The Principles of Physical Fitness

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The Principles of Physical Fitness

• Physical Activity and Exercise

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Physical Activity

• Activities that involve whole body movement.
  (Ex walking to class, swinging on a swing set)

Exercise

• Whole body movements that are purposeful, usually
  rhythmic, and sustained for at least 20 minutes.
  (Ex walking, jogging, dance class)

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FITT Principle

• The FITT Principle gives you the basic
  information needed to maximize the potential of
  your physical activity and exercise. It reminds
  you of the Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type
  of exercises needed to give your body the most
  benefits.

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Frequency

• Frequency means how often or frequently
• To be healthiest, you should exercise 5 7 days
  every week.

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Intensity

• Intensity means how hard or difficult
• For the best benefit, you should work between 60
  and 80 of your maximum effort.
• How can you tell how intense your workout is?
• CardioSweat, difficulty of breathing, muscle
  fatigue, heart rate. The most accurate way is to
  check your heart rate.
• Weight lifting/resistance training how much
  weight you are lifting or how many repetitions
  are you doing?

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Time

• Time for how long should you exercise each day?
• For the best benefit, you should exercise for 30
  to 60 minutes each day.
• Cardio you want your heart rate elevated into
  the 60-80 range for at least 20 min. But more
  is better as long as you dont overdo it.
• Weightlifting time is not the major factor.
  Instead you want to work each major muscle group
  with at least 2 different exercises.

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Type

• Type what different kinds of exercises should
  you do?
• The answer to this question depends partially on
  your individual fitness goals, but first you need
  to understand the main components (or parts) of
  being physically fit.

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5 Components of Physical Fitness

• Cardiorespiratory Endurance (CRE) how long your
  heart and lungs can perform at an elevated
  intensity. Ex cross country running.
• Muscular Endurance how long a muscle can perform
  one specific task (same movement, same
  resistance). Ex flexed arm hang.
• Muscular Strength how much force a muscle can
  exert in one motion. Ex lifting as much weight
  as you possibly can one time only.

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5 Components of Physical Fitness

• Flexibility the range of motion in your joints,
  or how far you can stretch. Ex Trying to do a
  split. This component focuses on preventing
  injuries.
• Body composition how much of your body is made
  up of fat, and how much is made up of lean body
  tissue (muscle, bone, tendons, ligaments). Ex
  I have 16 body fat, therefore 84 of my body is
  lean body tissue. Women should be 20 25 body
  fat (athletes 10 25).
• Men should be 5 20 body fat (athletes 7
  19).

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Type

• Type So, what types of exercises should you do?
• Cardio any exercise that can be maintained for
  at least 20 minutes, involves moving your whole
  body, and elevates both your heart and breathing
  rates.
• These exercises will boost your CRE and will also
  burn fat to improve your body composition.
• Try to start out easy (20 min. walk) and work
  your way up by adding jogging gradually.

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Type

• Resistance Training/Weight lifting any exercise
  that requires your muscles to exert force.
• Resistance training of any kind will help develop
  both muscular strength and endurance. It will
  also build muscle to improve your body
  composition.
• If your goal is to improve strength choose
  heavier weights and do lower reps (3 sets of
  5-8), gradually increasing the weight.
• If your goal is to improve endurance choose
  lighter weights and do higher reps (3 sets of
  10-15).

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Type

• Stretching
• Stretching should be done before and after a
  workout of any type. Stretching exercises
  improve your flexibility.
• Stretching also helps to prevent and/or relieve
  soreness and also often alleviates stress.
• When stretching, go only as far as you can with
  mild discomfort. Try to breathe normally. It
  may be possible to push the stretch deeper as you
  exhale.

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Type

• Variety Whether its cardio or weightlifting,
  keep switching things up!!!
• Your body is an amazing machine and will adjust
  to whatever you do frequently. If you continue
  to repeat the same workout over and over again it
  will become too easy and youll no longer gain
  the same benefits.
• In addition, youll easily get bored and lose
  interest.
• Have FUN!
• Pick activities you enjoy. Exercise isnt
  supposed to be torture.
• Odds are, if you enjoy it, youll work harder and
  keep at it longer.

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Extra Credit

• Research any of the following types of exercises.
  Find out
• Its origins, who created it when/where/why
• The basic principles/beliefs behind why it works
• A few of the most popular moves
• Pilates -- Step aerobics
• Yoga -- Jazzercise
• Tae Bo
• Karate
• Tae Kwon Do