The 5 Components of Physical Fitness

To effectively measure your fitness level, you need to take into account the 5 components of physical fitness. These five components are used to gauge our true physical fitness.

To be truly fit, we need to consider more than just what type of exercise we do. To determine your fitness level, you'll need to consider performance in each of these components.

• Cardiovascular Endurance
• Muscular Strength
• Muscular Endurance
• Flexibility
• Body Composition

Excellence is one or two of these areas is not enough. To obtain what is referred to as total physical fitness, you will need to perform well in all of these areas.

Let's take a closer look at each of the individual components:

• Cardiovascular Endurance - this component assesses how well the heart and lungs work in unison to provide the needed oxygen and blood to the body during sustained workloads. The lungs bring oxygen to the blood and the heart pumps the oxygen rich blood to the muscles and other systems of the body. Jogging, cycling and swimming and aerobics are all examples of exercises that increase cardiovascular endurance.
• Muscular Strength - this component assesses the ability of the muscles to lift weight. Weight training including the bench press, push up and bicep curl are all examples of exercises used to determine muscular strength. This component is the one that is most often considered when we think of being fit or in shape.
• Muscular Endurance - this component will test the muscles' ability to perform repeated exercises without tiring, in other words, how long you can work a particular set of muscles. Running, cycling, elliptical machines as well as repetitive exercise (calisthenics) are all examples of muscular endurance.
• Flexibility - this component tests the ability of all of the joints in the body to move through the full range of motion for each particular joint. Yoga, pilates and stretching exercise are examples of flexibility.
• Body Composition - this component takes into account your "body type" that is, height, weight, frame size and the proportion of fat mass compared to lean muscle mass. Underwater weighing is is the most accurate way to test body fat.

We've all seen people who can run a marathon, but couldn't lift a feather. On the other hand, many bodybuilders can't run for 5 minutes without being exhausted!

If we take the 5 components of physical fitness into account, neither of these individuals are considered physically fit.

The best bet for optimal health and total physical fitness is to try to incorporate all 5 of these components into your workout.

Varying your workouts between strength training and cardio will help build overall physical fitness as well as keeping interest and motivation high.

Now that you know what the 5 components consist of, just pick your favorite exercise routine and get moving!

Just remember to check with your doctor before beginning any fitness program!

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