Physical fitness includes both general (health-related) fitness and specific (skill-related) fitness. General fitness focuses on cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and body composition. It aims to keep the body healthy and reduce disease risk. Specific fitness comprises agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed and prepares the body for particular sports or tasks. Both types of fitness are usually achieved through regular exercise.

1. PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ITS
TYPES
Jean Melanie Vincent Haymo
Physical Education Teacher
MPhil Scholar Punjabi University ,Patiala
MPED L.N.I.P.E , Gwalior

2. Physical Fitness
 It is the ability of an individual to carry out daily task with vigor and alertness without
getting undue fatigue and ample energy to meet emergency situation.
 These days, physical fitness is considered a measure of the body’s ability to function
efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypokinetic
diseases, and to meet emergency situations.
 The ability to carry out daily tasks with alertness and vigour, without undue fatigue, and with
enough energy reserve to meet emergencies or to enjoy leisure time
 Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness (a state of health and well-
being) and specific fitness (a task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific
aspects of sports or occupations). Physical fitness is generally achieved through exercise.

3. General or Health Related
Fitness
Health related fitness is what everyone should have whether they
play a sport or not.
Health-related physical fitness is defined as fitness related to some
aspect of health. This type of physical fitness is primarily influenced
by an individual’s exercise habits
Keeping the body fit for health incorporates the following
components:-

5. Components of Health Related Fitness
Cardiovascular fitness Requires the heart and blood vessels to supply the
working muscles with oxygen for long periods of time.
Strength Is normally measured by the amount of weight the muscles can lift,
or applying a force against a resistance.
Flexibility Is an important part of fitness that we need to keep into our old age.
Babies have a natural suppleness and can suck their toes (not that as a teenager
you would probably want to do this still), we lose flexibility as we grow older.
We should always remember to warm up before competition to stretch our
muscles and tendons.
Muscular endurance Is the ability of the muscle to work for long periods of
time without tiring. A marathon runner is an extreme case of a person who has
muscular endurance in the leg muscles (Hamstrings and Gastrocnemius in
particular).

6. Body composition is the amount of muscle, fat, bone, cartilage
etc. that makes up our bodies. It includes fat mass and fat free
mass (muscle mass). A healthy amount of fat for a man is
between 15&18% and for women is higher at 20-25%. It is
important to maintain a healthy percentage of body fat because:
Fat-free mass includes bone, water, muscle, and tissues. Body fat
is literally fat located within the body
Excess body fat can contribute to developing a number of health
problems such as heart disease and diabetes
Places strain on the joints, muscles and bones, increasing the
risk of injury.

7. Specific Fitness or Skill Related
Fitness
Specific or task-oriented fitness is a person's ability to perform in a
specific activity with a reasonable efficiency: for example, sports
or military service. Specific training prepares athletes to perform well
in their sports.
Examples are:
400m sprint - in a sprint the athlete must be trained to work
anaerobically throughout the race.
Marathon - in this case the athlete must be trained to work
aerobically and their endurance must be built-up to a maximum.

9. Components
Agility: - The ability to quickly change direction in response to
outside stimuli. Agility may be defined as the physical ability which
enables an individual to rapidly change body position and direction
in a precise manner.
Balance:- The ability to maintain the body in a defined position
over changing centers of balance . balance is an ability to maintain
the centre of gravity of a body within the base of support with
minimal postural sway. When exercising the ability to balance, one
is said to be balancing.
Coordination:- The ability to move the body in ways that requires
complex inputs and carefully graded muscle contractions. It is the
ability to do motor movements in stabilized and generalized manner.

10. Power:-it is the ability of an individual to release maximum force
in the fastest possible time. It is a combination of strength and
speed. It is the ability to overcome resistance with high speed.
Reaction time:- The ability to initiate movement and respond to a
stimulus. It is the ability to react quickly and effectively to a
signal. Reaction time (RT), is the elapsed time between the
presentation of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioural
response
Speed: - The ability to rapidly contract muscles in a sequenced
manner to propel the body. It is the ability to execute motor
movements with high speed.