We must maintain our physical, mental and social fitness in order to lead a healthy life. By taking part in sports and aesthetic activities from your childhood and thereby leading an active life, you maintain not only physical fitness, but also mental and social fitness.
Do you remember that in grade 6, you learnt how to live a healthy life by maintaining your physical fitness, doing physical fitness tests and engaging in rhythmic exercises to develop physical fitness?
Physical fitness is a combination of factors we can improve, for the maximum and correct performance of physical activities. These factors are known as physical fitness factors. Physical fitness can be developed by engaging in exercises, training programmes and sports. These factors are important to perform different movements in sports. Developing physical fitness factors you would get many other benefits, such as loss of weight, being healthy and efficient, ability to act swiftly during an emergency and experiencing less fatigue during physical activities.
The following are the physical fitness factors
1. Speed
2. Strength
3. Flexibility
4. Coordination
5. Endurance
Speed, refers to doing an activity in the shortest possible time. Speed is an important factor in sports like volleyball, netball, football and athletic events.
• In volleyball when the ball is hit, the player should move at a great speed to the place where the ball would possibly land. To defend the attack the attacking point must be covered speedily with both hands.
• In netball speed is required when passing the ball, running to get the ball and defending a player.
• In football, speed is required to take the ball quickly to the goal.
• In athletic events such as running, jumping and throwing speed is very important for successful completion of the action.
Strength, is one's ability to do something.
Strength is an important factor in sports such as volleyball, football netball and athletic events.
• In volleyball strength in the arms is required to spike the ball. Strength in the legs is also required for the players playing near the net to jump up.
• In netball strength in the hands is required to throw the ball correctly. The defenders of the shooters need strength in the legs in order to jump up and defend the ball.
• In football strength in the legs is required in order to kick the ball far. Strength is also required in the hands in order to throw the ball.
• Strength is required in athletic events such as put shot, discus and javelin throwing.
Flexibility is the ability to move parts of your body such as your hands and legs bending and stretching them freely at joints. The greater is your flexibility, the greater the extent to which you can bend and stretch your limbs in various activities.
Flexibility is an important factor in sports such as football, volleyball, netball and athletic events.
• Sometimes in volleyball to defend the court, a player will have to bend low almost touching the ground. At the same time you may have seen players bending their body, arms and legs when playing volleyball.
• In netball, flexibility is important to develop skills. The defender of the shooter will have to be very flexible in order to defend her. According to the movements of the player with the ball, the defending player will have to bend and stretch her hands, legs and body.
• In football the goalkeeper have to be active bending and stretching his body in order to defend the goal.
• Flexibility is very important for various postures in gymnastic.
Co-ordination means the ability to coordinate the functions between different parts of the body efficiently. For example, your hands and legs move in coordination with your sense organs such as your eyes, ears and the skin.
Co-ordination is an important factor in sports such as football, volleyball, netball and athletic events.
• In volleyball your muscles and nerves should provide good co-ordination to take your hands to the correct place when the attack from the opposite side is spotted by your eyes.
• Co-ordination is necessary among the players in netball to pass the ball to the correct place and the correct player.
• Co-ordination is also important in football to take the ball forward avoiding the opponents.
• Co-ordination is also important when throwing javelin with a run-up.
The ability to engage in an activity with ease for a long period of time is endurance. Endurance is required in athletic events, football, volleyball, netball and many other sports.
• In volleyball, endurance is important to maintain fitness for a long period of time if the game goes into several sets.
• In netball, endurance is necessary to play competently till the end of the game.
• In football, the players have to engage in running all over a large area of the field. For this reason football players have to develop endurance to a great extent.
The above factors of physical fitness are important not only for sports men and women but for everyone. They are important to perform day to day activities effectively and maintain proper physical fitness. Therefore you must engage in activities that would help to improve these factors.
Natural activities are activities such as running, jumping and throwing. It is important that you improve your physical fitness by engaging in such activities. Let us look into some suitable activities for this purpose.
By participating in minor games we can develop a few factors of physical fitness. Therefore by participating in sports daily, physical fitness can be developed.
Certain minor games will help to improve speed. The victory depends on the speed in which the game is completed. Take part in these minor games with the guidance of your teacher.
