1. Principles of Training
Revision

2. Principles of Training
For a physical fitness training programme to be effective you need to apply the training principles of specificity, and overload to your programme.
This can be achieved by adapting duration, intensity and frequency in your programme.

3. Principles of Training
Duration
Physical fitness
training programme
Progressive
Overload
Specificity
Intensity
Frequency

4. Specificity Specificity is the first key principle in training.
Specificity is crucial to physical fitness
performance improvement.

5. Specificity ? Any training you do has to be specific to your needs; it
has to be relevant to the activity, and to your existing
levels of fitness and ability. ?
i.e. if you were a long distance runner you would not
train by lifting heavy weights.

6. Example
A basketball player completing a physical fitness training programme would need to
- make the programme relevant to basketball
- ensure that training was specific to their role within the team (forward, centre, guard)‏
make the programme relevant to their existing
ability and physical fitness levels

7. Example
If you were a hockey player who needed speed for short sprints in a game you might complete some shuttle sprints in training

8. Progressive Overload
Progressive overload is crucial to performance improvement and occurs when you exercise at increasingly greater levels:
i.e. you progressively add to the demands of your physical fitness programme as your body adjusts to the benefits of your current fitness programme.

9. Frequency
Frequency refers to how often you train.This varies according to the demands of the activity.
Some activities require many training sessions per week over a number of months before improvement occurs.

10. Example
For the average performer to improve cardio-respiratory endurance they would need to:
1. Get heart rate within the training zone.
training zone p
u % of 220-age l
s % of 220-age e
age in years
2. Work for minutes in training zone.
3. Do this 3-4 times per week.

11. Intensity
Intensity refers to how hard you train. This relates to the demands of your training sessions.
The setting of the levels of intensity is very important, especially for the speed/strength/power training aspects of physical fitness.

12. Example Aspect of Fitness Cardio-respiratory endurance Athlete
Long Distance
Runner
% Effort
50-60% (lower intensity level)
Training
Longer, more continuous work
with small rests

13. Example Athlete Sprinter % effort 80-90% Aspect of fitness Speed
Training
Shorter, with times of very hard
work and some quite long rests to
recover

14. Duration
Duration refers to how long you train for. This varies according to the demands of the activity.
- In a training session, duration refers to the length of
planned time spent training and also applies to the length
of individual training sessions within a programme

15. Duration Individual Training Sessions
- Short, intensive training sessions promote anaerobic
fitness
Longer, moderately intensive sessions develop
aerobic endurance

16. Duration Training Programme
Anaerobic fitness improvements are likely to occur after six to
eight weeks, provided the intensity of training is high
% of your maximum intensity
Aerobic endurance improvements are likely to occur after 2-3
months if the frequency is 3-4 times per week.

17. Reversibility
If you stop training your body will return to the condition it was in before you began training.
The time this takes to occur will be dependant upon how long you trained for. The longer you trained for the longer it will take before reversibility occurs.

18. Questions Q1. Write down the principles of training
P__________ O___________
F__________
I__________
D__________
S__________
R__________

19. Questions Q2. Use the words below to fill in the following sentence.
existing activity fitness specific ability
Any training you do has to be ________ to your needs; it
has to be relevant to the _________, and to your _________
levels of __________ and __________.
Q3. Give an example of what a sprinter and weight lifter could do
to train for their activity.
Sprinter
Example __________________________________________
Weight Lifter

20. Questions Q4 When designing a training programme the following factors
have to be considered.
Frequency Intensity Duration Activity
Explain in detail what is meant by these terms opposite the
headings below.
Frequency ______________________________________
__________________________________________________
Intensity ______________________________________
Duration _______________________________________
Activity _______________________________________

21. Questions
Q5. Any training programme must be based on certain principles of training.
Name three principles of training and describe how you used them
to improve cardio respiratory endurance?
Principle 1 ___________
Description _______________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Principle 2 ____________
Principle 3 _____________

22. Questions
Q6. The principle of progressive overload ensures that fitness
levels continue to rise.
Choose an activity and an aspect of fitness that is important to
that activity. Explain how you increased the difficulty of your
training programme as your fitness improved.
Activity _________
Aspect of fitness _____________________
Explain how you made this training harder as your fitness improved
__________________________________________________