I had to give Osvaldo a fitness program so he can follow to be physically fit to join the arm force. So what are the major components of a fitness program I had to include in Osvaldo fitness programs?
To have a complete understanding, I will discuss the meaning of exercise (both aerobic and anaerobic) and the health benefits, the components of physical fitness, fitness program and what to include in a fitness program.
This was my third time as medical personnel to come across a case like Osvaldo’s. Osvaldo just graduated from high school and wanted to be a member of the army. He couldn’t and that was the reason he came to the hospital, so a medical expert could help him with a way forward.
He said you must meet the height and weight requirements for your age before one can be eligible to be in the army.
To begin, what is fitness?
Physical fitness refers to a person’s overall health and well-being, as well as their capacity to take part in sports, jobs, and daily activities. Physical fitness is gained through a combination of healthy nutrition, moderate-intensity physical exercise, and adequate rest, as well as a planned recovery scheme.
Types of fitness
1. Cardiorespiratory endurance
The ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen and energy for a long time of physical exercise is known as cardiorespiratory endurance or cardio. Your heart, blood arteries, and lungs are primarily responsible for this.
Body mass affects it as well. For instance, the ability to jog for a long time without becoming out of breath.
2. Muscular endurance
This is the ability to operate a muscle area for an extended amount of time without developing painful muscles or losing strength, such as cycling for a long distance. It is possible to have great endurance for one muscular activity and low endurance for another because this is particular to a muscle type. Consider a weight lifter who focuses solely on their arms, resulting in low sit-up endurance.
3. Muscular strength
The maximum force that a muscle group can generate. The most obvious example is the capacity to lift weights.
4. Flexibility
The range of motion that your joints and muscles can attain is known as flexibility or limberness. Stretching, yoga, gymnastics, and dance are just a few of the physical activities that might help you become more flexible.
5. Body composition
The ratio of fat to non-fat mass in your body is called body composition. Physical exercise burns calories and increases your metabolic rate, which can help you lose weight and reduce the percentage of your body that is fat.
If you’re overweight, physical exercise will make you notice a variety of health benefits and an improvement in your physical performance, such as jogging endurance.
6. Speed
It is the potential to make fast movements. For instance, consider a runner who improves their 400-meter time.
7. Physical intelligence;
Physical intelligence, often called kinesthetic intelligence, refers to the capacity to use your body with precision and accuracy. Some sorts of physical activity, particularly sports, can help with this.
Elements or components of physical fitness
What makes up physical fitness? For clarity, I will take you through the components of physical fitness. According to the American College of Sport Medicine, 2013, many fitness programs include.
1. Cardiorespiratory endurance
Aerobic activity, such as walking, jogging, or biking, increases your heart rate and breathing, which helps you build cardiorespiratory strength. Aerobic exercise is a type of exercise that lasts longer than 2 minutes and can range in intensity from low to high.
It raises the pulse and breathing rates to fulfill increased oxygen needs in functioning muscles. Regular, moderate aerobic activity about thirty minutes, five days a week trains the body to distribute oxygen more efficiently, strengthening the heart and lungs and lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Strengthening your heart muscle and increasing the amount of blood pumped with each beating improves your ability to provide oxygen and nutrients to your body’s cells while also removing carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes.
It also causes healthy people to have a lower resting heart rate. Aside from the cardiovascular benefits of aerobic training, it is also a fantastic strategy to maintain a healthy weight.
2. Muscle strength
Weight or resistance training, often known as anaerobic exercise, is used to build and maintain muscle strength. Anaerobic exercise comprises high-intensity, short-duration movements that rely on readily available energy sources and require little or no oxygen.
Short, high-intensity activities are used in this sort of training to improve muscle strength. Muscle strength and endurance are important for everyone, not just athletes and bodybuilders.
It’s important for kids, seniors, and everyone in between. Your muscles assist you, allowing you to work, play, and live more efficiently.
Resistance machines, resistance bands, free weights, and other tools are frequently used in strength training. To improve your muscles, however, you do not need to pay for a gym membership or pricey equipment.
Weights constructed from household items, such as plastic bottles filled with sand, can also be used. You can also build muscle with your body weight by doing push-ups, leg squats, stomach crunches, and other workouts.
