Intro to BFS: Essential Fitness Vocabulary and Principles

A set of vocabulary flashcards defining health- and skill-related fitness components, stretching modalities, exercise types, the F.I.T.T. principle, core training principles, and strength training effort categories.

Cardiovascular Endurance

Your body's ability to deliver oxygen to working muscles during exercise.

Muscular Endurance

Your muscles' ability to exert force repeatedly or for an extended period of time.

Muscular Strength

Your muscles' ability to exert a maximum amount of force in one effort.

Flexibility

Your muscles and joints' ability to move through their full range of motion.

Body Composition

Your body's ratio of lean muscle to stored fat.

Speed

The ability to perform actions or cover distance quickly.

Power

The ability to combine both speed and force in movements and actions.

Agility

The ability to quickly change direction without losing speed or power.

Balance

The ability to stabilize the body both in movement and when maintaining stillness.

Coordination

The ability to use your senses in combination with your actions when in movement.

Reaction Time

The ability to respond quickly to what you feel, see, or hear.

Dynamic Stretching

Stretching muscles through controlled movements that mimic exercise; typically performed for $5\text{--}10$ minutes before exercise as a warm-up to increase blood flow, raise temperature, reduce stiffness, and lower the risk of injury.

Static Stretching

Stretching muscles by holding a position for an extended time (typically $30\text{--}60$ seconds per stretch); best performed after exercise as a cool-down to improve overall flexibility, lower injury risk, and reduce muscle tension.

Isolation Exercises

A type of strength training exercise that targets a single muscle group or joint with minimal involvement from surrounding muscles (e.g., bicep curls, tricep extensions, lateral raises).

Compound Exercises

A type of strength training exercise that engages multiple muscle groups and joints simultaneously to build overall strength, enhance functional fitness, and improve muscle mass (e.g., squats, deadlifts, bench press).

Frequency (F.I.T.T.)

A component of the F.I.T.T. principle describing how often physical activity is performed.

Intensity (F.I.T.T.)

A component of the F.I.T.T. principle describing how hard a person performs physical activity.

Time (F.I.T.T.)

A component of the F.I.T.T. principle describing how long a person does physical activity.

Type (F.I.T.T.)

A component of the F.I.T.T. principle describing the kind of activity a person does to improve their fitness.

Principle of Specificity

The exercise principle stating that the way you exercise should be specific to the goals you want to achieve, because the body adapts specifically to the types of exercises performed.

Principle of Progression

The exercise principle stating that to keep improving in fitness or skill, you need to gradually increase the intensity, duration, or difficulty of your exercise as your body adapts.

Principle of Overload

The exercise principle stating that to improve strength, endurance, or fitness, you must challenge your body harder than it is accustomed to (such as using more weight, a longer workout, or a faster pace).

Max Effort

A strength training effort that involves lifting as much weight as possible, often at or near the lifter's one-rep max, with the goal of building maximum strength.

Dynamic Effort

A strength training effort that involves lifting lighter weights quickly with the goal of improving force production, explosiveness, speed, and power.

Repeatable Effort

A strength training effort that involves performing multiple repetitions at a challenging weight without failure, aiming to build muscle hypertrophy and endurance.

Submaximal Effort

A strength training effort that involves lifting a load around $70\text{--}85\%$ of one-rep max for several repetitions to build strength without maximal stress on the body.