Middle School Physical Education
Physical Fitness Unit Study Guide
What is Physical Fitness?
Physical fitness is the ability of your body systems, including your muscles, skeleton, and heart, to work
together efficiently. Being efficient means being able to do the most physical activity with the least amount of
effort. If you are physically fit, you will be able to enthusiastically participate in school and recreational activities.
Being fit and active makes both work and recreation more enjoyable. Physical fitness is made up of eleven parts;
five parts are health-related, six parts are skill-related. The five parts of health related fitness are considered
the most important because you need them to maintain good health. A totally fit person, however, also has good
skill related fitness.
Health-Related Physical Fitness
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Aerobic Fitness – also known as aerobic capacity, is the ability to exercise your entire body for long periods of
time. Aerobic fitness requires a strong heart, healthy lungs, and clear blood vessels to supply your body with
oxygen. It is a laboratory measure of maximal oxygen update.
Muscular Strength - is the amount of force your muscles can produce. Strength is often measured by how
much weight you can lift. People with good strength can perform daily tasks efficiently, that is, with the least
amount of effort.
Muscular Endurance - is the ability to use your muscles many times without tiring. People with good muscular
endurance are likely to have better posture and fewer back problems. They are also better able to resist
fatigue than people who lack good muscular endurance.
Flexibility - is the ability to use your joints fully, through a wide range of motion. You are flexible when your
muscles are long enough and your joints are free enough to allow movement. People with good flexibility have
fewer sore or injured muscles.
Body Composition - is the percentage of body weight that is fat when compared to other tissue, such as bone
and muscle.
Benefits of Aerobic and Anaerobic Fitness
The single most important health component for people of all ages is developing a healthy heart,
lungs, and circulatory system. Your level of aerobic fitness determines having a healthy heart and
circulatory system. Aerobic fitness is of prime consideration because of its relationship to the
other components of health related fitness. For example, it is known that obesity and cardiovascular disease are
highly related. The implication is that people who are overweight have a greater chance of having cardiovascular
disease. A leading cause of obesity is physical inactivity. People who exercise on a regular basis tend to lower
their percent of body fat and reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Anaerobic exercise, on the other
hand, is used in non-endurance exercises to build power. Muscles trained under anaerobic conditions develop
differently, leading to greater performance in short duration, high intensity activities, which last up to about 2
minutes. Oxygen is not a limiting factor when it comes to Anaerobic exercises.
What is Skill-Related Fitness?
Skills are specific physical tasks that people can perform, such as catching, throwing, swimming, batting and
dancing. Skill-related fitness is a group of basic abilities that help you learn particular skills. The six parts of
skill- related fitness : agility, balance, coordination, power, speed and reaction time - are related to performing well
in sports and using physical skills. Notice that physical skills and skill-related fitness are not the same.
For example, you can develop your balance and coordination (two parts of skill-related fitness) to improve the skill
of swinging a bat. Several factors affect the level of skill-related fitness a person can attain. These factors
include heredity, practice and the principle of specificity. You can improve all parts of your skill-related fitness,
however, you don’t need to excel in an activity to enjoy it.
Skill-Related Physical Fitness Vocabulary
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Agility - is the ability to change the position of your body quickly and to control your body’s movements. People
with good agility are likely to be good at activities such as wrestling, diving, and soccer.
Balance - is the ability to keep an upright posture while standing still or moving. People with good balance are
likely to be good in activities such as gymnastics and ice-skating.
Coordination - is the ability to use your senses together with your body parts, or to use two or more body part
together. People with good eye-hand or eye-foot coordination are good at hitting and kicking games such as
baseball, tennis, soccer, and golf.
Power - is the ability to use strength quickly. It involves both strength and speed. People with good power
might have the ability to put the shot, throw the discus, high jump, play football, and speed swim.
Reaction Time - is the amount of time it takes you to move once you realize the need to act. People with good
reaction time are able to make fast starts in track or swimming, or to dodge a fast attack in fencing or karate.
Good reaction time is necessary for your own safety while driving or walking.
Speed- is the ability to perform a movement or cover a distance in a short period of time. People with leg
speed can run fast, while people with good arm speed can throw fast or hit a ball that is throw fast.
Exercise Principles
Parts of a Workout
Warm Up – loosens your muscles and increases your heart rate.
Work out - the vigorous part of the exercise program.
Cool Down – your body needs to gradually cool down and stretch
to help it recover from vigorous exercise.
FITT Principle
F = Frequency (how often you exercise)
I = Intensity (how hard you exercise)
T = Time (the duration of your exercise – how long)
T = Type (what kind of exercise you do)
1.
Overload Principle: states that
increase in functional capacity only
results from greater than normal
exercise stress.
2. Progression Principle: states that
overload should be applied in
gradual increments.
3. Specificity Principle: states that
specific functional abilities
respond only to specific types of
exercise stress.
Target Heart Rate
Why is it important to understand and compute your target heart rate? Simply stated, if your heart is
not beating fast enough during physical activity, your heart and lungs are not getting an adequate
workout. You will find that your body does not become more fit unless you are working at your target
heart rate. Your target heart rate depends on your age and current level of fitness. When you take
your pulse rate, you can find it on the thumb side of your wrist (radial pulse) or in the side of your neck
(carotid pulse). Always count the first beat as zero. Count your pulse beats for six seconds. When you
are done counting, put a zero on the end of the number you counted. This will give you your rate for one
minute. For example, if you count 15 beats during six seconds, put a zero after the 15, your number in
beats per minute is 150.
220 minus your age multiplied by 60% to 85%.
4/2009