6 Training Principles that are essential to get results from your fitness programme.
Why do we exercise? Maybe we want to get better at a specific sport or activity, or perhaps protect ourselves from possible injuries. Everyone might have a different goal, but the intrinsic and general reason is that we want to ADAPT to stressors. Exercise is a type of stressor, however it is one we can control for our advantage. Once we face a task that is very difficult to accomplish, our body will get prepared to achieve the goal the next time we try it.
For adaptation to happen, fitness programmes have to follow the basic principles on training:
Individuality
We are all different from each other: genetics, age, body composition, skill level… Every person will have a different result from the same exercise/training, Hence why fitness programmes have to take in consideration the individual in order to achieve maximal performance. It’s not one for all!
Specificity
Our body adapts to stimulus it receives; it is specific to the task: if you run, you will get better at running. You get what you train!
Overload
Once the body adapts to a certain load of training, that same load will not be enough to create further adaptation. It needs to be exposed to a stronger stimulus to create extra benefits. Progressive challenge!
Progression
It is the gradual and systematic way to create overload, so the body continue adapting and improving performance. Progressing too quickly can cause injuries, but too slowly might delay the results.
Reversibility
The body also adapts to the lack of stimulus. If we stop exercising, the body understands that it doesn’t need to maintain all the tools necessary for the task it was being trained to accomplish. If you don’t use it, you lose it!
Exercising is always beneficial and it will be acutely positive on your short term wellbeing. However, if you are following the same routine, utilising the same intensity every time you train, you will not reach the long term benefits exercise can bring to your life.
Make sure you follow the principles to keep making progress and getting better at what you train!
References:
Kasper K. (2019). Sports Training Principles. Current sports medicine reports, 18(4), 95–96.
Dick, O.B.E., Frank W.. Sports Training Principles : An Introduction to Sports Science, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015.