What Is FITNESS?
FITNESS, can mean many different things. It has different meaning for different people. Some people would define fitness as the ability to do certain things well. For others, it means having strong bones and muscles. Still others believe that being fit means following an exercise program, eating right and getting regular sleep.
When you talk about fitness, you generally are referring to how you physically feel. Fitness is a general state of health and well being and, more specifically, your ability to do specific parts of activities, sports and daily tasks. General fitness encompasses all of the components of good health that affect your ability to get through your day and remain active. Physical fitness consists of your heart rate, blood pressure, bone density, metabolism, etc. Generally, physical fitness is achieved through light-to-moderate exercise, proper nutrition and enough rest.
Fitness primarily focuses on how you feel rather than how much you weigh. When you lift weights, you are actually strengthening your muscles, anaerobic metabolism and your body’s overall strength. As muscle strength increases, your metabolic rate also increases, which leads to the burning of calories. Strength training, on the other hand, is primarily done to increase muscle size and mass and to improve muscular endurance. Strength training exercises result in an increased ability to produce and use force, which is necessary for athletic performance and competitive sports.
If we consider how to become physically fit, we need to pay attention to what types of activity produce the best results. Aerobic exercise is the most basic form of physical fitness because it uses your aerobic muscles to generate movement. This type of exercise will help you increase your heart rate. When your heart rate increases, oxygen gets to your muscles and they become stronger. Therefore, by increasing your heart rate you will be able to do more intense physical fitness activities such as running, swimming and biking.
If you are in good shape, you should already have a good muscular endurance level. For those who are not fit, strength training can increase muscle size and mass. By working definition through weightlifting, you can build a muscular endurance level that will carry you through many athletic endeavors. You can train for crossfit by focusing on functional training using free weights, elastic bands and resistance bands. Crossfitters are very fit, but they are also very strong. In fact, crossfitters compete not only for winning events, but also for their body weight and endurance.
Fitness is important to everyone, whether you are trying to lose weight, gain muscle or develop a functional strength and endurance level. We all need to have a basic level of fitness in order to survive. When we think about how to become physically fit, we must keep our mind on how to maximize our healthy choices such as eating right and getting enough sleep. Exercise is the best way to improve our health. Whether it be in the form of jogging, weightlifting, rowing or crossfit, your health will improve if you make an effort to enjoy yourself.