Components of Fitness

As I have mentioned it in other articles, particularity Basic Training Principals, there are a series of individual components which define fitness. These individual components are separate of one another and therefore require varying stimuli, often bipolar stimuli to produce improvements. This is why an elite 100m sprinter cannot enter and win a 40km distance race, as the two activities require different components of fitness. It should be noted some of the components are closely related to one another and all these components strongly link in with the energy systems used by your body, so before you proceed I recommend reading  Introduction to Fitness. Seriously….do it.

Now you have read and understood the articles linked above it is time to get into the components of fitness. Firstly there are two main groups in which these components can be split; physical related and skill related. Physical related meaning they are key indicators of a healthy individual and important for quality of life. Skill related meaning these are skills developed for particular circumstances, usually specialized and not required for quality of life. I have gone ahead and taken the liberty of labeling 1.energy system(s), 2.muscle fiber type(s) and 3.equation(where applicable) predominately used for each component. You need not worrying to much about the fiber types for the moment, however I do plan on doing an article on this later.

Physical related components

Cardiopulmonary Endurance (1.Aerobic Glycolosis 2.Slow twitch/type I)
This refers to the ability of both the heart and lungs; the lungs ability to provide the blood with reasonable amounts of oxygen and the hearts ability to pump that blood and circulate it to the working muscles. This also includes the muscles ability to utilize the oxygen efficiently.

Muscular Endurance (1.Aerobic Glycolosis/Neural 2.Slow twitch/type I)
The ability to contract the same muscle fiber groups repeatedly at a sustained rate.

Body Composition 
The distribution of fat and muscle in the body but also including height, lengths and girths.

Flexibility
The capacity of a joint to move through its full rang of motion unimpeded.

Strength (1.Anaerobic ATP-CP/Neural 2.Fast twitch/type IIb)
The extent to which muscles can exert force by contracting again resistance.

 Motor Skill related components

Speed (1.Anaerobic ATP-CP 2.Fast twitch/type IIb)
The time it takes to move over a distance.
3. Speed = Distance
———
Time

Power  (1.Anaerobic ATP-CP 2.Fast twitch/type IIb)
The ability to exert maximal muscular contraction in as short a time as possible. Power is actually a measurement of mechanical work in which the standard metric unit is the watt.
3. Power = Work
——
Time

Agility (1.Anaerobic ATP-CP/Anaerobic Glycolosis 2.Fast twitch/type II a and b)
The ability to change body position and/or direction quickly.

Balance and Co-ordination 
The ability to control body position, stationary or moving, and integrate all components for fluent efficient movements.

There you have it, the components of fitness. You should now be able to recognize which components are necessary for which sports or activities. You should also have a fair idea of which energy systems are being trained when training certain components. Keep an eye out for my article on the different muscle fiber types in the body, their uses and energy systems used.

Basic Training Principals 101

 

The following article is designed to show you just how much thought and planning SHOULD go into a developing a training program. It’s a lot more complex and specific than throwing a few exercises together, although you wouldn’t think so the way most trainers are these days. For any program to be effective it needs to follow a basic set of rules known as fundamental principals, these principals dictate wether or not you will progress or stall in accomplishing your goals.

Progressive Overload – FITT

In order to define progressive overload we must first understand the concept of adaption. The more we exercise the more efficient our body becomes at completing that specific exercise, this is know as specific adaption to imposed distress. In order for this adaption to consistently occur  we must progressively increase the demands on our body. This can be achieved in several ways, best done by tweaking the variables of; FITT.

Frequency eg. 3-4 times a week

This refers how frequently you train. Training too often can obstruct recovery, leading to injuries, deminished returns and getting burnt out. This is known as overtraining. Alternately not training often enough means your body rarely having to adapt and overcome, meaning smaller improvements less often. Frequency is  also linked to the use it or lose it rule, this states you must train often enough in order to maintain a specific level of performance, not doing so will see a decrease in performance.

