The Components of Fitness
What is fitness? Typically, the components of fitness are listed in five S’s:
Strength (muscular strength, anaerobic power)
The ability of a given muscle(s) to generate force under specific conditions.
Speed (agility, quickness, mobility)
Movement distance per unit time.
Stamina (Cardiovascular-respiratory endurance, aerobic conditioning, aerobic power)
The ability to perform dynamic exercise at moderate-to-high intensity for prolonged periods of time.
Suppleness (Flexibility)
A joint’s maximum range of motion within the planes it is designed to move.
Skill (neuromuscular control, coordination, efficiency, balance, reaction time)
Level of proficiency on a given task that includes abilities, capabilities, and experience.
Sometimes other components are mentioned:
Sustenance: Nutrition
Structure: Body composition, body type, size, shape.
Style: An individual manner of expressing a skill.
Sociability Healthy relationships.
Spirit: Ethical and moral values.
‘pSychology’: Mental health.
Whatever the list, we can appreciate the complexity of fitness when we think about their relationships:
Strength-speed / Strength-stamina / Strength-supple / Strength-skill
Speed-strength / Speed-stamina / Speed-supple / Speed-skill
Stamina-strength / Stamina-speed / Stamina-supple / Stamina-skill
Supple-strength / Supple-speed / Supple-stamina / Supple-skill
Skill-strength / Skill-speed / Skill-stamina / Skill-supple
These relationships define distinct components in their own right:
Power (Strength-Speed)
The ability to perform an explosive movement in the shortest time possible for a prolonged period.
Muscular Endurance (Strength-Stamina)
The ability to perform many repetitions against a given resistance for a prolonged period.
Power Endurance (Strength-Speed-Stamina)
The ability to produce great power continuously without serious decrement.
Agility (Strength-Speed-Suppleness)
The ability to stop, start, and change direction of the body or body parts rapidly and in a controlled manner.
Mobility (Speed-Suppleness-Skill)
The ability to cover a playing area quickly with good timing and coordination.
Speed-Endurance (Speed-Stamina)
The ability to maintain or repeat high-velocity action several times per game.
High Speed Flexibility (Speed-Suppleness)
Flexibility exhibited at high speed.
High Speed Skill (Speed-Skill)
Actions produced skilfully at high speed.
Psychology (or ‘pSychology’) was mentioned earlier. This component may also contain its own sub-components (and relationships):
Psychological Strength: The ability of a given thought to overcome doubt.
Psychological Stamina: The ability to solve problems for prolonged periods of time.
Psychological Speed: Decision-making per unit time.
Psychological Suppleness: A mind’s range of perspectives.
Psychological Skill: A level of efficiency on a given psychological task or problem.
Social fitness may also be similarly analysed:
Social Strength: The ability for a group to overcome division.
Social Stamina: A group’s ability to work as a team for prolonged periods of time.
Social Speed: Group decision-making per unit time.
Social Suppleness: A group’s range of organization.
Social Skill: A level of efficiency on a given group task or problem.
Perhaps there are as many perspectives and questions as there are disciplines of study. Fitness can be studied from a physical, chemical, biological, psychological. sociological, historical, geographical, and many other perspectives.
The point here is not to be comprehensive but to help fitness professionals broaden and deepen their thinking about their practice.
For example, if fitness can be broken down in the ways above, then what are the implications for training? Does training have its component parts that reflects the components of fitness? Is there a model of training and fitness that reflects this symmetry?
