Fitness levels remain a very personal thing, and it’s the individual who dictates how fit they want to be.  There are several categories of fitness and although it seems like a lot to try to be the best at all five, just being aware of each level and knowing where you are at, is a good start.

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Cardiovascular Fitness

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The term cardiovascular relates to the heart (cardio) and blood vessels (vascular), and is used in reference to how effectively the heart pumps blood, and how it then is pumped through the body. So when we refer to cardio fitness, we are talking about working the heart and in turn pumping the blood….so it’s all the activities that work this system harder; like running, cycling, dancing, aerobics etc.

 

The idea of improving your cardio fitness is to get your heart pumping at a higher level and to keep it there for an extended period of time, approx. 45 mins to an hour

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Running - Running is all about cardio fitness, most runners have high levels of cardio fitness.  Most of us know when we are working at a high cardio level for ourselves, we should feel our heart pumping, we should be breathing heavy and we should be hot or sweaty. 

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Cardio Fitness activities reduce the risk of cardio vascular diseases and high blood pressure.  They  also reduces the risk of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.

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Muscular Strength Fitness

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This is when we do exercise or activities to build and strengthen our muscles and muscle groups. It usually means giving your muscles a resistance (weight) and getting them to lift it or move it over several repetitions. After a few weeks of doing this resistance work, the muscle responds, by growing and getting stronger, you then need to add more resistance to continue to grow the muscle and strengthen it. Strength training is good for toning and the stronger and bigger the muscles the more calories they burn. Strength training is also good for maintaining bone structure.

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Muscular Endurance Fitness

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This is where your muscles are resisting continually for quite a long time, so building muscle as well as endurance. This builds the muscle in a different way and often builds a leaner muscle. Muscular endurance activities like cross country running, marathon training aka long distance running (over 2 hours) where the muscles are always recruiting to keep you upright.  Rowing machines and steppers for longer periods also are good for muscular endurance. Muscular endurance fitness is good for reducing the risk of cardio vascular disease, diabetes, and obesity related conditions

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Flexibility

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Flexibility refers to just being able to go thorough daily life, moving freely and not be in pain. Ideally we want every joint in our body to perform the FROM (Full Range of Movement), and flexibility allows that. To be able to get in and out of the car without pain, go up and down steps, get out of bed etc, once we have trouble doing those things or experience pain doing them,  then it is time to look at working on your flexibility. Stretching after sporting activities, yoga and Pilates or exercise in water are all really good at improving flexibility.

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Body Composition

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Body composition refers to the make up of your body...your body is made up of bone, muscle, blood (and fluids) and yes it has fat as well. Fat is vital and needed, a low body fat can be just as dangerous as a high body fat, so all we need to be in the recommended range, and yes all the above fitness activities do help that.

However, it is still true that WE ARE WHAT WE EAT, so high fat foods, greasy takeaways and lots of sugar and alcohol are not good for our body compositions. Not all fat people drop dead of heart attacks, or have high cholesterol or high blood pressure and diabetes…in fact I know lots of active, fit people who suffer from some of those diseases.

It is so important to have annual health checks, go to the doctor, get your blood pressure checked, and make sure you know what your cholesterol levels are.

Body fat scales are good for this, because if you are exercising to lose weight or reduce your body fat levels, then you need to know that all the work you are doing is correct, often with body compositions it just increasing your exercise and cutting out some bad food selections from your diet.

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Balance exercises

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Improving your balance makes you feel steadier on your feet and helps prevent falls. It's especially important as we get older, when the systems that help us maintain balance—our vision, our inner ear, and our leg muscles and joints—tend to break down.

 

Conclusion

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Be yourself, take care of yourself and most importnatly enjoy!!