With the temptation to live a sedentary lifestyle and eat unhealthy foods at present, it is no longer surprising to see a huge chunk of the population becoming either overweight or obese. If you are one of those who have started neglecting your health and fitness, now is the time to get back on track.
Begin by understanding exactly what it means to be fit and healthy. In that case, you should know that among the things you should focus on, as far as your health and fitness, are concerned would be the following key components.
Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance is one key element of health and fitness. It refers to the ability of your body to do submaximal exertion for an extended period or to function at a submaximal level continuously for a prolonged period without the risk of fatigue. To put it simply, it is your body’s ability to do aerobic exercises for a long period.
It greatly relies on your blood vessels, lungs, and heart as they work harmoniously to promote the transport of nutrients and oxygen properly to body tissues. These vital body parts should also work together to remove metabolic waste.
To measure your cardio endurance, you can use a couple of methods – among which are VO2 max, graded exercise, and heart rate control efficiency. You also get the chance to improve your cardiovascular endurance by strengthening your circulatory or cardiovascular system’s function using a wide range of exercises. This can lead to a great improvement in your ability to do high-intensity and prolonged exercises.
Flexibility
Another essential component of health and fitness that you should focus on is flexibility. It refers to the range of movement that your joints can easily access. There is a wide range of exercises that you can do to improve your flexibility – among which are stretching, yoga, tai chi, and Pilates.
Stretching is a good flexibility exercise since aside from boosting your range of motion, you will also enjoy better posture through it. You can also use stretching to execute activities requiring a higher level of flexibility, such as doing household chores. Apart from the activities that mainly target your flexibility, it is also advisable to incorporate balance exercises into your daily routines.
The reason is that there is a chance for your balance to deteriorate as you age, resulting in fractures and falls. It would be best for you to protect yourself from those issues through the right exercises.
Body Composition
You can define body composition as the proportion of fat-free mass and fat within your body. When calculating your body composition, your body’s bones, organs, and muscles should be greatly considered. You will know that you are physically fit and healthy if your muscle proportion is greater than fat.
Note that habitual physical exercises and activities can result in better body composition. However, there are also other factors that contribute to it including your diet, genetics, gender, and age.
Muscle Strength
You also get to improve your overall health and fitness by improving your muscle strength. You can do that through resistance or weight training, which is frequently known as anaerobic exercise. It is composed of high-intensity and short-duration movements that depend on sources of energy that are available right away while requiring no or just a little amount of oxygen.
High-intensity trainings are beneficial as they can build the strength of your muscles. Stronger muscles are necessary for bodybuilders and athletes. Seniors and children can also benefit from a higher level of muscle endurance and strength. The kind of support provided by your strong muscles will help you live, play, and work more efficiently.
Core Strength
The strength of your core is also vital for several valid reasons. Aside from providing you with balance, it can also support the movements occurring in the upper part of your body. It is necessary to improve it as it stabilizes your spine when doing certain movements, thereby lowering your risk of suffering from discs and ligaments. Core strength is also what you need to improve if you want to have better posture, stamina and endurance and a lower risk of stress fractures and back pain.