Principles of Training

Principles of Training

Training helps athletes improve performance. To train effectively, we follow these 6 key principles:

• Principles of training are a set of rules or guidelines that are used to plan a training programme.

1. Principle/ Law of Specificity

• Explanation: You get better at what you practice. A sprinter trains differently from a swimmer.
• Example: A basketball player practices shooting and dribbling, not swimming laps.
• Scenario: Maria wants to run faster in the 200m. She focuses on sprint drills and leg strength.
• Check Your Understanding: What would be a specific training activity for a high jumper?
• This principle states that the nature of the training should be directly related to the sport or skill you want to improve.
• The training load must be specific to:
  • an individual athlete
  • the demands of their chosen sport
• NB/ General training must always come before specific training. The general training prepares the athlete to tolerate the loadings of specific training. The greater the volume of training determines how much specific training the athlete is able to complete.

2. Principle/ Law of Progression

• Explanation: Your body needs time to adapt to more work.
• Example: Week 1: Run 1 mile. Week 2: Run 1.5 miles. Week 3: Run 2 miles.
• Scenario: Jason adds 5 more push-ups each week to build strength.
• Check Your Understanding: Why is it risky to increase training too quickly?
• This principle is used to explain the gradual increase in the levels of the training load.
• We start small and increase training over time. This leads to progressive adaptation and overcompensation to high levels of fitness.
• One can increase levels of fitness by:
  • Higher number of repetition
  • Faster repetitions
  • Heavier weights

3. Principle/ Law of Overload

• Explanation: Challenge your muscles or heart more than usual.
• Example: Lift heavier weights or run faster to get stronger or fitter.
• Scenario: Tina adds 10 lbs to her squats to improve leg strength.
• Check Your Understanding: What happens if you never increase your training effort?
• This principle explains that once an athlete’s fitness is challenged by a new training load, there is a response from the body called adaptation.
• Push your body harder than normal to improve.
• Application of FITT to Overload training:
  • F- frequency (example: by increasing the amount from 3 to 4 times a week)
  • I- intensity (example: by running/ swimming faster or in less time, i.e making training harder)
  • T- time (example: increasing the duration of the session from 1 to 2 hours, i.e spending a longer time on the sessions)
  • T- type (example: a change in the type of exercise or load given in the training programme)

4. Principle/ Law of Reversibility

• Explanation: If you stop working out, your progress fades.
• Example: After 4 weeks off, Sam can’t run as far as before.
• Scenario: During summer break, Liam stopped training. In September, he was slower.
• Check Your Understanding: How can you avoid reversibility during school holidays?
• Fitness is lost when training stops. (If you don’t use it, you lose it.)
• If training stops, the improvement in one’s fitness level will be lost.
• To maintain any improvements, exercises must be repeated regularly.

5. Principle/ Law of Variation/ Variety

• Explanation: Mixing things up prevents boredom and overuse injuries.
• Example: Alternate between gym, track, and fun games.
• Scenario: Maya runs, swims, and cycles each week to stay motivated.
• Check Your Understanding: What are 2 ways you can vary your workouts?
• To prevent boredom through the long term process of training, it is important to have a training programme that is varied.
• A training program that is varied functions to:
  • Maintain the athlete’s interest
  • Motivate them
  • Prevent injuries
• Ways one can allow for variation in training sessions:
  • Nature of exercise (types of exercises, methods of training, etc.)
  • Environment (where the training session is conducted)
  • Time of day of the session
  • Training group (the people the individual trains with)

6. Principle/ Law of Rest and Recovery

• Explanation: Muscles get stronger when resting, not just during exercise.
• Example: Take at least one day off each week.
• Scenario: Daniel trains Monday to Friday and rests on weekends to avoid injury.
• Check Your Understanding: Why is rest just as important as training?
• Give our body time to repair and grow stronger.

Recap Table

Glossary

• Adaptation - a response to the stimulus of a training load.
• Training load - the work or exercise done by an athlete in a training session.
• Loading - the process of applying a training load.
• Training - the regular exercise aimed at improving skills and fitness.
• Overtraining - a process where a training load is too great and therefore there is no recovery nor overcompensation.