Components of fitness

There are three types of strength:

1. Dynamic - is the strength needed to hold your own body weight. It may also be used to apply to some sort of object, eg, lasting the 80 minutes of a rugby match.

2. Explosive - is a short, sharp burst of strength, eg, to take a tap penalty then sprinting

3. Static - is applying force to an immovable object, eg a scrum.

Speed is defined as:

The ability to move all body parts as quickly as possible.

It is the combination of reaction time and movement time. Speed can be improved through improving strength, but some factors are inherent, for example the percentage of fast twitch muscle fibres, which give greater speed.

Power is defined as: the combination of the maximum amount of speed with the maximum amount of strength. This is related to explosive strength as it cannot be held for long periods of time.

The ability of the heart and lungs to keep working efficiently during an endurance event.