Back to the Fitness Basics: What You Should Know

back to the fitness basics what you should know

What You Must Know About Fitness Basics

In the English language, sometimes words are used so often that we forget what they actually mean. We develop a sense of their significance to our lives and we forget about the other meanings of the word. In this article, we have a look at what ‘fitness’ means and how this concept relates to our lives.

Fitness basics 101

‘Fitness’ is defined as the state of being fit. When we look at what ‘fit’ means, we see that if a person is ‘fit’ they are healthy thanks to regular physical exercise.

But this still doesn’t give us a good picture of what a person will look like and what they will feel like when they are ‘fit’. Questions that come to mind are, for example:

  • Will a person get toned abs when they are fit?
  • Will a fit person be able to run a marathon?
  • Will a fit person find doing yoga easy?

The short answer to all these three questions is yes and no. There are different classifications of fitness – cardiovascular, muscle endurance and strength, flexibility.

Back to the Fitness Basics What You Must KnowA person can be extremely fit, from a cardiovascular point of view, but their level of flexibility fitness could be severely lacking.

This means that this person may be able to run a marathon with ease but put them in a yoga class and all that they will be able to do is Childs Pose.

Cardiovascular fitness

When people think of the word ‘fitness’ cardiovascular fitness is the one that most commonly springs to mind.

If you are cardiovascularly fit you can, for example:

  • Run up a hill without being out of breath at the top
  • Take part in a spinning class with ease
  • Swim multiple lengths without fatigue.

Muscle Strength and Endurance

This type of fitness is most commonly associated with people who lift weights.  They are able to lift various weights (such as dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells) at certain intervals and intensities.

The stronger that a weightlifter is, the heavier the weights that they will be able to lift and the more reps they will be able to do.

A person who is fit in terms of muscle strength and endurance will have a toned body. The areas which they work on the most will be more defined than the others that they work on less frequently.

For example, a male bodybuilder who works on his arms often will have well-developed biceps.

Flexibility

A person who is flexible has an increased range of motion in their joints.

They will be able to mold their bodies into positions that people – who are not that flexible – will struggle to get into. Yoga is a good way of developing flexibility as it gradually stretches a person’s muscles, so making it easier for them to reach further.

Fitness fanatics, who are heavily into their weightlifting and cardiovascular work, shy away from yoga.

This is because they think that because they are not able to get into a headstand, they won’t be able to do yoga, full stop. There are so many aspects to yoga besides the complicated positions.

In addition, Yoga instructors are taught how to instruct beginning yoga practitioners in how to get into the poses.

They realize that yoga newbies’ bodies do not find the asanas easy to do. Therefore they ease their clients into them and don’t push them beyond their limits.

Wrap-Up

Fitness is a multidimensional concept and is not just about being able to climb a flight of stairs without panting.

The goal for everyone should be to become fit in all forms of fitness however, it’s OK if this doesn’t happen for a while.

Back to the Fitness Basics: What You Should Know