What does fitness mean ???

What does being physically fit mean?Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS on July 14, 2017

1. Overview
2. Cardiorespiratory performance
3. Strength
4. Endurance
5. Body composition
6. Flexibility
7. Takeaway

Maintaining a good level of physical fitness is something that we should all aspire to do. But it can be difficult to determine what fitness entails. Here we answer the question: what does being physically fit mean?According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, physical fitness is defined as “a set of attributes that people have or achieve that relates to the ability to perform physical activity.”This description goes beyond being able to run fast or lift heavy weights. Despite being important, these attributes only address single areas of fitness. This article provides details of the five main components of physical fitness.Fast facts on fitness:

• Maintaining physical fitness can help prevent some diseases.
• With exercise, body composition can change without changing weight.
• Athletes' hearts show different changes dependent on their chosen sport.
• Muscle strength increases by fiber hypertrophy and neural changes.
• Stretching to increase flexibility can ease a number of medical complaints.

Overview

Being physically fit depends on how well a person fulfills each of the components of being healthful.When it comes to fitness, these components include

• cardiorespiratory fitness
• muscular strength
• muscular endurance
• body composition
• flexibility.

So, you can tell if someone is physically fit by determining how well they perform in each component.Here we will look at them all individually.Cardiorespiratory performanceCardiorespiratory endurance indicates how well our body can supply fuel during physical activity via the body’s circulatory and respiratory systems. Activities that help improve cardiorespiratory endurance are those that cause an elevated heart rate for a sustained period.These activities include:

• swimming
• brisk walking
• jogging
• cycling

People who regularly take part in these activities are more likely to be physically fit in terms of cardiorespiratory endurance. It is important to begin these activities slowly and gradually increase the intensity.Exercising increases cardiorespiratory endurance in a number of ways. The heart muscle is strengthened so that it is able to pump more blood per heartbeat.At the same time, additional small arteries are grown within muscle tissue so that blood can be delivered to working muscles more effectively when needed.