The Ultimate Guide to Physical Fitness: Endurance, Strength, Flexibility, and More

Warm-Up

Exercises are always performed before physical activity or sports to adapt the body progressively to further effort. Warming up means carrying out physical exercises that will help the body to adapt to a subsequent task involving greater exertion.

Why Warm Up?

• Avoids muscle injuries.
• Increases joint movement.
• Facilitates cardiorespiratory adaptation.
• Delays fatigue.
• Helps reduce stiffness.
• Facilitates mental preparation.

General Warm-Up

Warming up can be broken down into a general stage and a specific one. The purpose of the first stage is to get all the parts of the body moving for the following activity, and to loosen up and go faster without feeling too tired. It usually begins with running at low or moderate speed and doing stretching and other exercises that have a low to moderate effect on various groups of muscles, and alternating between them to prevent the muscles from tiring too soon. No warm-up exercise should take less than 5 minutes, with 15 to 20 minutes being quite sufficient. For activities requiring intense exertion, this length of time can be extended.

Specific Warm-Up

These are exercises that we do for a specific sport. They have less intensity, and we move all parts of the body.

Endurance

Endurance is the physical ability that enables a person to carry out a task for a prolonged length of time, either tolerating or delaying the onset of fatigue.

Types

• Anaerobic Endurance: Short-term, high intensity, there is a lack of oxygen, energy runs out in seconds.
• Aerobic Endurance: Long-term, moderate intensity, there is no lack of oxygen, energy runs out in hours or days.

Healthy Effects of Working on Endurance

• Improves the Blood Circulation System: Increases the size of the heart, lowers blood pressure, greater number of capillaries, etc.
• Enhances the Functioning of the Respiratory System: Enhances lung capacity and the use of oxygen.
• The Muscles Adapt to Exercise: The person gets less tired when doing everyday activities that require exertion.
• Improves a Person's State of Mind

How Can We Improve Our Endurance?

Non-Stop Running

Consists of running for an extended period of time at a steady, even pace on flat and preferably soft terrain.

Circuit Training

Is a method that involves doing gym exercises for a set amount of time, and alternating between periods of work and rest.

Progress Tests

These are used to assess a person's endurance level.

What Factors Does Endurance Depend On?

• The capacity of the circulatory systems
• The number of mitochondria
• Type of muscle fiber
• Energy
• Age

Strength

Strength is the capacity to use our muscles to overcome resistance or offset it.

Types

• Maximum Strength: Is the capacity to resist a maximum weight in relation to the person's potential.
• Resistance Strength: Is the capacity to move a light weight repeatedly over an extended period of time.

Healthy Effects of Working on Strength

• Muscle Hypertrophy: This increases the size of the muscles and improves their response to contraction.
• Our Bones Become More Resistant to Traction
• The Risk of Injury Is Reduced: By the performance of everyday activities that require strength.
• Improves Body Posture
• Improves Our Appearance and Self-Esteem: We feel more comfortable with ourselves.

How to Improve Strength

With static and dynamic exercises, body weights and additional weights, and progress tests.

What Factors Affect Strength?

• The muscle mass
• Type of muscle fiber
• Depending on the shape and arrangement of the muscle
• Task training and coordination
• The age and gender

Flexibility

Flexibility is the physical capacity that enables us to perform a wide range of movements.

Components

• Joint Mobility: The ability to move a joint.
• Muscle Elasticity: Is the ability of muscles and tendons to lengthen and return to their original shape.

Healthy Effects of Working on Flexibility

• Correct and balanced body posture with no spinal column disorders.
• Every task can be performed efficiently.
• A lower risk of joint and muscle injuries caused by sudden stretching when making ample movements.
• It facilitates the blood flow to the muscles.
• Since it reduces muscle tone, a state of relaxation is achieved.

How to Improve Flexibility

Dynamic and static exercises.

Factors Affecting Flexibility

• Age
• Gender
• The genetic factor
• Temperature
• Own mental state
• The time of day

Motor Skills

The movements that people use in their real lives and are essential for acquiring higher levels of dexterity. Examples: turns, jumps, throws.

Motor Abilities

Facilitate the control of movement and represent the potential required to learn motor skills.

Coordination

The ability to perform movements by synchronizing the various parts of the body efficiently, smoothly, and with minimal effort.

Types of Coordination

• General Dynamic Coordination: The whole body, or various body segments, take part in the movement.
• Segmental Coordination: The task links up sight and a specific part of the body. Examples: eye-hand coordination, eye-foot coordination, eye-head coordination.

Sense of Balance

Ability to struggle against gravity to stay in the same position.

Factors Affecting Balance

• Projection of the center of gravity
• The organs of balance
• Age

Speed

Speed is considered a physical ability rather than a motor ability. It has a lot in common with motor skills and their acquisition.

Types of Speed

• Reaction Speed: Is the time it takes for the nervous system to transmit an order to move.
• Gestural Speed or Movement Speed: Refers to the minimum time we need to perform a specific movement.
• Travel Speed: When speed involves a swift movement.

Factors Affecting Speed

• Nervous system
• Type of stimulus
• Number of body segments
• Training
• Age
• White muscle fibers
• Frequency of strides