INTRODUCTION TO PATHFT2
A. Definition of Exercise & Fitness
Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and has as a final or an
intermediate objective the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness.
Fitness is considered a measure of the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure
activities, to be healthy, and to meet emergency situations.
B. Fitness Components
1. Health Related Components
i. Health Components that are related to how well the systems of our body work.
a. Cardiovascular Endurance The body’s ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues, different
organs and the ability to utilize them over sustained periods of time.
b. Muscular Strength - the ability of your muscles to exert force. - This component is illustrated when
lifting or moving heavy objects such as doing a weightlifting workout.
c. Muscular Endurance - The ability of your muscles to perform repetitive movements over
prolonged periods of time.
d. Flexibility - The ability to move our joints and muscles through their full range of motion.
e. Body Composition - The ratio of lean muscle to fats in the body.
2. Skill Related Components
a. Agility - Refers to the ability to change your entire body position rapidly with accuracy and speed.
b. Balance - The ability to maintain equilibrium, or control your body's position in space.
c. Coordination - A skill that recruits the senses such as sight and hearing in conjunction with body
parts to perform tasks accurately and with efficiency of movement.
d. Power - A combination of strength and speed. Power is the ability to exert maximum force in a
quick, explosive burst.
e. Speed - The ability to perform a movement in a short period of time.
f. Reaction time - The subcomponent of speed and refers to the time it takes for the neuromuscular
system to produce movement from stimulus to reaction.
C. FITT
a. Frequency - How often you will exercise/workout.
b. Intensity - How hard you work during exercise.
1. Low
2. Moderate
3. Vigorous
c. Time - How long you exercise during each session.
d. Type - What kind of exercise you do.
D. Principles of training
a. Overload
- In order to progress and improve our fitness, we have to put our bodies under additional
stress.
- Applying this training principles will cause long-term adaptations, enabling our bodies to
work more efficiently to cope with this higher level of performance.
b. Specificity - This principle relates to the type of training that you do. It should be specific to the
skill/attribute that you want to develop.
c. Progression - States that an exercise need to gradually increase the workload that you put your body
through.
d. Reversibility - Fitness will be lost if the training load is reduced (meaning overload is not achieved) or if a
person stops training, for example if they are injured.
e. Variance/Variety - Try to vary your training, to keep you interested and to give your body a different
challenge. Remember a change is as good as a rest.
AEROBIC EXERCISES
Aerobic exercise is a physical activity that uses your body’s large muscle groups, is rhythmic and
repetitive. It increases your heart rate and how much oxygen your body uses. Examples of aerobic
exercises include walking, cycling, and swimming. It reduces your risk of heart disease, diabetes, high
blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Aerobic exercises increase your heart rate and how much oxygen your body uses. The term
aerobic means “with oxygen.” When you practice aerobic exercise, your breathing controls the amount of
oxygen that reaches your muscles to help you burn energy and move.
Prepared by: Jeffrey L. Angagan, MAPE