Understanding Physical Fitness: Strength, Endurance, Speed, Flexibility
Physical Condition
Class Slide No. 6
- Everyone has strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, and speed.
- These basic physical qualities are developed differently in each person according to the effort that should be made daily or in sports.
- The individual state of these qualities determines fitness.
- The human body can be trained at any age and is adapted to the effort required in training, although at different speeds. (Being able to listen to your body).
- At any age, one can improve their physical condition. A well-trained person at 60 years old has a greater physical performance capacity than an untrained person at 40 years old.
Resistance
- Resistance, in general, is the ability to sustain an effective effort for as long as possible, an effort of no less than three minutes.
- The above definition, while concrete and simple, must be expanded upon to obtain a more accurate concept of what resistance is. It is not the same thing to sustain a long effort at a medium pace as it is at a very high pace.
We have two kinds of resistance:
- Endurance (Aerobic)
- Anaerobic
- Aerobic Endurance is what an individual possesses and shows when, at the right pace, they are capable of sustained exercise in a balance of oxygen.
- According to Toni Nett, “a capacity of opposition to fatigue by a balance between the need for oxygen and its supply.”
Endurance is directly related to the capacity of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and transport waste products that form during exercise to disposal points.
- Developing and improving this quality has the advantage that it can perform part of a sustained effort – as in sports – with increasing intensity in oxygen balance.
- High durability, low intensity.
- Anaerobic Endurance is what allows one to support, for as long as possible, the oxygen debt caused by the high pace of work, to be paid once the effort ends.
- High intensity, low duration.
Force
- Physiologically, we can say that force is the ability of muscles to develop tension in order to overcome or resist external forces.
- Force can also be defined as the ability to overcome a load through muscle contraction. Muscle energy is therefore transformed into mechanical energy (displacement) and heat that dissipates.
Some definitions of muscle strength:
- Maximum Force (or pure) is the highest force that the neuromuscular system is in a position to develop through a voluntary contraction. The prevalent component is the load, regardless of speed.
- Speed-Strength: The ability of the neuromuscular system to overcome resistance at a particular speed of contraction. The prevalent component is velocity with a reduced load.
- Strength Endurance: It is the body’s ability to resist fatigue during prolonged exertion. Load and speed values remain constant over a relatively long period. In this case, besides muscular intervention, it is necessary to support the functionality of organic or cardio-circulatory and respiratory systems.
Speed
- Physics tells us that speed is the relationship between space and time.
- In physical education, speed is the ability to perform basic physical gestures identified in the shortest possible time.
- The physical capacity that enables us to keep the maximum speed possible for as long as possible is called speed-strength.
Types of speed:
- Starting
- Translational
- Stopping
- Reaction
Flexibility
- Flexibility means the possibility of having the muscles stretch and contract without damage or injury. It is the only physical attribute that is lost over the years.
- A flexible body can be achieved through practice and perseverance, and all muscles have this capability.
- Some sports and physical activities can be particularly useful in developing different skills of flexibility in various parts of the body.
In the world of sports, there are disciplines that can bring a very interesting degree of flexibility to the muscles of both the male and female body.