Health-related Physical Fitness in Sports Exercise

Health-related Physical Fitness in Sports Exercise

Physical fitness is composed of health-related physical fitness and skill-related physical fitness. Health-related physical fitness is closely related to health and refers to the ability of the cardiovascular, respiratory, and muscular systems to function at their optimal efficiency. The fundamental components of health-related physical fitness interventions are as follows:

Cardiovascular Adaptations in Physical Exercise

The cardiovascular system consists of the circulatory and respiratory systems that are closely linked in function. This system is responsible for transporting oxygen and nutrients to other tissues and eliminating metabolic waste products (such as carbon dioxide) from the body. During physical exercise, there is increased skeletal muscle metabolism, and the demand for oxygen is greatly increased. The body responds by enhancing the activity of the cardiovascular system to meet the demands of exercise.

Exercise that improves cardiovascular function involves comprehensive training, which consists of various exercise components. One advantage of comprehensive training is that it prevents the monotony of performing the same exercise day after day and prevents overuse of specific body parts.

Continuous training involves prolonged, long-distance, slow-paced, and moderate-intensity exercise. It is a popular method of cardiovascular exercise. Gradual progression is important; if exercise intensity is not increased, participants can easily complete the exercise routine without strain. In the absence of injury, continuous exercise can be sustained for 40 to 60 minutes. Compared to higher-intensity exercises, continuous training carries a lower risk of injury.

interval training involves repetitive exercises with fixed intensity, time, distance, and rest intervals. The duration of exercise varies but is generally around 1 to 5 minutes. After each exercise session, there is a rest period equal to or slightly longer than the exercise duration.

This method is commonly used by individuals with a certain endurance foundation who aim to achieve higher adaptation levels. Interval training allows for greater exercise volume compared to continuous training and provides variation in exercise modalities, reducing monotony and boredom associated with other training methods.

Muscular Strength and Endurance in Physical Exercise

Enhancing muscle strength and endurance offers lifelong benefits.

Principles of Muscle Strength and Endurance Training:

Gradual Resistance Principle: Gradually increasing resistance during muscle strength and endurance training is crucial. Although overload and gradual resistance principles are interchangeable, gradual resistance is more commonly used in strength training. Gradual resistance principle means that muscle strength and endurance increase due to overload training. However, as strength and endurance improve, the original overload becomes non-overload or low-load. Without increasing resistance, strength and endurance will not improve. Therefore, strength training must adhere to the gradual resistance principle.

Specificity Principle: Strength and endurance training should consider the demands of different sports and the specific strength and endurance requirements. Muscles trained should be those requiring improvement in endurance and strength. For instance, to address lower back pain, one should strengthen the muscles in that area rather than focusing on upper body strength, as it offers little benefit for relieving lower back pain. Different exercise intensities are needed to enhance strength and endurance. High-intensity exercises (lifting heavy weights for 4 to 6 repetitions) increase strength and muscle size but do not significantly enhance endurance. Low-intensity exercises with higher repetition counts (lifting light loads 15 times or more) enhance endurance, with less noticeable strength gains.

Systematic Principle: Following the principle of "use it or lose it," strength training should be systematically planned throughout the year. Individuals with frequent training and rapid strength gains lose their progress quickly if they stop training. In contrast, those with lower training frequency and slower strength gains maintain their progress for a longer time.

Methods of Muscle Strength and Endurance Training: Muscle contraction types divide strength training into isometric, isotonic, and isokinetic exercises.

Isometric exercises involve muscles contracting against resistance with no movement. Isometric exercises are useful for developing static strength and endurance.

Isotonic exercises involve muscle contractions resulting in joint movement against a constant resistance. This type of exercise enhances dynamic strength and endurance.

Isokinetic exercises use specialized equipment to ensure muscle contraction occurs at a constant speed through the entire range of motion. This method is relatively new and provides even training across all ranges of motion. It is suitable for swimmers training on land, but it may limit explosiveness development and adaptation to certain technical requirements.

Flexibility Exercises in Physical Exercise

Flexibility is a critical component of physical fitness, involving joint range of motion and the extensibility of soft tissues like ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Joint range of motion depends on joint structure, which can't be altered. However, flexibility of soft tissues can be improved through proper training.

The development of flexibility aims to enhance the extensibility of muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This increase in extensibility mainly results from the stretching effect of force. Flexible training involves rhythmic, gradual increases in movement range or repeated motions to lengthen soft tissues over time.

Flexible training methods are tailored to each sport's demands, focusing on specific areas.

Finger and Wrist Flexibility Exercises:

Practices include: 1. Repeatedly making fists and extending fingers; 2. Applying inward pressure with five fingers of both hands, making finger joints form a right angle with the back of the hand; 3. Crossing arms straight up and flipping wrists with fingers interlocked; 4. Wrist flexion and extension exercises or using hoops; 5. Push-ups with fingers raised; 6. Supporting a barbell with fingers against the bar.

Shoulder Joint Flexibility Exercises:

Practices include various hanging movements on a horizontal bar (overhand grip, underhand grip, mixed grip); negative pull-ups with added weight; hanging and twisting on a single bar; back hanging and lowering the body, keeping legs between hands; shoulder rotation with a stick, rope, or elastic band.

Waist and Abdominal Flexibility Exercises:

Practices include: 1. Twisting and pressing legs while lunging forward; 2. Turning waist left and right in a staggered stance; 3. Forward bending with hands gripping ankles, attempting to touch head, chest, abdomen to legs; 4. Forward bending with hands touching the ground; 5. Seated forward bending with legs apart, hands reaching through legs; 6. Bridge exercises with progressively reducing hand-to-foot distance; 7. Swinging waist; 8. Alternating leg lifts during push-ups, elevating upper body into an arch.

Chest Flexibility Exercises:

Practices include: 1. Prone back flexion-extension. Keep legs still, lift upper body actively, and arch chest; 2. Tiger stretch. Kneel, arms forward on the ground, chest down. Actively stretch arms forward and arch chest; 3. Facing the wall, hold hands overhead, and press against the wall to stretch the chest; 4. Facing away from the pommel horse, lie down and arch the back, gripping the rings for chest extension; 5. Seated with legs together, arms lifted overhead, partner stands behind, pulling arms and pressing on the upper back for chest stretch; 6. Back-to-back seated, both hold hands overhead, one person leans forward, the other leans backward.

Lower Limb Flexibility Exercises:

Practices include: 1. Forward and backward splits. Independent static stretching or assistance from a partner; 2. Side splits. Lie on a mat, bend or extend legs, partner provides continuous downward pressure; 3. Elevated foot, turning forward and backward; 4. Stretched ankles and toes against the wall; 5. Various rope skipping exercises with forefoot contact; 6. Forward, backward, sideways walking on tiptoes; 7. Weighted squats with heels on the ground; 8. Seated with legs apart, one person stands on each leg, pressing down for a stretch; 9. Stand, support with hands on a high surface, press foot dorsum down; 10. Stretches in kneeling position.

Foot Ankle and Dorsum Flexibility Exercises:

Practices include: 1. Standing, hands on waist, one foot on the lowest bar, use body weight to press on the dorsum of the ankle. Hold the position when ankle flexion is at the maximum angle; 2. Kneeling, shift body weight forward and backward to press the dorsum of the foot. Increase difficulty by elevating the foot's toes; 3. Seated on a mat, place a weight on top of the foot, press the dorsum against the mat; 4. Skipping rope with forefoot contact; 5. Walking with hands on a wall, forward and backward, sideways, and changing speed.