• Fall into 4 teams as A,B,C & D. Line up as given in the figure 13.6
• In all teams the first player takes the baton and runs round anti-clockwise.
• The first player runs round and gives the baton to the second player in the team.
• The first player must go to the back of the line and stand there.
• The second player does the same and gives it to the third player.
• In this way the team that finishes first wins.
• Mark a square on the play ground.
• One student runs into the square to catch the other students.
• The student he catches joins hands with him, forming a net.
• After that they jointly run to catch the others.
• The students thus caught join the net.
• An 'Ambilya' is a circle drawn by your foot on the ground.
• Four students draw their 'Ambili' (circle) and stand in them as in figure 13.7
• One student stands in the middle.
• When the 4 students exchange their places, the one in the middle tries to conquer one circle.
• The one who does not have a circle goes to the middle one.
• Go on playing this game.
When doing this game, one has to run back and forth at a great speed. Through this, you can develop your speed.
Activities to improve strength
Strength can be improved by engaging in physical activities, against a force or a weight.
• Four can take part in this game.
• Three stand in a circle holding hands.
• The one in the middle tries to escape and go out of the circle.
• Fall into several teams of equal strength and line up.
• The one at the front of each line leaps forward.
• Measure the distance jumped.
• From there the second player in the line jumps in the same manner.
• Measure each jump and get the total distance jumped by the team.
• The team that jumped the furthest is the winner.
• Two stand on one leg inside a circle.
• Their hands should be behind their backs.
• Push the other player with the shoulder.
• The one who moves out of the circle is out.
• Or the one who puts the leg down is out.
• This must be done carefully.
Flexibility can be developed by engaging in minor games and activities that involve bending and stretching of parts associated with the joints, muscles and tendons.
eg: Engaging in games that have originated from gymnastics such as rolling forward, rolling backwards etc.
Co-ordination is necessary in order to complete various complex movements fast, correctly and efficiently.
Breaking the tail
• Draw a square or a circle on the ground large enough for the number of students.
• Place a handkerchief at the back of the waist of every child. That is the tail.
• Every child must try to break the tail of others while protecting his/ her own.
Before starting physical fitness exercises one must engage in warming up exercises. After the physical fitness exercises one must do warming down exercises too.
When participating in physical fitness exercises, one must be mindful of safety. One can lead an efficient and healthy life by doing these activities regularly.
Do you remember the tests you did to assess physical fitness in grade 6? Do you have the results of those tests with you? After one year you can see how your physical fitness has improved, when we do the physical fitness tests again.
A suitable playground is necessary in order to minimize accidents and injuries while doing physical fitness exercises. Warming up is important before starting physical fitness exercises. After these tests warming down exercises must be done.
Your teacher will do the following tests for you.
Measure the time taken to run 50 metres. After that calculate the speed using the following method.
1. Skill of Jumping up
As in the figure 13.9a lean against the wall and raise your hand. Mark the point at which you touched the wall. Now using all your strength jump up and touch the wall (figure 13.9b). Mark that point too. Measure both heights and see.
The greater the height jumped, the stronger your legs are.
2. Throwing skill
Hold the ball as in the figure 13.10
Hold the ball close to the chest in front of you. Throw the ball forward with both hands from the starting point. Mark the point at which it landed and measure the distance.
The greater the distance the ball is thrown, the stronger your hands are.
Test on bending forward
As in the figure 13.11 place the measuring tape on a small strong table. Stand on the table, bend the trunk as shown and try to touch the lowest point possible.
If you can touch the centimetre +1 mark, your flexibility is good.
Test to measure co-ordination
Activity coordination test
1. Stand up.
2. Bend knees and touch the ground.
3. Stand up again.
4. Clap.
5. Bend down again and touch the ground. Count how many times you can do this within 20 seconds. The greater the number of times you do within the time, the better your co-ordination is.
Test to measure endurance
600 meter sprint
From the starting point run 600 meters and measure the time taken to complete the distance. The lesser the time taken, the better your endurance is.
Physical fitness is important for a healthy life.
We have five physical fitness factors namely: speed, strength, flexibility, co-ordination and endurance.
We can create physical fitness activities through natural activities such as running, jumping and throwing.
We can maintain our physical fitness factors by checking them with various types of tests.
