Basic Scientific Principles of

Exercise
 Basic Scientific Principles of
Exercise

• There are some basic principles that

govern the world of exercise to
understand how much or little
exercise the participant (subject)
need to do to meet their own health or
fitness goals.
 Basic Scientific
Principles of Exercise
• It may be helpful to consider the following
scientific principles of exercise programs:

• Intensity.
• Frequency.
• Duration, repetition and sets
• Overload.
• Specificity and SAID.
• The training effect.
• Recovery.
 Basic Scientific Principles of
Exercise
• Warming up and cooling down.
• Progression.
• Variety.
• Balance.
• Regularity.
• Reversibility.
• Individualism.
 INTENSITY
• Intensity of effort is a basic component required in
any exercise program to stimulate physical abilities.
Intensity is how hard you exercise or the possible
percentage of momentary muscular and volitional
effort exerted.

• This means that at any one moment when exercising,

you produce or exert a certain amount of effort that is
possible or required to complete a task.
 INTENSITY

• The intensity at which you work can be

described as strenuous, moderate or mild.
• The perceived intensity of an exercise will
depend on the relative fitness of the individual
as the same exercise may be too easy for some
and too difficult for others.
• In summary, any exercise program needs to be
personalized to ensure that it is appropriate for
the participant.
 2- FREQUENCY

• This refers to how many times a week a

participant needs to exercise inorder to
improve or maintain his health or to become
fitter.
The frequency of exercise session depends
on many factors as:
• The content of the session,
• The condition of the participant (physical
condition or diagnosis).
• If he involved in other physical activities.
 Duration, Repetition and Sets

The duration of an exercise is the period of time the

exercises lasts.
The duration depends on the severity of the
exercise or the intensity, as :
• low intensity exercises can last for long duration in
proportion to high intensity exercises which cannot
maintained for long time.
 3-Duration, Repetition and
Sets
• Example: cycling against high resistance
cannot continue for long duration but
cycling against low resistance can be
maintained for a greater duration. Duration
tends to be recorded in terms of time or
distance.
 3-Duration, Repetition and Sets

• Repetition is the number of sets

performed. Both duration and repetitions
can be used to determine the length of
time spent on the exercise.
• In practical terms it is often easier to count
repetitions.
 4-Overload

• Overload indicates that something is

increasing or that load is over and above
what it was in previous exercise sessions.
The overload principle is a progressive
improvement of the load lifted inorder to
stimulate the physical condition of the body.
Overload has a direct relationship to
intensity of effort.
 4-Overload
• Three factors that have a direct bearing on how
hard person exercises, factors that comprise the
overload principle, include:
• 1-Strain (how much to increase weight lifted
depends on a person’s stage of development
and individual ability).
• 2-Time under tension or TUT (the length of the
set measured in seconds and minutes).
 4-Overload

• 3-Set volume (the number of sets

performed in a workout). Increasing the
number of sets is the most abused method
of overload.
 4-Overload
• For example: during the initial 2-3 weeks of
exercise program, progression should be slow, so
as not to overstress the body too quickly. This can
cause extreme muscle soreness and the
discomfort is enough to turn off any one from an
exercise program.
 4-Overload
• After 2-3 weeks break-in period, an appropriate
overload is approximately 5% increase per
workout or an additional 5-10 seconds TUT at
most. For instance, a person could maintain 60
second TUT every workout while increasing the
weight 5%.
 5-Specificity and SAID principle

• Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands

(SAID) means the demands or requirements
imposed upon the body (i.e. the number of
sets, TUT, volume, and frequency) will result
in specific adaptation.

• Hence, the SAID principle reflects the

concept of cause and effect, in that result
(the effect) are determined by the nature of
an exercise program.
 5-Specificity and SAID principle
The specificity of an exercise program
refers to some exercise factors:
• 1-The exercised part of body that
received overload is the only part will
increase its physical ability and
strength.
• For example, exercise for upper limbs
will not improve the condition of the
lower limbs and exercise for right limb
will not improve the condition of the left
limb.
 5-Specificity and SAID principle
• 2-The training effect of exercise used is the
specific to that type of exercise (i.e.
strengthening exercises will increase strength
only, and stretching exercises will improve the
flexibility condition of the muscles).
 5-Specificity and SAID
principle
• 3-Specificity also refers to the way in
which muscles are used (i.e. exercise a
muscle through a particular range will
improve a part of muscle that responsible
for that range only).
 6-Training Effect
Training effect is choosing of appropriate form of
exercise to achieve the desired goal.
• For example: we cannot use flexibility exercise to
increase strength but we must use strengthening
exercise. Also aerobic exercise used for increase
subject endurance not flexibility. Breathing exercise
used to improve ventilation and respiratory system.
 7-Recovery

