Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's lesson.

I'm Mrs. Brooks, and I'm gonna be guiding you through the topic of the FITT principle.

This works into the area of the specification called Principles of Training, and that is in our very, very big unit of Physical Training.

By the end of the lesson, we're gonna have gone through each section of the FITT principle, so you will feel confident in being able to recall that, and more importantly, being able to continue to work on your application skills, and work and apply the FITT principle to bring about effective overload.

You may be familiar with that term, overload.

Just in case we need a quick reminder, overload is a principle of training in itself where we bring about stress on our bodies.

We work harder than normal, and that is something that is encouraged so that we get fitter, and we actually improve in our fitness, which will have a positive effect on our sporting performance.

So let's just go through our keywords for the lesson.

They are actually the four sections of the FITT principle.

So the F we are gonna learn about is frequency, and that is very much linked to how often you will train.

Intensity, you'll probably see a bit of a trend occurring here, intensity is the I, and that talks about the difficulty, or how hard you are training.

Time is very much linked to the length of the training session, and the type is where we look at that specific training method that can be used to develop fitness, and there are a variety of training methods that you will go on and learn about.

So our key focus for this lesson is in two parts.

First of all, we're gonna try and make sure that we feel confident to describe each of those four areas of that principle.

And then we will build on that, and look at applying that specifically to bring about improvement in fitness.

So our first part is this description of those four things that linked to the FITT principle of overload.

Now we can see here we have an athlete doing an exercise, it's actually called a bench press.

The athlete is using dumbbells, or free weights, in order to perform that movement of pushing them up into the air and then lowering them back down to the chest.

Now Laura is quite rightly saying here, "How can that athlete adhere to progressive overload?" So progressive overload is one of our principles from our SPORE acronym, where we are encouraged to progress gradually, so that there will be some fitness gains, and also, as part of that, the athlete will experience some element of overload.

And that overload will feel like there's an element of stress, or it will feel more difficult than normal.

But that's a positive thing, because that will bring about some adaptations.

Now this athlete in particular is a netballer, and currently completing that exercise to try and increase the power, specifically in her arms. So remember power we sometimes also phrase as explosive strength.

Now the rules or the guidance to help her achieve that is using this FITT principle, F-I-T-T.

And by applying that she will hopefully go through some areas of improvement.

But as I've already just shared with you, that might mean that she's training more than normal, will probably place herself under a little bit of stress, but that's a good thing, 'cause those adaptations, those gains in power, will hopefully be achieved, and actually it's essential to use the FITT, 'cause it means that you're doing that gradually and you aren't putting yourself at risk of injury.

So we could refer to the FITT as factors, or rules, or guidance, to mean that the training programme is being progressed correctly to achieve appropriate overload.

What we don't want to happen is someone start training and then realise they've got to apply this progression and this overload, and do it in a way that it's too much, too early, too soon, 'cause that can lead to injury, or alternatively, not do it in the right way and they therefore plateau, or they don't then gain the things that they want to gain, and actually might end up getting a little bit bored.

So we're gonna take you through each of these sections of our FITT principle, and it makes sense that we first of all start with the F, and that is linked to frequency.

So our key thing for here is how often is actually the training programme taking place.

So for our netball athlete here, if they're completing one gym-based session a week, and that might be normal to fit into their other commitments, then that is us actually referencing frequency of our FITT principle, because it's very much talking about how many times you are actually going to do it.

Now in order to achieve overload, if we wanted to reference to the the F of FITT, we would then increase it.

So it could be that once this athlete is settled and doing once a week, if time permits, she might up that to two sessions per week to work on her strength, her power.

And you might often hear a lot of athletes refer to this now as S and C, so strength and conditioning.

And it is quite common that athletes, if time allows, look to do that once or twice per week, maybe more if you're elite but to really develop that fitness part of their sport.

If we move on to the I then, we're now looking at that intensity.

