MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
COMPONENTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS
A.Identify the five components of health-related physical fitness components.
B.Appreciate and value the benefits of regular physical exercise to healthy.
C.Recognize the means and methods of developing the health-related components of physical
fitness.
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MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
INTRODUCTION
Research in exercise science has provided guidelines for the development of a safe and
efficient program to improve personal fitness. The purpose of this chapter is to provide you with
an overview of the health-related components of fitness and principles of exercise prescription
for improving your physical fitness. The basic concepts contained within this chapter can be
applied to men and women as well as individuals of all ages and fitness levels.
COMPONENTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS
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MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
Health Related Components of Fitness
The overall goal of a total health related physical fitness program is to optimize the quality of
R Physical Fitness Course Module Page 56 life. The specific goals of this type of fitness program
are to reduce the risk of disease, to improve total physical fitness so that, daily tasks can be
completed with less effort and fatigue. Also, some conditioning programs aimed at improving
sport performance, may reduce the risk disease this is not their primary purpose. The single goal
of sport conditioning is to improve physical performance in a specific sport. However, the
weekend athlete who engages in a total health related physical fitness program could also
improve his or her physical performance in many sports. Specifically, a health-related fitness
program improves sport performance by increasing muscular strength and endurance,
improving flexibility and reducing the risk of injury.
• Exercise scientists do not always agree on the basic components of physical fitness. However,
most do agree that the five major components of total health related physical fitness are:
cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and
body composition.
1. Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Meaning and Concepts of Cardiorespiratory Fitness
• Cardiorespiratory fitness: (sometimes called aerobic fitness or
cardiorespiratory endurance) is considered to be a key component of
health-related physical fitness. It is a measure of a heart ‘s ability to
pump oxygen-rich blood to the working muscles during exercise. It’s
also a measure of the muscle ‘s ability to take up and use the delivered
oxygen to produce the energy needed to continue exercising. In
practical terms, cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability to perform
endurance-type exercise such as (distance running, cycling, swimming, etc.). The individuals
that have achieved a high measure of cardiorespiratory endurance are generally capable of
performing 30 to 60 minutes of vigorous exercise without undo fatigue.
2. Muscle Fitness
Meaning and Concepts of Muscle Fitness
There are two components of muscle fitness: strength and muscular endurance.
➢ Muscular strength: Is the maximal ability of a muscle to
generate force. It is evaluated by how much force a muscle can
generate during a single maximal contraction. Practically, this
means how much weight that an individual can lift during one
maximal effort. Muscular strength is important in almost all sports.
Sports such as football, basketball, and events in track and field
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MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
require a high level of muscular strength. Even non-athletes require some degree of muscular
strength to function everyday life. For example, routine tasks around the home, such as lifting
bags of groceries and moving furniture, require muscular strength. Weight training results in an
increase in the size and strength of muscles.
3. Muscular Endurance:
Muscular endurance is defined as the ability of a muscle
to generate force repeatedly. Although muscular strength and
muscular endurance are related, they are not the same. These
two terms can be best distinguished by examples. An excellent
example of muscular strength is a person lifting a heavy barbell
during one maximal muscular effort. In contrast, muscular
endurance is illustrated by a weightlifter performing multiple lifts
or repetition of a lightweight.
Most successfully played sports require muscular endurance. For instance, tennis players who
must repeatedly swing their racquets during a match require it. Many every day activities also
require some level of it.
4.Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to move joints freely through their full
range of motion. Flexible individuals can bend and twist at
their joints with ease. Without routine stretching muscles and
tendons shorten and become tight, this can retard the range
of motion around joints and impairer flexibility. Individual
needs for flexibility vary. Certain athletes require great
flexibility in order to accomplish complex movements. The
average individual requires less flexibility than the athlete
however; everyone needs some flexibility in order to perform activities of daily living. Research
suggests that flexibility is useful in preventing some types of muscle-tendon injuries and may be
useful in reducing low back pain.
5.Body Composition
The rationale for including body composition as a
component of health-related physical fitness is that having a high
percentage of body fat (a condition known as obesity) is
associated with an increased risk of development of type 2
diabetes and contributes to joint stress during movement. In
general, being over fat elevates the risk of medical problems. Lack
of physical activity has been shown to play a major role in gaining
body fat. Conversely, regular exercise is an important factor in
promoting the loss of body.
