Aim: To develop and complete a 6 week training program to improve two areas of my fitness. The Two that I will be focusing on will be cardio-vascular fitness and muscle strength. I am improving my cardio-vascular fitness in order for me to run marathons in the future and for longer distance athletic runs. My muscular strength will mostly be focusing on my biceps and triceps and my extensors and flexors. These are important muscles for my tennis game. Building up my muscles in my arm allows me to hit harder with more power giving me an advantage.
Principals of training FITT: This stand for Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type. This is a very important part of fitness training, it determines how fast and how your fitness will improve. Here Frequency: Frequency is basically how many times a week you need to train in order to improve your fitness. The recommended amount is three times a week minimum. Although if your training for a major event like the Olympics it is highly unlikely that you would only train three times a week. Intensity: Intensity is how hard or intense you train. For cardio vascular training you will need to train at an intensity in which your pulse is at the target level otherwise very little or no improvement will be a result.
Time: This term speaks for itself. Time is how LONG you train in order to make an improvement upon our fitness. The amount of time proven by professionals is 25 minutes at least each session and three sessions each week. This however does not include the time in which you take to get ready, warm up or cool down, it only implies upon the time in which your heart is within the target heart rate. As mentioned before top class athletes will not train for just 25 minutes each session. Marathon runners would train different aspects of their body throughout the week and run several times during the week.
Type: This stands for the blatant obvious. Type refers to what TYPE of training you do. For most people this can vary quite a lot depending on what type of sport, or event you are training up to. As long as the type of training brings your heart rate up t the target rate and keep it there for twenty minutes you will get more fit. What is specificity? : The effects of training are very specific. When training for sport you need to be specific about the muscles/muscle groups that you concentrate on, otherwise the training is just pointless for you. Example- sprinters include a large amount of speed work in their training; this ensures that the fast twitch fibers are fully developed. If a sprinter trained mainly on long distance running of course his or her cardiovascular system will be improved upon but the sprinter will not have improved upon speed in a great deal defying the point.
What is reversibility? : Your body can easily become unfit again as they became fit. Without constant exercise at the same level of stress or a higher level your body will quickly adapt to the low level of stress and become unfit. It is important that after this Personal Exercise Program is completed you keep a high level of fitness and continue to exercise in order for your body to maintain its fitness.
What is Overload? : Another training principal is called overload, this is often mistaken for meaning too much. This is not the case. Overload means to train at a high intensity above the minimum required amount to improve fitness, know as the MINIMUM THRESHOLD of training and below the MAXIMUM THRESHOLD of training. The area that is between these two is called the target range or target zone. See appendix C for working out target range for cardiovascular fitness.) What is progression? : When we increase the amount of exercise we do, we place added stress on the body systems. We must add this stress in a progressive or gradual way. Too much progression can cause injury, Too little can lead to staleness or boredom. If the stress of a workout does not increase the body will see no point in become more fit.
What is tedium? Tedium must be avoided at all costs; this is when sessions exercises are repeated. Sessions must be varied to keep training an activity that feels worthwhile when it most certainly is. Methods of Training Continuous Training: Continuous training is a good way to improve your aerobic system. It is also a good way to burn body fat. You run, swim, walk or cycle for at least thirty minutes at the same place, without rest. You overload by increasing the time distance, speed or all three.