So at this point, you're looking very much in terms of how hard, how difficult, what level are they training at, and is that appropriate to, one, keep them safe, but also, eventually, to realise they do achieve that progression and that overload.

Now, Laura is kind of picking up here in terms of these definitions or these descriptions, and quite rightly it asks at this point, "Well surely that will be determined by the type of training that they're doing?" And completely agree with Laura there.

Depending on the type of training you will do, you'll then reference how hard you're going to train at that point.

So there are lots of examples of intensity that you will probably study, or come across, when you look at the different types of training that athletes will use.

So just to share some examples with you at this point, if they're doing something where they're monitoring their heart rate, that intensity can be set and then increased or decreased if needed to by looking at their percentage of their heart at maximum heart rate.

If they're doing some weight-based activity, like we just saw our athlete doing with those free weights, they might work out their intensity in terms of their one rep max, and a percentage that they are actually lifting, linked to that one rep max.

Similarly for weight training, it could be that they look at the intensity in terms of how many times they're lifting the weight, and we refer to that as a repetition, or how many sets they're actually doing.

And a set is a group of repetitions.

If they're doing some run-based training or some interval, it could be how many intervals they're doing, how many drills they're actually completing, is it done on a number of laps.

If it's circuit-training-based, often we talk about things such as a work-rest ratio, and by that we mean how long you are working for, or you're doing the exercise, and then what time has been given to you to recover before you move on to the next exercise or station.

And that's referenced as a work-rest ratio.

And in most cases they will be used to determine intensity.

And then, with regard to the FITT principle, because you know how hard the athlete is training, you can then determine whether that needs to increase or decrease to make the sessions harder to bring about this overload.

So quick check at this point, which of the following here is the correct definition, or description, sorry, of intensity? I'll give you five seconds to decide.

Well done.

It is actually A, which is how hard you can train.

Let's now look at some athletes who are going to be describing elements of the FITT principle, and we need to know, or we need to work out, which one of them is actually describing frequency.

So Aisha tells us that she is working at 60% of her maximum heart rate, Sam is sharing with us that she is completing two sprint sessions per week, and Andeep is doing some gym-based work, and he's doing some squat work, and looks like he set the weight at 30 kilogrammes.

So which one of those is actually discussing or describing frequency? Well done.

That is an in fact Sam, because it's how often she will train, and she's sharing with us that she's doing those sprint sessions twice a week.

Interestingly, did you decide which principle Aisha and Andeep are talking about? And I'm hoping that you did actually reference that they are given as examples of how hard they're going to train, and that, under our FITT principle, is referenced as intensity.

So we've done our F and our I, and now we're going onto our two Ts.

And it is important to remember that they are referenced in this order.

So the first T is time, and when we talk through our keywords we were reminded that that is actually linked to the length.

So the time it takes to actually complete the training session.

Now that can be determined often by the type, but also how hard the training session has been set.

And, you know, I, for example, if I am ever doing some power-based sessions, they might finish quicker than if I'm doing strength-based sessions, 'cause in the strength-based sessions I do need slightly longer time to recover between each of the sets, and that's important to keep me safe.

So, like Laura says there, the time of the session is directly linked to intensity, and it will depend on how hard you're working.

So examples of that time linked to intensity might be that when you increase the work rest intervals it therefore takes longer, or you might reduce them, and that then doesn't take as long.

But it still fits within our way of determining how hard we're working, and then if we can achieve that overload.

And that final T, again in that right order, you've heard me reference already a type of training, and this is exactly what our final T of the principle is describing.

So it's when there's a specific training method is provided for an athlete to complete the training.

And when we learned about specificity, we had lots of conversation around choosing the right type of training, and, within that, making sure that it's the right movements, the right muscles, the right energy system, 'cause that's very much relevant to the sport that they are then working to improve.

Now there are many training methods you're gonna learn about, and I hope you get the opportunity to try them as well, so you get an insight into what that training type involves.