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MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
Skill Related Components of Fitness
It consists of those components of fitness that have a relationship with enhanced
performance in athletic activities. Skill related fitness abilities increases one’s ability to perform
in various activities and only has an indirect connection with health. The skill-related
components of fitness are considered to be agility, balance, coordination, power, speed,
and reaction time though some people feel that other abilities such as spatial awareness should
be included. It is assumed that kids who have who possess a high skill related fitness will be
more likely to participate in a variety of activities and for this reason will also exemplify a high
standard of health-related fitness. Skill-related fitness components are assessed with several
different tests. Such components as reaction time and speed are considered by some to be
more related to heredity than healthy lifestyles, especially in young people.
1. Agility
It refers to a person’s ability to move their body quickly and
easily. This also includes their ability to quickly change their
direction while maintaining their balance.
Some examples of agility are:
• stepping aside quickly in the hallway to avoid running into
someone else
• stopping, starting and changing directions quickly to avoid a
defender
• stepping quickly on the court to return a serve or an opponent’s
shot
2. Balance
Refers to a person’s ability to maintain their equilibrium
when moving or when they are in a stationary position.
Some examples of balance are:
• performing a v-sit on the beam or on the floor.
• landing after a rebound in basketball.
• re-gaining balance after ‘stepping in opposition when serving a
ball.
3. Coordination
Refers to a person’s ability to perform complex movements due to
the working together of the nervous system and the muscles of the
body. This is also referred to as a person’s ability to do two things at
the same time.
Some examples of coordination are:
• catching a ball in a lacrosse scoop while running.
• dribbling a ball while moving.
• hitting a pickleball while moving forward on the court.
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MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
4. Power
Refers to a person’s ability to transfer energy into force at
a rapid pace also known as explosive body movement. Power is
considered to be a combination of strength and speed. It has also
been defined as the ability to exert muscle force quickly for this
reason some consider it to be a combination of skill and health-
related physical fitness.
Some examples of power include putting the shot and vertical
jumping.
There are, however, many different types of power and total
assessment would require many different tests.
5. Speed
It refers to a person’s ability to move fast. Speed combined with
strength will provide power and force. This is a skill-related
component of physical fitness that relates to the ability to perform
a movement within a short period of time. There are many different
types of speed such as running speed, swimming speed, speed
of hand or foot movement to name but a few. Among athletes a 40-
yard dash is often used to measure speed. There are a wide variety
of tests of speed that are specific to different movements and
activities.
Some examples of speed are:
• running a fast-break in basketball
• moving a racquet fast through the ‘hitting zone’ to hit a ball harder
• running fast to catch a Frisbee during an ultimate Frisbee game.
6. Reaction Time
is a skill-related component of physical fitness that relates
to the time between one of your senses recognizing a stimulus and
your body moving in response. One example of reaction time is
moving your foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal when
reacting to a situation that requires a person to stop a car.
However, like other skill-related fitness tests there are many
different types of reaction time and total assessment of reaction
time would require many different tests.
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MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
7. Spatial Awareness
Refers to a person’s ability to know where they are in
relationship to teammates, opponents, boundary lines, goals and
other objects. Some examples of spatial awareness are:
• knowing where you are in relationship to the end of the balance
beam when walking backwards
• knowing where you are in relationship to teammates so that you
can set them a ball in volleyball
• when playing basketball, knowing where the defender is so that
you can dribble around them or shoot
• Knowing where you are when you are upside down on the rings.
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MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
1. PFT sit-up test (Crunches)
The sit-up test is a measure of the endurance of the abdominal and hip-flexor muscles. The aim
of this test is to perform as many sit-ups as you can in two minutes.
• Record how may sit ups you can in 2 minutes.
2. Push Up Fitness Test
The push-up fitness test (also called the press-up test) measures upper body strength and
endurance. There are many variations of the push-up test, with differences in the placement of
the hands, how far to dip, the duration of the test and the method of counting the number of
completed push-ups.
• Record how may push up you can in 2 minutes.
3. Vertical Jump Test (Sargent Jump, Vertical Leap)
The vertical jump test is a test of lower body power. The test was first described nearly 100 years
ago (Sargent, 1921). The procedure below describes the method used for directly measuring
the vertical jump height jumped.
• procedure: the student stands side on to a wall and reaches up with the hand closest to the wall.
Keeping the feet flat on the ground, the point of the fingertips is marked or recorded.
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MODULE: OLPHYE001 – PHYSICAL FITNESS
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