Principles of TrainingCreating a Muscular Fitness Workout Plan

Objectives• Content Objective: The students will be able to identify the

principles of training on their notes outline in order to utilize the principles later when they create their workout plan for their mid-term project.

The Three Principles of Training

1. The principle of muscle overload

2. The principle of progression

3. The principle of specificity

1. The Principle of Overload• In order for a muscle to increase in strength, the workload

which it is exposed during exercise must be increased beyond what it normally experiences.– Muscles adapt to increased workloads by becoming larger and

stronger and by developing greater endurance.– The weight should not be so severe that your body is unable to

adjust

F.I.T.T. Acronym

• F = Frequency

• I = Intensity

• T = Time

• T = Type

The F.I.T.T. acronym is used to accomplish the principle of overload.

F = Frequency• What does the word frequency

mean?– How would this relate to fitness or a

workout routine?

• Definition: How often you exercise.

• Frequency Guidelines for a Healthy Lifestyle:– Cardiovascular – Moderate exercise 5

days a week or vigorous cardio 3 days a week

– Strength Training – 2 to 3 non-consecutive days of the week

– Flexibility – Each time you exercise as part of the warm-up and the cool-down

I = Intensity• What does the word intensity

mean?

• How would this relate to fitness and/or a workout plan?

• Definition – How hard you work during exercise

• Intensity Guidelines for a Healthy Lifestyle– Cardio – Work within your target heart

rate zone (will learn in a later class how to determine)

– Strength – The exercises, amount of weight, number of sets, number of reps determine your workouts intensity. Per exercise you should do 1-3 sets of 8-16 reps.

– Flexibility – Increase the range of motion at the joints

T = Time• What does time refer to in

terms of fitness?

• Definition – How long you exercise

• Time Guidelines for a Health Lifestyle:– Cardiovascular – 30-60 minutes

of cardio with the length dependent upon the intensity

– Strength – Depends on the type of workout. About an hour

Relationship between Intensity and Time• **As the intensity of an activity increases the time

(duration) will typically decrease**

• For example if you are running on the treadmill at 10 minute per mile pace (a slight jog) you probably feel more comfortable and will run for longer say 60 minutes– If you decide to increase the tempo to a 7 minute per mile pace (a

run) you will probably feel tired quicker and therefore decrease the amount of time you run for to say 30 minutes.

T = Type• What does type refer to in terms of

fitness?

• Definition – The kind of activity you are doing.

• Type Guidelines for a Health Lifestyle:– Cardiovascular – Any activity that gets

your heart rate up– Examples: Swimming, running, cycling,

sports, etc.

– Strength – Any exercise when you are using some type of resistance – Examples: Bands, dumbbells, stability

ball, body weight, etc.

– Flexibility – Any exercise that increases the range of motion at the joint– Examples: Stretch, yoga, resistance

bands, Pilates, gymnastics, etc.

Purpose of the F.I.T.T. Acronym…• The F.I.T.T. acronym is used once you set fitness goals for

yourself in order to provide you with workout guidelines for achieving your fitness goal.

• It outlines how to manipulate your program to get better results, change your workouts to avoid boredom, and reduce overuse injuries and plateaus.

The Principles of Muscle Overload Cont.• Full Range of Motion – The

overload must be applied throughout the full range of motion. For example starting stretched past the relaxed position and ending in a fully contracted position.

• Repetition – When an exercise has progressed through a complete range of motion and back to the beginning. For example one bicep curl is one repetition.– One-Repetition Maximum (1-RM) –

One repetition performed against the maximum possible resistance.

• Set – A series of repetition without a rest. For example 10 bicep curls in a row and then you rest for a minute = 1 set

• Muscle Failure: The inability of a person to do another correct repetition in a set.

**Minimum resistance needed to obtain strength gains = 50% of the One-Rep Maximum or completing 8-12 reps of each exercise.

2. The Principle of Progression• Your body adapts to lifting the same amount of weight

therefore you need to…– Gradually increase the level of exercise in order to sustain

improvement in physical fitness.

• When you can correctly do the upper limit of repetitions (usually 12 reps) for each of three set without muscle failure, you need to increase your weight.

3. The Principle of Specificity• You must overload the specific muscle(s) you want to

strengthen– The muscle(s) you want to strengthen are the ones you feel contract

and become tense during the movement/exercise– For example: If you want to increase leg strength you must do leg

exercises such as squats, lunges, calf raises, leg press, etc.