Physical Fitness Vocabulary
General Fitness Terms
Physical fitness is good overall body condition that gives you the ability to do daily activities
with vigor and energy.
Pulse is the expansion and contraction of your arteries as your heart pumps blood through
them.
Target Heart Rate is the heart rate you should achieve and maintain in order to get the most
benefit from your workout/activity. It is also called training heart rate.
Warm-up is slowly increasing your workout level to prepare your muscles for exercise.
Cool-down is slowly reducing your workout level after exercise.
Aerobic exercise is brisk physical activity that requires the heart and lungs to work harder to
meet the body's increased oxygen demand. Aerobic exercise promotes the circulation of
oxygen through the blood.
Anaerobic exercise means working out at such intensity that the body cannot deliver the
required levels of oxygen to the working muscles.
Repetition (rep) is one complete movement of an exercise.
Set is a group of repetitions (reps). For example, when doing curl-ups, do 3 sets of 15 reps
means do 15 curl-ups, rest for a moment, do another 15 curl-ups, rest for a moment, and do the
last 15 curl-ups. This may also be written 3 x 15 curl-ups.
Flex is to contract a muscle (make it shorter). This usually causes a joint to bend.
Extend is to lengthen a muscle. This usually results in straightening a joint.
Health Related Fitness Terms
Cardiovascular endurance measures how well your circulatory system (heart and blood
vessels) and your respiratory system (lungs) work together to provide energy to your body
while exercising.
Muscular endurance is the ability of your muscles to produce force at low to medium levels
for a long time.
Muscular strength is the ability of your muscles to exert force at high levels over a short time.
Flexibility is the ability of your muscles and joints to move through their full range of motion.
Body composition is the relative amounts of fat, bone, muscle, skin and organs you have in
your body.
Physical Fitness Vocabulary
Skill Related Fitness Terms
Agility is the ability to change the direction of your movement quickly while in control of your
body.
Balance is the ability to control your body in any position, whether moving or still .
Coordination is your ability to synchronize (combine) movements of various body parts.
Power is your ability to combine strength and speed.
Reaction time is the time it takes between one of your senses recognizing a stimulus and your
body moving in response.
Speed is the time it takes to move a certain distance.
Fitness Science Terms
Individuality refers to the fact that everyone responds to physical activity and training
differently.
Overload means that you must engage in activity (training) that is greater than regularly
experienced OR you must do more than you normally do in order to improve.
Progression is the gradual increase of the workload over a period of time.
Regularity is the principle that exercise must be performed on a regular basis in order to be
effective. Regular is at least 3 times a week.
Specificity means that the body only improves at what it experiences.
The FITT Principle
Frequency is how often you do something (work out).
Intensity is how hard you work at what you do (work out).
Time is how long you do something (work out).
Type is the kind of work (work out) you do.