There are many to select from, but I'm just giving you some examples here.

So it could be that if someone's working on speed, they will look at some interval training.

If they're looking to develop their cardiovascular or their muscle endurance, they might do some of that continuous-based training.

So that means that they will obviously just work at a steady pace for a significant length of time.

Or it could be, like in this image, they're doing some jumping, some bounding, some hopping, and lots of it.

And we will learn that that's known as plyometrics, and very much used to improve power, 'cause you're doing things that involve strength, but you're doing it quickly.

And that strength time speed is what we know is our definition of power.

So just have a quick check here that we're happy with our T for type.

We've got three types of training there.

We've got a female that's doing some weight training with a barbell, we've got a male there in the middle that's doing some stretching activities, and then we've got someone that's using the outdoor environment to do some some continuous running.

Which of those would likely to be chosen in our FITT principle to improve cardiovascular endurance? Give you five seconds to decide.

Absolutely I agree.

It's C, because that's our element of continuous training, often going out for a run at a steady pace, so it really will be focusing on that element of aerobic respiration and cardiovascular endurance.

So if we go back to our netball athlete, we were told that she wanted to increase power.

So how would that FITT principle work out for her and her gym-based activities? Well it might be that she is able to do, and have that commitment to doing two sessions per week.

So we would put that under our frequency.

I suspect she might be working a slightly higher percentage of her one rep max, 'cause she's working on power and being explosive.

The time will be dictated by that, but you're probably looking at where you know an optimal time where you're not, it's not too short that you are not enjoying it, or you're not getting much out of it, but likewise, it's not too long.

So we're probably looking at approximately 40 to 50 minutes.

And we can see there that she's using those free weights, she's using those dumbbells.

So the type of training method that's being prescribed for her is weight training.

So now we've understood what each of those four things are, we're gonna now just look at our first task.

And really simply, we've got a table there, and we are just asked to remind ourselves what each of the F-I-T-T is referenced.

Give a description of that and provide an example.

Now you can see that it's already been started with continuous training, so that might influence what you fill in for the rest of the gaps.

Pause the recording, and come back to me when you have finished.

Hopefully the gaps that you filled in for F was frequency, how often you train, and we were already told that that was two sessions per week.

Intensity, how hard you train.

And because it was continuous training, there was an example there given at a lower, a slightly lower percentage of heart rate max.

So that one says 60%.

Time was the length of the training session.

Notice the Ts are in the right order.

Potentially when you go out for a run that can be anything up to an hour, maybe a bit longer if you're running longer distances.

And the type, we'd already been told that that was that training method chosen to achieve the fitness improvement, and we'd been given an example there of continuous training.

So now we're feeling confident with what F-I-T-T, FITT means.

We're gonna now develop that learning, and look specifically how we would apply that to improve fitness.

We've already seen it applied to our netball athlete as a principle, but we're gonna take it that next step, and see how that FITT can be adjusted to achieve that overload, or to certainly get those fitness gains.

And we are now at the point where we're learning about lots of these principles.

So we've had the SPORE acronym, and now we're looking at the FITT acronym.

But we know that FITT is very much linked to the overload element of our principles, and it's very much about understanding how to do that, and do that correctly and gradually, that keyword of gradual we have often referenced when we've been talking about overload.

Quick check to make sure we're getting our F-I-T-T in the correct order.

Which of them is accurate to achieve overload? Well done if you'd, like me, you notice that C is the correct order.

Frequency, intensity, time, and type.

Might often have to say that numerous times, 'cause then you get, it becomes habitual that you say it in that correct order.

So let's now talk about that in action.

And this time we're looking at a badminton player.

It appears that she has set a goal of increasing muscular endurance to improve her performance.

So remember muscular endurance is the ability of those muscles to contract repeatedly, and, in doing so, not have that feeling of fatigue.

So I imagine she wants to improve that, because she'll be making those shots regularly through those sets and games.

