Factors Affecting Fitness by Luke Dawson

There are many different factors affecting performance I am going to explain and state the importance of several of these factors.

A healthy diet
Food is very important in a healthy diet it aids growth. It gives the body energy. It also helps replace tissue and to repair it. A balanced healthy diet is very important eating to much of the wrong foods such as sugary and fatty foods and lead to health problems. It also provides are body with the nutrients we need. These nutrients are essential to performance for instance: energy, forming bones, regulating body fluids, transporting oxygen in red blood cells to the muscles and growth. These are some of the purposes but there are many more reasons for them.

Water

70% of our body is made up of water. Water is essential to absorb food and other waste products; it is especially essential to chemical reactions that take place in the body. Furthermore water is very important part of blood. Blood carries oxygen round the all parts of the body. This is essential to performance because muscles need to be permanently supplied with oxygen to avoid oxygen debt and lactic acid build up

Water in the body absorbs heat. When we exercise the water absorbs the heat and then is lost by sweating. When we sweat water is carried to the surface of the skin and is evaporated into the air, this process is called transpiration.This can be a downside to effective performance in sport because water is lost by transpiration when the body is heated. If the body becomes very hot and there is not enough water to stop the body overheats and the body has to stop. This is called heat exhaustion.MineralsMinerals are used by the body for tissue building. The most important ones/common ones are:1.    Iodine-Used in hormone formation2.    Sodium-Regulates the body’s fluids.3.    Calcium-Formation of bones and teeth4.    Iron-helps in the transformation of oxygen by red blood cells.

Fibres

Fibre regulates the digestive system. Fibre is most commonly found in cellulose in foods such as: fruits and vegetables. Fibre helps retain water in the intestinal tract, also important in removal of waste products as faeces.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are high in glucose (sugar) they are stored in the kidneys and the liver. They are important in sports performance because they are the most readily available form of energy, but they are also essential in everyday life.Carbohydrates can be easily stored in the body. They are particularly important for endurance performers who cannot supply their muscles with enough oxygen during performance. One possible reason is that they don’t have a very high cardiac output.People such as marathon runners eat a lot of food rich in carbohydrates in the time leading up to a performance; this process is known as carbo-loading.

Protein

Protein is important for growing new tissue, but it also supplies the body with around 10% of its energy. It thoroughly contributes to hormone production and haemoglobin in blood. Both hormones and haemoglobin are essential in sport and physical activity.

Fats

Fat is essential to physical activity it supplies the body with about 70% of its energy requirements. Fat is the body’s preferred source of energy, but it is stored in the form of carbohydrates otherwise known as glycogen, this allows for intensive bursts of energy. But fat can also cause people to be overweight, this happens if to much fat is consumed, this fat is then stored in body tissue. It is recommended that we do not consume more than one third of our daily nutritional needs in the form of fat. 

This diagram is the recommended energy mix for a balanced diet.

Vitamins

Vitamins are chemical compounds found in food. They happen in two main groups.1.    Fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K2.    Water soluble vitamins B and CVitamins help essentially to help the body function normally, extremely important for those who take regular exercise.The functions they perform are as follows:1.    Aiding growth2.    Regulate some of the body’s functions3.    Increase infection resistance4.    Help metabolism  (digestion) of food

Somatotype

Somatotype is basically the physical make up of our body.The different Somatotypes are:1.    Ectomorph-Very slightly built, narrow shoulders and hips and usually long limbed. Ectomorphic people are often called skinny but some are very muscularly developed.2.    Endomorph-Typically round shape, narrow shoulders, broad hips, carrying a lot of weight round the waist and hips. (good representation is a sumo wrestler)3.    Mesomorph-Typical athletic build, broad shoulders, narrow hips and very muscular (Often called an inverted triangle) can be gained by training and competition.Generally people are not one Somatotype but a build up of all three.

This is a triangle representing a general build of people. Most people come somewhere around the middle, the circle on the diagram represents that.

How Somatotype affects sport

• A classic Mesomorph is the perfect build for an athletic sprint runner.
• A classic Ectomorph is perfect build for long distance running.
• A classic Endomorph is perfect build for a sumo wrestler.