening, and Bone-strengthening Activity

Aerobic

Aerobic activities, also called endurance activities, are physical activities in which people move their large muscles in
a rhythmic manner for a sustained period.

Muscle-Strengthening Activity This kind of activity, which includes resistance training and lifting weights, causes the
body’s muscles to work or hold against an applied force or weight.

Bone-Strengthening Activity This kind of activity (sometimes called weight-bearing or weight-loading activity)
produces a force on the bones that promotes bone growth and strength.

Health-Related Fitness Test

Body Composition – is the body’s relative amount of fat to fat-free mass. Body Mass Index (BMI) Formula for
Computing Body Mass Index Weight (in kilogram) Height (in meters)2 Example: 30 = 30 = 20.83 (Normal) (1.20)2 1.44

Flexibility – is the ability of the joints and muscles to move through its full range of motion.
Example. Zipper Test

Cardiovascular Endurance is the ability of the heart, lungs and blood vessels to deliver oxygen to working muscles
and tissues, as well as the ability of those muscles and tissues to utilize the oxygen. Endurance may also refer to the
ability of the muscles to do repeated work without fatigue.

Example: 3-Minute Step Test

Strength is the ability of the muscles to generate force against physical objects. Example: Push Ups

Task 2: Skills-Related Fitness

Speed – is the ability to perform a movement in one direction in the shortest period of time. Example: 40-Meter
Sprint

Power – is the ability of the muscle to transfer energy and release maximum force at a fast rate

Example: Standing Long Jump

Agility is the ability to move in different directions quickly using a combination of balance, coordination, speed,
strength and endurance. Example: Hexagon Agility Test

Reaction Time – The amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus. Example: Stick Drop Test
Principles of Physical Activity

Overload Principle.
It means to boost our fitness, strength, or endurance. Workload is extended accordingly. Applying these training
principles will cause long-term adaptations, enable the body to figure more efficiently to deal with higher level of
performance.

Principle of Progression
To ensure that the results will still improve over time, the adapted workload should be continually increased. A
gradual and systematic increase within the workload over a period of time will lead to improvement in fitness without
risk of injury. If overload occurs and increase rapidly, it may lead to injury or muscle damage. If increased slowly,
improvement is unlikely. For instance, the athlete who exercises vigorously only on weekends violates the principle of
progression and may not see obvious fitness gains.

Principle of Progression

To ensure that the results will still improve over time, the adapted workload should be continually increased. A
gradual and systematic increase within the workload over a period of time will lead to improvement in fitness
without risk of injury. If overload occurs and increase rapidly, it may lead to injury or muscle damage. If increased
slowly, improvement is unlikely. For instance, the athlete who exercises vigorously only on weekends violates the
principle of progression and may not see obvious fitness gains

Principle of Specificity

We have all heard the phrase, "Practice makes perfect." Well, this is often the principle of specificity in action. This
principle simply states that exercising a specific piece or component of the body primarily develops that part. The
principle of specificity implies that to become better at a selected exercise or skill, you need to perform that exercise
or skill. For example, a cyclist should be trained in cycling and a runner should be trained in running. Use the
acceptable sort of exercise that directly improves your target muscles.

Principle of Reversibility

Development of muscles will happen if regular movement and execution are completed. If activity ceases, it will be
reversed. This shows that benefits and changes achieved from overload will last as long as training is continuous. On
the flip side, this also implies that the detraining effect will be reversed once training is resumed. Extended rest
periods reduce fitness and therefore the physiological effects diminish over time which throws the body back to its
pre-training condition.

The F.I.T.T Principle of Physical Activity

Understanding the F.I.T.T. principle helps you create a workout plan which will be beneficial in reaching your fitness
goals. F.I.T.T. stands for frequency, intensity, time, and type of exercise. These are the four elements you would like
to believe to make workouts that suit your goals and fitness level. Learn how the F.I.T.T. principle works.

Frequency
The first thing to identify in the workout plan is frequency—how often you exercise. Your frequency often depends
on a spread of things including the sort of workout you're doing, how hard you're working, your fitness level, and
your exercise goals. Three to five times a week is a safe frequency for each component of healthrelated physical
fitness.
Intensity

Intensity refers to how hard you work during the physical activity period. Intensity is often measured in several
ways, counting on the health-related component. For instance, monitoring pulse rate is a technique to measure
intensity during aerobic endurance activities but gives no indication of intensity during flexibility activities.

Time
Time is the length of the physical activity. Considering the other aspects of the F.I.T.T principle, time differs
depending on the health-related fitness component targeted.

Type
Type refers to the definite physical activity selected to improve a component of health-related fitness. For example,
a person who wants to improve the arm strength should exercise the triceps and biceps, while an individual who
wants to improve aerobic endurance needs to execute some other aerobically challenging activities such as jogging,
running, swimming.

Part of an Exercise Program

An exercise workout has three components: warm-up, exercise load and cool-down. The exercise load or workout
load is the program activity that would stimulate beneficial adaptation when performed regularly. A warm-up is
essential prior to actual workload as it prepares the body for more strenuous activity. It increases the blood flow to
the working muscles without an abrupt increase in lactic acid accumulation. According to research, the warmer the
body and muscle, the higher the muscular output. A good warm-up also prepares the heart, muscles, and joints for
the next activity by decreasing joint stiffness and increasing the nerve impulses. Cool-down is essential after a
workout as it permits the pre-exercise heart rate and blood pressure for a gradual recovery. Cooling down may be
most vital for competitive endurance athletes, like marathoners, because it helps regulate blood flow.