Components of Fitness

Five basic components make up the total physical fitness picture. If you wanted to say that you are a complete physical fitness specimen, then technically you would have to excel in all five: agility, balance, flexibility, endurance, and strength. But is excelling in all five really possible? Actually, it's not. What trainers and coaches have discovered through years of trial and error in training athletes is that the body gets good at the things it does the most and it tends to do the most of the things it is good at. This may seem like circular logic-but try looking at it in a different way.

Suppose you are in college and are striving to become the most knowledgeable person you can be, so you take classes in a wide variety of disciplines. You enjoy learning a little about ancient history, composition, philosophy, and economics. Soon it becomes apparent that you have a certain aptitude for remembering dates and places, and you receive A's on all of your ancient history tests. You are not doing poorly in your other classes, since you are an extremely smart woman and are maintaining B's. However, the A's are encouraging and you find history fascinating, so you decide to take another history class the next semester. Before you know it, you are majoring in history and the economics classes are a thing of the past. This example is similar to what happens to the body when you present it with training for the five components of fitness. You can likely succeed in all five components, but more often than not, one or two of the components suffer (relatively) for the gains made in others. Usually you concentrate on the component that you are the most successful at, which is probably something that fits your body type. That is why at the elite level it is as rare to see a short, stocky, muscular marathon runner as it is to see a tall, thin powerlifter. Your body gravitates to what it is good at-what it is built to do. Let's look at the components of fitness to gain a better understanding of what being in good shape means to you.

Agility

Balance

Flexibility

Endurance

Strength