Physical fitness

Physical fitness is the ability to be physically active. A person is physically fit if he or she can pass tests designed to measure physical performance. Such tests are necessary for some occupations, such as soldiers and firefighters.

Physical fitness has two components: general fitness (a state of health and well-being) and specific fitness (the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations).

A senior citizen in process of physical fitness exercises, Hollywood.

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports — a study group sponsored by the United States Government — declines to offer a simple definition of physical fitness. Instead, it developed the following chart:

Physiological	Health Related	Skill Related	Sports
Metabolic	Body Composition	Agility	Team sport
Morphological	Cardiovascular Fitness	Balance	Individual
Bone Integrity	Flexibility	Coordination	Lifetime
Other	Endurance	Power	Other
	Muscle Strength	Speed
		Reaction time
		Other

Accordingly, a general-purpose physical fitness program must address those issues.

Ancient icons of physical fitness

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  Heracles, the greatest hero of Greek mythology.

• 

  Discus throwing, a Roman copy of the Greek original.

• 

  Marble Nymph with a shell, a restored Roman copy.

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  Hermes, an Olympian god and the patron of sports.

Other pages

• Aerobics
• Equilibrioception
• Flexibility training
• Strength training
• Bodybuilding
• Swimming
• Training
• Weight training

References

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