Principles of Training The F.I.T.T. Principle Principle of Specificity Principle of Overload Principle of Progression
The FITT Principle Frequency Intensity Time Type
The F.I.T.T. Principle The F.I.T.T. principle is a basic philosophy of what is necessary to gain a training effect from an exercise program. We will apply these concepts to two types of training Cardoirespiratory Training Resistance Training These are general guidelines for individuals of low to moderate fitness levels. There are as many ways to train as there are people doing the training. Use these guidelines to establish a program and then customize your program to fit your specific needs and goals as your experience and knowledge increases.
Cardiorespiratory Training Also called Aerobic Conditioning, which means it requires oxygen to sustain the activity.
Cardiorespiratory Training Frequency Exercise a minimum of 3 times per week. Less than that and you will not see improvement.
Cardiorespiratory Training Intensity You must maintain your heart rate in the Target Heart Rate Zone for the required time to gain benefits. Your Target Heart Rate Zone is determined by your fitness level and your age. Higher fitness individuals will train at 70% to 85% of their maximum heart rate as their Target Heart Rate Zone. Low fitness individuals will attain results training at 50% to 70% of their maximum heart rate as their Target Heart Rate Zone. Higher fitness individuals will train at 70% to 85% of their maximum heart rate as their Target Heart Rate Zone.
Training Heart Rate A simple way to determine your maximum heart rate is to use the following formula: 220 - age = Maximum Heart Rate An example for a 15 year old person would be as follows: 220-15 = 205 beats per minute (Maximum Heart Rate) A Low Fitness Person would train at 50% to 70% of 205 beats per minute which is 102 to 144. They should keep their heart rate between 102 and 144 beats per minute for the required time of the exercise. A Higher Fitness Person would train at 70% to 90% of 205 beats per minute which is 144 to 185. They should keep their heart rate between 144 to 185 beats per minute for the required time of the exercise.
Target Heart Rate The numbers next to your age group represent your heart rate zones while exercising. How do you know which category you fall under? If you are a beginner to exercise, your target heart rate zone while exercising should be somewhere around the green column. If you are an intermediate exerciser, you will want to reach the yellow column. Have you been working out for some time? Ok, then reach for blue!
Cardiorespiratory Training Time It is necessary to maintain your proper intensity (target heart rate zone) for a duration that will create a training benefit. Low Fitness individuals should maintain their heart rates in their target zone for a minimum of 12 to 15 minutes. This does not include warm-up or cool down periods. As your fitness level increases the exercise time in your target heart rate zone can be extended to 20-60 minutes of continuous aerobic activity. Unless you are a competitive athlete, training beyond 60 minutes in your target heart rate zone provides little additional training benefits for the amount of effort exerted.
Cardiorespiratory Training Type Choose an exercise that will involve as much muscle mass as possible. In other words, exercises that use the whole body or the larger muscle groups such as the legs and/or the back. Make sure the exercise is of a dynamic contracting nature that involves movement.(not isometric) The exercise should be rhythmic to allow a consistent intensity. The exercise should be capable of creating the proper training intensity.
Resistance Training Also called anaerobic training which is a term to indicate oxygen isn't required.
Resistance Training Frequency A general guideline would be to do each body part 1 to 2 times per week or every 4-5 days if you are a beginner or are doing high load workouts. For lower intensity workouts or higher trained individuals you could try doing each body part 2 to 3 times per week. You can do different areas of the body on different days or you can train your whole body at each workout only doing a few exercises for each body part.
Resistance Training Intensity Choose a weight that can be performed 8-12 times (repetitions), or if you are a true beginner perform 10-15 repetitions before momentary muscle exhaustion prevents you from doing another repetition. This is called training to failure and is important because as you are doing your repetitions your muscle will start to fatigue and the last few repetitions will be at maximum effort or close to maximum contractions. These last few repetitions are what will create a training effect and make changes in the muscle in the shortest period of time. When you get to a point where you perform more than 12 repetitions then you add weight the next time you do the exercise. If you do less than 8 repetitions on your exercise then you do less weight next time and work your way back up to 12 repetitions before you add more weight. It's that simple!
Resistance Training Time As a beginner or intermediate trainer, muscular endurance may not be well developed. Therefore training too fast at the onset won't allow you to handle reasonable weights, and training too slow will not give you an efficient and high intensity workout. Initially train with no more than 2-3 minutes in between sets of exercises. As you become more trained you can try to get to 1 minute between sets and even 30 seconds on some of the assistance or lighter exercises.
Resistance Training Type There are two types of exercises for muscle groups, main and assistance (minor). Your main exercises involve the most muscle mass. They usually involve more than one muscle group when exercising and you can use the greatest weight resistance with these exercises. The assistance exercises isolate the muscle group by concentrating on the simple movement of that muscle group and eliminating or minimizing the involvement of other muscle groups. Have variety in your choice of exercises. Don't do the same exercises the same way every time you train. Variety will shock the body and won't allow it to get used to the same exercises.
Principles of Training To have a good exercise program, three principles of exercise must be applied to all muscular endurance and strength training. These principles are: overload progression specificity
Principle of Overload For a muscle to increase in strength, the muscle must be overloaded. An overload may be achieved by any of the following methods: Increasing the resistance. Increasing the number of repetitions per set. Increasing the number of sets. Reducing the rest time between sets. Increasing the speed of movement in the concentric phase. (Good form is more important than the speed of movement.) Using any combination of the above.
Principle of Progression Usually significant increases in strength can be made in three to four weeks of proper training. If the workload is not progressively increased to keep pace with newly won strength, there will be no further gains. For example, if the plan is to do 12 repetitions in the bench press, the exerciser starts with a weight that causes muscle failure at between 8 and 12 repetitions (8-12 RM). She should continue with that weight until she can do 12 repetitions correctly. She then should increase the weight by about 5 percent but no more than 10 percent.
Principle of Specificity A resistance-training program should provide resistance to the specific muscle groups that need to be strengthened. Those muscles that are contracting or becoming tense during the movement are the muscle groups involved. If the person's performance of a task is not adequate or if she wishes to improve, strength training for the identified muscle(s) will be beneficial. To improve her muscular endurance and strength in a given task, the trainer must do resistance movements that are as similar as possible to those of doing the task.