Module: 3

Exercise and Fitness Training

Physical Fitness

Fitness is defined as the quality or state of being fit and healthy. Physical
fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform
aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally
achieved through proper nutrition,moderate-vigorous physical exercise, and sufficient
rest along with a formal recovery plan.

Physical Fitness and its Importance

physical fitness has been defined as the capacity of a person to carry out the
daily activities without undue fatigue. Physical fitness is considered as a measure of
the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively during work and leisure
activities. In order to remain physically fit and healthy, we need to engage ourselves in
physical activities and take measures for physically fit.

Physical fitness is an important area of discussion as the number of childrens

becoming obese. The normal physical activities, which were done in earlier times both
at home and outside as part of day-to-day routine have reduced due to development of
science and technology. The work that was done manually is now being carried out by
machines. The use of automated equipment such as automatic machines, remotes,
mobiles and changes in lifestyles affect health and physical fitness. It has become a
matter of deep thinking for all of us.

Nowadays we find increased marketing of packaged food and diet for physical
fitness. Many such health products now are advertised on TV and radio, and in
newspapers, booklets and magazines. It is important for all of us to understand that
physical fitness cannot be achieved without doing physical exercise regularly. We
should not resort to any shortcut that is frequently advertised in the media these days

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to achieve fitness or maintain balance in life style. Moreover, these products may have
side effects in our daily life.

Need of Physical Fitness and Well-being

As discussed in the first chapter on Health and Diseases, the benefits of being
physically fit for the individual are manifold. The quality of life of an individual
improves when he/she consciously adopts healthy lifestyle which promotes physical
fitness as follows:

Physical fitness

• improves the functioning of heart and lungs by increasing the availability of

oxygen to all tissues and organs in the body system;

• improves muscle tone; • promotes the development of good posture,

proportionate figure, and thereby positive body image and physical appearance; •
ensures quick recovery after injury and illness; • decreases the risk of cardio-vascular
disease; (like Heart attack, Asthma etc.) • reduces and controls undesirable body fat.
When the individual does exercise, takes proper diet that also fulfils nutritional
requirement, it helps maintain ideal body weight; • increases energy level of a
person; • improves the mood by reducing depression and anxiety; • postpones
fatigue and reduces recovery time after vigorous activity; and • helps people to
meet challenges of life, makes them self confident and delays the ageing process.
Being physically fit is important for all the age groups. To live a better life to the
fullest and enjoy all the opportunities, one try to be physically fit. Physical fitness is
essential for each and every individual at all stages of life. To achieve fitness, various
modes and methods are available. Before adopting such methods, warming up before
activities and cooling down after activities are essential to minimise any risk of
injuries of any individual.

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There are five components of health related physical fitness

1. Cardiovascular Endurance

2. Body Composition

3. Muscular Strength

4. Muscular Endurance

5. Flexibility

1) Cardiorespiratory (Aerobic) Endurance: The ability to perform prolonged,

dynamic exercise using large muscle groups at a moderate-to-high-intensity
level.
2) Body Composition: The proportion of fat and fat-free mass (muscle, bone, and
water) in the body.
3) Muscular Strength: The amount of force a muscle can produce in a single
maximum effort.
4) Muscular Endurance: The ability to resist fatigue and sustain: (1) a given
level of muscle tension, or (2) repeated muscle contractions against resistance
for a given time period.
5) Flexibility: The ability to move the joints through their full range of motion.

Performance-related fitness

Physical fitness is considered a measure of the body’s ability to function

efficiently, effectively and without injury in work and leisure activities, to pursue
recreational activities and to cope with emergency situations. Skill-related fitness
includes components such as

1) Agility 2) Balance 3) Coordination 4) Reaction time 5) Power 6) Speed

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Six Components of Skill-Related Fitness

There are six skill-related fitness components: agility, balance, coordination,

speed, power, and reaction time. Skilled athletes typically excel in all six areas.

1) Agility is the ability to change and control the direction and position of the
body while maintaining a constant, rapid motion. For example, changing
directions to hit a tennis ball.
2) Balance is the ability to control or stabilize the body when a person is standing
still or moving. For example, in-line skating.
3) Coordination is the ability to use the senses together with body parts during
movement. For example, dribbling a basketball. Using hands and eyes together
is called hand-eye coordination.
4) Reaction Time is the ability to reach or respond quickly to what you hear, see,
or feel. For example, an athlete quickly coming off the blocks early in a
swimming or track relay, or stealing a base in baseball.
5) Power is the ability to move the body parts swiftly while applying the
maximum force of the muscles. Power is a combination of both speed and
muscular strength. For example, fullbacks in football muscling their way
through other players and speeding to advance the ball and volleyball players
getting up to the net and lifting their bodies high into the air.
6) Speed is the ability to move your body or parts of your body swiftly. Many
sports rely on speed to gain advantage over your opponents. For example, a
basketball player making a fast break to perform a layup, a tennis player
moving forward to get to a drop shot, a football player out running the defense
to receive a pass.

