The big topics:
 Fitness components (Ch 7)
 Data Collection & Activity Analysis (Ch 8)
 Fitness tests/assessment (Ch 9)
 Training Principles & Methods (Ch 10)
 Chronic Adaptations to training (Ch 11)
What is fitness???
 What does it mean to be `fit’?
 How fit is Jonathon Brown
compared to Craig Mottram?
 Fitness needs to be expressed
in terms that is much more
specific and clearly
understood, hence the term
fitness has been broken down
into – Components of Fitness.
What is fitness?
 Fitness is specific to performance needs.
 Once you know the specific demands of a sport, you can
then physically prepare for the activity.
What you will you need to know?
 Clear `text book’ definitions.
 Specific `recognised’ tests for each FC.
 Practical examples of how each FC is used in sporting
settings.
 Factors that can effect some FC’s (eg: strength: gender,
fibre type etc…).
 How to train various FC’s (linking up with correct training
methods).
Common Fitness Component slip ups:
 Defining difference between muscular
power and muscular strength.
 Understanding difference between
anaerobic power and speed.
 When giving a definition, giving examples of
the FC, not an actual definition.
Technicalities?
 What is the difference between Power and Capacity?
 Anaerobic or Aerobic Power:
- Refers to the rate at which the system can produce ATP
for muscular work. Eg: VO2 max. test.
 Anaerobic or Aerobic Capacity:
- Refers to the total amount of ATP that a system can
produce for muscular work. Eg: A longer, endurance style
run.
The COMPONENTS of
FITNESS.
(Chapter 7 page 177-199)
There are 12 recognised FC’s:
 `HEALTH’ RELATED:
 SKILL RELATED:
- Cardio-respiratory fitness
(Aerobic power).
- Muscular power.
- Muscular Strength.
- Muscular endurance.
- Anaerobic power (Close
association with Speed).
- Flexibility.
- Body Composition.
- Speed.
- Agility.
- Co-ordination.
- Balance.
- Reaction time.
Energy Systems
 ANAEROBIC
 Sports which rely on rapid and explosive movements
obtain their energy anaerobically
 AEROBIC
 As we cover each fitness component write which system it
belongs to!
Cardio-respiratory Endurance
 Definition:
 “The ability of the heart, blood vessels and
respiratory system to supply nutrients and
O2 to the muscles and the ability of the
muscles to use the O2 for sustained
exercise.”
Put really simply...
 `is the fitness of the heart, blood vessels
and lungs’
 Also know as aerobic endurance, aerobic
capacity, aerobic fitness or aerobic power.
Cardio-respiratory Endurance
 Most essential component at rest and during recovery.
 Examples:
 Team sports netball, football, hockey, soccer, water polo,
basketball and lacrosse.
 Racquet sports such as tennis and squash.
 Extended athletic events such as the marathon, triathlons
and cross country skiing.
Cardio-respiratory Endurance
 How to Improve:
 Cardio-respiratory endurance is developed through the use
of continuous and interval training. Thus improving VO2 max
(continuous), tolerance lactic acid raising the Lactate
Inflection Point (LIP) and improving efficiency of the heart as
a pump (interval).
Muscular Strength
 The force or tension a muscle or muscle
group can exert against a resistance in
one maximal contraction (1RM)
 It is an integral part of anaerobic power,
muscular power and local muscular
endurance and is rarely used in isolation.
 Sporting Examples: pushing against an
opponent in the goal square or under the
ring in basketball, gripping a hockey stick
for a power shot
 (Often strength is used in conjunction
with speed to generate muscular power).
Factors Affecting Strength
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Age – Max strength obtained at 25-30 years of age and decreases
thereafter.
Gender – Same pre-pubescent, however females 2/3 strength of males
thereafter.
Size (Cross-sectional area) – The larger the muscle, the more force it can
apply
Muscle shape – Strength is specific to specific muscles /groups. (See picture
next slide.)
Muscle fibre type – FT produce more force than ST. A muscle biopsy can
determine percentage of FT fibres.
Muscle fibre recruitment – The stronger the nerve impulse, the greater the
amount of fibres contracted. Eg. 1RM all fibres recruited.
Joint angle and muscle length – Max strength at 120o. (See proceeding
slide)
Speed of contraction – As speed increases, strength decreases.
Type of contraction - isometric (static), isokinetic, isotonic (concentric and
eccentric)
Characteristics of Muscle Fibres
(p. 186)
MUSCLE FIBRE
CHARACTERISITIC:
Mitochondia densiity
Capillary density
Myoglobin content
Contraction speed
Force production
Fatigueability
PC stores
Triglyceride stores
Oxidative enzyme activity
TYPE I (SLOW)
TYPE IIA
(FAST
OXIDATIVE)
TYPE IIB
(FAST)
Types of Muscular Contractions
 Isotonic Contractions:
 Isometric Contractions:
 Isokinetic Contractions:
Local Muscular Endurance
 The ability of a muscle or group of
muscles to sustain an activity for
repeated efforts in the face of
considerable local fatigue (eg push-ups).
 Examples:
 200m swim, legs in a marathon, rowing
race, push-ups & sit-ups, squats, writing
notes about how good UMAN is!
 Tasks may require anaerobic energy in
addition to aerobic because contraction
of the muscle may occlude (block) the
blood vessels that supply the muscle
tissue.
Factors affecting LME fatigue
1.
Fatigue: Fuel depletion and
metabolic by-products most likely
cause.
2. Fibre type: ST fibres are much
more fatigue resistant, hence are
well suited to endurance
activities.
3.
Age – Fatigue levels increase with
age.
Ways of improving LME:
 What training methods can improve LME???
(Will answer in Training Methods but start thinking about it now)
Anaerobic Power
 Is the ability to produce energy quickly.
 High levels of An. Power allow an individual
to achieve explosive acceleration or power.
 Includes max. effort for around 10secs, or
near-max. effort up to around 1 minute.
 Egs:

