What is It
Effective training takes time and patience. If one adheres to the proper
principles of training, the result will definitely be seen. The performance will be
improved and physiological changes will occur as well. A proper program of exercise
considers three principles of training: the principle of overload, the principle of
progressive, and the principle of specificity.
Principles of Physical Activity
Overload Principle
This principle pertains to doing “more than normal” for improvement to happen. It
means to boost our fitness, strength, or endurance. The workload is extended
accordingly. Applying these training principles will cause long-term adaptations,
enabling the body to figure more efficiently to deal with higher levels of performance.
Overloading will be achieved by following the acronym FITT:
Frequency: Increasing the number of times you train per week
Intensity: Increasing the problem of the exercise, for instance, running at 12 km/h
rather than 10 or increasing the load you're squatting with.
Time: Increasing the length of your training time for every session, for instance,
cycling for 45 minutes rather than 30.
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Type: Increase the intensity of the training. For instance, progress from walking to
running
Principle of Progression
To ensure that the results will still improve over time, the adapted workload
should be continually increased. A gradual and systematic increase within the
workload over a period of time will lead to improvement in fitness without risk of
injury. If overload occurs and increases rapidly, it may lead to injury or muscle
damage. If it increases slowly, improvement is unlikely. For instance, the athlete who
exercises vigorously only on weekends violates the principle of progression and may
not see obvious fitness gains.
The Principle of Progression also stresses the requirement for correct rest and
recovery. Continual stress on the body and constant overload will lead to exhaustion
and injury. You ought not to train hard all the time, as you'll risk overtraining and
a decrease in fitness.
Principle of Specificity
We have all heard the phrase, "Practice makes perfect." Well, this is often the
principle of specificity in action. This principle simply states that exercising a
specific piece or component of the body primarily develops that part. The principle
of specificity implies that to become better at a selected exercise or skill, you need
to perform that exercise or skill. For example, a cyclist should be trained in cycling
and a runner should be trained in running. Use the acceptable sort of exercise that
directly improves your target muscles.
Principle of Reversibility
Development of muscles will happen if regular movement and execution are
completed. If activity ceases, it will be reversed. This shows that benefits and
changes achieved from overload will last as long as training is continuous. On the
flip side, this also implies that the detraining effect will be reversed once training is
resumed. Extended rest periods reduce fitness and therefore the physiological
effects diminish over time which throws the body back to its pre-training
condition.
Note: The effect of training will be lost if the training is discontinued.
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The F.I.T.T Principle of Physical Activity
Understanding the F.I.T.T. principle helps you create a workout plan which
will be beneficial in reaching your fitness goals. F.I.T.T. stands for frequency,
intensity, time, and type of exercise. These are the four elements you would
like to believe to make workouts that suit your goals and fitness level. Learn how
the
F.I.T.T. principle works.
Table 1. F.I.T.T Principles
Factor Definition
Frequency Number of meeting in a week
Intensity The effort level of the exercise
Time Period covered in an exercise session
Type Kind of activity
Frequency
The first thing to identify in the workout plan is frequency—how often you
exercise. Your frequency often depends on a spread of things including the sort of
workout you're doing, how hard you're working, your fitness level, and your exercise
goals. Three to five times a week is a safe frequency for each component of health-
related physical fitness.
American College of Sports Medicine sets exercise guidelines to provide a place to
start figuring out how often to work out:
For cardio: Include your goal, guidelines recommend moderate exercise five or more
days every week or intense cardio three days every week to improve your health. If
your goal is to lose weight, you'll need to work often up to six or more days a week.
For strength training: The suggested frequency is two to three non-consecutive days
a week, it should be one to two days between sessions. If you are doing a split
routine, like the upper body at some point and lower body subsequent, your
workouts are going to be more frequent than total body workouts.
Intensity
Intensity refers to how hard you work during the physical activity period.
Intensity is often measured in several ways, counting on the health-related
component. For instance, monitoring pulse rate is a technique to measure intensity
during aerobic endurance activities but gives no indication of intensity during
flexibility activities.
For cardio: For cardio, you will usually monitor intensity by heart rate or pulse rate.
The recommendation for steady-state workouts is at a moderate intensity and for
interval training, it should be done at a high intensity for a shorter period of time.
