There
are many components to a healthy fitness program: Nutrition,
Sleep or Rest, Cardiovascular Endurance, Muscular Endurance,
Muscular Strength and Flexibility.
Cardiovascular
Endurance is the body's capability to do large muscle work
over a period of time.
Endurance
is dependent on the cardiovascular system's ability to pump
blood and deliver oxygen through your body.
Cardiovascular
endurance should be the most vital element of your overall
fitness program. Improving cardiovascular endurance not only
increases the supply of oxygen and energy to your body, it
decreases your risk of diseases that are life threatening,
such as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. When
a heart is well conditioned, it is like any other muscle -
it becomes stronger and more efficient. A normal heart beats
at a rate of approximately 70 beats per minute at rest or
about 100,000 beats a day. The well conditioned heart can
actually beat as few as 40 times a minute at rest or approximately
50,000 beats per day. A well conditioned heart can supply
oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body while performing
less work. Strength is the ability of any muscle or a group
of muscles to exert a certain amount of force in a one-time
burst of effort.
Weightlifting (or resistance training) is a typical type of
strength training which increases muscle strength and mass
and bone strength. There are two types of muscle fibers that
are used during strength training. 1. Fast-twitch fibers give
the volatile force needed for weightlifting. 2. Slow-twitch
fibers are for endurance that gives muscles the ability to
withstand fatigue. When you make muscles work harder, you
will actually injure these fibers. But as they rebuild, they
get stronger and bigger, resulting in harder, tighter and
larger muscles.
Muscular Endurance is the ability to resist fatigue and continue
to exercise over long periods of time.
Strength training is required to maintain muscle strength,
endurance training is necessary to attain stamina. Muscular
endurance is the ability of muscles to continue working resilient
without resting.
Flexibility is the ability of joints and muscles to reach
complete breadth of motion. Flexibility will help prevent
injuries and will keep you feeling comfortable after exercise.
You do not need to lose flexibility as you build muscle. The
aging process will deprive you of muscular strength, endurance
and flexibility, if you do not maintain. A regular fitness
regimen becomes extremely important as you age.
 
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