When gym buffs talk about fitness, I used to see it as a celebration of strength and speed. Upon closer look, fitness is actually a whole lot more than that.
According to this article, the components of fitness are:-
- Strength
- Power
- Agility
- Balance
- Flexibility
- Local muscle endurance
- Cardiovascular endurance
- Strength endurance
- Coordination
Phew! That’s a pretty long list of stuff to have just to be fit don’t you think?
I know I have some level of cardiovascular endurance, but my flexibility is so poorly I can’t even touch my toes or sit up 90 degrees with my legs outstretched. It’s so bad that every single time I attempt to do yoga at a class, I end up seeing stars, sweat unhealthily during mid-pose, and even puked up my lunch once.
Does that mean I should just remain as stiff as a log though? Of course not.
It just means I have do yoga at my own level and pace. If I can’t do the full poses, I just do what I can. The idea is to improve my own flexibility, not to do what Miss Twisty is doing on the other side of the room.
Also for flexibility, I do stretching exercises at home that I learned both from the gym and my physiotherapist in New York.
But you don’t really need go to New York to learn them! All you need to do is Google stretching exercises… REALLY!
My point is, we’re all going to be good at some components and bad at others, unless you’re just super unfit. Then you’ll need to just start from wherever you are at…. slowly. 🙂
And while I LOVE MY GYM and go several times a week, I don’t really have to go there to achieve fitness in some of the components like balance and flexibility. I simply need to know what to do safely, and do them at home or when I am out staring at the beautiful Bornean sunset.
By paying attention to the components of fitness, I know now to improve in all areas to achieve true fitness.