How do I evaluate my fitness level?

No matter your choice of activity, the benefits of regular exercise are undeniable. Daily physical activity is proven to combat chronic diseases, increase energy levels, help manage weight, improve mood and much more. Exercise really is the magic pill. But true fitness is more than simply meeting the recommended 30 minutes a day of physical activity.

There are many ways that people evaluate their level of fitness. Some focus on maintaining a healthy weight, while others determine how fit they are by their ability to do a certain number of push-ups or run so many miles.  However, fitness is the ability to balance all of these components – cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility and body composition – in a way that works for you.

Five Components of Fitness

Find out how you can use the five components of physical fitness to create a well balanced physical activity routine:

Cardiovascular Endurance is the ability to perform large muscle, dynamic, moderate-to-high intensity exercise for prolonged periods of time. This type of exercise requires the body to deliver oxygen and nutrients to all of its vital organs, utilize the oxygen for the body’s major functions and remove waste. Cardiovascular exercise includes walking, running, swimming, biking, hiking, stair climbing, jumping rope, gym machines like the elliptical trainer and much more.

Muscular Endurance is the ability of a muscle to exert a sub-maximal force repeatedly over time. This means lifting a certain amount of weight as many times as possible, doing exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, squats or lunges. Generally, workouts that focus on muscular endurance include body weight exercises or light resistance with higher repetitions. Basketball and soccer are great examples of sports that build muscular endurance.

Muscular Strength refers to the maximal force that can be generated by a specific muscle or muscle group. This means lifting the heaviest weight you can for one repetition. Compared to muscular endurance, muscular strength workouts focus on higher weights and less repetitions, using more traditional strength training exercises such as the shoulder press, weighted squat and bicep curl.

Flexibility is the range of motion which occurs at a single joint or series of joints. Increased flexibility improves the ease of movement, reduces muscle tension through increased relaxation, helps prevent injury and decreases soreness. Stretching is the component most often left out of a fitness program, even though it is key to being able to maintain your level of activity with ease and without injury.

Body Composition refers to the percentage of body weight that is fat mass compared to lean mass (organs, bones, water and muscle). Maintaining a proper balance of fat to lean body mass is extremely important to your overall health. Checking your composition regularly is a helpful way to monitor your progress in the other areas of physical fitness.

Note: A scale can tell you your weight (gravitational force to the earth), but it does not take into consideration the makeup of your body. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat. This means that you can lose fat and inches without losing a pound if you are gaining muscle. Measuring your body composition will allow you to see a clear picture of your progress.

Creating a balanced exercise program including all of the components of physical fitness as well as maintaining a healthy diet will result in a more lean, healthy and strong body. By improving your cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength and flexibility, you will burn calories with activity, increase metabolism, gain a toned healthy body and feel great throughout your fitness journey.

Perform The President’s Challenge Fitness Assessments and record your results on the Data Collection Sheet.