Filling In What You Need to Know Use the following vocabulary words and the information already presented to complete this What You Need to Know Fill-in-the-Blank.

type frequency long FITT Principle hard

intensity name time often

Question #1
The Five Components of Fitness -- Review

Fitness encompasses your whole body and has five components, or parts:

1. Cardiorespiratory Endurance

2. Muscular Strength

3. Muscular Endurance

4. Flexibility

5. Body Composition

To have overall fitness, you need to maintain fitness levels for each component. When all Five Components of Fitness are healthy, it helps you live an active and productive life.

There are four variables in each component of fitness. Together, the four variables make up the
. Following the FITT Principle is the key to improving or maintaining each of the Five Components of Fitness.

The FITT Principle is a guideline in which each letter represents a variable for determining the correct amount of physical activity for each component of fitness.
F stands for
. This is the number of your activity sessions per week.

I stands for
. This is the training load of your activity.

T stands for
. This refers to the number of your activity repetitions or amount of time spent participating in an activity.

T stands for
. This refers to the name of your activity.

When planning your fitness training, you can adjust each of these four variables in order to reach your fitness goals. Customizing the frequency, intensity, time and type of your workouts will help your body make positive changes in health, performance, and appearance.

Frequency

Frequency refers to how
you perform a physical activity. If you want to improve or maintain all Five Components of Fitness, you will need to work each component several times a week. The frequency recommendation for each component varies. The recommended frequency for cardiorespiratory endurance is 5-7 activity sessions per week. In contrast, the recommendation for muscular strength is 2-3 activity sessions per week.

Intensity

Intensity refers to how
you perform an activity. Intensity guidelines are different for each of the Five Components of Fitness. These are the guidelines used for the different components: are

rate,
tension,
speed, and
training load.
For instance, the intensity of flexibility activities describes the tension applied during the exercise. However, the intensity of cardiorespiratory endurance activities are often expressed as heart rate.

Time

Time is how
you perform an activity. How long you perform an activity or exercise depends on which component of fitness you are working on. Time in the FITT Principle is expressed in minutes, distance or the number of repetitions. The Type of physical activity determines the Time for which you perform it.

Type

Type refers to the
of activity you perform. Again, the component of fitness that you choose determines what type of exercise you need. For example, some activities improve flexibility, such as a shoulder stretch. Some, like jogging, benefit cardiorespiratory endurance.

Summary

When you apply the FITT Principle to your training plan, you will improve your physical performance. The FITT Principle applies to all Five Components of Fitness. Each component has a specific set of FITT Principle recommendations. Future units will cover these.