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New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Components of fitness and the relative importance to physical activity and sport

I can apply the components of fitness to various physical activities and justify their importance on performance.

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New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Components of fitness and the relative importance to physical activity and sport

I can apply the components of fitness to various physical activities and justify their importance on performance.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The most important components of fitness vary for different sports.
  2. The main components of fitness required for different sports and sporting actions can be identified via analysis.
  3. Most sporting activities require a variety of components of fitness for success.

Keywords

  • Flexibility - the range of motion of your joints or the ability of your joints to move freely

  • Power - the ability to undertake strength performances quickly

  • Agility - the ability to control the movement of the whole body and change position quickly

  • Balance - being able to keep the body stable, while at rest or in motion

  • Reaction time - the time between the presentation of a stimulus and the onset of movement

Common misconception

Certain sports only need one type of component of fitness to be successful, e.g. 100m sprinter just needs speed.

Identify all the components of fitness that are useful for each athlete, determining why they are beneficial and justifying which is most important.


To help you plan your year 10 physical education lesson on: Components of fitness and the relative importance to physical activity and sport, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Get students to apply the components of fitness in all practical lessons so they have lots of examples of application to talk about.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Identify the correct calculation of power.
power = speed x muscular endurance
power = speed x flexibility
Correct answer: power = speed x strength
power = speed x cardiovascular endurance
Q2.
Match the definition to the correct component of fitness.
Correct Answer:agility,to control the movement of the whole body and change position quickly
tick

to control the movement of the whole body and change position quickly

Correct Answer:balance,being able to keep the body stable, while at rest or in motion
tick

being able to keep the body stable, while at rest or in motion

Correct Answer:co-ordination,the ability to move two or more body parts together
tick

the ability to move two or more body parts together

Correct Answer:reaction time,time between the presentation of a stimulus and the onset of movement
tick

time between the presentation of a stimulus and the onset of movement

Correct Answer:flexibility,the range of motion of your joints
tick

the range of motion of your joints

Q3.
The test for agility is the ' agility test'
Correct Answer: Illinois
Q4.
Match the fitness test to the correct component of fitness.
Correct Answer:cardiovascular endurance,Cooper 12 minute run/ swim
tick

Cooper 12 minute run/ swim

Correct Answer:muscular endurance,1 minute sit-up test
tick

1 minute sit-up test

Correct Answer:speed,30m sprint
tick

30m sprint

Correct Answer:strength,hand grip dynamometer
tick

hand grip dynamometer

Correct Answer:flexibility,sit and reach test
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sit and reach test

Q5.
How long do you time the Harvard step test for?
30 seconds
1 minute
Correct answer: 5 minutes
10 minutes
Q6.
What unit is the hand grip dynamometer test measured in?
centimeters
seconds
Correct answer: kilograms
metres

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the definition to the correct component of fitness.
Correct Answer:flexibility,the range of motion of your joints
tick

the range of motion of your joints

Correct Answer:power,the ability to undertake strength performances quickly
tick

the ability to undertake strength performances quickly

Correct Answer:agility,to control the movement of the whole body and change position quickly
tick

to control the movement of the whole body and change position quickly

Correct Answer:balance,being able to keep the body stable, while at rest or in motion
tick

being able to keep the body stable, while at rest or in motion

Correct Answer:reaction time,time between the presentation of a stimulus and the onset of movement
tick

time between the presentation of a stimulus and the onset of movement

Q2.
Which component of fitness would be needed the least by a 100m sprinter?
balance
flexibility
Correct answer: cardiovascular endurance
power
Q3.
Why would a 100m sprinter need reaction time?
to move their arms and legs quickly
Correct answer: to get a good start by responding quickly to the start gun
to stay controlled and avoid falling over
to ensure a full range of motion at the hips
Q4.
A gymnast holding their bodyweight on the rings requires which component of fitness the most?
Correct Answer: strength, muscular strength
Q5.
Which example explains why a badminton player would need muscular endurance?
to serve accurately
Correct answer: to constantly hit shots for the entire match without getting tired
to change direction quickly to where the opponent has hit the shuttle
to hit a smash without falling over
Q6.
Which component of fitness would a badminton player need high levels of to be able to smash the shuttlecock down with force so the opponent couldn’t return it?
Correct answer: power
balance
agility
muscular endurance