100m sprint, athletic field events,
netball sprints to position, 400m run.
 It produces its energy in the absence of
oxygen.
Anaerobic Power…more!
Ways of improving Anaerobic Power
(Do not write, just planting the seed for now...)
 In sprint or high-level interval training (at least three times
per week), keep the heart rate in the ‘training zone’ (red
zone) for at least 20 minutes.
 Undertake 20–80-metre interval running sprints, starting
with a ‘walk back’ recovery and progressing to a ‘jog back’
recovery.
 Undertake 300–600-metre running ‘cruises’
 The same interval concept will produce anaerobic gains,
when used for related sports such as cycling or swimming.
 Weight training can also improve anaerobic power.
Speed
 Speed is the ability of the body to
perform a task or movement quickly.
 Speed can refer to whole body speed
eg: a 40m sprint or part-body speed eg:
arm speed when hitting a tennis
racquet.
 Power and speed are very closely
related.
Factors affecting Speed
Speed is also influenced by our





Genetics…
Bone size
Angle of joints, position of ligament and tendon attachments
Muscle fibre types.
Reaction time
Flexibility
 Flexibility can be defined as… the body’s ability
to gain the range of movement required for a
particular sport.
OR…
 The capacity of a joint to move through its full
range of movement.
 Flexibility is based on skeletal and muscular
interaction.
 It is very important for injury prevention, ease of
movement and aesthetic appearance.
 Flexibility can be static (Eg. Sit and reach test)
or dynamic (Eg. Range of motion during a skill).
Factors Affecting Flexibility
 Body/muscle temp.
 Gender
 Age
 Every joint in the body is a trade off between
`mobility vs stability’. What does this mean and
give an example using different joints in the body?
Body Composition
Defined as…

Proportion of bone, muscle and fat in an athlete.
Body composition can be measured three ways:
1. Somatotyping
2. Body Fat %
3. Body mass index (BMI)
Body Composition - Somatotypes

