By Rob Cussen from Activate Fitness

I was sitting down having a coffee last week when a group of people came running past the window. One person at the table next to me turned to their friend and said "aren't they so fit". This got me thinking about how we define "fitness" and more importantly health.

I'll start with a question, who is fitter? Ayshea Ullah - four time Ireland's strongest woman, or Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United's ageless superstar. The answer is actually both because in their own particular sports they are incredibly "fit".

Different sports or activities will require a different component of fitness; some may require more than one and all of them can be trained and improved with an appropriate programme.

There are five health related components of fitness. These are; Muscular Strength, Muscular Endurance, Flexibility, Cardiovascular Endurance and Body Composition.

Over the next few weeks I'll be talking you all through these different components; what they mean, why do you need them, and how can you improve them.
This week we'll be starting with muscular strength.

What is muscular strength?

Muscular strength is the maximum amount of force you can produce one single time. To put it simply, how heavy an object can you lift once. Think of a strongman attempting a super heavy single deadlift.

Why do I need it?

Muscular strength is one of the two components that make up overall muscle health, the other being muscular endurance. Healthy muscles can aid in injury prevention and overall better quality of movement.

How can I maintain or improve it?

This is the question I face most often as a coach. The answer is probably not one that you always want hear - "it depends". It is completely person dependent. There is no one size fits all. However, an appropriate form of resistance training is a good starting point.

Next week I'll be talking about muscular endurance, but if you have any questions between now and then you can drop me an email me at rob@activate.ie.