Friday, July 15, 2011

Fitness Friday

First the AWESOME news.  ..

are you ready?

This is so great!

I am RUNNING THE HALF MARATHON TOMORROW and yes I am shouting it!  I took my knee for a test three mile run yesterday morning and it felt GREAT, still does.  I am so excited.  What is not great is going to be how HOT it will be!  A high of 92 tomorrow, ugh, whatever happened to the 78 they were predicting last week?   I knew it was probably going to be a cooker, it is July after all.  It is going to be about 64 degrees when the race starts and 74 when it ends and sunny.  Not bad but, but hotter than I am used to for the most part so my plan is to HYDRATE lots and often and not go out too fast (a bad habit of mine).

Dina challenged her readers today to tell her what fitness meant to then which got me thinking about what it meant to me and really what it was defined as.  So I turned to my trusty know it all friend Google.  There are a lot of articles about fitness.  So I read a few and decided to narrow it down and simply discuss the 5 components of physical fitness.  Who knew there were only 5?  Several different sites listed them as

1. Cardiovascular Fitness

Cardiovascular fitness (also known as cardiorespiratory fitness) is the ability of the heart, lungs and vascular system to deliver oxygen-rich blood to working muscles during sustained physical activity. Aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular fitness.


2. Muscular Strength

Muscular strength is the amount of force a muscle or muscle group can exert against a heavy resistance. Anaerobic exercise improves muscular strength.


3. Muscular Endurance

Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or muscle group to repeat a movement many times or to hold a particular position for an extended period of time. Both aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise can improve muscular endurance.


4. Flexibility

Flexibility is the degree to which an individual muscle will lengthen. Stretching improves flexibility.


5. Body Composition

Body composition is the amount of fat in the body compared to the amount of lean mass (muscle, bones etc.).
 source
So does that mean a person is only 80% fit if they are all these things and not flexible?  or can run an ultr-marathon but not do 10 pushups?

What do you guys think?  To me I am fit if I can do the things I want to do and do them well.  I am of course always striving to be just a little more fit, but I know I could work on the flexibility thing. I try not to worry about weight and just go with as long as my clothes fit comfortably, I am happy.


To join in on a blog hop, click on the picture below 

24 comments:

  1. I do the same with weight, though i do like to weigh myself before and after runs to see if i need to hydrate better.

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  2. I'm so glad to hear that you're running the race!

    I was totally under the false impression that Montana never got really hot. I learn something new every day!

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  3. good luck at your race tomorrow! Following from Jill's blog hop!

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  4. Yeah!! I am so happy to hear that your knee is better and you will be running tomorrow. That is fantastic!! Good Luck! I know you will do AWESOME! I am also from the blog hop but have been already following your blog! I love it. It's great!

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  5. YAY tomorrow, tomorrow!!!!! Have a great, incredible race!!!!!!!!

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  6. Yay for racing! I hope you have a great run and your knee shows you some love. <3

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  7. Good luck, remember to dig deep! Wathc ur knee and bring icepacks, the ones that u pop and get cold...hydrate all day bananas pasta gatorade

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  8. Yay! So glad you get to race and your knee feels good!!

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  9. Yay Half Marathons! (Boo, 92 degree weather!)

    Can't wait to read your report! Have a great time!

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  10. glad you get to race, it sounds like your ready! Keep hydrated in that heat and good luck!

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  11. Hurray! Such good news. I will be interested to read the review.

    Have a fun race!

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  12. I touched on this a wee bit the other day when I posted my stats after a health screening for a health insurance discount.

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  13. Good luck on the race tomorrow! If you feel any pain, I would dial back your intensity, don't want to get injured out there.

    As for the fitness questions, being somewhat well rounded in each area is probably good for your overall body, but it doesn't seem like its necessary to be perfect in each area.

    And it's okay, you can call my TV tastes crappy, because they are! haha Glad you like Seabiscuit too, Laura Hillenbrand is probably my favorite writer now, even though she's only written 2 books!

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  14. So exciting that you get to run your half tomorrow.

    I definitely don't think you need to be perfect in all 5 areas but I do see the importance of each one.

    Sadly there are too many people that neglect one or more categories.

    Good on you for being happy with yourself!

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  15. YAY I am so glad you are running the half! Can't wait to hear how it goes. I'll be running just about the same distance, except much slower for training tomorrow, so I'll be thinking about you!

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  16. WOOOHOOO!! I am thrilled that you are running! I did my 15-miler in 70 degree heat today and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would. Slow your pace a bit and hydrate. Don't try to PR just have fun!

    Excellent information. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. Congrats on your knee! It can really stink to be sidelined.

    Thanks for carrying on the conversation about fitness here. It has been interesting reading all the different definitions.

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  18. Good luck tomorrow! You're gonna do great!

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  19. Good luck tomorrow!

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  20. Good luck tomorrow!

    Im following you now :)

    Summer

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  21. I know I'm late but yea! for being able to run the half. I'm sure you did great despite the heat.

    Thanks for linking up!

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  22. i hope the race went well!! i'm sure u rocked it and u did so looking super cute in ur running ensemble...my mom always says 'look good, feel good.' haha.

    enjoy the rest of ur day and refuel the fun way! :)

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Because I love hearing from you all!