Strength exercise done at least twice a week can help to build muscle and bone strength. Diabetes, arthritis, dementia, hypertension, and a variety of other health issues can all benefit from it. During a weight-loss program, strength exercise can also help you keep muscle mass.
3. Flexibility
The range of motion available to your joints is referred to as flexibility. Stretching exercises, such as yoga, tai chi, and Pilates, help to increase this aspect of fitness.
Stretching not only increases your range of motion but also improves your posture and makes it easier to execute activities that demand more flexibility, such as housework.
Balance exercises should be included in the daily routine of older persons, besides flexibility exercises. With aging, balance deteriorates, which can lead to falls and fractures.
4. Body composition
The percentage of fat and fat-free mass (which includes bones, muscles, and organs) in your body is called body composition. Compared to an unfit individual of the same weight, a healthy and physically fit individual has a higher proportion of muscle and a lower proportion of fat.
Although regular physical activity can help to maintain healthy body composition, other factors, such as age, gender, genetics, and food, all play a role.
5. Agility
Agility refers to a person’s capacity to change the direction of his body in the smallest amount of time, whether on the ground or in the air. Many elements influence the body’s agility; the most important is the neurological system’s integrity, muscle capacity, as well as type of activity, and the speed with which the body responds to it.
6. Speed fitness
Speed refers to the time it takes a muscle to exert the required physical effort. It is influenced by a variety of characteristics, including muscle fibers, strength, and flexibility, as well as a strong will.
What is the importance of physical fitness in our life?
Here I will take you through the benefits of physical exercise, which can be financial and health wise.
•It saves money
Chronic diseases account for 7 out of 10 deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while treating chronic diseases accounts for 86 percent of U.S. healthcare costs.
Although you can’t avoid getting some diseases, you may lower your risk of developing them, such as heart disease and diabetes, by avoiding dangerous behaviors and leading a healthy lifestyle.
Making healthy choices, such as getting regular exercise, can lower your risk of developing a variety of health problems and complications, which can lead to costly medications.
•It increases your life expectancy
Regular physical activity has been shown in many studies to increase life expectancy and lower the chance of premature death. Although it isn’t easy to convert hours of physical exercise into additional hours of life, data suggests that those who are more active are healthier and have more days on earth.
•It reduces your risk of injury
Your Muscle strength, bone density, flexibility, and stability all improve with regular exercise and physical activity. Being physically fit, especially as you get older, can reduce your risk of accidents. Having powerful muscles and better balance, for example, means you are less likely to trip and fall. Having stronger bones implies you are less likely to get bone injuries if you fall.
•Helps to improve your quality of life
The effects of a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of physical activity can be detrimental to your health. Physical inactivity has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, a variety of chronic diseases, and mental health problems.
Also, exercising has been confirmed to boost mood and mental health and fertility.
•Stay active
Living a healthy lifestyle allows you to partake in activities that cause a certain level of physical fitness. Cycling on a mountain top, for example, is a satisfying experience that delivers a sense of success and great scenery, but some people cannot do so because of physical restrictions.
People who hardly exercise find even going around the zoo with their family or playing on the playground with their children a little difficult.
•Improves your health
Physical fitness has a variety of health benefits. Muscles and bones are strengthened by regular exercise and physical activity. It boosts your respiratory, cardiovascular, and general wellness. Being healthy health-wise, lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and various malignancies can all be aided by staying active.
What is a fitness program?
A fitness program is planned to help you or any other person improve their health and physical condition. Your diet has to be right and you require a level of self-discipline.
What should fitness programs include?
Specificity is important to a fitness program because it enables the body to attain the fitness levels required. The idea of specificity is deceptively simple, but it is the driving force behind all strength training improvements.
The concept of specificity implies that the body gets benefits from exercise based on how it exercises. This principle is significant because appropriately applying it will cause a focused, efficient, and effective program that will produce the desired results.
Failure to use it will cause a waste of time and energy, as well as frustration, as gains will not materialize. Your fitness program should include the following;
•Frequency
This refers to the number of activity sessions weekly.
•Intensity
This is about how high of demand the activity will be.
•Time
How long the activity session will last?
