Sometimes, we lump terms related to fitness and exercise together and use them interchangeably, as if they are the same. An example are the terms exercise, physical activity, and fitness. While they’re related to each other, they don’t mean the same thing. Let’s look at what they mean and how they differ from one another.
What is Physical Activity and How Does It Differ from Exercise?
Physical activity is any movement involving skeletal muscle contraction that burns calories. It can comprise any activity you do in your daily life, for work or for leisure, that requires movement. It comes in a variety of forms and it’s something human beings naturally do, although most don’t do enough of it. For example, you may be fortunate enough to work an active job that forces you to stay on the go much of the day. You’re getting physical activity while getting paid for it!
Exercise, in contrast, is a structured physical activity that has a specific goal or purpose. When you exercise, you engage in an organized movement for a certain time. That activity might be running, walking briskly, jumping rope, lifting weights, swimming, or cycling. Unlike physical activity that doesn’t have a defined goal, exercise is a movement you do with a specific purpose, usually to get into better shape.
Other reasons you might exercise: to lose weight, improve your body composition, relieve stress, or improve your health by improving blood sugar, lipid, or blood pressure control. You might also exercise to improve your cardiovascular fitness. People have many reasons they exercise and in the many ways they can do it.
What is Fitness?
Fitness refers to the ability of multiple systems in your body to work together to carry out specific tasks. Some people consider it to be a state of health and elite physical functioning. Fitness can be of different types. One kind is cardiovascular fitness, which refers to the ability to do moderate-intensity exercise without becoming so fatigued that you have to stop quickly. Cardiovascular fitness improves with specific training that elevates your heart rate and forces you to breathe faster. When you exercise in a way that boosts your heart and breathing rate for a certain period your heart adapts to the added stress placed on it.
Fitness comes in other forms too. If you lift weights regularly and boost the challenge over time with progressive overload, your muscles become stronger and capable of generating more force. Over time, you can lift heavier and do more repetitions because of skeletal muscle and neurological adaptations that take place to strengthen you.
Fitness has five components:
· Muscular strength
· Muscular endurance
· Cardiovascular fitness
· Flexibility
· Agility
Each component is important for health and functionality. All of these fitness components decline with age. The best way to slow this loss is to train in a way that maximizes each component. If you only lift weights, you may have good strength and muscle endurance, but your flexibility continues to decline with age. In turn, that can affect your performance when you strength train. If you only do cardiovascular exercise, the muscles in your upper body will become smaller and weaker over time because of aging. That’s why it’s important to train in a way that maximizes each component of physical fitness, so you’re fit and functional in a balanced way. All forms of physical fitness are interrelated and impact one another.
Balanced Fitness Training Addresses All Five Fitness Components
You can work these various fitness components, in some cases, by doing a single workout. For example, if you do a fast-paced circuit workout using weights, you’ll build muscle endurance and, assuming you don’t rest between sets, elevate your heart rate too for cardiovascular benefits. If you do a warm-up and cooldown at the end that includes stretches, you’re also working on flexibility. Another example: workouts that include plyometric exercises enhance muscle endurance and strength but also improve agility, the ability to move and react quickly. That’s important if you play certain sports. However, you may have to do several types of workouts to optimize each type of physical fitness.
Whatever your training approach, make sure you’re addressing each type of fitness. One type of fitness can even prolong your life. Researchers at Cleveland Clinic compared the results of treadmill testing with death from all causes. They found that having a higher level of cardiorespiratory fitness is directly correlated with lower mortality. In the study, the more fit individuals were from a cardio standpoint, the greater the longevity benefits were. The benefits were most pronounced in those over the age of 70 who had elite cardiorespiratory fitness.
Beyond Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Cardiorespiratory fitness may help you live longer and give you more stamina, but muscle strength gives you an edge too. A study carried out by researchers at the University of Michigan found that people with less muscle strength were at a 50% greater risk of dying early relative to guys and gals with greater muscular strength. One way researchers measure strength is by using a dynamometer to measure grip strength. You can get a good idea of how strong an individual is by asking them to squeeze and measure how much strength they generate. In fact, some health care professionals believe the grip test would be an effective way to estimate a person’s future risk of dying. They also point out that many middle-aged and older adults are weaker than they should be, and this could be a future health liability.
The Bottom Line
Now you know the difference between the terms physical activity, exercise, and fitness. In an ideal world, stay physically active by sitting less, do some structured exercise, and build up your fitness level in all five areas that determine physical fitness. At the very least, make sure you’re doing exercise that raises your heart and strength training to preserve strength and muscle mass. Both types of exercise can help you live a longer, healthier life.
References:
· ScienceDaily.com. “Better cardiorespiratory fitness leads to longer life”
· Independent.co.uk. “High Muscle Strength Could Help You Live Longer, Study Finds”
· World Health Organization. “Physical Activity”
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