Condition: Function, Tasks, Role & Diseases

Condition is not the same as endurance, this is part of the condition. Condition means the physical condition of a person, that is, the ability to perform at a high level for as long a period as possible. Conditioning training can increase performance.

What is the condition?

Condition is not the same as endurance, the latter is part of fitness. Condition means the physical condition of a person, that is, the ability to perform at a high level for the longest possible period of time. Condition means performance in the areas of strength, endurance, speed, coordination and agility. All areas overlap and can be improved through exercise. Individual conditioning characteristics can be increased through discipline and consistency. Everyday life, especially the practice of sports, places different conditional demands on us. Strength causes us to overcome resistance through the interaction of the nervous system and muscles. Muscle building training is only one form of strength training and serves to increase strength endurance and strength speed. Those who have endurance can withstand a load longer or delay performance degradation. Endurance is inextricably linked to the ability to regenerate. Speed enables us to react as quickly as possible to a stimulus from the environment and to set ourselves in motion immediately. Physicians distinguish between elementary and complex reaction speed. Flexibility is a basic prerequisite for good fitness. The extensibility of muscles and tendons is necessary for many movement sequences and prevents injuries.

Function and task

We know condition predominantly in connection with sports, but every person has a general condition. It is synonymous with physical performance and a measure of vitality and health. Condition decreases with age, but can be increased through exercise. Through consistent exercise, we can increase our muscular strength and the efficiency of our organs, endurance, speed, agility and power. The basic motor skills are distributed differently in each person, so that individual sports talents can emerge. Strength includes maximum force, i.e. the greatest possible force used to overcome a resistance. Power speed, on the other hand, is the ability to use power quickly and optimally. Strength endurance, in turn, describes the resistance to fatigue, both in dynamic and static force applications. Reactive force describes the eccentric-concentric rapid force at the shortest coupling, both when stretching and shortening the muscle. If a person develops high force effort at the beginning of a load, it is ultimately called explosive force. Several manifestations are also distinguished in endurance. Sports medicine makes a distinction between local and general endurance. If at most 14% of the skeletal muscles are active, it is local endurance. The cardiovascular system is moderately stressed. What goes beyond that falls into the category of general endurance. In the case of speed, a distinction is made between reaction speed, movement speed and acceleration speed. Agility describes the ability of muscles and joints to perform movements of great magnitude (amplitude). A good example of this is stretching exercises. Articulation depends on the skeletal structure and the associated supporting apparatus. Stretching ability depends on the elasticity of the muscles and tendons. Active mobility describes the extent of movement with own muscle contraction, passive mobility the greatest possible extent of movement, which is achieved by external forces. For coordination, the brain, central nervous system, and skeleton work together in a directed movement sequence.

Diseases and ailments

A person’s physical and mental characteristics and traits are both inherited and influenced by the environment. Physical performance and condition can be increased through exercise, but first there must be an important personality trait: willpower or motivation. Only sufficient motivation provides the energy needed to perform an action that requires strength. During training, the stimulus produces a more or less effective adaptation of the organism. This in turn determines the structure, scope and intensity of training sessions.Conditioning training can be designed according to load intensity, load range, duration and density. To be able to perform athletically, mental conditions are also necessary. The athlete needs motivation, cognitive, volitive and social skills. Those who possess volitive abilities can perform under stress and in the face of external resistance. Diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), for example, but also lifestyle can have a negative impact on fitness. It has been known for some time that alcohol and nicotine reduce athletic endurance and performance. The reduction in condition caused by alcohol is considerable. The regeneration phases after intoxication also last considerably longer than in a person who has not been drinking. Smoking inevitably impairs the body’s performance because tobacco smoke causes poorer blood flow to the lungs and bronchi. Since less oxygen reaches the lungs, the organs are less well supplied with nutrients. People who are quickly exhausted, meaning they have little strength and endurance, also lose quality of life. People with endurance deficits are less able to cope with everyday work at home and often have little energy for leisure activities. But even people with MS can improve their situation through exercise. Of course, the conditional level of a competitive athlete is not the goal, but the sick person regains quality of life through an improvement in endurance. Those who feel fitter are more mobile again and do more. Even after a long acute illness, endurance training can make a difference again. The exercise intervals must be adapted to the physical conditions. Exercise strengthens the circulatory system, stabilizes the immune system and blood pressure.