Components of fitness
Being 'fit' isn't just one thing — different sports demand different combinations of strength, stamina, speed and flexibility, and understanding these components helps you train smarter.
Part of your national curriculum
- Health and fitness: Develop components of fitness through sustained physical activity, understanding the effects of exercise on the body
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Develop components of fitness through sustained physical activity, understanding the effects of exercise on the body
Key learning points
- • Cardiovascular endurance and strength
- • Speed, flexibility and agility
- • How exercise affects the body
This lesson at a glance
- 20 minutes
- 17 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 17
Visual introductionPicture this
Components of fitness
Being 'fit' isn't just one thing — different sports demand different combinations of strength, stamina, speed and flexibility, and understanding these components helps you train smarter.
In a nutshell
Develop components of fitness through sustained physical activity, understanding the effects of exercise on the body
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 17
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Cardiovascular endurance and strength
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 17
Learn
Cardiovascular endurance and strength
Cardiovascular endurance is the heart and lungs' ability to supply oxygen to muscles during sustained activity, crucial for sports like distance running or football. Muscular strength is the maximum force a muscle can produce, important for activities like weightlifting or a rugby scrum.
Reset break
Part 4 of 17
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 17
Learn
Speed, flexibility and agility
Speed is how quickly the body can move over a distance; flexibility is the range of movement possible at a joint, important in gymnastics and swimming; and agility is the ability to change direction quickly while keeping control, vital in sports like netball or squash.
Quick check
Part 6 of 17
Quick check
Part 7 of 17
Quick check
Which fitness component is most important for quickly changing direction under control, like in netball?
Reset break
Part 8 of 17
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 9 of 17
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · How exercise affects the body
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 17
Learn
How exercise affects the body
During exercise, heart rate and breathing rate increase to deliver more oxygen and glucose to working muscles, and the body sweats to cool itself as muscles generate heat. Regularly exercising over weeks and months (training) causes long-term adaptations, such as a stronger heart and increased lung capacity, which is why fitter people have lower resting heart rates.
Quick check
Part 11 of 17
Reset break
Part 12 of 17
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 13 of 17
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 14 of 17
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Cardiovascular endurance is the heart and lungs' ability to supply oxygen to muscles during ____ activity, crucial for sports like distance running or football.
Challenge round
Part 15 of 17
Game · Recall cards
Which activity best develops cardiovascular endurance?
Card 1 of 4
Mastery quiz
Part 16 of 17
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Components of fitness
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Which activity best develops cardiovascular endurance?
2. Which joint type allows rotation as well as flexion and extension?
3. During the upward phase of a press-up, the triceps is acting as the:
4. A 5000m runner is likely to have a high proportion of which fibre type?
Lesson round-up
Part 17 of 17
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Points this lesson
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Best run
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Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaPart 1 of 17 · Watch & discover
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Develop components of fitness through sustained physical activity, understanding the effects of exercise on the body