Intensity eg. low/moderate/high

This is the level of effort at which you perform exercise, for example walking for most people is a low intensity exercise, while sprinting in considered high intensity.  Intensity can be tweaked via changing sets,reps,volume, rest periods, distance, speed, as well as many other variables. Generally heart rate is the best way to determine intensity.

Type eg. resistance training, sprints, distance running.

Also known as specificity, this refers to the type of exercise performed and which components of of fitness(speed, strength, power, agility etc.) it is improving. For a better understanding of  the components of fitness see “component of fitness” (coming soon). Improving one component generally has little to no transfer to other components, therefore you must focus on training the component(s) you want to improve. The best way to improve an exercise or skill is to perform that exercise or skill.

Time

Obviously this relates to the amount of time spent exercising, but is usually dependent on the type of exercise. Nothing else really to write here…. although I will mention increasing duration is only really good for aerobic exercises and muscular endurance.

Periodization

Periodization as it refers to exercise, is the concept of systematically planning and varying training, usually to focus on a sole component of fitness for peak performance at a given time. These variations can be implemented in many ways from changes in volume, rest periods, speed, distance, rep ranges, exercise selection etc. The idea behind periodization is, generally it requires several components of fitness to achieve ones goals, however attempting to train all the components together would cause over training. So instead we train the needed components separately over different periods of time. This leads to having to split training into more manageable chunks in which you can focus on developing that particular component while still working towards an overall goal. Enter macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles.

Macrocycle

This is the overall goal, the annual plan spanning over the year and can be broken into three phases; preparatory, competitive and transition. Preparatory referring to the period of time leading into peak performance, in which you are training and progressing. Competitive referring to the period of time in which are required to acheive peak performance and transition is the time after the competitive phase but before the next preparatory phase, used primarily for psychological rest and biological regeneration.

Mesocycles

 Dividing a macrocycle into smaller more manageable training periods, ranging from a few weeks to a few months, is known as a mesocycle. The purpose of this is allowing focus on one primary component of fitness, yet still working towards the overall goal.

Microcycles 

Further breaking down mesocycles into microcycles ensure every aspect of training is micro managed and progression is occurring. A microcycle is usually a weeks worth of training yet can be altered depending on progression.

Individual sessions

These are the plans for the individual training sessions themselves, they are more specific and in depth, including things like sets, reps, rest periods etc.

The best way to wrap your head around these “cycles” is to think of your training program like your body. Your body is a number of different systems working in unison to ensure your survival, things like organs, tissues and cells carry out individual assignments yet all work towards the same goal. The same can be said for a good program, it ensure you are training each required component individual while working towards the same goal.

Introduction to Exercise 101

This article will be your basic introduction to Exercise, much like the intro to nutrition, I will be focusing on the basic principals of exercise, types and some physiological effects. I would like to state here again,  I will aim to do this in the most basic way possible, nice and easy to understand, I will also endeavor to keep as much technical/science talk out of these articles, and keep them short and to the point. However sometimes the complicated stuff needs to be included.

Firstly it’s worth mentioning there are three(3) types of work the human body is capable of,  transport, chemical and mechanical. Of these we will be focusing almost exclusively on mechanical, which is the work of muscle contractions. For the rest of the article we will refer to mechanical work as exercise. Exercise is activity requiring physical effort, carried out usually to sustain or improve health and fitness. Exercise can be broken up into two(2) main categories depending on which energy system is being used to perform the exercise, and can be further broken into subcategories further explaining the energy systems.   These categories are:

Anaerobic

Anaerobic exercise  is your bodies ability to perform exercise without utilizing oxygen. It does so by using stored fuel within the body to perform mechanical work or exercise.  Exercise of this variety is usually high intensity and can only  be performed for shorter periods of time, think fast explosive exercises.

 Below is the further defined sub-categories energy systems used in anaerobic exercise

ATP-CP 

Before I explain this system I must explain the importance of ATP. ATP is the molecule responsible for all biological work, it is the essence of life. It is literally why you are alive.

