The Essential Elements of Physical Fitness
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Food Science and Human Nutrition Program and Human Nutrition Program
Cardiorespiratory Endurance
Cardiorespiratory endurance is enhanced by aerobic training which involves activities that increase your heart rate and breathing such as walking, jogging, or biking. Building cardiorespiratory endurance through aerobic exercise is an excellent way to maintain a healthy weight. Working on this element of physical fitness also improves your circulatory system. It boosts your ability to supply the body’s cells with oxygen and nutrients, and to remove carbon dioxide and metabolic waste. Aerobic exercise is continuous exercise (lasting more than 2 minutes) that can range from low to high levels of intensity. In addition, aerobic exercise increases heart and breathing rates to meet increased demands for oxygen in working muscles. Regular, moderate , about thirty minutes at a time for five days per week, trains the body to deliver oxygen more efficiently, which strengthens the heart and lungs, and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.[1] Strengthening your heart muscle and increasing the blood volume pumped each heartbeat will lead to a lower for healthy individuals. Aerobic exercise increases the ability of muscles to use oxygen for energy metabolism therefore creating ATP.
, or VO2 is the most common standard for evaluating cardiorespiratory endurance. VO2 max is your maximal oxygen uptake, and the VO2 max test measures the amount of oxygen (in relation to body weight) that you can use per minute. A test subject usually walks or runs on a treadmill or rides a stationary bicycle while the volume and oxygen content of exhaled air is measured to determine oxygen consumption as exercise intensity increases. At some point, the amount of oxygen consumed no longer increases despite an increase in exercise intensity. This value of oxygen consumption is referred to as VO2 max, ‘V’ meaning volume, and ‘max’ meaning the maximum amount of oxygen (O2) an individual is capable of utilizing. The higher the number, the more oxygen you can consume, and the faster or longer you can walk, run, bike, or swim, among other aerobic activities. VO2 max can increase over time with training.[2]
Figure 16.1 VO2 Max Test
Muscle Strength
is developed and maintained by weight or resistance training that often is called anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise consists of short duration, high intensity movements that rely on immediately available energy sources and require little or no oxygen during the activity. This type of high intensity training is used to build muscle strength by short, high intensity activities. Building muscle mass is not just crucial for athletes and bodybuilders—building muscle strength and endurance is important for children, seniors, and everyone in between. The support that your muscles provide allows you to work, play, and live more efficiently. Strength training involves the use