To be truly “fit” we must all consider the ‘7 components of fitness’. Arguably someone can appear fit without actually having all of the components, their specific fitness goals and aims will specify which components get trained more than others, however, to avoid injury and to be at the top their of our game we must train each component to some degree.
It is true that one component may be more important than another depending on the sport trained for. But by ignoring one or two, because they do not seem applicable to your sport could potentially leave you open to injury.
The 7 Components of Fitness:
1. Flexibility
2. Endurance
3. Skill
4. Stamina
5. Strength
6. Speed
7. Power
Flexibility
The maximum range of movement around a joint allowed by the muscles”
Each training session should involve a comprehensive warm up including mobility work and dynamic stretches. Static stretches are not necessary and are really included out of habit, but if included should be held for 8 – 10 seconds.
Each training session should end with a comprehensive warm down and static stretch session. This will have a marked improvement on recovery time and help produce strong healthy muscles. These “maintenance stretches” should be held for 12 – 15 seconds. Certain muscles can be stretched for up to 30 seconds; these are known as “developmental stretches” and are extremely beneficial for avoiding injury and creating lean healthy muscles.
Separate stretching sessions can be beneficial after a hard session or on a rest day.
Endurance
“The ability of the body to resist fatigue whilst performing relatively prolonged exercise of LOW to MODERATE intensity work”
Anyone wanting true all round fitness requires a good level of endurance to ensure he/she can keep performing throughout the entire session and not feel drained/tired.
A simple way to train endurance is to go on long, slow to medium paced runs. This is a gradual process and either time or distance should be used as a marker and built on. For example running 20 mins one session then 25 mins the next, then 30 the next etc. Or 2 miles one session, 2.5 miles the next, 3 miles the next etc.
It is not a necessity but it is beneficial to see if improvements are being made, to measure the rough distance covered if running to time, or to measure the time if running to distance.
Long runs such as this are specific to endurance training, but will also considerably help your overall fitness and aid in the production of healthy muscles, cardiovascular fitness, healthy lifestyle and weight management.
Skill
“The ability of the mind/body to know when and where to use a specific technique, and to be able to use it successfully”.
Any technique must be trained and mastered, whether it is specific to a sport, of a complex exercise like a kettlebell swing. Remember that “Perfect practice makes permanent”. By repeating a technique, properly, again and again it will become permanent in the muscle memory. However, repeating a bad technique is not good, as this is what is learnt instead of the good, proper technique. The old term “practice makes perfect”, is not true. “Perfect practice makes permanent”
Stamina
“The ability of the body to resist fatigue whilst performing repetitive high level intensity work”.
The majority of sports players require a high level of stamina to ensure he/she can keep performing the large number of short sprints required throughout the entire session/match and not slow down significantly towards the end.
The best way to train stamina is to perform repetitive sprint-intervals a set number of times. The sprint length to be performed will vary depending on the aim or sport being trained for; from short distances (a few metres) to relatively large ones (2-3minute worth).
A good way to cover a range of distances is to start at 20 metres and build up to 50 or 60 metres then start at 1 or 2 metres again and build up to 10 metres. Or, start at 20 metres, go down to 1 or 2 metre then finish on 50 to 60 metres. If longer distances are required then sprinting around the outside of a football pitch is always a good start.
Each sprint should be performed a set number of times which is set down before the first sprint, rest should be given between each one so as not to turn the session into an endurance session. You should have almost caught your breathe before repeating, this is achieved with “active recovery periods”, say walking back to the start line or jogging around slowly. To stop completely is not as functional, and by walking the muscles aid “venus return” i.e. the muscles pumping blood back to the heart. Repetitions should be between 5 and 12 reps. This can be built up over time. A session should last between 20 and 30 minutes.
This type of training is extremely beneficial as in not only increases fitness, but also increases speed which is also highly beneficial to anyone training their fitness. Additionally due to the high work level this type of exercise is very good for weight loss if performed correctly.
Strength
“The maximum amount of weight the body can move using specific muscles”.
Strength is very important to many young men when training, and often very important to keen sports players. Good overall strength will ensure that any techniques can be performed without risk of injury. Furthermore, increased strength gives an advantage over an opponent on the sports field; it will make us quicker when sprinting, able to jump further and higher. Increases in strength will also aid overall fitness.
If not using weights a simple circuit training session is a good strength session. Different exercises should be laid out in a logical sequence where you do each exercise for a set number of repetitions (10 or 20 etc) or repeating for a set period of time (30 seconds – 1 minute).
The exercises should be in order:
- Upper body (press ups, bicep curls, triceps extensions, shoulder press)
- Legs (squats, lunges, star jumps, box jumps)
- Torso (abdominals or back, sit ups, dorsal raises, core stability)
- Repeat order
This order ensures one group is not overloaded and reduces injury.
If using weights a simple program involves using as many of the weights machines in the gym as desired. For each machine you should work out your 6 repetitions maximum. That is the weight on each different machine that you can lift 6 times but not 7. Once you have worked this out and recorded it, you follow a set programme where you lift a specific percentage of that 6 rep max weight. This should begin at 70% of the 6 rep max weight while performing 10 -12 reps, this should be done for 2 -3 weeks, this is then increased to 75% of the 6 max rep weight, again performing 10 – 12 reps. This should be done for 2 – 3 weeks. The next percentage is 72.5% of the 6 max rep for 10 -12 reps for 2 – 3 weeks, then 77.5% same reps and time periods, then 80%. At this point your 6 rep max should be worked out again as you should have improved without gaining too much muscle due to the high repetitions.
Speed
“How fast the muscles can move given a set objective”.
We often think of this as our sprint speed, but it could be our reaction times. To train speed, you need to do repetitive drills when not overly fatigued. Similar to the interval drills laid out for stamina work, but really concentrating on technique. Look out for an article on Speed and Agility training at a later date.
Power
“The functional relationship between strength and speed”
There are three types of power:
- Explosive
- Reactive
- Fast
As both speed and strength are being trained anyway, power will increase. However, specific plyometric sessions will see power increase more so, which in turn will see you become more explosive, better reactions and generally faster.
Plyometric sessions involve bounds, jumps, hops etc over a distance of about 5 – 10 metres, like the sprints they are repeated a set number of times, with recovery in between.
Conclusion
For success in any sport it is important that individuals have an all round fitness training programme, and do not concentrate too heavily on one area.
Not all the components need to be trained in one session or one week. The components can be mixed together from one training session to the next, however, one type of training may interfere with another type, so the following order should be kept to if performing on the same day/session:
- Warm up
- Skill
- Power/Speed
- Strength
- Stamina
- Endurance
- Flexibility
This is obvious when thought about, as you would be too tired to concentrate on a specific skill if you did stamina training prior to it.
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