If you want to be as physically fit as possible, there are five benchmarks, or components of fitness that you’ll need to measure your health. If you incorporate all five into your everyday fitness regime, you’ll be fitter stronger, more flexible, and pretty much healthier than you’ve ever been in your life.
Okay, so what are these five components of fitness that are so important? Check them out below:
5 Essential Components of Fitness
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Cardiovascular fitness
Cardio or aerobic exercise is really important because it helps to maintain the health of your muscles, particularly your heart and lungs, while also increasing the amount of oxygen in your body and burning fat. That seems to cover almost everything, doesn’t it?
The good news is that cardiovascular fitness can actually be fun! Exercises include everything from dance, which you can learn more about from American Sport and Fitness, to running can be used as a form of cardio fitness, so it should not be too difficult to find a form of cardiovascular exercise that you like.
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Anaerobic fitness
Anaerobic exercises are basically the opposite of cardio exercises because they limit the amount of oxygen you take in. They are typically exercises that you do in short bursts, like weightlifting or jumping.
Why is anaerobic fitness important? Because it burns glucose in your body as a form of energy which helps your body to burn calories more efficiently. It is also important for boosting bone density, building muscle, and increasing endurance.
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Flexibility
If you want to be as physically fit as possible you need to work on your range of movement (ROM). The more effectively you can, bend, turn and stretch, the less likely you were to be injured, the better your coordination will be and the healthier your joints will be. Your muscles will also be able to recover from activity more quickly if you incorporate flexibility exercises like yoga and Pilates into your fitness regime.
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Muscular fitness
Muscular strength and endurance is another vital component for overall fitness. Muscles help us to do all sorts of things from breathing to lifting to regulating our temperature, so it is really important that we keep them in the best possible condition.
Strength and/or resistance training are the best ways to keep our muscles in good shape, but even exercises like yoga and running can build muscle in some circumstances. If you aren’t sure what the best way for you to build and maintain muscle mass is, then speak to a decent personal trainer who will be able to help.
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Body composition
The fifth and final competent of fitness is body composition. This refers to the various bits your body is made up of – muscle, fat, bone, etc. How much fat you are carrying is of particular importance because high levels of fat can put you at greater risk of heart disease, diabetes, and a whole host of other problems.
Likewise, having more muscle is also important as it enables you to stay fit and strong and burn more calories, too.
If you want to know your body composition, there are tests you can perform, but a basic BMI calculator should tell you if you’re on the right track or not.
Staying in shape involves more than just worrying about calorie intake. These 5 essential components of fitness can help get you to your physical peak.