• Recovery refers to the rest period taken

within an exercise session, or to the rest
interval between exercise sessions. The
recovery periods are very important to allow
the body to remove the west products and
enable the muscle to repeat the exercise.
 Recovery
• Recovery may be active or passive:
• Active recovery: is a period of relative low
intensity exercise that enables body to
recover, or use different exercise to
different muscles (i.e. to recover upper
limb muscle, give exercise to the lower
limb muscles).
 Recovery
• Passive recovery: is complete rest after
exercise.
 Recovery

Recovery between sessions is very

important as hard intensive exercises
need long recovery period but low-
intensity exercises may need short
period of recovery and can be
repeated daily.
 Recovery
• Repeated the exercise
session before complete
recovery of the body will lead
to:
1-Rapid onset of fatigue.
2-Overuse injury.
3-Less effectiveness of
session.
 warming up and cooling down
• Worming up before starting the exercises and cooling down
after finishing the exercises are very important aspect of
the program.
The lack of warm up may lead to:
a- Premature fatigue.
b- Increase the risk of rupture and strains.
c- Increase the of overuse injuries (like tendonitis).
 Warming up and cooling down
The benefits of cool-down are:
a- Regain the body to its normal metabolic
and physiological level.
b- Reduce the risk of post-exercise
dizziness or fainting.
c- Reduce the post-exercise soreness.
 Progression

• Progression means the

intensity (how hard) and/or
duration (how long) of
exercise must gradually
increase to improve the
level of subject.
 Progression
• In practice, progression can be achieved
by use one or combination of these
factors:
1-Altering the intensity as to walk faster or
running inspite of normal walking or lift
heavier weight as progression of lighter
weight.
2-Alternatively the duration of exercise can
be increased by time spent in exercise
and/or the number of repetitions or sets
included in the session.
 Progression
3-Increasing the frequency of the exercise.
4-Reducing the time or period of recovery.
5-Adding extra exercises or different
exercises to the program.
• In summary progression achievement is
depend mainly on subject condition and
his response to the program.
 Variety

• It provides a variety of activities to a

lasting program because it relives
boredom and increase motivations
and progress.
 Balance

• Over emphasizing one component of the

exercise program inhibit subject’s overall
progress, including four components
(FITT- frequency, intensity, time, and type)
on a regular basis to achieve proper
balance.
 Regularity

• A regular exercise program requires

exercising the four component of fitness at
least 3 times a week. The four
components are: cardio-respiratory
endurance, muscular strength, muscular
endurance and flexibility.
 13-Reversibility

• Reversibility refers to
decline of the physical
capacity as a result of
reduced amount of
exercise or stop it for a
period of weeks. For
example, in strengthening
exercise if an individual
stops exercising his or her
muscles the muscles
become weaker.
 Individualism
• Because every subject is different, each person's
response to exercise will vary. A proper training
program should be modified to take individual
differences into account. Some considerations:
• Large muscles heal slower than smaller muscles.
• Fast or explosive movements require more recovery
time than slow movements.
 Individualism
• Fast twitch muscle fibers recover quicker
than slow twitch muscle fibers.
• Women generally need more recovery
time than men.
• Older athletes generally need more
recovery time than younger athletes.
• The heavier the load lifted, the longer it will
take the muscles to recover.
 Individualism
This principle states that
exercise must be prescribed
in accordance with
• 1-The needs of the
participant.
• 2-Goals seeking to achieve.
• 3-Abilities and physical
condition.
 Individualism
4-Limitations, likes and dislikes
(if people dislike their program
they are likely to adhere to it,
but if it is possible to alternate
part of the program, it will be
more enjoyable to them).
5-The appropriate and ideal
amount of exercise for a
particular person.
The Benefits of Planned Exercise
Program

• The planned exercise program is aiming to

maintain, improve or minimize the regression of
the condition. Regardless of the kind of exercise
program, it should be designed with specific short-
term and long-term goals.
• The short-term goals are set over a period of 2 to
5 weeks and provide the participant and therapist
something to aim for.
The Benefits of Planned Exercise
Program
• Before put the exercise program it is useful to make
assessment and evaluation of the patient physical
condition and abilities in the form of:
1-Measuring the mobility of joints (ROM).
 The Benefits of Planned
Exercise Program

2-Assessing the strength of

particular muscles (muscle
testing).
3-Observe any changes
between body parts.
 The Benefits of Planned
Exercise Program
4-Assessing the response of
cardiovascular system to
exercise (heart rat and blood
pressure).
5-Perform special physical tests
related to the condition.
 The Benefits of Planned Exercise
Program
• The information collected from
the assessment may be used
to:
• 1-Design the initial program.
• 2-Modify the program when
necessary.
• 3-Give focus on the
effectiveness of the exercise
program.