The 5 Components of Fitness – Introduction
What are the 5 components of physical fitness and why do you need to know them?
The answer is that knowledge is the first step to taking action to improve your health and fitness. As Plato is rumored to have said:
“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge”.
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/plato384673.html
Also, if you are studying for NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) or any personal trainer certification, you better know them!
BCF ME MS Acronym
The 5 Components of Health-Related Fitness include :
- Body Composition
- Cardiovascular Endurance
- Flexibility
- Muscular Endurance
- Muscular Strength
Remember the acronym – BCF ME MS –to answer the question.
1. Body Composition
Number one of the 5 components of fitness is body composition. The easiest place to start is to determine if you are at your ideal body weight.
Here is a simple formula to easily calculate your ideal body weight based on your height using the Hamwi method:
- For Men: The ideal body weight formula is 100 – 106 pounds for your first 5 feet of height, plus 5 – 6 pounds for every additional inch.
- For Women: The ideal body weight formula is 100 pounds for the first 5 feet of height, plus 5 pounds for each additional inch.
Once you know your ideal body weight, now it is time to find out your current weight today.
Go jump on your body composition scale and see if your weight is anywhere close to your ideal body weight. 75 percent of adults are either overweight or obese, so, do not sweat it.
You need a scale that includes BMI and body fat percentage measurements for the best results. So, if you do not have a body composition scale, you need to get one.
Body Fat Percentage
Weight is not the only variable when it comes to health and fitness. You also want to achieve a healthier body fat percentage, which can be measured using underwater weighing, Skinfold readings, and bioelectrical impedance.
Of course, a body composition scale is the fastest and easiest way to find your body fat percentage.
The American Council on Exercise suggests the following:
In men, the average body fat percentages range from 22.9% at age 16–19 years to 30.9% at age 60–79 years. Clearly, based on average body fat composition, most men and women over 50 are simply too heavy.
75 percent of adults over 20 are overweight, therefore, overfat is a common condition. The problem with excess fat is that it increases your cardiometabolic risk. What is a cardiometabolic risk?
Cardiometabolic risk refers to your chances of having diabetes, heart disease, or stroke.
“Overfat is the condition of having more body fat than is good for health.
The percentage of body fat that can cause health problems, especially cardiometabolic risk, is surprisingly low.
Lohman’s criteria of suggested cutoffs >17.6% for males and >31.6% for females is widely accepted in body composition research. However, measurable health impairments associated with ≥2 cardiometabolic abnormalities were found at DXA-derived body fat levels >15.3% in men and >29.8% in women.
Therefore, a man with more than 15.3% body fat, and a woman with more than 29.8%, are at higher health risk and are overfat.” ¹
2. Cardiovascular Endurance
The second component of total fitness to improve your cardiovascular fitness. What is the cardiovascular system? Your cardiovascular system includes your respiration, blood cells, and heart, and lungs.
Cardiovascular fitness is the ability to supply oxygen-rich blood to the working muscle tissues. Cardio fitness is the ability of the muscles to use oxygen. This helps you produce energy for movement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiovascular_fitness
A sobering fact is that heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Therefore, cardio training is one of the most critical of the 5 components of fitness, for the health of your heart.
Because losing weight alone is not a fitness program.
Therefore, the most fundamental component of fitness is to improve the health of your heart.
One way to ensure that you get your cardio in for the day is to get moving before breakfast. Wake up a little earlier and go out for a walk, run, swim, bike, jump rope, rucking, or do the elliptical.
An excellent choice for cardio training which is perfect for your home even if you have a low-ceiling basement (where you cannot jump rope, do treadmill, or elliptical) is the Concept 2 Indoor Rowing Machine for a total body workout, and which is easy on your joints.
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Or get off the bus or train earlier and walk 20 or 30 minutes to your office.
Start Moving
The skeletal muscles are under your neural control. Your thoughts control the movement of your skeleton. You have no other control of your organs. For example, you do not control your heartbeat, digestion, respiration, or other cellular processes.
You only control your ability to move.
To begin a fitness program, start moving first. Before worrying about what you will eat, think about physical activity. This is as simple as going for a 30-minute walk every day. You can bike, swim, jog, ski, walk, just get more active.
What is the recommendation of NASM, the National Academy of Sports Medicine?
NASM advises getting a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. For a minimum total of 150 minutes a week of physical activity.
3. Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to perform a pain-free full range of motion in a joint or group of joints and is the third of the 5 components of fitness. It also includes the ability of a joint to move effectively through a complete range of motion. Losing weight and building muscle is not enough. You need flexibility and excellent body composition for better health and fitness.
Anyone over the age of 50 probably knows that it is not so simple.
You need to start a dynamic stretching and static stretching routine to stay flexible, especially as you move beyond 50.
Can you touch your toes from a standing position? If not, then you know where to start. Every morning, carefully raise your arms over your head and then bend to touch your toes.
