Understanding Physical Fitness: Elements, Forms, and Benefits

Definition of Physical Fitness

What is physical fitness? Physical fitness is a need that we must fulfill so that our body can perform many activities well. Physical fitness can be said to be a form of a person’s physical ability to perform daily activities without feeling excessive fatigue and of course still have energy reserves.

The better a person’s physical fitness, the better their ability to cope with daily activities. It can be said that physical fitness is one of the determining factors of the body’s health and endurance. For example, by exercising a lot, the body will be fitter and avoid various diseases.

Therefore, improve your lifestyle by doing more physical activities and sports to maintain your body’s endurance. Don’t let the body just sit still and not move much, it will trigger the stiffness of the muscles and bones because it has not been given heavy activities for a long time.

In this regard, Sinaumedia would like to discuss the elements, forms, and benefits that can be obtained from physical fitness. Come on Reader, check out the following comments!

Elements of Physical Fitness

There are several elements in supporting physical fitness in the body such as strength, endurance, agility, speed, balance, and so on. When you understand the elements of physical fitness, you can do exercises and sports that can support your physical fitness. Here are the elements.

1. Endurance

Endurance is a condition where a person can move the body to do several activities with different tempos, but can do it efficiently and effectively without feeling excessive fatigue.

Endurance can be divided into two, namely, muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory endurance . Muscular endurance is endurance by showing the ability of muscles to do heavy work for a long time. While cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability of the whole body to continue moving at a moderate tempo for a long time.

2. Speed

Speed ​​is the body’s ability to move from one place to another quickly. This speed is divided into three, namely, sprint speed, reaction speed, and moving speed. This speed can be trained by running based on an adjusted frequency.

3. Strength

Strength is the ability of the muscles to resist the load being carried by the body. This element of strength can also be called muscle strength. This muscle strength can also be related to muscle power or muscle endurance . Muscular endurance is the muscle’s ability to withstand contractions with light loads continuously.

There is a functional difference between muscle strength and muscle endurance . muscle strength is used to lift heavy loads in one activity. While muscle endurance is used to perform light physical activity for a long period of time.

4. Coordination

Coordination is the body’s ability to perform activities or movements efficiently and accurately. A person who has good coordination then the cooperation done by his body will also be good. Concentration can also be done easily even while moving the body alternately.

5. Agility

Agility is the body’s ability to change body position quickly. With agility, the body will move quickly without the risk of injury. If agility has been formed in your body then you will easily move your body quickly without fear of making a mistake that will result in injury.

6. Flexibility

Flexibility is the body’s ability to perform maximum movement. This flexibility is supported by factors such as age, muscle quality, joint structure, and ligaments.

This flexibility should be trained often because flexibility is also related to other elements of physical fitness such as agility, speed, and coordination. Having a flexible body can minimize the risk of injury to the body. You can also move freely in all your activities.

7. Body Composition

Body composition is a comparison of the ratio of the body that has fat and lean mass. Fat mass is found under the skin, around the heart, intestines, around the muscles, and also the lungs. While the fat-free part of the body is in the bones, muscles, and body fluids.

The higher the fat mass, the higher your body has a risk of disease. Therefore, in order for your body to gain physical fitness, it is necessary to take care of the composition in the body.

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8. Balance

Balance is where the position of the body will remain upright and not fall while performing physical movements. Having good body balance can minimize the risk of falling and injury.

9. Explosive Power

Explosive power is a combination of strength and speed, where the body can move quickly and also have strong muscles to fight the load carried by the body. This means that our body can move quickly and carry heavy loads at the same time.

10. Speed ​​of Reaction

Reaction speed is the reaction time of your body when receiving a stimulus or stimulation. The speed of this reaction is different from the reflex. A reaction is a conscious movement, while a reflex is an automatic movement performed without awareness.

Forms of Physical Fitness Training

This form of exercise is used to strengthen, accelerate, provide flexibility and all the elements of physical fitness for our bodies. If we want the body to be in shape then we have to practice and do sports activities. Here is a form of physical fitness training.

This Class X High School Class X Physical Education, Sports and Health (PJOK) Textbook includes material about the experience of practicing basic game and sports skills, development activities, self-test/gymnastics, aquatic rhythmic activities (water activities), and health education.

1. Push Up

Push ups  are a form of exercise to improve our physical fitness. This sport is included in the type of  calisthenic exercise. This means that this type of exercise has the function of strengthening the chest, shoulder, and tricep muscles. Even  push-up movements  can form the lower back and abdominal muscles.

Several things need to be considered when doing  push ups  such as paying attention to the movement of the hand position, always facing forward, and paying attention to the constant up and down movement. These push ups  are of course very effective for increasing your muscle mass and heart health.

2. Back Lift

This back lift  serves to form the muscles on the back to make it more muscular and symmetrical. This exercise is done with the body and head facing the floor straight, then slowly moving the chest up to the head up and down to the maximum.

The benefits of this back lift activity   are to increase body strength, lose weight, reduce the risk of injury, shape and improve posture.

3. Sit Up

Sit ups  are useful for training various muscles. In this case  sit ups  can train the abdominal muscles, chest, waist, neck, and also the pelvis. By doing  sit ups  we can get several benefits such as tightening muscles, improving posture, forming an ideal body, and improving body balance.

