Name: __________________________________ Teacher: ______________________
5 For Life – Components of Physical Fitness Study Guide
The 5 components (or parts) of physical fitness are important to your physical health. In turn, they
impact your mental/emotional and social health.
Identify the 5 components of physical fitness:
1. Cardiorespiratory Endurance
2. Muscular Strength
3. Muscular Endurance
4. Flexibility
5. Body Composition
1. Cardiorespiratory Endurance (CRE)
What parts of our body belong to the cardiovascular system?
Heart
Blood Vessels
Blood
What part of our body belongs to our respiratory system?
Lungs (although so does the nose, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli)
Together, they provide enough oxygen and necessary fuel to the muscles during periods of physical
activity and exercise.
To improve cardiorespiratory endurance activities, you should do aerobic (means with air) type
activities.
How does doing these types of activities affect our heart? The more CRE activities we do, the
heart beats less times in a minute, but pumps the same amount of blood.
Identify 3 examples:
Running
Dancing
Swimming
(Cycling)
(Jumping Rope)
(Roller blading)
CRE activities improve appearance because they burn fat (or calories) and help improve the
body's muscle tone.
CRE activities improve your health by reducing the effects of risk factors that can cause heart
disease, stroke, Type 2 Diabetes, and obesity.
2. Muscular strength is defined as the ability to push or pull with as much force as you can make.
3. Muscular endurance = my muscle can do many (13-20) repetitions over time.
The best way to improve muscular strength or muscular endurance is through resistance
training.
Examples include:
Weight training
Bodyweight exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, abdominals, chin ups, etc)
Pilates
4. Flexibility involves my muscles (plus tendons, ligaments) and joints.
Two different types of stretching are:
Dynamic stretching which means stretching done while moving.
Static stretching which means stretches are held (20-30 seconds).
One example of each are:
Dynamic = Frankensteins or Pelican walk or “Open the Gate” or Heel walks
Static = Straddle stretch, Butterflies, Spinal stretch, Calf stretch
5. Body composition which is made up of fat and fat-free mass.
What parts of your body belongs in each category?
FAT
FAT-FREE
Fat
Muscles
Bones
Organs
Body fluids
Why is having enough fat in your body important?
1. Source of energy
2. Insulation for organs, body
3. Vitamin absorption
4. Nerve conduction
The right amount of fat in your body helps you reduce the risk of:
1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Stroke
4. Type 2 Diabetes
5. Obesity
6. High blood pressure