Fitness is a lifestyle that requires regular exercise, proper nutrition, and rest along with a defined recovery plan. People who are fit may be less prone to chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

To improve your fitness level, gradually increase the intensity of your workouts. For example, you might start by running a minute longer at your normal speed each time you train.
Cardiovascular Endurance

The cardiorespiratory endurance component of fitness is the ability to perform large-muscle, whole-body exercises at moderate-to-high intensity for extended periods without becoming too tired. Activities that require this skill include brisk walking, jogging, cycling, distance swimming and some sports.

This component of fitness also affects how efficiently a person uses oxygen and other nutrients during exercise. When muscles don’t get enough fuel, they become fatigued and waste products build up in the body, leading to a sense of exhaustion.

Studies have established an association between low cardiorespiratory endurance and various health risk factors in adults. However, less is known about how this measure of fitness correlates with health outcomes in youth. There are a number of field measures of this component of fitness, including distance or timed runs and treadmill or cycle ergometer tests.
Muscular Strength

Muscular strength is your muscles’ ability to exert force against resistance. This includes being able to lift heavy weights in a short amount of time as well as doing day-to-day tasks such as opening doors or chopping wood.

It also involves having enough muscle mass to maintain a healthy body weight and contributes to endurance. Muscular strength can be improved with exercise such as resistance training or bodyweight exercises like squats and push-ups. Progressive overload, where you increase the weight or repetitions over time, is an important aspect of improving muscular strength.

Power, which is the fifth health-related component of fitness Personal Trainer, improves sports performance, supports a healthy body weight, and promotes bone and muscle health. It also helps ward off diseases associated with aging and strengthens your overall mental health.
Flexibility

Flexibility is the ability of your muscles and joints to move through a full range of motion. Flexibility exercises include dynamic stretches (such as those found in standard warm-ups) and static-active flexibility exercises (such as the splits).

Unlike other, more general or systemic fitness components such as cardiorespiratory endurance and body composition, flexibility is highly specific to individual joints. As such, relationships between flexibility and health outcomes have been more difficult to establish than for other musculoskeletal fitness variables.

Flexibility is important because it allows for easy movement of your muscles, protects your joints from injury by maintaining the appropriate padding between bones, and improves performance in sports-related activities. It also decreases the risk of back pain and injury by preventing poor posture. Flexibility is influenced by a combination of factors, including muscle strength and length, joint structure, and age.
Balance

Balance is a necessary component of daily life and athletic performance. Walking, running, lifting and other activities all require balance. For individuals of all activity levels, balance training can help reduce injury and improve reaction time.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to illustrate the meaning of the word balance. They do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors.

Balance is a necessary component of daily life, and athletic performance at all levels. Balance training can help reduce injury and improve reaction time, as well as improve overall performance in sports and activity.
Coordination

While conditioning, endurance and muscle-building are important, coordination training should not be overlooked. This is because the more coordinated a person is, the more efficient their movement. This allows them to save energy and perform at a higher level for longer periods of time.

Coordination involves the movement of different parts of your body in response to what your eyes see. For example, someone with good hand-eye coordination is able to move their hands according to what they are seeing, such as typing on a keyboard or catching a ball. This type of coordination is called fine motricity.

Similarly, someone with good foot-eye coordination is able to move their feet in order to respond to what they are seeing, such as kicking or controlling the ball during sports like soccer or rugby. This is called gross motricity.