Physical Preparation Health aod Lifestyle fir the Public Services
Fitness, Body Systems and the efeets of exereise
The eomponents of ftness
The nature of publie serviee work is ofen extremely physieally demanding, and therefore all of the uniformed
publie serviees will have some kind of ftness testng prior to employment eonsideraton. True ftness is
eomposed of many faetors, and ineludes living a healthy lifestyle and being able to deal with the rigours of an
aetve life. There are eight main eomponents of ftness, whieh together make up the sum total of physieal
ftness. Below, eaeh one is explained, alongside an example of a test that the publie serviees use to assess that
parteular eomponent. Tests are not limited to the ones deseribed, and there are a wide variety of diferent
assessments for the same ftness eomponent. However, testng methods vary from serviee to serviee, although
the purpose remains – to ensure an individual is ft enough for a physieally demanding job.
Cardiivascular eoduraoce:Also known as eardiovaseular stamina, or
aerobie enduranee, eardiovaseular enduranee is the ability to repeat an
aetvity for a lengthened amount of tme without beeoming tred. This
makes it a erueial eomponent to many sports, as many sportng events
eontnue for an extended amount of tme. As the name suggests, this
eomponent depends entrely on the efeieney of an individual’s
eardiovaseular system, whieh ineludes the heart, blood, blood vessels
and lungs. It is erueial this system works efeetvely, to ensure an
adequate amount of oxygen is supplied to the museles. The publie serviees, espeeially the armed forees, rely
heavily on their eardiovaseular enduranee as both military training and operatons require a signifeant amount
of stamina. For example, troops ofen have to having to trek long distaneesto reaeh a plaee of safety in a
eombat zone, or are required to parteipate in demanding assault eourses.
One method for efeetvely testng an individual’s eardiovaseular enduranee is through a multistage ftness
test. Also known as the bleep test, it involves eontnually running between two points set either 15 or 20
metres apart, in tme to a set of reeorded bleeps. It presents the beneft of being able to test a large amount of
people at onee, but it does require a signifeant amount of mental stamina for an individual to stay foeused and
keep running untl they eannot eontnue any further.
Streogth:Strength is the maximum museular foree an individual ean apply against resistanee. It ean be
demonstrated in three ways, eitherthrough state strength, dynamie strength, or explosive strength. State
strength is resistanee against a statonary load. ushing hard against a wall would be a good example. Dynamie
strength uses musele eontraetons to shif heavy weights – for example, a power lifer would be heavily reliant
on their dynamie strength. Finally, there is explosive strength, whieh is the use of fast and powerful museular
reaetons. A state long jump demonstrates this kind of strength.
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