Health-Related and Skill-Related Physical Fitness
This domain tests health-related and skill-related fitness, training principles, and safe fitness assessment. Expect FITT calculations, component identification, and interpretation of fitness data.
Core rules and concepts
- Health-related components: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body composition.
- Skill-related components: agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, speed.
- FITT-VP: frequency, intensity, time, type, volume, progression. Overload, specificity, reversibility, and individual differences govern adaptation.
- Cardiorespiratory exercise: moderate-to-vigorous intensity, 3–5 days/week, 20–60 minutes, large-muscle rhythmic activity. Strength: 2–3 nonconsecutive days/week, progressive resistance, 1–3 sets of 8–12 reps for beginners. Flexibility: regular stretching when muscles are warm.
- Intensity can be monitored by heart rate, RPE, or the talk test. BMI is a screening tool, not a diagnosis; it misclassifies muscular students and ignores fat distribution.
Worked example
A 15-year-old can talk only in short phrases during jogging and wants to improve cardiorespiratory fitness. Estimated HRmax = 220 − 15 = 205. Target range at 60–80% = 123–164 bpm. Prescribe jogging or cycling 4 days/week for 30 minutes, starting near 60–70% and progressing. Add 2 days of resistance training and monitor RPE. Reassess in 6–8 weeks.
Traps
Confusing muscular strength with endurance; using BMI alone to label health; prescribing static stretching as a warm-up for power; ignoring the specificity principle; applying adult FITT without considering developmental level.