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Training Principles - by Dave Gould

How to develop a Training Program

The most effective way to design and develop a training programme is to break it down into 5 specific stages. This will help you plan your programme in a step by step process. Here are the 5 stages:

Stage 1 (Personal Planning and Reflection)

The first stage is to gather details about yourself. You will need to reflect and think about the following. Ask the following questions:
What’s my age and does this affect my priorities for training? Why do I want get fit? What are my short, medium or long term goals? Do I have any health problems or injuries that may affect my ability to train or practice? What sports or training types and methods do I enjoy or not enjoy?
Also in this stage you will need to think about some of the following (access to local sports and fitness facilities, finance and costs, transport and local environment)

Stage 2 (Identifying fitness components)

The second stage is to determine what components of fitness you need to improve or your training and skill development needs. This will be highly specific to you and your individual needs or aspirations. Every sport or physical activity will have its own unique fitness requirements and as such you will need to research the components essential for your chosen physical activity or sports activities. Sports Scientists have identified the following fitness components that are essential in performance.
Physical fitness refers to the capacity of an athlete to meet the varied physical demands of their sport without reducing the athlete to a fatigued state. The components of physical fitness are:
Strength, Endurance, Power, Speed, Flexibility, Body Composition
Motor Fitness refers to the ability of an athlete to perform successfully at their sport. The components of motor fitness are:
Agility, Balance, Co-ordination, Power, Reaction Time

Stage 3 (Individual needs analysis and goal setting)
At this stage you may wish to consider undertaking some specific fitness tests or assessments but this will largely be dependent on your knowledge or contacts. However remember that local gyms and fitness centres generally offer an initial health and fitness assessment when joining.
However more practically you could undertake a SWOT Analysis. Where by you identify the following:
Strengths – Components of fitness you feel you are good at.
Weaknesses - Components of fitness you feel you need to develop.
Opportunities – Things you could do to develop and improve your weaknesses.
Threats – Things that could get in the way of training (time, Injury, family commitments)
After completing your SWOT Analysis it is then important to set yourself some targets and goals. When setting your targets or goals it is important to think about the following.

Target

Actions What am I going to do?

Time-Scale

Success Criteria How will I know if I have been Successful?

How will I monitor and Evaluate my development from the Targets/Actions set?

Stage 4 (Training programme design)

The next stage is to prepare a training program using what sports scientists call the training principles. These exercise principles will aid you to reach your fitness goals or targets.

In order to ensure that a fitness training or exercise programme is safe and effective, it is vital that four guiding principles are applied. These are often referred to as the…

Principles of Training - They include…

1 - Specificity

2 - Overload:

3 - Progression

4 - Reversibility

Specificity

Every form of exercise or training has a different effect on your body. You need to ensure that you choose exercise and fitness methods which are specific to your individual sport or physical activity.

Overload

To make the body fitter, you must make it work harder than normal, over a prolonged period of time. As a result, it will adapt to the extra demand placed upon it by getting fitter.

Frequency - Increase how often you train or exercise each week. For example, progressing from 2 to 3 and then 4 times per week.

Intensity - Raising intensity means increasing how hard you train or exercise. For example, running at a faster speed or lifting a heavier weight.

Time - Increasing how long (the ‘duration’) you train or exercise. For example, going from 15 to 30 and then to 45 minutes per session.

Type - This aspect of overload refers to the type of training or exercise undertaken to achieve physical fitness goals.

Progression

The body cannot adapt overnight to the increased demands placed upon it by exercise. It can only do this gradually or progressively, otherwise the following is likely to occur: Remember training too much will result in injury and vice versa training too little will result in no fitness benefits.

How is Progression Achieved?

As the body adapts to the demands placed upon it by the extra training or exercise, it develops better fitness levels. Progress to the next level of fitness is achieved by gradually increasing one or more of the various aspects of overload.

Training is developed through overload, which means increasing one or more of Frequency, Intensity, Time or changing the type of training.

Reversibility

As you already know, to make the body fitter, you must make it work harder than normal over a prolonged period of time. This means you must keep to a well planned training programme, if you really want to get fit. If you take a break or stop exercising, because of illness or a holiday, you will need to start again at a lower level. In short, if you stop exercising the fitness gained will be lost in a third of the time it took to develop!

The Basics
Plan the programme in four week cycles where the workload in the first three  weeks   increase each week (easy, medium, hard) and the fourth week comprises of active recovery and tests to monitor training progress.
Make sure you continuously assess and re-assess your level of fitness within your 4 week schedule in order to monitor progress and the effectiveness of the programme. A good method is to keep a daily training diary in which you can record your progress and then can be used to adjust the programme accordingly.
The programme needs to last 12 to 16 weeks in order to see any real benefits and the planning (initial & subsequent adjustments) should be conducted with the individual so that they feel they own the program. This will ensure the programme is enjoyable and convenient to do.

Stage 5 (Just do it)

All the planning and preparations are now complete. Therefore this stage involves the doing bit. This sounds’ like the easy bit: but at this stage many problems and issues may arise causing a cessation in training. Therefore it is essential to develop a commitment to what sports psychologists cause ‘exercise adherence’. Here is some guidance in establishing this state.

1 - Establish a routine so physical activity becomes a habit. Plan on a definite time to exercise. Write these times in your planner as you would an appointment.

2 - Identify specific time slots during the day where you are most mentally and physically active. Then plan to do your training session at these times.

3 - If you feel like not working out, agree to yourself to have a very short, light workout. Quite often, after getting ready and warming up, you will find enough motivation to push through a full workout.

4 - Utilize social support. Find an exercise partner, or exercise in a group setting. A training partner or exercise instructor can provide feedback, assistance, and motivation. Participate in physical activities with your spouse, family, or friends.

5 - Share your goals with those close to you or others that are likely to ask you about your progress. Ask them for their support.

6 - Perform a variety of exercises and activities. These will reduce boredom and help maintain motivation.

7 - Finally, if you miss a session do not feel guilty.