With all the talk about fitness, it’s easy to think that it’s one well trodden path to better health. Not true. Fitness can be divided into several categories, based on the health aspect and the performance aspect.
If all you want is to handle your housework, your career and the kids (without running low on energy) and lead a full life, you’d be working on stamina and flexibility. They will help with the lifestyle you have in mind. Based on your objectives, you should not be doing power training or exercises that works on improving speed. If you want to be a successful short distance sprinter, then your fitness requirements are different.
Let’s break down the different types of fitness:
1) Muscle endurance – It’s the capacity of a muscle group to work for a considerable time. If you covet this type of fitness, press-ups, sit-ups and weight lifting should be incorporated to your fitness sessions. A popular misconception is that lifting high weights is the best way to achieve results fast. On the contrary, studies show that a combination of high reps and low weight will prove fruitful.
2) Cardio-respiratory endurance- For the muscles to perform for long periods of time, the heart and lungs have to work hard to provide muscle oxygen. In other words, you have to make the ‘heart race’ if you want a cardiovascular workout. It can be achieved by a fast-paced workout lasting for at least 20 minutes, at a frequency of three days per week.
3) Muscle strength & Power – This is a combination of strength and speed. Typically, power training focuses on doing weights.
4) Speed – How fast can your muscles move? Speed can be discussed in relation to muscles or the overall body. Sprinters train in this fitness zone.
5) Flexibility & Agility – As youngsters, our bodies are naturally supple. We can bend, reach, stretch, twist and turn with ease. The cartilages, tendons and ligaments in our bodies reinforce this flexibility. Gymnastics are based on the ability to exploit the full range of motions.
6) Stamina – When muscle endurance is high, it leads to greater stamina in a person. It’s the ability to withstand and endure when the going gets tough. Some of us are born with more stamina than others but stamina can be acquired over the lifetime.
7) Reaction time- This is the time taken to respond to a stimulus. The stimulus can be anything, from a starting pistol (in a race) or a falling tree. This is not to be simply associated with sports. Ordinary drivers can benefit from improved reaction times.
8) Co-ordination – This is being able to use different senses and body parts simultaneously. For instance, if you are playing baseball, you need good hand-eye coordination to swing the bat and connect with the ball. With football, foot-eye co-ordination is needed. Now you’ll understand that even within a certain fitness category, there are subdivisions when it comes to training.
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