Health and Fitness Components

1) Strength Training 2) Cardiovascular Training 3) Diet 4) Rest 5*)Flexibility.

Those are the components for proper health and fitness. I put an asterisk next to Flexibility because I incorporate stretching as a part of my strength and cardiovascular training, but you can make it a separate component with yoga or pilates. This seems like a lot, and it can be, but you have to ask yourself, "Is my body worth the time?" Hopefully you said "yes".

1) Strength (or Weight) training is important to build muscle tissue, strengthen joints, and increase metabolism to help burn those calories. Regarding our muscles: if you don't use it, you'll lose it.

2) Cardiovascular training burns the most calories by using fat and carbohydrates for fuel. Most importantly, cardio training strengthens our heart and lungs, cleans our arteries, thus lowering bad cholesterol levels. Think of your cardiovascular system as the foundation of your house... you want a strong foundation, right?

3) Unfortunately I'm not a certified nutritionist, but regarding Diet it can be very simple, "burn more calories than you consume."

4) People tend to neglect Rest as a key component, but our muscles repair itself and grow while we sleep. Without adequate rest & recovery, our muscles can't fully develop and overtraining can lead to injury and burnout.

5*)Stretching can be boring for some (like me) so as stated earlier, I stretch for a few minutes after my Strength and Cardio workouts. For those who love it, there's plenty of yoga and pilates classes out there to help keep your muscles limber. But remember not to overstretch and injure yourself with a "pulled" a muscle.