If you want to get the many benefits that have been mentioned, then you have to exercise regularly so that physical fitness can form in your body.

4. Shoulders Press

Shoulders press  is used to train the strength of the arm muscles and shoulder muscles. This shoulder press  exercise  is quite easy, you can use a barbell as a tool. After that you just lift the barbell with both hands straight ahead and then lift it up to your chest, do it repeatedly.

5. Leg Squat

This leg squat  aims to train the leg muscles. To do this you need a barbell and lift it with both hands, then place the barbell and your hands under your neck. After that you can bend your knees and go down in a half squat, repeat the movement.

6. 50 Meter Sprint

 

This fast run is intended to train movement speed. This sprint is done with a standing start . The method is that you have to stand with one of your feet near the start line . Then listen for the whistle or signal to start. If there is a warning, you can run as fast as possible with a distance of 50 meters.

Benefits of Physical Fitness

Physical fitness has many benefits for our body. With a lot of training and sports, the body will become stronger, flexible, agile, balanced, etc. Not only for physical health, but mental health can also be improved if our body feels fit. Here are the benefits of physical fitness.

1. Maintaining Bone Health

One of the benefits of maintaining physical fitness is strengthening the bones. A person who is always active in sports in his life will have better bone density than a person who has never exercised.

In this case, sports can also prevent osteoporosis, especially in individuals aged 20-30 years. Many exercises to strengthen the bones in our body for example such as running, going up and down stairs, and also lifting weights.

2. Maintaining Weight

Exercising or doing physical fitness activities can burn calories in our body. By burning some calories in the body, the weight will decrease if it was previously excessive. In order not to lack calories due to continuous burning, you should also take care of a healthy and not excessive diet.

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3. Improving Mood

Physical fitness activities can improve your mood. This is because the level of endorphins that increase after doing sports can trigger a sense of pleasure and other positive feelings. Therefore, the mood that was bad before will become better because the body has been fit.

4. Controlling Blood Sugar Levels

Physical fitness can also control blood sugar levels in our body. When we exercise, body cells will take some of the blood sugar we have. The blood sugar level contains energy, which is why the blood sugar level decreases when we exercise. By exercising regularly, the blood sugar level in the body will be more stable.

5. Reduce Stress and Depression

If you regularly do physical fitness activities then you can reduce the stress and depression you are experiencing. Sports can also improve the quality of sleep, which results in a lower stress level the next day.

Sports can also lower serotonin levels in the blood which will reduce depression for sufferers. A person who regularly exercises will certainly have better emotional and mental health. They will be spared from other mental illnesses.

6. Reduce Cardiovascular Risk

Exercising regularly can reduce the risk of heart and blood vessel diseases such as heart disease and stroke. Regular athletics will train the heart muscle to be stronger and more active to flow blood throughout the body. A strong heart muscle due to sports will keep the heart stable.

In addition, exercising regularly can also lower the level of good cholesterol (HDL) and the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body, so that it can minimize the risk of coronary heart disease.

7. Relieves Pain

Some diseases in the body will definitely make our body feel sick. By exercising regularly, the pain will subside because of it. For example, pain in chronic back pain, fibromyalgia, shoulder disorders, etc.

If you have these diseases, you should consult your doctor first to find out what kind of physical fitness training is suitable and effective for you.

8. Healthy Brain Work System

When you exercise often, physical fitness will occur, which also results in the brain’s work system improving and becoming healthier again. This brain work system affects the thinking and memory of the human brain. Therefore, an exercise routine means that it can improve the brain’s work system and make hormones that can grow new cells in the brain.

9. Extend Life

Exercising regularly means taking care of physical health, which means that age also comes with its time because our body has strong protection against various diseases. This reduces the risk of diseases that will land on our body, where we will live longer and always feel fit every day.

10. Healthy Skin

Who thought sports could make the skin healthy? Sports will strengthen the body’s immune system, where it will prevent the entry of disease through exposure to free radicals. Therefore, sports can take care of skin health, including making our skin more durable, as well as preventing skin aging.

Factors Influencing Physical Fitness

In achieving optimal physical fitness for our body, there are several factors that can affect it. Here are the influencing factors of physical fitness.

1. Food

In order to survive, humans generally need food. When it comes to food, we can’t just eat the food we see, but we must also look at the level of nutrition that can meet our health needs.

Therefore, it is best to avoid food and drinks that can damage our body such as alcohol and eat food that lacks nutrition.

2. Rest

Work on the human body has its limits, so be aware that your body should not work too hard. Fatigue is an indicator of the limits of human body function. It means that your body is no longer strong enough to support the body to do activities. If it’s like this, it’s best to rest enough to recharge the energy for the next day.

3. Age

Age is an influence in physical fitness. At the age of 25-30 years physical fitness can increase to the maximum. Then it will also decrease the functional capacity in the body by 0.8 – 1% every year. If you are diligent in exercising, the decrease in body function will also decrease, even up to half.

This book discusses the concepts, examples, and data analysis of descriptive and inferential statistics in the study of education and sports, including: statistical concepts, data collection and presentation, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing, analysis prerequisite tests (normalization test and homogeneity test), correlation, testing of average parameter differences, regression, analysis of variance, validity and reliability test and discussion of different power of questions and level of difficulty.