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Components Of Fitness
By peace | December 3, 2006
The three basic components of physical fitness are suppleness, strength and stamina.
1. Suppleness
Suppleness means flexibity or mobility of the neck, trunk and limbs. The more supple you are, the more easily you can move your joints without discomfort. Suppleness exercises stretch and lossen the various muscles that work the joints. The joints themselves are tightened and toned up, while the ligaments that support them are shortened and strengthened.
Suppleness allows you to twist and turn, bend and stretch without strain or sprain. It is an important component of fitness, especially for elderly people, whose muscles easily stiffen, making it difficult to cope even with ordinary activities such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing and doing housework.
Activities that develop suppleness include dancing, yoga and gymnastics.
2. Strength
Strength is simply muscle power — the maximum force that a group of muscles can apply to an action. Strength is needed for pulling, pushing, lifting and shifting. Strength of forearm muscles gives a strong hand-grip. Strong shoulder muscles make light work of lifting children or loading shopping into the car. Elderly people need to maintain the strength of their limbs so that they can get in and out of chairs or the bath with ease.
Strength is developed by exercising muscles against resistance — for example, by weightlifting, press-ups or bicycling. Broadly, the more resistance a muscle meets when it contracts, the more its individual fibres are brought into play. Muscles that are regularly exercised against resistance respond by becoming bulkier and stronger.
3. Stamina
Stamina means endurance or ’staying power’, and it is the most fundamental component of fitness. It is the capacity to keep going without gasping for breath or going weak at the knees. Any activity involving the rhythmic contraction of large muscles, such as those of the legs, requires stamina.
Running and swimming are examples. They are sometimes known as ‘aerobic’ — from the Greek words for air and life – because the working muscles need a plentiful supply of oxygen. That puts extra demand, not only on the heart, lungs and circulation, but also on the muscles themselves, which must be able to extract oxygen from the bloodstream rapidly and efficiently. All these functions can be improved by exercising energetically and frequently.
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