Principles of Exercise
The 12 principles of exercise are akin to the 10 commandments (I think it's 10 isn't it?)
Principle
Individuality:
Optimal benefits occur when programs meet the individuals needs & capacities of participants
People are different and their exercise needs vary – a prescription must take this into account
Trainability:
Each person responds differently to the same training stimulus
Don’t expect that the same prescription will get you the same result with each person – you have to monitor and adapt training as you go to suit different clients
Specificity:
The training stimulus must be specific to the clients desired outcomes
Training must be specific to an individuals goals
Overload:
For adaptation to occur the volume of exercise must overload the body in some way in line with the capacity of the individual to cope with that overload
You get improvements by doing a bit more
Progressive Overload:
For continual adaptation overload must be progressive, that is the dose of exercise must increase
Get improvements by doing a bit more each time
Variety:
For optimal adaptation and to avoid stagnation, overuse, and injury the exercise stimulus must be varied (this does not simply mean changing exercises all the time).
Change is as good as a holiday. Variety allows recovery and can reduce injury risk
Rest:
Optimal adaptation requires rest periods to be interspersed with training sessions sufficient that the adaptations caused by the exercise dose can take place.
Rest to get the best out of your exercise, not too long and not too little.
Reversibility:
All beneficial effects of exercise are reversible if exercise ceases
Use it or lose it.
Maintenance:
Current fitness levels can be maintained by exercising at the same intensity while reducing volume (frequency and/or duration) by 1/3 to 2/3
It’s easier to keep fitness than to create it. Train as hard, stay regular but shorten workouts to maintain a fitness component
Ceiling:
As fitness increases the relative & absolute improvements in fitness will decrease, even with continual overload
Genetics play a part. There is a law of diminishing returns with exercise. Unfit people will change a lot early on, then less and less despite continuing to train hard.
Interference:
When training several components at once (e.g. strength & endurance) the stimuli may interfere with each other, thereby slowing adaptation in one or both components
You can’t have it all at once. As all systems are related fatigue in one will interfere with the results of training in another.
FITT (FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, TIME, TYPE)
Each of the fitness components has an ideal training frequency (how often), intensity (how hard), time (duration, rest intervals) and type of exercise to be used. The ‘FITT’ principle is largely a practical ‘amalgamation’ of all the other exercise principles.
