1. Skill-related and Health-related Fitness
Chapter 4
Skill-related and Health-related Fitness

2. Whats and Whys of Skill-related fitness
Skill-related fitness, or performance fitness, includes the six components of physical fitness that are often associated with games and sports.
Agility
Balance
Coordination
Speed
Power
Reaction Time

3. Whats and Whys of Skill-related fitness
The highly skilled athlete will possess a high level of ability in most if not all, of the six components. The weekend athlete, often referred to as the “weekend warrior,” will also possess a certain level of proficiency in many of the skill-related components.
Even though the skill-related fitness components can contribute greatly to your success in sports and games, they will not necessarily contribute to your health or the reduction of health risk factors.
However, a more complete understanding of each of the skill-related components can positively contribute to your personal fitness

4. Whats and Whys of Skill-related fitness
Agility
The ability to change and control the direction and position of your body while maintaining a constant, rapid motion. The soccer player, football running back, basketball player and tennis player will all require agility. Speed and coordination may influence your agility.
Balance
The ability to control or stabilize your body while moving o staying still. A simple act such as walking requires a great deal of balance. The gymnast, golfer, or ice skater all require well developed balance.

5. Whats and Whys of Skill-related fitness
Coordination
The ability to use your eyes and ears to determine and direct the smooth movement of your body (hands, feet, arms, head, and so on). The jogger, soccer player, basketball player, and volleyball player, for example, all require coordination.
Speed
The ability to move your body or parts of your body swiftly. Foot speed is usually measured over a short and straight distance, usually less than 200 meters. Other speed evaluations might include hand or arm speed. The baseball pitcher, boxer, sprinter and volleyball spiker all require specific kinds of speed. Certain types of muscle fibers (muscle cells) can influence your speed.

6. Whats and Whys of Skill-related fitness
Power
The ability to move your body parts swiftly (speed) while at the same time applying the maximum force of your muscles (strength). The shot-putter, longer jumper, power lifter, and swimmer all require high levels of power. Strength is a fitness component that can be improved over time. As you increase your strength, you can increase your power. Biomechanical movement techniques can also affect your power, which means you can gain power by practicing your technique.
Reaction Time
The ability to react or respond quickly to what you hear, see, or feel. The more quickly you respond, the better your reaction time. Sprinters and swimmer require good reaction time.

7. Factors That Can Influence Skill-related Performance
Pick your parents well!
Heredity is a major factor in determining performance potential. Your physical characteristics, such as height, weight, and body type, are generally similar to those of your parents. Your physical capabilities, such as speed and reaction time are also inherited from your parents.
Practice, practice, practice
Even if you have inherited a potential for great physical abilities, you still need to practice specific skills over and over to reach the level of performance exhibited by top athletes. Practice is important to anyone who wants to improve skills in a specific game or sport. Agility, coordination, power and balance are skill-related components that can be improved through practice.

8. Whats and Whys of Health-related fitness
Health-related fitness is a type of physical fitness that emphasizes physical activities and exercise that will improve or help you maintain your functional health.
Cardiovascular Fitness
Flexibility
Muscular Strength
Muscular Endurance
Body Composition

9. Whats and Whys of Health-related fitness
Cardiovascular Fitness
Refers to your ability to work continuously for extended periods of time (for example, in-line skating for thirty minutes to an hour). Depends on the ability of your heart to pump large amounts of blood to the muscles and organs of your body.
Flexibility
Refers to the range of motion (ROM) that your joints have during movement. Skin, connective tissue, excessive body fat, and injury can restrict normal flexibility.
Moderate to high levels of cardiovascular fitness are associated with increased longevity and reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and other hypokinetic conditions. Can be improved simply by accumulating several minutes per day of activity in play, games, sports, work, getting to school, recreation, or planned exercise. Determined by age, heredity, gender, activity level and body composition.
Good functional health depends on your improving or maintaining the range of motion (varying degrees of motion allowed) of your joints. You can do this by engaging in stretching activities that increases your muscular strength and muscular endurance, as well as improve flexibility. A moderate to high level of flexibility is important to you for efficient daily physical movements and can help reduce your risks for muscle and bone injuries.

10. Whats and Whys of Health-related fitness
Muscular Strength
Refers to the maximal force that you can exert when you contract your muscles. Your muscular strength will vary according to several factors, such as your age, gender, genetic makeup, and conditioning level.
Muscular Endurance
Refers to your ability to contract your muscles several times without excessive fatigue. Moderate to high levels of muscular endurance enhance your muscular strength and allow you to do more work without getting tired.
You can develop and maintain muscular strength in a variety of ways, such as doing weight training, calisthenics, or work that requires heavy lifting. Gains in muscular strength can occur rapidly, particularly if you have been very sedentary. Muscular strength is also important to help you move efficiently and reduce your energy cost.
Physical activities such as doing sit-ups, push-ups, or work that requires repetitive heavy lifting can help increase your muscular endurance.

11. Whats and Whys of Health-related fitness
Body Composition
The ratio of water, bone, muscle and fat in your body. Your percentage of body fat in relation to your percentage of water, bone and muscle is important to your functional health and risks for chronic disease.
You should have a reasonable percentage of body fat for good health (in other words, you should not be too fat or too lean). By adopting a physically active lifestyle, you can help control your percentage body fat. When you engage in physical activites or exercise, you burn or expend energy.
You can develop a moderate to high level of personal fitness without possessing an abundance of skill-related talents.