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The FITT principles

The FITT principles are an exercise prescription to help participants understand how
long and how hard they should exercise. FITT is an acronym that stands for
Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type.

● Frequency is how often you exercise. Usually we measure this by the number
of days each week.
● Intensity is how hard your exercise. We might categorize this as low,
moderate, or high intensity.
● Time refers to the time of day you exercise and how long each session lasts.
● Type refers to what kind of exercise you are doing. For example, you might do
cardiovascular activity (also known simply as 'cardio'), strength training, or a
combination of the two.

FITT can be applied to exercise in general or specific components of exercise. For

example, below are some general FITT guidelines for weekly exercise.

Frequency: Daily moderate exercise is ideal, but try to exercise a minimum of 3-5
days per week.

Intensity: Moderate to vigorous intensity exercise is recommended for adults.

Time: 30-60 minutes per day.

Type: To maintain a well-balanced fitness level, perform a variety of exercises

including cardio, strength, and flexibility training.

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There are many upsides to using the FITT principle to guide you toward your fitness
goals.

Benefits of using FITT

With the FITT model, however, you can lose weight, maintain fitness, and increase
endurance as well as tone your muscles. When properly applied, FITT actually
enables you to push your limits just enough to make progress without harming your
body.

Strength, its types and method of development

Strength is the ability to overcome resistance or to act against resistance.

1) Maximum Strength:- It is the ability to overcome or to act against resistance. It

is the maximum force which is applied by the muscles to perform any certain
activity. For developing maximum strength intensity is high and repetitions are
less.
2) Explosive Strength: It is a combination of strength and speed abilities. It is the
ability to overcome resistance with high speed. For developing explosive
strength, intensity is sub maximum and repetitions are performed as fast as
possible.
3) Strength Endurance: It is the ability to overcome resistance or to act against
resistance under conditions of fatigue.

Method of development

Isometric Exercise –Isometric exercises are those exercises, which are not visible. In
fact there are no direct movements, hence they can‘t be observed. In these exercises,
work is performed but is not seen directly. In these exercises, a group of muscles carry
out tension against the other group of muscles. For example, pushing against a sturdy
wall.

Isotonic Exercise - The literal meaning of the word isotonic is constant tension i.e.,
iso means constant ant tonic means tension. In this exercise the length of muscles

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changes (shortens or lengthens) during action along with tension in them. Isotonic
exercise is a form of active exercise in which muscles contract and cause movement.
There is no significant change in resistance throughout the movement, so the force of
contraction remains constant. Such exercise greatly enhances joint mobility and helps
improve muscle strength and tone.

Isokinetic Exercise- These exercises are performed on specially designed

machines.These exercises were developed by Perrine in 1968. In these exercises,
contraction of muscles applies maximum force only at a particular angle of its range
of movement, whereas, in isokinetic exercise contraction of force throughout the
complete range of movement. These exercises involve a specific type of muscle
contraction which is not involved in games and sports like rowing and swimming.

Speed, its types and method of development

Speed is the rate of motion, or the rate of change of position. It is expressed as

distance moved per unit of time. Speed is measured in the same physical units of
measurement as velocity. Speed is defined as the ability of an individual to perform
similar movements consecutively at Fastest rate, e.g., short distance races like 100
metres and 200 metres. Speed is the capacity of an individual to perform successive
movements of the same pattern at a fast rate.

Methods for improving speed.

1) Acceleration runs- It is the ability to increase speed from jogging to running

and finally sprinting. It depends on explosive strength, frequency of movement
& technique. To attain maximum speed from a stationary position this is
practised after learning proper technique.
2) pace run or races- A competitive pace race is a timed race in which the
objective is not to finish in the least time, but to finish within the prescribed
time and in the best physical condition. In some races, the prescribed time is
very narrowly defined and the winner is the competitor who finishes closest to
the prescribed time. Complete recovery is ensured between two repetitions.
This means to running the whole distance of a race at a constant speed. In this
the athlete runs the race with uniform speed.

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Flexibility, its types and method of development

Following are the stretching ways for flexibility development:

Active stretching is where you are taking the muscle beyond its normal range of
motion with assistance (PNF or with the help of a partner)

Passive stretching allows the muscles and tendons to stretch naturally without the use
of additional forces acting on the muscle/tendon. The flexibility gains are not as great
with passive stretching as it is with active stretching.

