Designing a Personal Exercise Programme: Applying FITT Over a Training Cycle
A Personal Exercise Programme (PEP) is a structured plan of training, designed around an individual performer's needs, that applies the principles of training over a set period of time to improve identified fitness components.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the stages of designing a PEP in order: gather initial data and set a SMART target, choose specific training methods, apply FITT to set the starting point, apply progressive overload across the cycle, include a warm-up/cool-down each session, then retest and evaluate.
- Learn what SMART stands for, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound, and be able to check whether a given target meets each letter.
- Learn how to apply progressive overload numerically across a training cycle, e.g. increasing intensity (percentage of 1RM), duration, or frequency by a fixed, small amount at set intervals, such as every two weeks.
- Practise calculating a later week's training figure once a percentage or fixed increase per interval is given, using multiplication or addition.
- When justifying a PEP, always link each choice, training method, FITT variable, overload increment, back to the specific fitness component and sport named in the scenario, using the principles of training as your reasoning.
- Remember to include a warm-up and cool-down in the plan and to state how the programme is periodised or structured across the weeks or cycle.
- For evaluation questions, compare the retest data to the original data and to the SMART target to judge whether the programme achieved its goal, and suggest one specific change for next time.
Worked example
A rower's PEP aims to improve muscular endurance. In week 1, they complete 3 sets of 15 reps on the rowing machine's resistance setting at 50% of their one rep max (1RM). The coach applies progressive overload by increasing the intensity by 5 percentage points every 2 weeks. Calculate the intensity, as a percentage of 1RM, the rower should be training at in week 5.
- Identify how many 2-week intervals occur between week 1 and week 5: from week 1 to week 5 is 4 weeks, which is 2 full increases of 2 weeks each.
- Calculate the total increase: 2 increases x 5 percentage points.
- Complete the multiplication: 2 x 5 = 10 percentage points of total increase.
- Add this to the starting intensity: 50% + 10%.
- Complete the addition: 50 + 10 = 60%, so by week 5 the rower should be training at 60% of their 1RM.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What does SMART stand for when setting a training target?Show answer
Answer: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound.
Q2State the first stage in designing a PEP.Show answer
Answer: Gathering initial data, such as fitness test results, and setting a SMART target for the programme.
Q3Give one reason a PEP should include an appropriate warm-up in every session.Show answer
Answer: To reduce the risk of injury and prepare the body physically and mentally for the session, in the same way as for any single training session.
Q4A PEP starts with 2 training sessions a week. If progressive overload is applied by adding 1 extra session every 4 weeks, how many sessions per week will the performer be doing by week 9?Show answer
Answer: One full 4-week interval has been completed by week 9 (a second is only just starting), so one increase has been applied: 2 + 1 = 3 sessions per week.
Q5Explain why a PEP for a badminton player should include agility training.Show answer
Answer: Because badminton requires frequent, rapid changes of direction around the court, so agility training targets the specific skill-related component the sport actually demands, applying the principle of specificity.
Q6State the purpose of retesting at the end of a PEP.Show answer
Answer: To measure whether the fitness component(s) targeted by the programme have improved, and to check whether the original SMART target was achieved.
Q7A performer's PEP increases their continuous run time by 5 minutes every 3 weeks, starting at 20 minutes. Calculate their run time in week 7.Show answer
Answer: Week 7 falls within the second 3-week interval, with one full increase completed by week 4: 20 + 5 = 25 minutes.
Q8Give one reason a PEP should be periodised to match the performer's training season.Show answer
Answer: So that the type and intensity of training matches the demands of that phase, e.g. building a fitness base in pre-season and maintaining fitness with more tactical work in the competition season.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Physical Education exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
A 100m sprinter is designing a PEP to improve their speed and power over 6 weeks. (a) Identify one training method that would be specific to this goal. (b) State how progressive overload could be applied to this method across the 6 weeks. (c) Explain why the programme should include a thorough warm-up before every session.
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A netball player has designed a 6-week PEP to improve her cardiovascular endurance and agility. Evaluate whether her plan, shown below, correctly applies the key stages of PEP design. Plan: Weeks 1 to 6, three sessions a week; each session is 20 minutes of continuous jogging at the same pace, with no warm-up or cool-down; no fitness test was carried out before starting, and no retest is planned.
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See real GCSE Physical Education past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
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