Posted on: Friday, June 10, 2005
Fitness is a 5-part exercise
By Mary Beth Faller
Arizona Republic
Who is more fit — a lean marathon runner or a powerful football player?
Perhaps neither one is in the best shape he or she could be.
Total fitness includes five components: flexibility, muscle strength, cardiovascular endurance, muscle endurance and body composition.
The five are interrelated. For example, long-distance runners have excellent cardiovascular and muscular endurance but can be injured if they don't maintain proper flexibility. Big football players train with weights to build muscles, but without cardiovascular workouts they might not burn enough calories to maintain a healthy weight.
It's important to work on all five areas of fitness. It's not as daunting as it sounds. Cross training — jogging one day, yoga the next — is one way to stay interested in working out.
"I tend to find that people who are involved in several different aspects of fitness, and not keyed into one, tend to reach their fitness goals quicker and stay with their workouts longer," says Neil Kenkel, senior program director at the Tempe, Ariz., YMCA. "If you have someone who just swims every day, what happens if the pool is closed for a week?"
Nobody expects you to combine the endurance of Lance Armstrong with the agility of Michelle Kwan. You're looking for the best fitness routine for you, and you discover that by assessing how fit you are now.
Flexibility matters Flexibility is the range of motion around a joint. Can you reach fully over your head? Can you touch the floor?
"It's one of the areas that many people forget about, but it's one of the main parts of holistic wellness," Kenkel says.
Flexibility can help prevent injuries because tight muscles can cause people to stress their joints and tendons.
Flexibility also enhances balance and posture, and is important for everyday activities such as exiting a car or hooking a bra.
Most flexibility tests, such as the sit-and-reach test, measure the suppleness of the hamstrings and lower back muscles, important because tight hamstrings cause lower back pain in many people, Kenkel says.
Achievement means more than just scores on an assessment sheet. "I've seen people with chronic low back pain who work on improving flexibility and they notice their back pain disappears," he says.
Pink Mendez, a massage therapist in Phoenix, takes yoga classes and finds that the increased flexibility helps her work. "It makes a difference in my overall strength and endurance."
Strrretchhhh
Good flexibility is achieved through stretching exercises, which increase blood flow to the muscles. Stretching also can ease stress by relaxing tense, tight muscles.
If you go to the Y or another gym, flexibility will be included in the assessment. Some trainers use devices, such as a sit-and-reach box, to measure, but the test can be done at home with a yardstick.
According to standards used at many gyms and by the Y, most people should be able to at least reach their toes in the sit-and-reach. Not being able to reach the feet at all indicates poor flexibility, while reaching beyond is rated good.
As we age, our muscles begin to shrink and we lose flexibility, so it's important for older people to stretch. Many exercise classes for older adults incorporate gentle stretching, such as Bone Builders or Arthritis Foundation classes.
Another good method to safely stretch is yoga, especially for people who are inflexible.
"That person who can't bend forward and touch the ground, that's the ideal person for yoga," says Natalie Quintana, an instructor at Yoga Vida in Phoenix. "Yoga is not just flexibility, it's learning proper alignment."
