What principle of training states that the body must be stressed in order to improve physical fitness?

In order to get the most out of your training, you must follow some basic simple training principles which are overload, specificity, reversibility, and variance.


Overload means we must put our bodies under more stress than normal in order for adaptive changes to be made. Specificity relates to ensuring the training done is specific to the sport or activity. Reversibility means if you don’t keep it up you will lose it and variance relates to varying the training activities.

What are the basic principles of training?

The basic training principles for all physical exercise are:

Overload

In order to progress and improve our fitness, we have to put our bodies under additional stress. Applying this training principle will cause long-term adaptations, enabling our bodies to work more efficiently to cope with this higher level of performance. Overloading can be achieved by following the acronym FITT:

Frequency: Increasing the number of times you train per week

Intensity: Increasing the difficulty of the exercise you do. For example, running at 12 km/h instead of 10 or increasing the weight you are squatting with.

Time: Increasing the length of time that you are training for each session. For example, cycling for 45 minutes instead of 30.

Type: Increase the difficulty of the training you are doing. For example progress from walking to running.

Specificity

This principle of training relates to the type of training that you do. It should be specific to you and your sport. You should train the energy system which you use predominantly (i.e. don’t run 5,000 meters in training if you’re a sprinter!) and the fitness and skill components most important to your sport, for example, agility, balance, or muscular endurance.

Another example is to swim a lot in training and then expect your running to improve significantly. Your general fitness will improve so therefore your running may also improve, not nowhere near as much as if you focus on running instead of swimming.

You should also test the components which are important in your sport to see your strengths and weaknesses. With this information, you can focus on improving your weak points.

Reversibility

Use it or lose it! Basically, if you stop training then the improvements you have made will be reversed. So if you are ill or have a holiday and do not train for a period of time (even as little as a week) you may not be able to resume training at the point where you left off.

Variance

Try to vary your training. This keeps you interested and gives your body different challenges. Remember a change is as good as a rest with this training principle. Many professional athletes will play a completely different sport in-between their main season, to keep their fitness up whilst still having a rest!

Principles of training quizzes

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In the study of exercise science, several universally accepted scientific exercise training principles should ideally be followed to get the most from exercise programs and improve physical fitness and sports performance.

These rules are general fundamental principles of exercise science and apply to all athletes, from beginners to elite competitors. Of course, you don't need to follow every one of them all the time. Many people want to get in better shape, improve sports performance, get better at a particular fitness discipline, or avoid stalling and back-slides. In that case, these fundamental rules are the hidden force behind the ability to change your fitness level, according to exercise science.

To design an optimal exercise program, workout, or training schedule, a coach or athlete should adhere to the six fundamental principles of exercise science. Below is more on each of the six principles.

The principle of individual differences simply means that, because we all are unique individuals, we will all have a slightly different response to an exercise program. This is another way of saying that "one size does not fit all" when it comes to exercise. Well-designed exercise programs should be based on our individual differences and responses to exercise.

Some of these differences have to do with body size and shape, genetics, past experience, chronic conditions, injuries, and even gender. For example, women generally need more recovery time than men, and older athletes generally need more recovery time than younger athletes.

With this in mind, you may or may not want to follow an "off the shelf" exercise program or class and may find it helpful to work with a coach or personal trainer to develop a customized exercise program. Some things to consider when creating your own exercise program include the next batch of exercise science principles.

The exercise science principle of overload states that a greater than normal stress or load on the body is required for training adaptation to take place. What this means is that in order to improve our fitness, strength, or endurance, we need to increase the workload accordingly.

In order for a muscle (including the heart) to increase strength, it must be gradually stressed by working against a load greater than it is accustomed to.

To increase endurance, muscles must work for a longer period of time than they are accustomed to or at a higher intensity level. This could mean lifting more weight or doing ​high-intensity interval training workouts.

The principle of progression implies that there is an optimal level of overload that should be achieved and an optimal time frame for this overload to occur. A gradual and systematic increase in the workload over a period of time will result in improvements in fitness without risk of injury.

If overload occurs too slowly, improvement is unlikely, but overload that is increased too rapidly may result in injury or muscle damage. For example, the weekend athlete who exercises vigorously only on weekends violates the principle of progression and most likely will not see noticeable fitness gains.

The Principle of Progression also stresses the need for proper rest and recovery. Continual stress on the body and constant overload will result in exhaustion and injury. You should not train hard all the time, as you'll risk overtraining and decreasing fitness.

Adaptation refers to the body's ability to adjust to increased or decreased physical demands. It is also one way we learn to coordinate muscle movement and develop sports-specific skills, such as batting, swimming freestyle, or shooting free throws.

Repeatedly practicing a skill or activity makes it second-nature and easier to perform.

Adaptation explains why beginning exercisers are often sore after starting a new routine, but after doing the same exercise for weeks and months, they have minor, if any, muscle soreness. Additionally, it makes an athlete very efficient and allows him to expend less energy doing the same movements. This reinforces the need to vary a workout routine to see continued improvement.

The Principle of Use/Disuse implies that when it comes to fitness, you do actually  "use it or lose it."  This simply means that your muscles hypertrophy with use and atrophy with disuse. This also explains why we decondition or lose fitness​ when we stop exercising.

We've all heard the phrase, "practice makes perfect." Well, this is the principle of specificity in action. This principle states that exercising a specific body part or component primarily develops that part. The principle of specificity implies that to become better at a particular exercise or skill, you must perform that exercise or skill.

A runner should train by running, a swimmer by swimming, and a cyclist by cycling. While it's helpful to have a good base of fitness and do general conditioning routines, if you want to be better at your sport, you need to train specifically for that sport.

These six basics are the cornerstones of all other effective training methods and cover all major aspects of a solid foundation of athletic training. Designing a program that adheres to all of these guidelines can be challenging, so it's not a surprise that many athletes turn to a coach or trainer for help.