Republic of the Philippines

Doña Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation

Calanipawan Road, Tacloban City

Course Title: PE 1 – 7 Principles of Exercise and Sport Training

7 Principles of Exercise and Sport Training

1. Individuality- Everyone is different and responds differently to training. Some people are
able to handle higher volumes of training while others may respond better to higher intensities.
This is based on a combination of factors like genetic ability, predominance of muscle fiber
types, other factors in your life, chronological or athletic age, and mental state.

2. Specificity- Improving your ability in a sport is very specific. If you want to be a great pitcher,
running laps will help your overall conditioning but won’t develop your skills at throwing or the
power and muscular endurance required to throw a fastball fifty times in a game. Swimming will
help improve your aerobic endurance but won’t develop tissue resiliency and muscular
endurance for your running legs.

3. Progression- To improve your level of fitness, you need to gradually increase both the
intensity and duration of your physical training routine. According to author Robert Sterling Rush
in his book "Enlisted Soldier's Guide," a safe level of progression can be achieved by increasing
your cardiorespiratory and muscular ability by about 10 percent every 10 days.

4. Overload- Overloading, according to the "U.S. Army Fitness Training Handbook," occurs
when the work load of your exercise session exceeds the normal demands you place on your
body. This involves pushing yourself so your heart works at a relatively high percentage of its
maximum capacity. Determining the proper level of intensity, however, depends on a variety of
factors, including age, weight and overall level of fitness. Overloading also takes place during
muscular strength and endurance training when you work a muscle to failure.

5. Adaptation- Over time the body becomes accustomed to exercising at a given level. This
adaptation results in improved efficiency, less effort and less muscle breakdown at that level.
That is why the first time you ran two miles you were sore after, but now it’s just a warm up for
your main workout. This is why you need to change the stimulus via higher intensity or longer
duration in order to continue improvements. The same holds true for adapting to lesser amounts
of exercise.

6. Recovery- The rest periods between physical training are just as important as the training
itself, as muscle damage is repaired and waste is metabolized during these times. The optimum
recovery time is between 24 and 48 hours after exercise. Recovery also can be achieved by
alternating more difficult training days with easier training days, or alternating muscle groups so
you're not working the same muscles continually. Improper recovery can lead to muscle fatigue,
increasing the potential for subsequent injuries.

7. Reversibility- If you discontinue application of a particular exercise like running five miles or
bench pressing 150 pounds 10 times, you will lose the ability to successfully complete that
exercise. Your muscles will atrophy and the cellular adaptations like increased capillaries (blood
flow to the muscles) and mitochondria density will reverse. You can slow this rate of loss
substantially by conducting a maintenance/reduced program of training during periods where life
gets in the way, and is why just about all sports coaches ask their athletes to stay active in the
offseason.
Exercise: Burpees

The burpee, or squat thrust, is a full body exercise used in strength training and as an
aerobic exercise. It is an exercise where you squat down and place both hands on the floor in
front of you, and then jump feet back into plank position.

1. Individuality – Jennie is a beginner at doing burpees, so she decided to do a maximum

of 10 burpees a day. Meanwhile, Lisa is an athlete and is used to doing exercises
everyday so she does a maximum of 50 burpees a day.
2. Specificity – Jennie’s goal is to lose weight. While Lisa’s goal is to maintain her weight
and muscle mass.
3. Progression – Jennie is getting used to do 10 burpees a day, so she increased the
number to 20 per day. Lisa needs to work harder and exercise more because she has
an upcoming competition. She increased her burpees to 80 a day.
4. Overload – Jennie started doing 50 burpees a day when her body was not yet ready.
The volume of her burpees needs to match her capabilities, so she reduced it back to
20. Lisa followed her exercise program thus preventing overworking her body.
5. Adaptation – Jennie has adapted to doing burpees. Whenever she feels that she’s
getting used to the number of burpees each day, she adds an additional 10 for
improvement leading to losing weight. Lisa is already adapted to her workout routine.
6. Recovery – In every week, Jennie has 2 rest days in between her exercise program.
Lisa’s rest day includes just a light exercise or light yoga.
7. Reversibility – Jennie had become busy with her studies and forgot doing burpees
leading to going back to her beginner state. Meanwhile, after Lisa’s competition, she still
continues to do her exercise program so that her efforts won’t be wasted.

Exercise Program

Guidelines for Beginners

If you're new to exercise think about these things before you start:

 Ease into exercise with a simple cardio program and a total body strength
training routine. If that's too much, just start with cardio and let that be enough.
 You may need extra recovery days to allow your body to rest and heal. It's normal to
be sore when you try new activities, but if you can't move the next day, that means you
overdid it and may need to back off your next workout.
 A typical beginner program will include about two to three days of cardio and two days
of strength training.
 Learn how to monitor your intensity. Most beginners will start working out at
a moderate intensity. That means you're at about a Level 5 on this perceived exertion
scale from 1 to 10, or you can use the talk test. If you can carry on a somewhat breathy
conversation while you're working out, that's usually a moderate intensity.

Sample Workout for Beginners

Below is a sample program that gives you an idea of what a typical schedule would look like for
someone just getting started, or getting back to, exercise.

Monday Cardio: 10 to 30 minutes. You can choose from one of the following sample cardio
workouts:

 Beginner Stationary Bike

 Beginner Walking Workout
 Beginner Elliptical Workout

Tuesday Total body strength and core training. You can choose from one of the following
sample strength workouts:
  Beginner Total Body Strength
 Beginner Total Body Strength Level 2
 Beginner Total Body Strength Level 3

Wednesday Rest or gentle yoga/stretching

Thursday Cardio: 10 to 30 minutes. You can do the same workout you did on Monday or a
new one.
Friday Total body strength and core training. It's a great idea to do the same workout you
did on Tuesday so you can practice the exercises and build the strength and
endurance to do more.
Saturday Rest or, optional, cardio: This is a great time to do something less structured like
take a walk or a leisurely bike ride.
Sunday Rest

Guidelines for Intermediate Exercisers

If you've been exercising for at least three months consistently, you typically fall into this
category.

 If your goal is to lose weight, you want to work your way up to 20 to 60 minutes of cardio
about five or more times a week. This is a great time to try interval training once or twice
a week which will give you more bang for your buck.
 Your strength training schedule will depend on what type of workouts you're doing (e.g.,
total body training or a split routine).
 You can do cardio and weight training on the same day, depending on your time
constraints. It doesn't matter which one you do first, so vary your routine and try different
combinations to find the one that is right for you.

The following schedule includes a split routine for your upper and lower body, allowing you to
focus more attention on each muscle group. This will help you increase your lean muscle tissue
and strength.

Sample Intermediate Split Routine for Upper and Lower Body

Monday  30-Minute Cardio Medley Workout

 Upper Body Training
 Stretch

Tuesday  45-Minute Treadmill Interval Workout

 Core Training
 Stretch

Wednesday  30-Minute Low Impact Cardio Blast Workout (two circuits)

 Lower body
 Lower body stretch

Thursday Rest or gentle yoga/stretching

Friday Total Body Strength or Circuit Training
Saturday Cardio Endurance Workout
Sunday Rest