Principles of Training, FITT and Target Heart Rate Zones
The principles of training are the rules that must be applied to a training programme for it to be effective. Specificity means training should match the demands of the activity, energy system and muscle groups used in the performer's sport.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the definition of each of the four principles: specificity, progressive overload, reversibility, tedium, and be ready to give a training example that illustrates each one.
- Learn what each letter of FITT stands for (Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type) and one concrete way each could be changed to increase overload, e.g. increasing Frequency from 2 to 3 sessions per week.
- Learn the formula for estimating maximum heart rate: 220 minus age in years.
- Learn how to calculate the aerobic training zone as 60% and 80% of maximum heart rate, and that intensities above 80% of maximum heart rate are in the anaerobic zone.
- Practise substituting a given age into the maximum heart rate formula, then multiplying the result by 0.6 and 0.8 to find the lower and upper boundaries of the aerobic zone.
- When a question gives a training scenario, identify which principle is being broken, e.g. a programme that never changes intensity is breaking progressive overload and risking tedium, or which FITT variable has been changed.
- For explain questions, always link the principle back to its effect on the body or on the performer's motivation, not just name it.
Worked example
A 15-year-old performer wants to train in their aerobic training zone. Calculate their estimated maximum heart rate, then calculate the lower and upper boundaries (60% and 80%) of their aerobic training zone.
- Calculate maximum heart rate using 220 minus age: 220 - 15.
- Complete the subtraction: 220 - 15 = 205 beats per minute (bpm), so maximum heart rate is 205 bpm.
- Calculate the lower boundary of the aerobic zone, 60% of maximum heart rate: 205 x 0.6.
- Complete the multiplication: 205 x 0.6 = 123 bpm.
- Calculate the upper boundary of the aerobic zone, 80% of maximum heart rate: 205 x 0.8.
- Complete the multiplication: 205 x 0.8 = 164 bpm, so the aerobic training zone for this performer is approximately 123 to 164 bpm.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What does the F in FITT stand for?Show answer
Answer: Frequency, how often training takes place.
Q2Define reversibility.Show answer
Answer: The loss of fitness or training adaptations that occurs when a performer reduces or stops training, as the body adapts back towards its previous, less fit state.
Q3Give one way a performer could apply progressive overload to a running programme without changing how often they train.Show answer
Answer: Increase the intensity, e.g. run faster or on hills, or increase the time/distance of each run, or change the type of session.
Q4Calculate the estimated maximum heart rate of a 40-year-old performer.Show answer
Answer: 220 - 40 = 180 bpm.
Q5A performer has a maximum heart rate of 190 bpm. Calculate the upper boundary of their aerobic training zone (80% of maximum heart rate).Show answer
Answer: 190 x 0.8 = 152 bpm.
Q6Explain why a swimming coach would apply the principle of specificity when designing a training programme for a 200m breaststroke swimmer.Show answer
Answer: Because training should closely match the muscles, movement patterns and energy systems used in 200m breaststroke, so the swimmer improves at the exact demands of their event rather than generic fitness.
Q7Why might a training programme that never changes exercises or intensity risk breaking two principles of training at once?Show answer
Answer: It risks tedium, because a lack of variety can bore the performer and reduce motivation, and it risks failing progressive overload, since fitness will plateau if the body is never asked to work harder than before.
Q8A 25-year-old performer trains at a heart rate of 175 bpm. Calculate their maximum heart rate and state whether they are training in the aerobic or anaerobic zone.Show answer
Answer: Maximum heart rate = 220 - 25 = 195 bpm; 175 / 195 x 100 = approximately 89.7%, which is above 80% of maximum heart rate, so they are training in the anaerobic zone.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Physical Education exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
A 20-year-old footballer wants to train in the anaerobic zone during an interval session. (a) Calculate the footballer's maximum heart rate. (b) Calculate the heart rate that represents 80% of their maximum heart rate. (c) Explain what training above this heart rate would mean for the footballer's dominant energy system.
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A performer has followed the same fixed running programme, at the same pace and distance, three times a week for six months with no changes. Evaluate this programme using the principles of training.
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