Tidbit Tuesday - Exercise Modalities & the 5 Components of Physical Fitness

Hello,

Welcome to another Tidbit Tuesday where we aim to teach you something new about health, nutrition, lifestyle, training, and so much more, every week! 

Today we are going to be talking about Exercise Modalities & the 5 Components of Physical Fitness!

The 5 components of physical fitness are Cardiovascular Endurance, Muscular Strength, Muscular endurance, Flexibility, and Body Composition.  When determining over-all health, it isn’t enough to think about how much weight someone can bench press or if they can complete a marathon. But rather the ability to adapt to many changing scenarios.

Let us take a closer look at each component:

Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the heart and lungs to work together to provide the needed oxygen and fuel to the body during sustained workloads. Examples would be jogging, cycling, and swimming. The Cooper Run is used most often to test cardiovascular endurance.

Muscular strength is the amount of force a muscle can produce. Examples would be the bench press, leg press or bicep curl. The push up and grip strength tests are most often used to test muscular strength.

Muscular endurance is the ability of the muscles to perform continuously without fatiguing. Examples would be cycling, step machines and elliptical machines. The one-mile walk or plank tests are most often used to test muscular endurance.

Flexibility is the ability of each joint to move through the available range of motion for a specific joint. Examples would be stretching individual muscles or the ability to perform certain functional movements such as the lunge. The sit and reach test is most often used to test flexibility.

Body composition is the amount of fat mass compared to lean muscle mass - bone and organs. This can be measured using underwater weighing, Skinfold readings, and bioelectrical impedance. Underwater weighing is considered the “gold standard” for body fat measurement, however because of the size and expense of the equipment needed very few places are set up to do this kind of measurement.

Each component can be tested and given a quantifiable number to test against to see how you have progressed.

 Exercise Modalities to work on each of these include:

Cardio – jogging/running outside or on a treadmill, cycling outdoors or on a stationary bike, elliptical, climber, rower, lateral trainer, upper-body ergometer, vigorous dance, kickboxing, aerobics classes, jumping rope, swimming, cross country skiing, inline skating, and plenty more.

Strength training – free weights, cable machines, plate-loaded machines, kettlebells, medicine balls, resistance bands/tubing, suspension straps, calisthenics/body weight.

Flexibility – stretching machines, freestyle stretches (or with straps), yoga and Pilates.

This is not a complete list by any means, there are plenty of ways to get creative with fitness. Among these categories, one modality isn’t necessarily better than the others. It’s a matter of what’s available to you. Ideally, you can vary modalities when possible to incorporate cross training for greater benefits to your body and mind. But if you just aren’t a runner, or the weather does not permit, than you don’t have to force yourself to run. Simply choose other modalities that you enjoy and change your routine periodically to stay challenged and fresh.

Different modalities provide important variety that can help you get results and stay motivated for a lifetime of valuable exercise. As the goal is to stay active through your entire life, safety is of the utmost importance, each activity should be completed with proper form and technique.  Second, you must be consistent, exercise is medicine, and just like medicine, it should be taken almost every day (2–3 non-consecutive days per week for strength training).

Think lifelong activity. I am sure you’ve heard the saying “variety is the spice of life”, so it’s not a bad idea to change it up every once in a while. But make sure you give each chosen modality 12 to 16 weeks of committed use, to allow the benefits to become engrained, so that you actually reap the benefits from your time and effort.

As you progress you can begin to challenge yourself in your activities. Making them harder by increasing the weight, decreasing your rest time or completing the drill quicker. Another phenomenal method to challenge yourself further is to remove stability, balance training improves your body's ability to react quickly to everyday missteps, which in turn helps prevent falls. During exercise, balance also helps you move more efficiently for improved performance and injury prevention.

As we enter another lockdown, here in Alberta, and our fitness facilities are being forced to close their doors once again, we must get creative with our approach to physical activity.

There is always the option of doing home workouts. If you are lucky enough to have a home gym or even just some equipment, then you should be able to stay consistent with some creative programming.

If you don’t have any workout equipment at all then you can either simply do bodyweight workouts, which are still phenomenal, or get creative with household items to create additional weight for your workouts. You can do something as simple as filling a bag or backpack with heavy items, use empty milk containers filled with water, or hold your child or significant other while performing exercises.

However, if you are in the market for some equipment on a budget than you can try out these bands from TheFitLife; https://www.thefitlifestore.com/products/thefitlife-exercise-resistance-bands-with-handles-5-fitness-workout-bands-training-tubes-with-large-handles-ankle-straps-door-anchor-attachment-carry-bag-and-bonus-ebook

For an additional 5% off the sale price enter discount code  HJACM3VN  at checkout!

They come with two options, stackable up to 110 lbs or 150 lbs, with an e-book on how to get the most out of them.

Otherwise, whether you have equipment or not, if you would like a personalized workout routine to get you through another lockdown, please reach out to us and we will create a program for you, based on what you have available.

Stay happy. Stay healthy. Stay motivated!

Your friend in Health & Fitness,

Coach Sean