1) Static stretching is a technique where the muscle is slowly stretched and then
held in kthe stretched position for several seconds. This type of stretching
allows the muscle to be relaxed so that a greater length can be achieved. It is
the most frequently.
2) Used and most recommended type of stretching. There is a low risk of injury
with this technique.

Endurance its types and method of development

Endurance- Endurance (also called Stamina, or Durability) is the ability of an

organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its
ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to wounds, or fatigue. In
humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise. endurance. Endurance
training which is designed to improve stamina, endurance, and overall performance.
Athletes use it while they prepare for both long and short events. People who are not
athletes may utilize endurance training as a method to get fit. It is the ability to
withstand fatigue.

Various methods to develop Endurance ability-

a) Continuous method- The load administered for a prolonged period of time. As the
loads are continued for a long time the intensity of running is low. It may be a slow
continuous, fast continuous and varied pace method.

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b) Interval type of training involves repeated efforts at a relatively faster pace,
separated by measured intervals of incomplete recovery. It is based on the principle of
effort & recovery. It can be classified into short time intervals, middle time intervals
and long time intervals.

c) Fartlek training- Fartlek, developed in the 1930,s which means “speed play” in
Swedish, is a training method that blends continuous training with interval training.
The variable intensity and continuous nature of the exercise places stress on both the
aerobic and anaerobic systems .Intensity and speed can be varied whenever the athlete
wishes. Fartlek training allows the athlete to run freely over varying distances and at
varying speeds. Fartlek allows the athlete to run at varying intensity levels over
distances of their choice. This type of training stresses both the aerobic and anaerobic
energy pathways.

Coordinative abilities and its types

Coordination is the ability to repeatedly execute a sequence of movements smoothly

and accurately. This may involve the senses, muscular contractions and joint
movements. Everything that we participate in requires the ability to coordinate our
limbs to achieve a successful outcome – from walking to the more complex
movements of athletic events like the pole vault.

Basic coordination abilities:

Adaptive ability enables modifications of motor activity on the basis of comparison

or anticipation of new or changing conditions during performing motor activity.

Balance ability is understood as an ability to keep the body or its parts in a relatively
stable position.

Combinatory ability is understood as an ability to simultaneously put partial

movements together into more complex movement structures.

Orientation ability is an ability to realize position of the body or its parts in space
and time. Rhythm ability enables to grasp and meteorically express rhythm which is
externally determined or contained in the motor activity itself.

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Hypokinetic disease

A disease brought on, at least in part, by insufficient movement and exercise."hypo"

means too little, and "kinetic" means movement, the term hypokinetic means too little
movement or activity. Thus hypokinetic disease is a condition associated with too
little physical activity or exercise. Hypokinesis has been identified as an independent
risk factor for the origin and progression of several widespread chronic diseases,
including coronary heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and lower back pain.
To reduce your risk of hypokinetic disease, you should try and change the
things you can do something about. Certain factors such as age, heredity, and gender
cannot be altered. But many other factors can be. Here are the main ones:

Regular physical activity

This is the most important one. Do some kind of exercise every day.

Diet

A clear association exists between hypokinetic disease and the food you eat.
Excessive intake of saturated fats, such as animal fats, is linked to atherosclerosis and
other forms of heart disease. Excessive salt intake is associated with high blood
pressure.

Tobacco use

Smokers have five times the risk of heart attack as non-smokers. Tobacco use is also
associated with the increased risk for high blood pressure, cancer, and several other
medical conditions. Stopping tobacco use even after many years can significantly
reduce the hypokinetic disease risk.

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Body fatness

Having too much body fat is a primary risk factor for heart disease as well as other
hypokinetic diseases. Loss of body fat can provide relief from symptoms of diabetes
as well as certain types of back pain and can reduce the risks of surgery.

Stress

People who are subject to excessive stress are predisposed to various hypokinetic
diseases, including heart disease and back pain. If you have a Type A personality
profile, you are more likely to be subject to excessive stress.

High blood fats

High levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins, as well as blood

glucose and blood pressure, are associated with health problems such as heart disease
and diabetes. Risk increases when several of these measures are high.

Other diseases

People who have one hypokinetic disease are more likely to develop a second or even
a third condition. For example, if you have diabetes, your risk of having a heart attack
or stroke increases dramatically.

Four lifestyle choices that prevent hypokinetic conditions: good nutrition, adequate
rest, stress management, and physical activity.

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