1. 1 The principles of training Olympic swimmers train for specific events and spend a lot of time actually in the water. They need to develop Cardio Respiratory Endurance (CRE) but they swim to achieve this – they do not go jogging. Meanwhile a gymnast would not need CRE but train for Strength and Flexibility

2. 2 There are different ways in which we can improve CARDIO RESPIRATORY ENDURANCE and there are certain PRINCIPLES OF TRAINING which need to be understood. The principles of training can be best remembered by the words S.P.O.R.T. (F.I.T.)

3. 3 S pecificity P rogression O verload F requency I ntensity T ime R eversibility Tedium

4. 4 SPECIFICITY Your training is geared “specifically” towards your sport’s fitness requirements. Your fitness needs and the type of training required. For example- The training for a shot putter would be different from the training for a marathon runner………You would not ask your shot putter to run round the field 3 times as part of their fitness training. There is also a need for SPECIFIC TRAINING within a sport. E.G goalkeepers need different training to outfield players.

5. 5 Progression After a while doing a training programme, your body gets used to what you are doing, so your level of fitness flattens out. To get yourself onto the next level of fitness you have to progress your training by making it harder but this has to be done in small steps, not big leaps. e.g If you ran 2 miles one week you would not increase it to 10 the next but maybe 2.5 miles (small steps)

6. 6 Overload This means working your body harder than usual. For CRE you might be training at 70% of your training zone you would increase it to 75% For Strength training you would lift slightly heavier weights each time you wanted to overload the body. Overload occurs once the body gets used to a training programme usually after 3-4 weeks

7. 7 F.I.T. To overload the body and move on to the next level you must remember to increase Frequency- How often you train ( initially 3 times a week to 5 times) Intensity- How hard you train( working within your training zone) Time- How long you train for(20-40 minutes)

8. 8 Reversibility If training PROGRESSIVELY gradually improves fitness over a long period of time, what happens if less training takes place, or if one stops training because of injury, illness or you miss some sessions. This brings us to the principle of training called REVERSIBILITY Any fitness gained will be quickly lost, so when an athlete returns to training, they cannot return to the same level but would have to reduce what they are doing before bring their fitness levels back up to what it was before they stopped training

9. 9 TEDIUM Make the sessions different and enjoyable. When boredom sets in it is very difficult to motivate oneself to try and improve one’s fitness. Set targets, goals and competitions for yourself Making training less tedium by using competitions to keep you motivated. Here these pupils have to run for 20 minutes but are kept motivated by having to try and score more goals than their partner. V:\Creative & Aesthetic\PE\Bruces Documents\Seniors video\20 min run.AVI

10. 10 Monitoring training Keep a diary as to how you felt after each session. When you are training check your pulse to see if it is in your training zone. To make sure you are working at the correct intensity it is useful to work out your training zone. As your training progresses you would want to work higher in your training zone. Below is an example of a training zone. Training Zone for a 16 yr old 220-16=204 60% of 204=122 85% of 204=173