Physical fitness is an important factor for living a happy and healthy life. There have been a number of diseases due to obesity and lack of physical fitness world-wide. Not able to remain physically healthy has become one of the leading reasons for many illnesses which sometimes also leads to chronic diseases.
What Is Physical Fitness?
An ability to accomplish daily activities with excellent performance, toleration, strength with the management of disease, fatigue, and stress, and sluggish behaviors is known as physical fitness.
A condition of well-being and healthiness, specifically involving the ability to carry out aspects of sports, jobs, and everyday affairs. It is normally attained through proper nutrition, energetic physical exercise, and sufficient rest.
Importance Of Physical Fitness
The importance of physical fitness in our daily routine can not be neglected. Some of the benefits of remaining physically fit is also mentioned below:
1. Save Money
According to some research centers, 7 out of 10 deaths are triggered by chronic diseases, and treating chronic illnesses accounts for almost 86% of U.S. healthcare costs. Though some diseases cannot be prevented, the risk can be reduced for certain diseases such as diabetes and heart attacks by minimizing dangerous behaviors and living a healthy lifestyle. As such exercising, every day can lessen the risk for many health issues which result in expensive medical care.
2. Increase Your Life Expectancy
Numerous studies show that regular physical activity increases life expectancy by reducing the risk of premature mortality. It is not a formula that calculates hours of physical activity into hours of expanding life, but researchers indicate that people who are physically fit tend to live a longer and healthier life.
3. Reduce The Risk Of Injury
Regular physical activity increases muscle strength, flexibility, bone density, and stability. It reduces the risk of easily getting accidental injuries, especially when old. As stronger muscles and better balance will make you less likely to slip and fall and your stronger bones will less likely to suffer bone injuries when you fall.
4. Improve Your Quality Of Life
A dull lifestyle and lack of physical activity can change a person’s body. However, exercise has been proven to improve mood and mental health and provide various health benefits. It can also let you achieve something which you could not do it before.
5. Stay Active
Staying healthy and active lets you do those activities which involve a certain degree of physical fitness like trekking to the top of a mountain, is a rewarding experience that gives a sense of accomplishment but due to fitness limitations, there are people who cannot experience it. Even walking around the zoo or playing on the playground can be challenging for those who have not exercised for quite a long time. Being active makes it easier to stay active while getting old.
6. Improve Your Health
Regular physical activity improves your overall health including cardiovascular and respiratory health. Staying active can help to maintain a healthy body mass, reducing the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.
Different Factors Related To Physical Fitness:
Physical fitness can be determined by these factors or aspects which are given below.
1. Body Composition
It plays a highly important role in determining the strength to weight ratio for better performance levels of the body from day-to-day activities.
2. Cardiovascular Fitness Levels
It is highly necessary to determine the lung capacity of the individual.
3. Flexibility
Flexibility is one influencing aspect. It helps us to ascertain how well our body functions are coordinated to one another with the best of perfection.
4. Speed
It has a quite important role to play in determining how well a person can coordinate under stress.
5. Power
Characterized by strength and speed, power almost always determines the kind of motion the body possesses during any sports or activity.
6. Coordination
Coordination can be highly significant to keep the easy movement of the various body parts for a perfectly controlled activity.
7. Balance
Tests for the dynamic or static based upon the resistance power of the body against different factors can be measured.
8. Agility
Agility plays a very essential role to determine the speed of decisions taken and also the brisk personality of the corresponding individual.
9. Muscular Fitness
A better muscular fitness level provides for better energetic behavior on the part of the individual.
10. Strength
Strength levels are greatly metric to the bone mass and definitive training is done to achieve more strength levels on the whole.
Steps For Achievement Of Physical Fitness
An effective strategy in achieving and maintaining physical fitness may include:
1. Pinpoint Your Ultimate Fitness Goal
Set a realistic goal. Your goal can be fit enough to participate in a competition on a particular date or as easy as 10 laps of the park. In either of these cases, you should stick to your goal and work hard to turn it into reality. Just keep in mind what is achievable, important, and meaningful to you. Set your goal, be persistent, and work hard towards it.
2. Find Out How To Achieve Your Ultimate Fitness Goal
The minute you have set your ultimate fitness target, you need to plan out a certain schedule and approach that fits u and your goal. You can start small such as 30 minutes walk or jog around the park.
3. Cut-Off Junk And Eat Healthily
Kick-off your day with a warm glass of water. Try to start eating healthy and incorporating healthy food in your routine diet and cutting out junk food. Increase the ratio of fresh vegetables and fruits in your everyday meals.
4. Set Small, Specific Fitness Goals
In order to achieve your ultimate target, start small but you must be persistent and follow the set routine. Divide and break them down into different mini-goals and incorporate them into your everyday routine. Consider them as a daily task that you need to complete.
5. Monitor Your Physical Activity Regularly
Measure your mini-goals. Monitor and note down your daily achievements regularly so that you can keep a record of your progress. Cheer, celebrate, and reward yourself (like with a pair of new tight jeans or dress) to keep yourself determined and motivated.
6. Adapt Your Physical Activity To Changing Circumstances
Sometimes it may be difficult to adapt to some changes due to our hectic routine, which can hinder our way of achieving our ultimate goal. But we can come up with ways to overcome these hindrances and reach our ultimate goal. For instance, if u fall ill, you can readjust your time frame set for your mini-goal instead of totally abandoning it and in case of busy routine, you can adopt physical activities like using the staircase instead of lifts and elevators and if your workplace is in a walking distance, you can opt for jogging or walking to your workplace instead of any vehicle.
7. Physical Activity – Don’t Be Too Hard On Yourself
There will be times when you will get tired, feel like your ultimate goal is unreachable, and want to give up especially during the starting months you will find the changes most challenging. But you need to have strong determination and faith. Start small and work persistently to reach your ultimate goal. Ultimately you will realize, commitment to a healthier and happier lifestyle is a tremendous achievement. You will appreciate how far you have come and what you have achieved.