You can do the same with a simple sit and reach test. Sit on the floor and see if you can reach your toes.
Start with one repetition and work up to ten.
Hold each stretch for up to 30 seconds, without bouncing.
You should stretch every single day. Do not let your body get stiff.
Walk, stretch, work out, do yoga.
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4. Muscular Endurance
You need to build your muscular strength and endurance. What is muscular endurance?
Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to perform repeated contractions against a resistance for an extended period of time. It is the fourth building block of health-related fitness, along with cardio fitness, healthy body composition, and muscular strength.
A common fitness assessment for muscular endurance is the push-up test, where you do as many push-ups as possible in 60 seconds.
You can improve your muscular endurance by doing normal activities for a longer duration. For example, you can extend your continuous walking time up to 30 minutes. Once you can do thirty minutes, walk up to forty-five minutes or an hour.
Or you can bike, swim or do the elliptical for a longer period of time. Similarly, you can do push-ups, calisthenics exercises, bodyweight squats, sit-ups, or a beginner bodyweight workout plan in only 30 minutes.
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However, when you are starting out on your fitness journey, running, walking, or the elliptical is the safest bet. Gradual improvement is always better than burning yourself out for a week and dropping your training altogether.
The best workout is the one you stick with.
So do not burn yourself out.
5. Muscular Strength
Muscular strength is the third key ingredient of fitness.
According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), muscular strength is the maximal amount of force a muscle or muscle group can exert during a single contraction against resistance.
Muscular strength is usually measured with a one-rep maximum (1-RM) test. During a 1-RM, an exerciser performs one repetition of a single exercise , for example the leg press, to see how much weight he or she can lift.
https://www.verywell.com/how-to-increase-muscular-strength-3496121
For example, what is the maximum amount of weight you can deadlift one time? Having said that, please do not attempt to find out! Deadlifting is one of the greatest muscle strengthening exercises, but also one of the most dangerous.
Especially if you have no training.
So, suffice it to say that strong muscles are one of your best friends. Stronger muscles make everything easier in your life. Getting in and out of your car, walking, leisure, just your normal activities of daily living. With stronger muscles, you become more functional.
In addition, building muscle mass improves your metabolism and can reverse insulin resistance.
If you want to determine your 1 rep max for deadlifting or any other strength training, see the 15 Most Important Proper Deadlift Form Tips You Need to Know.
Build Muscle or Lose Fat First?
Cardio fitness and body composition, are two steps of your journey to better health and fitness. Most people can spend between six months and a year getting into the habit of daily exercise and smarter eating habits.
But, it is much easier to get your eating under control than trying to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. Especially if you are significantly overweight or obese.
Once you are at a more comfortable weight, you can start building strength.
You do not necessarily need to use weights in a gym. All you need is a floor and you can begin to do push-ups and squats. If you have a doorway, you can add a chin-up bar for chin-ups or pullups.
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When you are ready for weights, you can get started with basic barbell training.
You only need a handful of core compound barbell exercises to build muscle mass.
Remember though, you can never out-train a bad diet.
If you think that weightlifting and having a thanksgiving meal every day of the week will get you lean, forget about it.
You need to first get into the habit of daily physical activity and seeing food as fuel, not just entertainment. Then you can start a more focused strength building plan.
An excellent resource for weight lifting is Mark Rippetoe’s classic book Starting Strength.
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5 Components of Fitness Mnemonic – BCF ME MS – Final Thoughts
To sum up, these are the 5 components of fitness; cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition.
- Body Composition
- Cardiovascular Endurance
- Flexibility
- Muscular Endurance
- Muscular Strength
And this is your acronym to use as a mnemonic: BCF ME MS:
- Body Composition
- Cardiovascular Endurance
- Flexibility
- Muscular Endurance
- Muscular Strength
Knowing the 5 components of fitness definition can motivate you to take action:
- Get active, at the minimum, physical activity like walking for 30 minutes a day.
- Eat real food
- Start a strength training routine, even at home, with deadlifts, push-ups, and squats.
- Walk for up to an hour at a shot on weekends.
- Start stretching, even simple stretches to improve your flexibility.
Now you know the answer to what are the 5 components of fitness and why they are so important to improve your level of fitness.
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- 12 Week Deadlift Program for Beginners
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- 7 Deadlift Fat Loss Results You Need to Know
- 5 Cardio Workouts That Can Shred Fat in Just 12 Weeks
- 7 Cardiorespiratory Endurance Training Principles
- 5 Ways Cardiorespiratory Endurance Affects Physical Fitness
Footnotes:
¹ https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2019-09-19/obesity-in-america-a-guide-to-the-public-health-crisis – Obesity in America: A Public Health Crisis – Obesity is a public health issue and the Hashi Mashi plan can help more than 100 million adults and children in the U.S.
Rich is a NASM-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer), an