•Type
The mode of activity. Will it be yoga, dancing, lifting weights or walking, etc.?
•Enjoyment
It is unquestionably best to make a schedule for tasks that you want to do. Enjoy!
Before a fitness exercise,
- Prioritize having good quality sleep
- Drinking water plays an important role in your fitness program.
- Do not eat too much. Take a snack.
- Wear the right clothes and footwear, e.g. sports bra
- Do not skip warm up even if you are to exercise only for 2 minutes.
After the fitness exercise:
- Stretch out in order to cool down.
- Use your foam roller to help you recover and minimize soreness
- Pre-workout snack is optional but after the workout is a must for fast recovery.
- Keep the record of what you did to help you keep challenging yourself
- Take a cool shower if your workout was in the heat
Health benefits of fitness programs
1. Exercise controls weight
Exercising can help you avoid gaining weight or keep it off once you’ve lost it. You lose calories when you take part in physical exercise. The higher the intensity of your activity, the more calories you will burn.
2. Exercise fights, health conditions and diseases
Are you worried about heart disease? Do you want to prevent high blood pressure? Being active increases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the good cholesterol, and lowers harmful triglycerides, regardless of your current weight. This two-pronged attack maintains your blood flowing freely, lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Exercising regularly can help prevent many health problems like;
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- Type 2 diabetes
- Metabolic syndrome
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Arthritis
- Many types of cancers.
3. Exercise helps to boost energy
Are you bored with grocery shopping or domestic chores? Regular physical activity can help you strengthen your muscles and increase your stability.
Exercise helps your cardiovascular system perform more efficiently by delivering oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. You’ll have more energy to tackle daily duties as your heart and lung health improve.
4. Exercise improves one’s mood
Do you require an emotional boost? Or are you looking for a way to unwind after a long day? A workout at the gym or just strolling around can assist. Physical activity releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel happier, more relaxed, and less nervous.
When you exercise consistently, you may feel better about yourself and your appearance, which can raise your confidence and self-esteem.
5. Exercise makes you sleep better
Have trouble sleeping? Regular physical activity can make sleep earlier, sleep better, and sleep deeper. You should avoid exercising too close to your sleeping time if you don’t want to be too energized to sleep.
6. Exercise can spice up your sex life
Do you find it difficult to enjoy physical closeness because you’re fatigued or out of shape? Regular physical activity can make your sex life more interesting by increasing your energy levels and increasing your confidence in your physical attractiveness.
However, it entails more than that. Women’s arousal levels may be stimulated by regular physical activity. Men who exercise often are more helpful than men who do not. They are less likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction than men who do not.
7. Exercising can be enjoyable
Physical activity and exercise can be joyful. They allow you to relax, enjoy the outdoors, or simply partake in activities that bring you delight. In a fun social context, physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends.
To enroll in a dance class, go trekking, or join a soccer team. Find a physical activity that you enjoy and do it often.
What is weight training?
Weight training is a type of strength training that includes the use of weights as resistance. In the same way, aerobic conditioning develops your heart, weight training puts stress on your muscles, causing them to adapt and grow stronger.
Free weights, such as barbells and dumbbells, or weight machines, can be used for weight training. Other sorts of resistance workouts, such as utilizing your body weight or resistance bands, can also help you gain strength.
Health benefits of weight training.
Weight training is a form of anaerobic exercise which does not need oxygen but burns the already stored energy in the muscles at a fast rate.
These help to improve bone health, cardiovascular health, lower abdominal fats, increase flexibility of the body, elevate body image and enhance brain health.
Let’s look at some benefits closely.
1. It keeps your bones strong and healthy
Your bones, like your brain, need to be pushed to stay sharp. After the age of 30, you lose a tiny percentage of your bone density each year. Keep in mind that women account for 80% of osteoporosis occurrences due to bone loss.
2. It prevents diseases
According to Phillips, the research community understands that any type of movement, from strength training to cardio, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Type 2 diabetes, cancer, and all the typical chronic diseases.
Running is said to be healthy for your heart, brain, waistline, and mental wellness. That holds for weight training as well.