And I imagine if that fatigue is less in her arms, specifically, then those shots are gonna be more accurate, or she might not be in a position where she's losing the shots if she can't get to them and defend them.

So here is our FITT, F-I-T-T.

It may be that she's in that position where she can do two sessions per week, so that would be our frequency.

Because now she's working at muscular endurance, remember that's very much about the muscles contracting repeatedly, so they maybe work at a lower intensity of the one rep max, and a higher rep range, so you may hear often muscular endurance referenced as low weight, high reps, and we can see that that's how this has been set at this point.

A lower percentage, three sets of a higher rep range.

It may be that in doing so that takes approximately 30 minutes.

That's our time.

And our type here is weight training, 'cause that is probably one of the most common training types to really work on that muscular fitness.

Okay, so we're seeing here that that's what's been set out for her.

Now how could that overload be achieved? It could be.

So these are just really examples that may be roundabout week three.

If time allows, she could increase that to three sessions per week.

Alternatively it might be that those rep range is gradually increased to 20.

Possibly, in doing so, that will increase that training time to 40 minutes, and she'll still be in the weight training, but within that there are some alternatives.

It could be that they're using resistant machines, or doing some free weights, or maybe even some body weight type exercise, but it still goes under that umbrella of weight training.

So back to our athletes.

They're now gonna tell us something that they are doing, and we need to know which one of them is referencing T, that second T of type in our FITT principle.

Aisha tells us that she's working at 60% of her one rep max.

So like our badminton player, that might have a muscular endurance focus.

Sam says that she's training in the gym for 45 minutes and that includes her warm up and her warm down.

Really vital things to do to make sure that we're not feeling injured, or certainly sore the next day.

And then Andeep says that he's been given some upper body exercises to do, specifically on the resistant machines, I imagine in the gym environment.

So five seconds to decide which of our badminton players is referencing or describing type.

Well done.

I agree that it's Andeep, okay, 'cause he is talking about weight training, but his description is really specific that the weight training he's been given to do is very much using resistant machines, specifically for the upper body, which we know is used significantly when you are hitting the shuttle in badminton.

Interestingly, Aisha, hopefully you worked out that that's linked to intensity, the I.

What's Sam referencing? Well done.

She's talking about time, 'cause she's talking about that length of the training session that she will do, including that warmup and cool down.

So Jacob's quite rightly saying, "Well, what other types of training could that badminton player do to increase their muscular endurance?" So it might be that weight training is not available, or they want to do something different.

So what we've got here, is we've got an example of just some stations, or exercises, that could be included as part of some circuit training.

And I'm hoping you are seeing these images, and realising that they're all very much based on the arms. So we've got some tricep dips, we've got some press ups, we can see that there's an athlete there that's doing some punches, and then another athlete that's doing some bicep curls.

And they're really good examples to reference as stations that would focus specifically on the arm muscles.

They would therefore be specific to badminton, or relevant to badminton.

So if now we were doing circuit, our FITT principle would look slightly different.

It might be that it's just one session per week.

Remember we talked about a work-rest ratio.

So the intensity could be that on each of those stations they did 30 seconds of exercise, and then they had 30 seconds rest before they moved on.

When that happens in circuit training, they tend to last for approximately 45 minutes.

And we can see there that the T has changed to circuit training.

Now we're looking at the FITT principle for different type of training.

Now how could we achieve overload? Maybe pause the recording at this point, and have a conversation, or write down what you would do to achieve that overload.

Make it slightly harder.

Give that gradual increase.

Now the one I came up with was this one here, and said, well, maybe as they get more used to the circuit and doing those exercises, if we don't alter the intensity, they might not bring about improvement.

So it could be really simply, you know, maybe by week three, or as they're moving through the programme, when they rest, they don't get as much rest.

So it reduces from 30 seconds to 20 seconds, and that will probably have a knock-on effect on the length of the session, in that it will happen much quicker.

