5 Components of Physical Fitness

The 5 components of physical fitness are often used in our school systems, health clubs and fitness
centers to gauge how good a shape we are truly in. The 5 components that make up total fitness are:
Cardiovascular Endurance
Muscular Strength
Muscular endurance
Flexibility
Body Composition

Total fitness can be defined by how well the body performs in each one of the components of physical
fitness as a whole. It is not enough to be able to bench press your body weight. You also need to
determine how well you can handle running a mile etc.
A closer look at the individual components:
Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the heart and lungs to work together to provide the needed
oxygen and fuel to the body during sustained workloads. Examples would be jogging, cycling and
swimming. The Cooper Run is used most often to test cardiovascular endurance.
Muscular strength is the amount of force a muscle can produce. Examples would be the bench
press, leg press or bicep curl. The push up test is most often used to test muscular strength.
Muscular endurance is the ability of the muscles to perform continuous without fatiguing. Examples
would be cycling, step machines and elliptical machines. The sit up test is most often used to test
muscular endurance.
Flexibility is the ability of each joint to move through the available range of motion for a specific joint.
Examples would be stretching individual muscles or the ability to perform certain functional movements
such as the lunge. The sit and reach test is most often used to test flexibility.
Body composition is the amount of fat mass compared to lean muscle mass, bone and organs. This can
be measured using underwater weighing, Skinfold readings, and bioelectrical impedance. Underwater
weighing is considered the gold standard for body fat measurement, however because of the size and
expense of the equipment needed very few places are set up to do this kind of measurement.

The word health means different things to different people, depending on the situation. If somebody
says "I was worried about my husband's health when he climbed Mt. Everest", it is clear that the woman
is referring to her husband's physical health, possibly his heart, skin (frostbite) and risk of developing
hypothermia (when the body's temperature drops too low.

On the other hand, if you hear the phrase "With all these deadlines, presentations and working
weekends, I wonder what the effect will be on her health," most likely the word "health" refers more to
mental health than physical health (although the two are often linked).

The words "health" or "healthy" can also be used in non-medical contexts. For example "A healthy
economy needs an ideal GDP growth rate that is sustainable, one that remains in the expansion phase of
the business cycle as long as possible."

The English word "health" comes from the Old English word hale, meaning "wholeness, being whole,
sound or well,". Hale comes from the Proto-Indo-European root kailo, meaning "whole, uninjured, of
good omen". Kailo comes from the Proto-Germanic root khalbas, meaning "something divided".
Sport is generally recognised as system of activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical
dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting
this definition,[3] and other organisations such as the Council of Europe using definitions precluding
activities without a physical element from classification as sports.[2] However, a number of competitive,
but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee
(through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the
international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts
(checkers), Go and xiangqi,[4][5] and limits the number of mind games which can be admitted as
sports.[1]

Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, and
allow consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning can be determined by physical events such as
scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the
sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or
artistic impression.

Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts (artworks),
expressing the author's imaginative or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or
emotional power.[1][2] In their most general form these activities include the production of works of
art, the criticism of art, the study of the history of art, and the aesthetic dissemination of art.

Dance is a performing art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. This
movement has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and
observers within a particular culture.[nb 1] Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography,
by its repertoire of movements, or by its historical period or place of origin.

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. The common
elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts
tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and
texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music
may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of
instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces,
solely vocal pieces (such as songs without instrumental accompaniment) and pieces that combine
singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek (mousike; "art of the Muses").[1]
Gymnastics is a sport that requires balance, strength, flexibility, agility, endurance and control. The
movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, chest
and abdominal muscle groups. Alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence and self-discipline are mental
traits that can also be developed through gymnastics. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the
ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance
skills.

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable
explanations and predictions about the universe.

Contemporary science is typically subdivided into the natural sciences, which study the material
universe; the social sciences, which study people and societies; and the formal sciences, which study
logic and mathematics. The formal sciences are often excluded as they do not depend on empirical
observations.[3] Disciplines which use science, like engineering and medicine, may also be considered to
be applied sciences.