The ATP-CP system is the first energy system called to action when any movement is performed, therefore it must be ready to act immediately. It does so by being stored within muscle cells, however only in small quantities. As it is in small quantities it runs out very quickly and as we know we need it for ALL biological work, meaning we better find a way to get some more, and fast. This is achieved with the help of creatine phosphate, which is also stored in small quantities in muscle cells and donates energy to used ATP to make it whole again and available for re-use. As both substances are stored in small amounts  this energy system can only be used for very short periods of time(10sec), usually for intense explosive exercises. Remember all this is done without oxygen.

Anaerobic glycolisis 

This system is the next system in line for use when we eventually run out of creatine phosphate stores, like all energy systems it’s purpose is to provide more ATP for the body to use. It does so by partially breaking down glucose, in doing so not only does it produce more ATP, but produces a bi product called pyruvate which without the presence of oxygen(anaerobic), ferments to produce lactate or lactic acid. This is all happening very shortly after exercise begins(post 10sec) and can last for 2-4mins before lactic acid becomes problematic to continuing exercise as it causes a lowering of pH and pain. In order to continue exercise we must incorporate oxygen.

Aerobic

 Below is the further defined sub-categories energy systems used in aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise or more commonly known as “cardio” is exercise which utilizes oxygen to produce fuel for skeletal muscle to perform mechanical work or exercise. Exercise of this variety is usually low intensity and can be performed for extended periods of time, think endurance exercises.

Aerobic glycolosis 

As mentioned above for exercise to continue beyond the anaerobic glycolosis stage it must incorporate the use of oxygen, therefore becoming aerobic gylcolosis. With enough oxygen present pyruvate will not ferment into lactate but instead is transported to the mitochondria, here it will be converted to Acetyl-CoA where it enters the citric acid cycle producing more ATP…what an epic journey however it continues, from here the the remains are passed down the electron transport chain used to re-energize spent ATP to make it whole again and available for re-use. This is the full breakdown of glucose. This system can be used almost indefinitely provided enough oxygen is present therefore stopping the conversion of pyruvate to lactate.

Now here is where I will mention you will never rely exclusively on one system, they all work in unison and overlap to ensure your body is always provided with sufficient ATP. So basically your body is breaking down the chemical bonds stored in food and converting it into it’s own preferred energy source as ATP. It can do this with or without oxygen as demonstrated above and does it for the entirety of your life. Which gets you thinking….the human body is pretty amazing hey? and all thanks to ATP.

 Here is where I would also like to apologize for the technical/science talk, but I promise you the above is no where near an in depth evaluation of the systems but instead an extremely basic one. Now with that out of the way we can explore the most effective ways on working these systems for fitness or athletic performance, as well as which systems are best suited for which macro-nutrients use and how you can use this information to become a healthier happier version of yourself.  Be sure to read the rest of the articles I have posted as they tend to all intertwine and to fully understand one you must read the others.

Free Exercise Program

Below I will be providing FREE exercise programs. These programs are broad, simple programs to begin with and slowly and gradually progress in difficulty  so they can be undertaken by anyone from beginner to athlete. They are not specifically designed for any one fitness component or goal, however when performed correctly using the Basic training principals should yield strength, lean mass and anaerobic endurance gains. Coupled with my FREE dietary program and you should be well on your way to your weight-loss/gain goals. To view the program simply click the links below.

Beginner Program
Designed for people who have never resistance trained before.

Beginner Progression(Coming Soon)
Designed for people who have spent 10-12 weeks on the beginner program, have limited experience in resistance training or have had a extended break from resistance training.

Intermediate(Coming Soon)
Designed for people who have completed 10-12 weeks on the beginner progression program, have moderate experience in resistance training, train at moderate intensity or have had a short to moderate break from resistance training.

Intermediate Progression(Coming Soon)
Designed for people who have completed 10-12 weeks on the intermediate program, have had high experience in resistance training, train at moderate to high intensities or have had a short break from resistance training.

Advanced(Coming Soon)
Designed for people who have extensive experience in resistance training, frequently and consistently train at high intensities without injury.