How Do I Know If I Am Fit? Here Are Eight Measurements Of Fitness

Simply put, fitness is the ability to function day to day. Consider the measurements below. If you can adequately perform them, consider yourself to be fit.

1.Aerobic endurance. This is how efficiently your body transports oxygen. It's a fitness measurement that helps every fitness effort, from sex to running a marathon, or just going for a brisk walk. Aerobic fitness is measured by a low resting heart rate and the ability to recover quickly after activity. You can increase this endurance with any activity but more efficiently when you do continuous low-level activity, like hiking or jogging.

2.Muscle mass. Our bodies require a certain percentage of muscle to stay healthy. This varies but we all need muscle to live. After 30, our bodies lose muscle mass each year, so it's important to do resistance training to keep it. Muscle mass helps in movement, and protects our organs and skeletal structures. To age well, it's vital to keep our muscle mass percentages high.

3.Body-fat percentage. This is how much of your total body weight is composed of fat. Ten percent to 14 percent is good for men, and 14 to 18 percent is good for women. Unless you're a body builder, you don't need to go to extremes. But we all should try to be within this range. It is unhealthy to be far under it but going above it is more common. Excess weight and body fat put our bodies under extra strain, making it hard to function properly. The body-fat percentage is far more important than your actual weight.

4.Flexibility. You don't have to be a contortionist. You just need to be able to have a full range of motion. Muscles contract during exercise. Keeping your muscles toned helps prevent getting injured and indicates overall fitness. You will age without as many complications, such as falls.

5.Strength. Strength is the ability to use your muscles to generate force. Your body needs to be able to move you around. As we age, we lose muscle mass and strength. Muscle mass protects your body. Strength moves it and keeps it from falling over. Strength training requires short bouts of high-intensity outputs. These stimulate hormonal responses that also decline as we age. So, strength training slows the aging process. The stronger you are, the slower you age.

6.Static balance. This is your ability to maintain control of your body's center of gravity over your base of support. The best way to get it is to practice. What's really important is that to stay in balance your body uses smaller muscles, called stabilizer muscles; these help keep your joints tracking properly. A person with good balance has less chance of getting injured.

7.Dynamic balance. This is the same as static balance, except you control your center of gravity while moving. The motions in dynamic balance stimulate hormones and muscle cells. Training this action helps keep you young.

8.Agility. This is your ability to move in different directions quickly. You need to use starting strength, explosive strength, limit strength, and dynamic balance in combination.
And, more than anything else, a fit life is a lot more fun than a non-fit life. So be fit and enjoy yourself!