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For strength training: Monitoring the intensity of strength training involves a
special set of parameters. The intensity depends on the workload you are doing, the
amount of weight you lift, and the number of repetitions and sets. You can change
the intensity based on your goals. For a beginner use a lighter weight and do fewer
sets with high repetitions (two or three sets of 12 to 20 repetitions). If your goal is
to develop muscle, do a higher number of sets with a moderate amount of
repetitions (four sets of 10 to 12 reps each). If you want to create strength, use
heavyweights to try to do more sets with fewer repetitions, for example, five sets of
three repetitions each.
How to get your Target Heart Rate
1. Get the Maximum Heart Rate.
MHR = 220 - (your age) MHR =
2. Determine the Heart Rate Reserve.
HRR = MHR – (Resting Heart Rate) HRR=
3. Take 60% and 80% of the HRR
a. 60% x HRR = b. 80% x HRR =
4. Add each HRR to the Resting Heart Rate (RHR) to obtain the Target Heart Rate
(THR) range.
a. 60% HRR + = beats per minute (RHR)
b. 80% HRR + = beats per minute (RHR)
Note: Your resting pulse rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute
after you are at rest.
Health
Trivia
When it comes to resting heart rate, lower is healthier.
It means your heart muscle is in good condition and it does not need to work
strongly to maintain a steady beat. Studies found out that a greater resting
pulse rate is connected with poor physical fitness and high blood pressure and
body weight.
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Time
Time is the length of the physical activity. Considering the other aspects of the
F.I.T.T principle, the time differs depending on the health-related fitness
component targeted.
For cardio: The suggested cardio exercise is 30 to 60 minutes but the duration of
your workout depends on the type of exercise. For a beginner, you might start with
a workout of 15 to 20 minutes. If you're doing steady-state cardio, like going for a
run, you may exercise for 30 minutes to an hour. If you're doing interval training
and working at a high intensity, your workout should be shorter, around 20
minutes to a half-hour.
For strength training: How long you lift weights depends on the type of workout
you're doing and on your schedule. For a total body workout, you may take up to an
hour, but a split routine may take less time because you're working for fewer
muscle groups.
Type
Type refers to the definite physical activity selected to improve a component
of health-related fitness. For example, a person who wants to improve the arm
strength should exercise the triceps and biceps, while an individual who wants to
improve aerobic endurance needs to execute some other aerobically challenging
activities such as jogging, running, swimming.
For Cardio: Cardio is changeable since any activity that makes your heart rate up
counts. Dancing, running, walking, jogging, and cycling are some of the wide variety
of activities you may choose. Having more than one cardio activity helps reduce
boredom.
For strength training: Strength training workouts can also offer a variety of
exercises. It includes any exercise using resistance like dumbbells, barbells,
machines, and many others to work your muscles. You may also use your body as a
resistance tool. You may change the type of your strength workout depending on
your goal.
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How to Use the F.I.T.T Principle in Your Workout
The F.I.T.T. principle provides guides on how to control your program and
get favorable results. To avoid boredom, injuries, and weight loss plateaus, this
principle will help you figure out how to alter workout types, time, intensity, and
activities.
For example, walking three times a week for 30 minutes at a moderate pace
might be a great help for a beginner. Your body adjusts to these workouts and several
things may happen after a few weeks such as:
● Burn fewer calories
● Weight loss
● Boredom sets in
You may also utilize one or more of the F.I.T.T. principles, such as:
● Changing the frequency by adding a day of jogging or walking
● Changing the intensity by adding some running intervals or walking faster
● Changing the time spent jogging each workout day
● Changing the type of workout by dancing, cycling, or running.
Changing one of the elements will create a big difference in the workout plan
and in how your body reacts to exercise. It's significant to alter things up on a
regular basis to keep your body and mind healthy.
Muscle develops once the body is trained to do more than what it used to.
The Principles of Training implies that overloading helps develop targeted muscle
areas. Benefits of this can be achieved through continuous overloading, or else, if
stopped, it will go back to its original form.
FITT principle acknowledges the importance of optimum fitness
development. It stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type. The physical
activity program is used as a guideline for a fitness routine to achieve results.
Execution of exercise is also related to its intensity. The more the activity is
repeated, the more chances of developing fitness.
