The primary fitness components are also known as the health-related components of physical fitness. According to the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association, these components are measured to test your overall body health and how well your body can perform under physical stress. The components include cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility and body composition. Excelling in these components will lead to a more healthy and comfortable life.
Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the heart, lungs and circulatory system to supply oxygen and nutrients efficiently to working muscles. There are graded exercise tests that give predicted or absolute maximum oxygen consumption rates. Maximum oxygen consumption rates are the primary indicator for how well your body utilizes oxygen for efficiency and effectiveness. You will run or bike for a set amount of time during these tests, and intensity levels will vary. Heart rate, breathing rate and your self-perceived exertion will be measured throughout most of these tests. If you do not want to test on a treadmill or bike, you can perform various outdoor tests, such as the 1.5-mile run/walk test, the 12-minute run test, the step test or the multistage fitness test.
Muscular Endurance and Strength
Muscular endurance is the ability of your muscles to withhold a force for numerous reps or longer durations. Many times, this force will be significantly lighter than the maximum force you can withstand for that certain muscle or group of muscles. In the gym, this can be measured by performing lifts for repetitions greater than or equal to 10. In the real world, noticing how long you can go for an inclined hike with equipment in a backpack before your muscles fatigue can indicate your muscular endurance as well.
Muscular strength indicates the maximum amount of force your muscles can produce. Performing a one-rep max on lifts such as the bench press, squat, deadlift, leg pres and push press are great indicators of your maximal strength.
Flexibility
Flexibility is the measure of the ability to move your body joints comfortably through their entire range of motion. Flexibility can be limited by stiffness, injury, weak muscles and lack of stretching. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, daily stretching can greatly increase flexibility. This can be static or dynamic stretching. Static stretching is holding a stretch for at least 15 seconds while breathing normally throughout, and dynamic stretching is repetitive stretching in which you are constantly moving the body to stretch rather than holding a stretch for a long duration. The National Strength and Conditioning Association suggests dynamic stretching before sport and physical activity.
Body Composition
Testing your body composition is a very important health and fitness indicator. Body composition is the amount of weight you have and the percentages of fat, lean muscle tissue and bone within that weight. If your fat percentages are too high, you are more prone to heart disease and metabolic disorders on top of not being physically fit. You can find your body composition with skin-fold caliper tests, hydrostatic weighing or using the hip-to-waist ratio test. The body mass index is a good general indicator for body composition, but does not take into account percentages of lean muscle tissue and bone.
References
- "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (eighth edition)"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2009
- "Advanced Fitness Assessment and Exercise Prescription (fifth edition)"; Vivian Heyward; 2006
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; Thomas Baechle and Roger Earle; 2008
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