Fitness has ~5 components, depending on who you ask
“Physical fitness”, like “Health” is a surprisingly vague term. You could point out a marathon runner and a bodybuilder and call each of them “physically fit”, but they are only “fit” for the things they choose to use their fitness for. There is no single set of bound mutually orthogonal components that are universally agreed upon, but there are some common themes that one can glean from a cross section of multiple such lists.
👉 A balanced approach to fitness would not have you focus on or exclude completely any one aspect.
Simplest Breakdown
What I prefer for tracking, covers all the bases well enough.
- Strength
- Cardio
- Mobility
Alternative Breakdown
Per cited source spps.org
- Cardiovascular Endurance - ability for the heart and lungs to provide oxygen
- Running (VO2 Max)
- Muscular Strength - amount of force muscles can produce
- Lifting heavy
- Muscular endurance - resistance to muscular fatigue
- Step machines, sit-ups, push-ups
- Flexibility - ability for full range of motion about each joint
- Stretching, yoga
- Body Composition - fat mass compared to muscle/bone/organs
- What you eat, mostly
Alt Alt
- Cardiovascular Endurance - The ability of the body’s system to gather, process and deliver oxygen.
- Muscular Endurance - The ability of the body’s systems to process, deliver, store and utilize energy.
- Muscular Strength - The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force in a single contraction.
- Power - The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.
- Agility - The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
- Speed - The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
- Flexibility - The ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
- Balance - The ability to control the placement of bodies centre of gravity in relation to its support base.
- Coordination - The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
- Accuracy - The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.
Health.Gov’s Table
Cardiorespiratory Fitness - The ability to perform large-muscle, whole-body exercise at moderate-to-vigorous intensities for extended periods of time.
Musculoskeletal Fitness - The integrated function of muscle strength, muscle endurance, and muscle power to enable performance of work.
Flexibility - The range of motion available at a joint or group of joints.
Balance - The ability to maintain equilibrium while moving or while stationary.
Speed - The ability to move the body quickly.
Dr. Peter Attia’s Breakdown
Aerobic Efficiency - how healthy are your mitochondria and how effectively can you utilize aerobic processes to generate energy
Aerobic Capacity - what’s your VO2 Max
Strength - how strong are you across various functional movement patterns
Stability - how prone are you to injury, stability is about your stabilizers somewhat, but more so about ideal functional movement patterns.
Source
Sources
Myself
Physical Education / 5 Components of Physical Fitness
10 Components of Fitness - Gauging the Fitness Person in the World