Intensity is defined as how easy or hard the designed task is accomplished or
the magnitude of work done. The body’s response by the number of times the heart
pumps measured in beats per minute determines the intensity. Workable heart rate
capacity will help in getting the ideal Target Heart Rate (THR) range.
Proper choosing of activities helps to achieve goals set by specifying the target
muscles to develop. To keep activities exciting and interesting, setting up variations
in exercises or routines may help.
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Part of an Exercise Program
An exercise workout has three components: warm-up, exercise load, and
cool-down. The exercise load or workout load is the program activity that would
stimulate beneficial adaptation when performed regularly. A warm-up is essential
prior to the actual workload as it prepares the body for more strenuous activity. It
increases the blood flow to the working muscles without an abrupt increase in
lactic acid accumulation. According to research, the warmer the body and muscle,
the higher the muscular output. A good warm-up also prepares the heart, muscles,
and joints for the next activity by decreasing joint stiffness and increasing nerve
impulses. Cool-down is essential after a workout as it permits the pre-exercise
heart rate and blood pressure for a gradual recovery. Cooling down may be most
vital for competitive endurance athletes, like marathoners, because it helps
regulate blood flow.
Warm-up - At least 5 to 10 minutes of low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise or
resistance exercise with lighter weights.
Conditioning -15 to 60 minutes of aerobic, resistance, neuromuscular, and/or
sport activities
Cool-down - At least 5 to 10 minutes of low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise or
resistance exercise with lighter weights
Stretching - At least 10 minutes of stretching exercises performed after the warm-
up or cool-down phase
Note: For a beginner at least 15 to 30-minute exercise load
Methods for Assessing Aerobic Intensity
Metabolic equivalents (METs) express aerobic intensity as mL per kg per min of
oxygen being consumed.
❖ The energy expenditure while sitting at rest is equal to 1MET. It is taken by
convention to be an oxygen uptake of 3.5 mL per kg of body weight per min.
❖ Light-intensity aerobic activity is an activity done at 1.1 to 2.9 METs,
moderate-intensity activity is an activity done at 3 to 5.9 METs while
vigorous activity is an activity done at ≥ 6 METs.
The intensity of aerobic activities is sometimes measured as the speed of the
activity (for example, walking at 5 km/h, jogging at 10 km/h).
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Table 2. MET Equivalents of Common Aerobic Activities
Types of Light <3METS Moderate 3 to Vigorous ≥ 6
Activity <6METS METs
Walking Walking slowly • Walking ~5 km/h = • Walking at very
around home, store or 3.3 brisk pace (~7 km/h)
office = 2.0 • Brisk walking at ~6 = 6.3
km/h = 5.0 • Jogging at 8 km/h
= 8.0
• Jogging at 10 km/h
= 10.0
• Running at 11 km/h
= 11.5
Household • Sitting — using • Cleaning — heavy: Shoveling, digging
Chore and computer work at the washing windows or ditches = 8.5
Occupation desk using light hand car = 3.0 • Carrying heavy
tools = 1.5 • Sweeping floors or loads such as bricks =
• Standing performing carpet, vacuuming, 7.5
light work such as mopping = 3.0–3.5
making the bed,
washing dishes, or
preparing food = 2.0–
2.5
Leisure and • Arts & crafts, playing • Badminton — • Basketball game =
Sports cards = 1.5 recreational = 4.5 8.0
• Playing most musical • Cycling — on flat: • Cycling — on flat:
instruments = 2.0–2.5 light effort (16–19 moderate effort (20–
km/h) = 6.0 22 mph) = 8.0; fast
• Golf — walking (23–26 mph) = 10
pulling clubs = 4.3 • Football — casual =
• Table tennis = 4.0 7.0; competitive =
• Tennis doubles = 5.0 10.0
• Volleyball — non- • Swimming —
competitive = 3.0–4.0 • moderate/hard = 8–
Swimming leisurely = 11
6.0 • Tennis singles = 8.0
https://www.chp.gov.hk/archive/epp/files/DoctorsHanbook_ch4.pdf
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Here are some examples of physical activities and exercises that you may
integrate into your own fitness plan. Remember that the intensity of exercise, as
well as the type of activity to be done, will vary for each person, as it is based on the
fitness level results during self-testing.
FLEXIBILITY EXERCISES
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MUSCULAR STRENGTH and ENDURANCE
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