Now what this does share with us is I only changed one of the FITT principles, and we need to understand that you wouldn't have to change all of them all the time.

They're just a really good guide that you can use to achieve that overload.

So for example, the rest time could be decreased to 20 seconds, but by week four it could be back up to 30, and then the work time could be changed to 45 seconds.

So you don't have to change them all at once.

And the one you choose will obviously determine on the training programme that you're delivering and working with for that particular athlete.

So we're gonna have a practise at this for our final tasks of the lesson.

And the first one I'd like you to try is there has been given a FITT already to you, and in this in this instance it's for a football player who's wanting to work on both speed and agility.

What's being asked of you is how could you apply that overload for the next week.

And then, when you've done that, support your case by justifying your choice.

Pause the recording, and come back to me when you're ready.

How did you do? Now, this is just one example.

You may have come up with things slightly different, but we wanna remember we don't wanna change too many parts.

Okay, so in this particular instance, the frequency has been kept the same.

The intensity is where there's been a slight increase.

So they're saying that they could move it to 30 seconds of work.

The recognition there is that might mean that the training time is a little bit longer, 'cause they're working more on each station.

And for the circuit training, if it allows, and the space allows, it could be good to include a ball into some of those exercises to make it relevant, and specific to football, and that might just increase the challenge.

Now for your justification, or, certainly in this instance, we need to kind of back up why we've made those decisions.

So as you can see there, the football player will be working on lots of things throughout the week, so we don't want to give them too much to do that they don't have time to recover.

We've said that the work time there was gradually increased to achieve the overload.

And actually that 30 seconds, for some positions in football, do marry up with the kind of amount of time that they may have to be working a high intensity, whether that's on the ball or off the ball, to try and defend.

And that time period links quite similar to like a half of football.

That ball into that circuit also means that we're not negating the skills, 'cause sometimes we still need to work on some of those skill elements of the game.

For your second part of this task, we're still looking at FITT principle, but we're looking at that command word of analyse, and we just wanna kind of get you to look at the high jump athlete, and how they could use FITT, specifically to weight training, to improve power, which a lot of high jump athletes will want, specifically in their legs, to be able to jump higher and clear the bar.

Pause the recording on this one, and come back to me when you're ready.

How did you do? I'm really hoping that you did list the FITT in the order that we've used throughout the lesson.

So frequency, intensity, time, and type.

When you've been asked to analyse, often you have to at least acknowledge that you know what the principle is, and then show how you could use that, specifically, in this instance, for a high jumper.

So we can see here in our example that they've put two to three times a week to work on power, specifically at the leg muscles.

Intensity is how hard they should train.

They're looking at that lower rep range, 'cause it's power-based, at approximately 70% of a one rep max.

There's that recognition there that that could be gradually increased over time.

The time is determined very much around the intensity.

There is acknowledgement there that there would need to be that sufficient rest, 'cause we don't wanna have injury.

But looking at approximately 45 minutes on a power-based session.

And the type was already given to us, in terms of the method of the training.

But there's, in terms of analysis, it's good to show that that could be altered to either to be free weights, resistant machines, or maybe even body weight exercises, all of which will still increase power.

So to summarise for our FITT principle, we know it's very much around applying FITT to achieve overload.

So that will help when designing sessions and programmes, but also progressing them in the right way.

That acronym, not that we probably need to hear it once more, but it's always good to, frequency, how often, intensity, how hard, time, how long, and type, which training method are you going to use.

Each of those provides a really clear outline for someone who's taking part in training, how often they're gonna do it, how hard they're working, how long they're gonna do it for, and what's that training method that's been chosen for them.

But also a way of addressing how you're gonna alter things to bring about that overload, so you can increase fitness, but do it gradually, so you're avoiding that risk of injury.

I've really enjoyed talking you through the FITT principle today.

I very much look forward to seeing you on the next lesson.