Physical fitness involves two highly similar concepts: general fitness which pertains to a state of good health and wellness; and specific fitness which refers to the ability to perform tasks with efficiency. Fitness can be further understood in relation to several components that include flexibility, muscle endurance, muscular strength, body composition and cardiorespiratory endurance. Flexibility is the ability to move joints or series of joints to its absolute range of motion.

Having flexible joints and muscles increases the ability of joints to move about with ease and comfort. Muscle strength is the force produced when muscles contract against resistance while muscle endurance is often portrayed as the capacity of muscles to perform frequent contractions against a certain load for a period of time.
Performing sit-ups with bent knees for 1 minute and comparing it to standardized chart is a good measure of muscle endurance. Body composition implies the ratio of body fat to muscle and is estimated through measurements of the skin folds. It is obtained by grasping skin fold usually at the triceps area using special calipers and measuring it. Cardiorespiratory endurance, or aerobic fitness, refers to the ability of the body to exchange oxygen with the muscles efficiently during an activity. Over time, the body will learn to endure more arduous activities in longer duration signifying increased cardiopulmonary endurance.

Fitness is defined as more than just working out but also staying healthy. Fitness and health normally go hand in hand. But you can be physically fit yet is suffering from a major health problem like diabetes. That’s why we need not only to emphasize on exercise but also on eating healthy. To be able to work or play many sports like basketball, soccer or baseball; you have to be fit. Athletes and celebrities hire professional trainers and consult fitness gurus just to stay fit.

More importantly, to keep up with the demands of our careers, being fit is important. But if you’re just a regular person who doesn’t want to hire trainers, you can still stay fit without all the expenses involved. You don’t need all the heavy equipments and very strenuous exercises to stay fit. Just maintain a regular moderate exercise (even just jogging, swimming or doing household chores) at least five times a week and eat a balanced diet.
As people age, signs of wear and tear become visible and if not careful, medical conditions may arise.
And in this modern era, almost everything is being developed into gadgets and appliances just to simplify lives. Modernization is a good thing but along comes the tendency to just slack back and let the machines do the work. With less activity, tendency is you use your muscles less thus they begin to degenerate and may lead to health problems. Just remember physical activity is a health advantage and the key to fitness.

You might have peeked into the aerobics room in your gym and seen a bunch of people furiously kicking away in there like there was no tomorrow with sweat pouring. No you did not witness a Broadway dance audition, in fact, you have witnessed what is the latest aerobic exercise craze, cardio kickboxing.

It has been two decades since the cardio fitness craze swept the country and cardio kickboxing is the most publicized one yet. Not only is cardio kickboxing a great group activity, it is also awesome fun and can rapidly advance your fitness goals quicker than you imagine.

Whether you take the insanely ubiquitous and popular tae bo or any of the other varieties of kickboxing taught by martial artists and fitness trainers countrywide, there are definitely millions who have taken to this form of fitness training and get a great kick out of it.

Ever since Jane Fonda triggered the aerobics explosion in the 80’s there has been no other form of cardio fitness activity that has captivated the nation as cardio kickboxing has done. You are sure to find a cardio kickboxing session to suit your schedule at a gym near you, no matter which city in America you are in. Who is behind this revolution? Its Billy Blanks, a seven time kickboxing champ, known for his quick kicking prowess. You might have seen him in numerous tae bo infomercials on television

The fact that sports stars like Shaquille O Neal and Magic Johnson swear by it has only aided in perpetuating this form of activity. Hollywood starts like Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra have also testified to the effectiveness of cardio kickboxing thus making it the number one fitness choice for thousands of teen girls all over the country.

Just like traditional aerobics classes, cardio kickboxing classes are usually offered in three types, depending on ones fitness and experience level: high impact, medium impact and low impact. Low impact sessions rapidly increase your flexibility and form while intensive high impact sessions can do wonders by enabling you to lose weight and strengthen your heart and general endurance in record time.

Within a few weeks of starting cardio kickboxing you are sure to notice a marked increase in your endurance levels, combined with greater power, speed and agility.

