Sep
1
Written by:
Tom Kalka
9/1/2005
These are the pillars of being physically fit
Listed below are the 5 components of fitness. While each person has a different definition of being physically fit, CFC believes that you can not neglect one in spite of another. Looking at each component:
· Cardio - Vascular Stamina: Cardio is Greek for heart; vascular refers to vessels that channel blood to and from the heart. This system equates to the hearts ability to transport fresh blood to and from the rest of the body. To some, cardio-vascular stamina might mean being able to walk up a flight of stairs without being winded, to others it might mean running a marathon under 3 hours. Other forms of cardio that CFC applies to clients include burpies, jumping jacks, body shapers, suicides and mountain climbers.
· Muscle Strength: Muscular Strength refers to your ability to lift something once. To some, being able to do one full push up is a satisfactory test of strength, while another might have a goal of bench pressing 300 lbs. Resistance training is needed in order to build muscular strength — over load the muscle with heavy weight but keep the number of reps down to a minimum. This is the only way to increase muscular strength.
· Muscle Endurance: Muscular Endurance is your ability to do something over and over again. Running, biking, walking, and even resistance training are examples of muscle endurance. In order to increase muscle endurance, one must increase the number of reps for an exercise.
· Body Composition: This is the measurement of the amount of fat on your body compared to your body weight. A 200 lb. male with 10% body fat has 20 lbs of fat on his body. A healthy range for women is about 24%, while a man should have about 16%. Anything over these numbers is considered excess fat and can cause undue stress on the body. Body fat that is too low is considered dangerous for many reasons to include lack of ability to fight off infections and sickness.
· Flexibility: This is the ability of the body’s joints to move throughout their full range of motion. The less flexible one is, the greater the chance of injury. Being flexible allows the muscles to move around a joint the way they are supposed to. This decreases the chance of injury due to sudden unexpected movements such as a car accident or during a fall because of ice or wet floors, or even sprinting or jumping during exercise.
How does CFC fit all this into my daily workouts? Your CFC trainers and instructors understand these components and the importance of incorporating them into your workouts. In order to help you with your flexibility, we stretch before and after each workout session. (CFC also offers Pilates which strengthens your core while increasing your flexibility.) To help reduce your body fat and increase your cardio-vascular stamina, we will either run or push you from one exercise to the other without a long break. This keeps your heart rate up and your body fat low. Muscular Strength and Endurance are accomplished through the various types of exercise we do as well as the way in which we do them.
The workouts for CFC’s Outdoor Conditioning Program, which is 5 days a week, builds upon these 5 components of fitness. Missing workouts means missing out on the benefits planned for that specific day. If you are enrolled in a program which is less than 5 days a week, then you must realize that we have even less time to help you push towards your goals. Even with a CFC instructor training you, it takes a greater commitment on your part to see the benefits you are looking for.