Physical Fitness, Wellness and Lifestyle
This domain tests the components of physical fitness, the meaning of wellness and how lifestyle choices affect health. Expect classification questions and simple calculations, not just definitions.
Fitness components
- Health-related: cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition.
- Skill-related: speed, agility, balance, coordination, power and reaction time.
- Wellness is wider than fitness: physical, mental/emotional, social, intellectual, occupational, spiritual and environmental dimensions.
- Lifestyle diseases linked to inactivity and poor diet include obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. WHO guidance for adults is 150–300 minutes of moderate activity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity weekly, plus muscle-strengthening on two days.
Worked example
An athlete weighs 70 kg and is 1.75 m tall. BMI = 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) = 70 ÷ 3.0625 = 22.9 kg/m², in the normal range. The reasoning matters: BMI screens body mass for height but does not distinguish fat from muscle, so a muscular athlete may be misclassified; pair it with waist measurement and performance data.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing health-related and skill-related components, especially power with strength and agility with speed.
- Treating wellness as only absence of disease.
- Presenting BMI as a diagnosis rather than a screening tool.
- Forgetting that fitness is task-specific; a marathon runner is not automatically strong in absolute terms.