1ºESO: STAMINA AND SPEED

Physical fitness is the ability to do a daily physical workout without feeling too tired. For this, you need the four “S´s”

                                                    

Strength                      Stamina                          Speed                         Suppleness 

These are the components of physical fitness. In Spanish, we call them “Capacidades Físicas Básicas”.

1. Stamina:

Stamina helps your muscles to work for a long period of time.

With it, you can do exercises for a long period of time, no matter the intensity.

For example:

Cycling: In the Tour of France they ride more than 200km over a lot of days, but they also sprint!
Marathon runners: they run for more than 2 hours at a very fast pace.
Swimmers: in the 1500m race
Footballers: they need to run for 90 minutes without being tired so they can dribble and shoot.

Stamina is also called Endurance.

There are two types of Stamina or Endurance: Aerobic and Anaerobic.

Aerobic Stamina: You can do exercise for long periods of time at a medium intensity. (marathon, cycling..)

Anaerobic Stamina: These exercises are shorter but have a very high intensity (100m sprint, a basketball attack).

Benefits of regular stamina training:

-Your heart grows larger and thicker          -You have more capillary.
-Your breathing capacity increases.           -It´s easier to maintain your ideal weight                                      

Aerobic Exercise is very good for your health. It develops your heart, your lungs and your circulatory system.

2. Speed:

Speed is the ability to do one or more movements in a short period of time.

Some examples of sports where speed is important:

Fifty meters swimmers, react quickly to the horn and swim very fast.
Handball goalkeepers react very fast to stop balls.
Fencers must move fast to touch the opponent with their sword.

When we talk about the speed to move from one place to another (running, biking or swimming), we call it a sprint.

Speed means reacting quickly and moving fast.

 Benefits of speed training:

-Speed is basic in all sports. Even in a marathon, the winner is the fastest!
-It is related with coordination and agility. If you react and move fast, you have an advantage in all sports.
-Speed training develops and makes your muscles grow.