THE PRINCIPLES OF EXERCISE

Hi everyone!

Today, I thought I’d address the principles of exercise, because I feel like it doesn’t get talked about enough, and although, as trainers, we are practicing those principles to help you guys out with your sessions and recovery, it’s good to revisit the foundations of exercise every now and then, because I think it helps people gain perspective and helps people break their sessions down easier.

What are the principles of exercise? Well, the principles of exercise are acronymed ‘F.I.T.T.’ which translates into:

1. FREQUENCY - the number of session that you are going to take part in every day, week, month, etc.

2. INTENSITY - this is how hard you are going to work, your energy output, and how hard the session is going to be.

3. TIME - how long is it going to continue to complete each session? Can you fit it around your work, and looking after your kids? Or do you need to shorten the session? This also means asking the question: ‘how long is it going to take for me to achieve my goals?’

4. TYPE - ‘what kind of exercise do I need to do to achieve my goals?’ You really have to know what your fitness goals are to answer this fully, and correctly. If your goal is to become a long distance runner, then you should probably set time aside to go running long distance.

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The ‘F.I.T.T.’ principles intertwine when you think about the TYPE of exercise you need to perform, for example, long distance running (zone 2 heart rate = energy output), is going to take a longer TIME to complete, than an interval session; and the FREQUENCY of these sessions planned will determine your outcome. As will, your TIME you set aside for recovery.

The saying, ‘you’re as strong as you recover’ couldn’t be more accurate in this setting.

Thanks for reading!

Brad

Tel: 07376 941640

Email: [email protected]