An important factor in the popularity of cardio kickboxing however is that while one gets a complete workout, one also gets to learn basic kicks and punches derived from various martial arts forms that is part and parcel of it. Cardio kickboxing is a cardio fitness class and a self defense class rolled into one.

However don’t expect to get a complete martial arts training with cardio kickboxing. This is basically a fitness routine that has incorporated martial arts elements in order to add to its effectiveness and to give your regular daily workout an extra punch!

The formula for losing body fat applies to you just as it does to a professional bodybuilder, but the pros take it much further than most typical bodybuilders ever do. To lose body fat, take in fewer calories than you burn. If you have more energy going in than going out, an energy surplus, you’ll gain weight. If you have more energy going out than in, you have an energy deficit, you’ll lose weight because you’ll force your body to draw on its energy stores—body fat.

Many diets and diet and exercise plans can produce the energy deficit required for fat loss, but some are better than others. A healthful and practical diet and exercise strategy can be sustained over the long term without any loss of muscle. The next 14 tips will provide many facts and tips you can use to help you devise such a strategy.

1) Don’t confuse weight loss with fat loss. You want fat loss, not just weight loss.

2) Most men store their fat around their waists, and most women store around their hips and thighs. It’s a gender issue.

3) Body fat can’t be melted away through plastic wraps, saunas or steam baths. It can’t be rubbed away through massage or vibrating and rubbing machines. Nor can it be dissolved by a dietary supplement.

4) Sweating—whether through saunas, special bands, belts or wrappings—doesn’t produce fat loss. It produces water loss, which you regain through fluid intake.

5) No matter how many sit-ups, crunches, twists or whatever else you do, you won’t whittle away fat from your waist. You achieve fat reduction internally, and only if you’re in sufficient energy deficit for a sufficient period. The body sheds fat overall, not just one area, from some places more than others—or not at all. The only way to spot reduce fat is through surgery, which ahs dangers and isn’t a long term cure.

6) To avoid muscle loss while you strip off body fat, you must lose fat slowly and avoid overtraining. Make one pound a week the maximum rate of weight loss.

7) Train as if your priority is to build muscle. Keep your routines short, hard and focused on the basic exercises. Train with progressive poundages is possible, although that may not be possible on a fat loss program if you’ve already trained for a long time. At minimum, maintain your current strength and muscle mass as you strip off body fat.

The more food you can eat and still lose body fat, the easier it will be for you to sustain the plan because you won’t suffer the deprivation that most people feel when they diet. To be able to have a satisfying calorie intake, increase your calorie output. The more energy you burn through exercise and general activity, the more food you can have and still be in a calorie deficit.

9) The simplest, most practical, cheapest, low-intensity exercise is walking. If you walk for an hour each day on top of your usual activities, you’ll use up an additional 400 calories, depending on your pace.

10) If you prefer to use an elliptical or cross trainer or a rower, climber or stationary cycle instead of walking, that’s fine. Still, you can walk outdoors anywhere, without special equipment. For the alternatives you need equipment and a gym, unless you have your own gear at home.

11) Each mile covered by foot, whether you walk at a snail’s pace or run it as fast as you can, burns about 100 calories. Of course, the faster you cover a given distance, the more quickly you’ll burn the 100 or so calories. The quicker you cover it, of course, the more it will tire you. While it’s easy to walk at a leisurely pace, it’s a rigorous workout to run. Which are you more likely to do on a daily basis?

12) If you get a home treadmill, you can make walking even more comfortable and convenient. You can walk while watching TV, listening to music, or holding a conversation. You also have climate control and other advantages over walking outdoors. You can do some of your walking outdoors and some of it indoors, depending on your preference and the weather.

13) Analyze how many caloires you’re currently taking in each day. Maintain a food journal for a week of your normal food and drink consumption. Write down everything you eat and drink and the precise quantities for accuracy. And also be honest with yourself.

14) Use a printed calorie counter to find the calorie value of what you eat and drink. Compute the total number of calories you take in over the seven days, and then divide the total by seven to produce your daily average calorie intake.