Principles of Training

Training is a programme of exercise designed to help you reach your fitness goals or targets In order to ensure that a fitness training or exercise programme is safe and effective, it is vital that certain guiding principles are applied. These Principles are: Specificity Frequency ProgressionIntensity OverloadTime ReversibilityType Tedium Easily remembered as SPORT&FITT

Every form of exercise or training has a different effect on your body. For example, a bicep curl with a weight will develop strength in the arms; it will not affect any other part of the body or component of fitness. Specificity can be described as ‘The specific effect each type of training has on the body’ Marathon Runners… will undertake mainly endurance work during their training. Weight Lifters… will undertake mainly strength work during their training.

The body cannot adapt overnight to the increased demands placed upon it by exercise. It can only do this gradually or progressively, otherwise the following is likely to occur: Training too much will result in injury. Training too little will result in no fitness benefits. Lifting very heavy weights too soon will cause injury to the muscles and joints. Lifting weights which are too light will not develop any improvements in strength. Progression can be described as “gradually building up the level of exercise or training to ensure that fitness continues to be developed”

To make the body fitter, you must make it work harder than normal, over a prolonged period of time. As a result, it will adapt to the extra demand placed upon it by getting fitter. Regular lifting of weights will result in the muscles getting larger (hypertrophy), improving a person’s strength. Leg curls develop strength in the legs. A chest press develops strength in the arms and chest. Overload can be described as “making the body work harder than normal, so it adapts to the extra demands and becomes fitter”

You must make the body work harder than normal over a prolonged period of time to improve fitness. It is easier to lose fitness than build it up. Therefore:…..  You must keep to a well planned training programme, if you really want to get fit. If you take a break or stop exercising, because of illness or a holiday, you will need to start again at a lower level. If you stop exercising the fitness gained will be lost in a third of the time it took to develop! Reversibility can be described as “the process of losing fitness, soon after stopping regular training or exercise”

Tedium refers to the possibility of the athlete getting bored during training. Training should be varied to prevent the athlete becoming unmotivated and losing interest. If an athlete is repeating the same training session three or four times a week, boredom and frustration will gradually creep in. This will affect motivation and determination. Therefore:………………..

Frequency- how often you train? Once, twice, three times per week? Intensity – how hard do you train? 50%, 65%, 75% of maximum ability? Time – How long do you train for each session? 35mins, 1hr, 1½ hrs? Type – what type of training are you doing? Weights, Cardio-Vascular, Flexibility workout?

FITT PRINCIPLE - FIT principles suggest that all training or exercise programmes - whatever their purpose should include the following (of training or exercise) FREQUENCY - how often. Experts suggest that at a basic level three sessions per week is the minimum frequency that is needed to acquire and maintain a healthy fitness level.

INTENSITY - how hard. For general improvement of health it is essential that the heart rate is raised to between 60 and 85 % of the maximum heart rate (MHR) for a specific age. This is known as the safe training zone. To calculate your MHR subtract your age from 220. Then work out 65% - 85% this allows you to work out the training zone for effective training. the following example is for a person who is 30 years old: the lower threshold for training is 60% of MHR: 190 x 60 divided by 100 = 114 beats per minute the upper threshold for training is 85% of MHR: 190 x 85 divided by 100 = 162 beats per minute. Therefore the safe training zone would be between 114 and 162 bpm.

TIME - for most people 30 minutes exercise will raise the heart rate above 60 % of the MHR. Whereas, some professional athletes will train for two or three hours per session TYPE - the type of training activity will reflect the groups or individuals specific needs