3. It regulates your insulin and lowers inflammation
Strength training not only prevents chronic disease but also burns glucose, which is good news for people with Type 2 diabetes who must constantly monitor their blood sugar levels.
Lifting weights can even help you battle inflammation, which is linked to a variety of ailments. Regular resistance training sessions, about twice a week, have been shown to reduce inflammation in overweight women in studies.
4. It boosts your metabolism
Every form of exercise aids in boosting your metabolism. After weight training, your body continues to burn calories as it returns to a more rested condition, as it does with both aerobic activity and weight training. According to the American Council on Exercise, the process is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.
When you conduct strength, weight, or resistance training, however, your body requires more energy dependent on how much energy you’re exerting. As a result, depending on how much energy you put into the workout, you can amp up the effect. That means more calories are spent both during and after the workout, while your body recovers to a resting state.
5. It boosts confidence
Thorne has been weightlifting for about two decades. He agreed with Hopaluk that the activity was life-changing.
Lifting weights has unquestionably influenced and directed my life path. Every time I decide to exercise weights and accomplish a new personal best, it boosts my self-esteem and confidence, Thorne explained. It has also assisted him in maintaining his weight since he was around 20 years old.
6. Weight training has cardiovascular health benefits
Muscle-strengthening activities, besides aerobic exercise, can help lower blood pressure and lower the risk of hypertension and heart disease.
7. It leads to weight loss
Strength training can assist exercisers to lose weight faster than aerobic exercise alone, according to Pire, since it increases surplus post-exercise oxygen consumption. After a resistance or strengthening workout, your metabolism stays active for considerably longer than after an aerobic session.
This happens because lean tissue is more active. If you have more muscle mass, you will burn more calories even when sleeping than if you don’t.
Wrapping up
Before starting a physical fitness program, it is important to check with a doctor, especially if you are 50 years and older. The doctor will test your blood pressure, cholesterol level and will guide you with recommendations to follow prior to starting a tour fitness program.
Otherwise, you will put yourself at risk of danger, such as heart attack and stroke.
Osvaldo was overweight and eager to lose some pounds. Since this was my third time dealing with such a situation, I gave him a fitness program. I included aerobic fitness (swimming and cycling), strength training, core exercises, flexibility, and training in his fitness plan.
Before Osvaldo got started, I assigned him to assess his fitness level. I designed his fitness program, and he assembled his equipment, and we monitored his progress for 4 weeks from the day he started. These were the tips I gave him. He was determined and consistent. Before we knew it, he had lost a reasonable amount of weight and was now eligible for his dream job.
Read more on: 14 Health Benefits of Exercise
Walking as a Cardio-respiratory Exercise
Forms of Aerobic Activity that Promote Cardio-respiratory Fitness
FAQS
How do you maintain your fitness?
- Exercise daily
- Eat the right foods
- Always get some sleep
- Keep track of calories and food intake per day
- Stay motivated
What is the meaning of personal fitness programs?
What does it mean to be fit? It isn’t all about losing weight. Living life to the fullest and making the most of what you have is what it means to be fit. You’ll learn about bodily functions, safety, nutrition, objectives, and longevity strategies.
A personal fitness program is a strategy that outlines the physical exercises you should do to achieve your goals, as well as the time you should spend doing them.
They tailor each program to the individual’s needs and objectives. People who want to gain muscle, for example, will require an entirely different strategy than those who want to reduce weight.
What are the physical programs?
A physical activity program should comprise the following;
- Activity like climbing stairs or walking around throughout the day
- Strength training like lifting lightweights
- Flexibility exercises like stretching
- Aerobic exercises like swimming and dancing
Many fitness programs include weight training, which
- A) Is a form of aerobic exercise involving the muscle
- B) Helps to increase muscular strength and endurance.
- C) Helps to increase cardiorespiratory capacity and endurance.
- D) Can be taken for aerobic exercise, when done regularly.
Answer: Many fitness programs include weight training, which helps to increase muscular strength and endurance.
A yoga class is an example of a type of activity
A yoga class is an example of a type of activity that can improve one of the following characteristics?
A).Endurance
B).Flexibility
C).Strength
D).Aerobic fitness
Answer: A yoga class is an example of a type of activity that athletes use to improve flexibility.
