Types of Fitness

There are four types of fitness: aerobic endurance, anaerobic threshold, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. Aerobic endurance is your ability to perform an exercise for a long period of time at approximately a moderate intensity, such as jogging, cycling, brisk walking, or swimming. In order to increase your aerobic endurance,
you will need to overload your body. This does not mean to work yourself to hard; it simply means that your workout needs to be of moderate difficulty. You need to be sure that you are breathing a bit hard and have your heart rate at it's optimal rate for at least 30 minutes. If you exercise is not difficult enough, then you will not see any improvement. Also, you don't want to overexert yourself because that can lead to injury, illness, and prolonged fatigue. When exercising aerobically it is recommended that you exercise at an intensity that you can hold a conversation but not be able to sing; if you are too winded to converse with someone, then you need to decrease your intensity a bit.

Anaerobic exercising is when your body cannot supply your muscles with enough oxygen. The muscles then have to use stored reserves of "fuel" and waste products begin to accumulate, with the main waste product being lactic acid. Anaerobic exercises are associated most with quick burst exercises such as sprinting and weightlifting. These types of exercises are good because they help you build more muscle, and in turn, burn more fat by raising your metabolism. The burning feeling during exercise and the stiff, sore feeling the next day is a result of the build up of lactic acid. Be sure to drink plenty of water to help reduce the affects of the build up.

Muscular strength is the ability of your body’s muscles to generate large amounts of force in a short period of time. To increase your muscle strength you have to concentrate in the muscle you want to make stronger. You can use small weights or resistance bands to improve your strength. Always start off slowly and plan a rest day in between your weight training days.


Muscular endurance is how long and how well your muscles can keep generating force. Having good muscle endurance is crucial for every fitness activity. Like with aerobic endurance, in order to increase muscular endurance, you must overload your body, except for your muscles, you need to overload the particular muscle group you wish to improve. 


With any type of fitness or exercise program, be sure to allow your body to rest and heal itself. Do not perform the same exercises every day; if you run one day, be sure to do a muscular workout the next day. Also, make sure you incorporate all types of fitness into your exercise program to receive the maximum results!