How Do You Know You're Fit?

Being “fit” can have a lot of different connotations and how one person might define it can totally vary from another’s perspective. As a certified personal trainer and fitness enthusiast, I would argue that being “fit” is multifaceted and includes a variety of components—each just as important as the next.  

LET’S UNPACK THE 8 COMPONENTS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS:

1. Cardiovascular Endurance: also known as aerobic endurance, is the ability of the heart and lungs to work together to provide the needed oxygen to fuel the body during sustained workloads. In other words, it’s your ability to effectively take oxygen in and supply it to your body’s tissues. Traditional cardio activities to help improve your cardiovascular endurance (and fitness) include jogging, brisk walking, cycling, working out on the elliptical or other cardio machine or participating in an aerobic class.

2. Muscular Strength: the amount of force a specific muscle group can produce. Think conventional weight lifting and challenging your muscles with heavier weight. The more weight you use the stronger your muscles will get over time.

3. Muscular Endurance: this is the ability of the muscles to perform continuously without fatiguing. Think maximum repetitions such as the number of sit-ups, push-ups, squats, length of plank you can do in a certain amount of time.

4. Flexibility: this is the ability of each joint to move through the available range of motion. There are so many benefits to flexibility when it comes to physical fitness. By maintaining a full range of motion through your joints, you reduce the risk of injury and ease the process of aging. YES, please! Flexibility is essential to your movement and can affect your balance, coordination and agility.

5. Agility: this is the ability to move quickly and easily or the ability to rapidly change the position of the entire body in space with speed and accuracy. A functional example of why this is important is being able to catch yourself when you trip or dropping something and being able to catch it quickly.

6. Balance: this is the ability to control your body’s position. If this is the component that needs the most work, yoga is a great practice to incorporate into your fitness routine.

7. Coordination: this generally refers to moving two or more parts of your body at the same time to achieve a specific goal.  In other words, the ability to combine multiple movements into a single fluid, smooth and efficient movement. Additionally, hand/foot-eye coordination involves coordinating our body (usually our hands or feet) with our eyes.

9. Body Composition: this is the amount of fat mass compared to lean muscle mass, bones and organs. Working on a better body compensation can include daily exercise, but it also relies heavy on your nutrition and what you’re putting in your body.

Which of these components are you strongest in and which of them could you improve on?  Mix it up and remember to give yourself grace along the way!

My Stronger Together Online Membership Community includes access to 100+ workout videos  that are customized to include ALL of these components.  We incorporate and encourage a wide variety of workouts that you can do in the comfort of your own home to improve your overall fitness.  

My 6-week nutrition program called Complete Nutrition for Life will help make sure you are properly fueling your body to help meet your body composition goals. No more fad diets or miracle fixes that make promises that don’t deliver. This course will deliver results that will last while boosting your confidence in knowing WHAT to eat. We cover everything from popular diet myths to the importance of hydration, mindful eating, macronutrients and how to properly fuel your body while still eating, enjoying food, and feeling great along the way!