A healthy body should be able to take on whatever is demanded of it. Unfortunately, too many people have physical limitations that stop them from being as fit and healthy as they should. Recognizing these weaknesses and doing something about them are crucial in order to protect your quality of life.
Physical fitness can be measured by assessing these 4 key components of health:
- Cardiopulmonary fitness: This is defined as the ability of the heart, lungs, an blood vessels to supply oxygen-rich red blood cells to the working muscle tissues, and the ability of the muscles to use the delivered oxygen to produce energy for movement. Once of the most efficient ways to improve cardiopulmonary fitness is through High-Intensity Interval Training (also known as HIIT).
- Muscle strength and endurance: This is defined as the ability our your muscles to exert a force (e.g., pushing or pulling), and endurance is the measurement of how long your muscles can exert this force without tiring. One of the best ways to improve muscle strength and endurance is weight training with moderate weight (i.e., not too heavy and not too light) with shorts rests between sets.
- Body composition: This is defined as the percentage of your body-weight composed of muscle, bone, water, and fat. Most people nowadays carry too much fat, especially around the waist. This is detrimental to our health, and every effort should be used to reduce it. The best way to reduce fat is not in the gym, but rather, in the kitchen. One of the most effective ways to reduce excess body-fat is to adopt a sugar-free and grain-free diet, with lots of vegetables and lean protein.
- Flexibility: This is defined as the range of motion across of joint. Not only is it more difficult to perform a task when one is not flexible, it also increases the chance of injury. Regular stretching exercises can help increase the range of motion so that muscle, ligaments, and tendons can perform at their best.
