Good health is a prerequisite to excelling at work and running a successful business. Indeed, sound health is the foundation on which we can build all other aspects of our life. So, what is the secret to staying fit and healthy? Before discussing the health-related fitness components, it is important that we know the two types of fitness components:

1. Health-related fitness
2. Skill-related fitness

Health-related fitness is generally for everyone; but skill related fitness is specifically for athletes and sportspeople. Skill-related fitness is also for people who have succeeded in health-related fitness and need more challenge.

Health-related fitness components

The components of fitness are very deep, but we are going to discuss the five main sub-components, which are: cardiovascular fitness, muscular fitness, muscular endurance, muscular flexibility and body composition.

1. Cardiovascular fitness 
The first component is cardiovascular fitness. It relates to the health of your heart and how efficiently oxygenated blood is transported to your body. Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the heart and lungs to provide oxygen-rich blood to the muscle tissues and the ability of the muscles to produce energy for movement.

The exercises to improve cardiovascular fitness are:

• Swimming
• Fast-paced walking
• Running
• Cycling
• Skipping with rope
  
  

2. Muscular strength
Muscular strength comes second. It relates to the ability to exert force. It means the ability to lift your body with ease. Muscular strength is very important because it relates to your muscle. Keeping the integrity of our muscle tissue is very important so as to make sure you can lift up things with ease.

Exercises to improve muscular strength are:

• Cycling
• Dancing
• Walking up the hill
• Climbing the stairs
• Lifting weight
• Push-ups and sit-ups

3. Muscular endurance
The third component is muscular endurance. This is another important health related fitness component. Muscular endurance is related to strength, but it is much more than just strength. It is about engaging in a particular type of movement without any signs of fatigue. For example, if you are climbing a hill, and keep going without undue fatigue, it means you have achieved muscular endurance.

Exercises to improve muscular endurance are:

• Plank
• Body weight squats
• Push-ups
• Sit-ups

4. Muscular flexibility
The fourth component is flexibility. It is important not to just work on our cardiovascular fitness and the strengthening of our muscles; it is also important to work on our flexibility. Muscular flexibility is the ability of the body to have a certain range of motion in our joints, and this is usually affected by the length of the muscles.

Activities to improve flexibility are:

• Yoga
• Cycling
• Running
• Dance

5. Body composition
Body composition is the medical and clinical reading of our body structure. It comprises our lean tissues, bone density, the connecting tissue, enzymes in our body and muscle tissues.

Body composition exercises are:

• Push-ups
• Squat jump
• Lunge jump
• Interval trainings
• Burpees

In conclusion, the right question to ask is: Which one is the most important health related component of all the five? The answer is very straight forward. All the components are very important. None is more important than the other.

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