All about muscle fitness!

Muscle fitness is the peak level of muscle strength and endurance that a person can reach. It\'s having your maximum amount of muscle strength and power over a prolonged period of time. Muscle strength is the maximum amount of force that any one or combination of muscle(s) can produce in a single maximal effort. Muscle endurance is the ability to sustain muscle stress or strain over a prolonged period of time.

Muscle fitness can mean you have more powerful muscles that can lift heavier objects or muscles that will work longer before becoming exhausted. Having stronger muscles also protects your joints. Resistance training is one of the best programs you can have for muscle fitness. Muscles become more fit when they go through a 3 step process - stress, recovery or rest and repeated stress. In resistance training you stress your muscles slightly and then allow a period of rest and then stress them again. When this process is repeated, the muscles become more developed in both strength and endurance.

A formal resistance training program can include basic muscle conditioning exercises like leg lifts and push ups, resistance with surgical tubing and stretchable bands and weight training with free weights like dumbbells. Sports like swimming, cycling and skiing are forms of resistance training programs that help develop muscle fitness and aerobic strength. Even mundane household chores like scrubbing the floor, washing walls, gardening and weed pulling on a regular basis is a form of resistance training.

But before you start your resistance training program, be sure to consult a health professional or trainer. You can\'t go blindly into a program you thought of yourself without having it checked if it\'s right for your body type, if it will really give you the right level of resistance etc. And when you begin your muscle-conditioning program, try to do a warm up for 5 to 10 minutes. Walk, jog in place, or stretch. Learn and pay attention to the proper form for all exercises. This will ensure that your muscles are well prepared for the strain and stress you\'re going to put it through.

Over time take note of how you improve, how you raised your number of repetitions or lifted heavier weights. A more important sign of progress is how many repetitions and sets of an exercise you can do, or how much easier it feels to do them. This means your muscle fitness has improved.