The Principles of Training: The Key Things to Incorporate and Consider

Kristin Kennedy-Brown – October 13, 2023

Participating in regular physical activity and exercise throughout on a weekly basis may positively impact
an individual’s overall health, and improve various components of physical fitness. However, an
individual’s specific physical fitness goals may not be achieved if their physical activity program is not
designed with respect to major exercise training principles. Adherence to specific principles of exercise
training may aid in the development of an intentional and successful physical activity regimen. The core
training principles which will be subsequently discussed include:

Specificity

Overload

Progression

Reversibility

FITT

Individual Differences

In order to get the most out of your training, you need to apply these key principles of training

Specificity

1.For example, upper body weight training will only facilitate improvements to muscles groups which
were engaged (i.e. shoulders, arms, back muscles).

2.Therefore, an individual must evaluate the specific type of workout that will provide the greatest
likelihood of physical activity and fitness goal achievement.

Further Explanations: This principle relates to the type of training that you do. It should be specific to
you and your chosen sport. You should train the energy system which you use predominantly (for
example: a runner and weight lifter will require different processes), and the fitness and skill
components most important to your sport, for example, agility, balance or muscular endurance. You
should also test the components which are important in your sport to see your strengths and
weaknesses, such as imbalances, speed, power, posture etc.

So this principle means you should consider what key conditioning you can work on, in order to boost
your performance.

Overload

It is required to improve components of health-related fitness: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular

strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. According to the principle of overload, an individual must
work (“load”) the body using a step-by-step increase in physical activity duration, time, and/or intensity
in order to facilitate optimal fitness improvements. This step-by-step increase is often known as
progression.
Progressing and improving our fitness means that we have to put our bodies under additional stress.
Applying ‘overload’ as a training principle will cause long-term adaptations, enabling our bodies to work
more efficiently to cope with a higher level of performance the next time we train.

Overloading can be achieved by following the acronym FITT:

Frequency: How often the individual performs the targeted exercise or physical activity. For example,
increasing the number of times you train per week or the number of reps you perform.

Intensity: Increasing the difficulty of the exercise you do How much work or effort is exerted during a
physical activity period (may be measured in a variety of ways such as heart rate, RPE, MET value,
etc.).For example, running at 12 km/h instead of 10 or increasing the weight you are squatting with.

Time: Duration of physical activity or exercise bout. Increasing the length of time that you are training
for. For example, cycling for 45 minutes instead of 30.

Type: Specific physical activity mode or exercise which an individual chooses to engage in (i.e. aerobic
exercise, resistance training, sports-specific activity, etc.). Increase the difficulty of the training you are
doing. For example progress from walking to running, from accessory to free weights.

Reversibility

Reversibility Principle: Individuals may lose the beneficial effects of training when participation in an
exercise program is terminated . Conversely, as an individual’s fitness level improves, s/he will be
required to adjust the exercise program in order to procure further improvements (i.e., the previous
work exerted to reach overload may no longer be sufficient)

You can lose what you’ve gained if it’s not maintained. If you stop training then the improvements you
have made will be reversed. So if you do not train for a period of time, or reduce the amount you are
training, you may not be able to resume training to the same level as before, so it’s important to build
the body back up progressively until you reach that level again.

You want to be careful with overtraining though. It is a very common problem when you don’t get
enough rest during your training schedule, overdoing workouts to a point where it is having adverse
effects on your results and progress. This should not be confused with overload, which is the planned
exposure to an increased workload and the right amount of rest in-between. Without the correct
amount of rest, you will suffer from overtraining and your body won’t be able to correctly and safely
perform the movements you need it to.

Variance

For example, footballers in the midst of their football training, will participate in outdoor HIIT training,
running, and strength training. Their active rest day could include; golf or yoga.

Experts recommend that training programs should limit periods of complete inactivity to no more than
two to three weeks. Prolonged periods of inactivity should be avoided, and your training programme
should incorporate some form of “maintenance” training where an extended break is desired.

Individual Differences Principle: .The principle of individual difference states that each person is unique
and therefore everyone's response that they experience toward exercise is different. All individuals are
unique in their exercise programming needs. Personal, environmental, and behavioral factors should be
considered and assessed when planning to engage in a physical fitness training regimen .