Reaching and maintaining physical fitness is crucial to long-term health and happiness. Exercise helps increase energy, lift moods and protect you against diseases; it may even extend lifespan. While various factors contribute to fitness, getting regular exercise can help maintain a healthy weight by lowering blood pressure and blood sugar levels, strengthening bones, decreasing risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes as well as improving balance, flexibility and endurance.
Fitness refers to being able to complete everyday activities with sufficient strength and energy for living life to its fullest. But fitness encompasses much more; one’s level of fitness may differ dramatically between disciplines (for instance a ballet dancer can be more physically fit than a bodybuilder). Fitness doesn’t have one singular definition as people often mistakenly believe. Instead, fitness levels can be determined using multiple variables, including one’s capacity for sustained strenuous activity, muscle capacity for repetitive work performance, heart capacity and oxygen-rich blood delivery into tissues in all tissues.
Long-term physical activity that increases cardiovascular fitness is known as aerobic fitness. Jogging long distances or taking an hour-long stroll are both excellent ways of improving aerobic fitness and keeping heart and lungs in peak condition – essential elements for enjoying sports such as basketball or football that require running or long jumps, like recreational swimming, biking and walking.
Muscular or skeletal fitness refers to the strength and endurance of muscles and bones, including endurance and quickness of movement. Activities to enhance muscular fitness include performing repetitive movements with high repetitions such as sit-ups or push-ups; improve muscular flexibility through activities like yoga, tai chi and stretching exercises can help as well.
Aerobic or cardiovascular endurance refers to your ability for sustained exertion of several minutes that requires oxygen-rich blood delivery from heart and lungs, in particular during sustained efforts that use up a considerable amount of oxygen. One common measure of cardiovascular endurance is called VO2 max or maximum oxygen uptake which measures how much oxygen your body can take in at any given exertion level.
Flexibility or joint mobility refers to the range of motion in your joints. To increase it, stretching exercises as well as participating in sports or activities that require movement such as karate or ballet may help. Balance or stabilization training and engaging in activities like standing on one foot for extended periods (e.g. tai chi) may help. But ultimately the key to being physically fit lies in creating an enjoyable workout routine that you are willing to commit to long term – try different activities until you find what speaks to you; find a buddy or join a group so as not to lose motivation!
