Physical Fitness, Wellness and Lifestyle
What the domain covers
This domain tests fitness components, wellness dimensions, lifestyle diseases and simple fitness measurement. You must distinguish health-related from skill-related components and interpret test scores sensibly.
Core content
- Health-related components: cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition.
- Skill-related components: speed, agility, balance, coordination, power and reaction time.
- Wellness dimensions commonly include physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, environmental and occupational wellness.
- Lifestyle diseases include obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Risk factors include inactivity, poor diet, tobacco and excess alcohol.
- BMI = mass (kg) ÷ height² (m²). WHO adult categories: under 18.5 underweight; 18.5–24.9 normal; 25–29.9 overweight; 30 or above obese. Some Asian cut-offs use 23 and 25.
- Common tests: 12-minute Cooper run, 20 m shuttle run, sit-and-reach, push-ups, curl-ups and skinfolds.
Worked example
A student is 70 kg and 1.75 m tall. BMI = 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) = 70 ÷ 3.0625 = 22.9 kg/m². This is in the normal WHO range. The reasoning must show the square of height and the correct unit. A muscular athlete may have a high BMI with low body fat, so BMI is a screening tool, not a diagnosis.
Traps that cost marks
Listing speed or agility as health-related; using height without squaring it; treating BMI as a direct measure of body fat; and confusing muscular strength with muscular endurance.