Endomorph – Short/fat

Mesomorph- muscular

Ectomorph – Tall/thin
% Body Fat
 Skinfold measurements – Skin thickness is
measured at various sites on the body.
(Simple, effective and common method)
Point of interest:
 Healthy body fat % for females are around 16-25%,
whilst the average male is less than 20%. More
than this would be considered overweight. 10%
body fat is very low, whilst we all must have an
absolute minimum of 3-4% to survive for males
and 12% for females.
 (You can easily measure your skinfolds with
calipers and many websites provide the conversion
to body fat %).
Body Mass Index
Body composition cont...
 Using table 7.18 on page 191 as a guide, describe the body
composition preferred in Field events compared to
Triathlon and compared to Gymnastics.
 Briefly discuss the there differences are preferred between
each sport.
Muscular Power
 “It is the ability to exert a “maximal”
contraction in one explosive act.”
 or to “exert a force rapidly”.
 Powerful movements lasting for a few
seconds only.
 Dependant upon speed and strength.
 Power is required for most sports Eg,
field events such as shot-put, discus,
javelin, high jump, long jump and
hammer throw, tackling in football or
rugby, a spike in volleyball etc.
Muscular Power cont...
 Point of interest for training:
Max power is generated when the speed of contraction is
around 35% of its max and the force contraction is about
35% of its max. (Hence, if training for power, this should be
replicated in training... How???)
Agility
 Simple definition:
 “Ability to change direction accurately
and quickly while moving rapidly”.
Modern definition:
 “A rapid, whole-body movement with
change in velocity or direction in
response to a stimulus”.
 Combination of speed and balance
with contributions of power, flexibility
and coordination.
 Dodging, baulking and weaving
Coordination
 “Ability to link muscle groups to perform
tasks smoothly and accurately”.
 Involves the nervous system and muscular
system working harmoniously in hand-eye
and foot-eye coordination activities.
 Examples:
Improvements; Can be developed through
specific skill training and through
enhancement of core stability and balance.
Balance
Defined as…

The ability to remain in a state of equilibrium
while performing a desired task.
 Dynamic balance – moving eg: even
walking/running requires a degree of balance
(picture a toddler learning to walk), running
the bend in a 200m race, rolling, Netball goaler
on one foot, skateboarding, wake boarding.
 Static balance – Not moving eg: balance beam
or parallel bars in gymnastics routine.
 Balance relies heavily on core stability, hence
Training methods such as Pilates and Swiss
balls can assist
Reaction Time
Defined as …
 “The time it takes the body to
react to an outside/external
stimulus”
Examples:
 Improvements:
 Practice with starter guns,
overload with quicker stimuli (eg
quicker squash balls).
 Fill in the blanks:
 Marathon running places heavy demands upon one’s
__________________________ and requires a large
amount of________________________________.
Whilst running 100 metres as quick as possible is a
measure of your ___________________. The ability to
supply energy quickly would test someone’s
________________________ and anything from a 20m
sprint to 400m run is an excellent example of this.
 To kick a football as far as you can or to wrestle an
opponent to the ground in an explosive manner requires
a lot of __________________________. This fitness
component is best described as being a combination of
____________________ and
_____________________. Lifting a very heavy weight
requires ____________________________________.
But lifting a weight a number of times in succession is
developing your _____________________
 To be able to perform the splits you need a large degree of
_____________________.
 Dodging players on a football field or netball court requires
____________________. But to juggle three tennis balls
successfully requires __________________________.
 When roller skating or ice skating sometimes it is difficult to
maintain ones _________________________.
 Facing a fast bowler in cricket your
___________________________________ to play a shot is
often reduced due to the ball travelling so quickly.
State the correct fitness component at the end of these
definitions:

The ability of the muscles to exert a maximal force
against a resistance in a one all out contraction.

Is a combination of strength and speed. An explosive
movement applied as quickly as possible, while
imparting as much strength as possible.

The ability of a muscle or group of muscles to exert a
force over a long period of time. Muscular contractions
can either be repetitive or static.

Is the ability to work the heart, lungs and large muscle
State the correct fitness component at the end of these
definitions cont…
 Is the ability to use the joints over their full or
maximum range of motion.
 Is the ability to stay upright whilst moving or
stationary.
 Is the ability to perform a movement quickly; it
can be whole body or part body movement.
List the fitness components required in the following
activities: (If possible, rank them in order of
importance).
 100m sprint: ______________________________
______________________________
 1500m run: ______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
 Triathlon: _______________________________
_______________________________
 Shot put: ________________________________
________________________________
 Slips fielder in cricket: _________________________________
Page 200 of text:
 Multiple choice questions 1-3.
 Short answer question 7.
Factors that affect the different fitness components:
 Muscular Strength:
(Write a sentence for each factor)
 Age
 Gender
 Cross sectional area of muscle:
 Muscle fibre type:
 Speed of contraction:
Factors that affect the different fitness
components cont…
 Flexibility:
- List 3 factors that effect flexibility and write a sentence
for each factor.
 Select a sport of your choice and list the fitness
components required in that sport and
explain/justify why you choose that fitness
component. (If it is more than 5, list the most
important ones.)
 What is the significance of knowing the fitness
component requirements of different activities?