Muscular strength is the ability of a muscle to exert a maximal force when flexed. It improves your metabolism, muscle tone and appearance. Muscular strength also helps you perform daily activities. The benefits of increasing muscular strength include a reduced risk of injury as well as improved posture, physical performance, and body composition. Lifting weights is the most effective way to increase muscular strength.

Did you ever do a push-up, pull-up or swing across the monkey bars at the playground when you were little? Those are exercises that can build strength. By using your muscles to do powerful things, you can make them stronger. To build strength we tend to participate in activities of a HIGHER intensity with fewer repetitions. Some exercises and activities that build strong muscles include: push-ups, pull-ups, tug-of-war, sprinting or jumping.

Muscular Strength is HIGH intensity activities, at a low rep. because they are more challenging we can't do them "over and over" again. It's about how MUCH .

Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle to sustain or repeat contractions before becoming fatigued, so doing something "over and over" again. Improving your muscular endurance will increase your stamina for daily tasks. In other words, the longer a muscle is used, the greater its endurance becomes. Muscular endurance activities are usually low-moderate intensity and more repetitions. Exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, body squats, and weight training improve muscular endurance. Long periods of running, walking, and bicycling are some ways to improve your muscular endurance.

Muscular Endurance is LOW intensity and HIGH rep. The activities are easier, so you can do them over and over again. It's about HOW MANY.

Other components of health-related fitness include:

• Flexibility is the ability to use your joints fully. You are flexible when the muscles are long enough and the joints are free enough to allow movement. People with good flexibility have fewer sore and injured muscles. Stretching before and after activities will help to improve flexibility. The sit-and-reach and the trunk lift are two tests used to measure flexibility.

The ability to move a muscle or joint through the FULL RANGE OF MOTION.

• Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the body's circulatory and respiratory systems to supply fuel during sustained physical activity. To improve your cardio-respiratory endurance, try activities that keep your heart rate elevated at a safe level (within your Target Heart Rate Zone) for a sustained length of time such as walking, running, swimming, or bicycling for bouts of 20+ min. The activity you choose does not have to be strenuous to improve your cardio-respiratory endurance. Start slowly with an activity you enjoy, and gradually work up to a more intense pace. It has been found when you participate in Aerobic Activities (activities that increase your heart-rate) for any duration of time, it will help build Cardiovascular Endurance. So, if long periods of one activity aren't your jam, explore the world of Tabata, HIIT, Zumba, or circuit training.

How EFFICIENTLY the heart can pump oxygen rich blood to the working body while participating in AEROBIC ACTIVITIES.

• Body Composition is the percentage of body weight that is fat compared to other body tissue, such as bone and muscle. People who have a high percentage of fat are more higher risk for injury, illness, and disease than leaner people. Exercise and eating the right foods in the proper amounts can improve body composition. Body composition can be measured using an instrument called calipers, a specialized scale, or it can be calculated by using the body mass index (BMI) which uses height and weight to determine your BMI. *BMI is not always the best indicator, as muscle is more dense than fat.

At your age, you're changing a lot. While it's good to be aware of potential risks, just focus on the other components as well as your overall health and wellness... If you have further questions I'd be happy to have a conversation with you in person.

f.i.t.t. principles

Frequency …refers to the frequency of exercise undertaken or how often you exercise.

Adjust the number of times you exercise per week to reflect your current fitness level, the time you realistically have available, your other commitments, and the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Intensity …refers to the intensity of exercise undertaken or how hard you exercise.

Remember using the Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE) to help gauge how hard you're working? Keep this in mind. We should be working between 60%-80% of our Maximum HR in order to get the most benefits (13-17 on the RPE Scale). In our muscular fitness unit it is usually the weight of the activity that makes it more or less challenging. In a body weight activity such as a plank, the intensity could be the duration, or type of plank you're doing.

Time …refers to the time you spend exercising or how long you exercise for.

Typically when we are cardiovascular endurance training this would mean bouts of 20+ minutes. In weight bearing activities we refer to time as sets and reps. 3 sets of 8 w/ a light-moderate intensity is normally a good starting point.

Type …refers to the type of exercise undertaken or what kind of exercise you do

Like time, the type of exercise you choose will have a big effect on the results you achieve. That’s why it’s important to know what you want to gain from your efforts.

For example, if you’re looking to improve your cardiovascular fitness, then exercises like walking, jogging, swimming, bike riding, stair climbing, aerobics and rowing are very effective. To strengthen, a majority of your large muscle groups a muscular fitness routine will be effective. To improve muscular strength and endurance the best exercises include the use of free weights, kettle bells, medicine balls, machine weights and body weight exercises like sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups and dips.