Physical Fitness, Training Principles and Sports Training
What this domain tests
Components of fitness and their classification, training principles, training methods, periodisation, and fitness testing with calculation.
Components
- Health-related: cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body composition.
- Skill-related: speed, agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time. Power = strength × speed.
Principles of training
Overload, progression, specificity, reversibility (detraining), individuality, variation, recovery, and warm-up/cool-down. FITT - frequency, intensity, time, type - is the planning framework.
Methods
- Continuous (steady-state, long slow distance) builds aerobic base.
- Interval training uses work-to-rest ratios for speed and anaerobic power.
- Fartlek ("speed play") mixes paces within one run.
- Circuit training combines strength and endurance efficiently.
- Resistance training by %1RM: above 85% for maximal strength (1–6 reps), 70–80% for hypertrophy (8–12), 50–60% for endurance (15–20).
- Plyometrics develop explosive power; SAQ develops speed, agility and quickness.
- Periodisation: macrocycle (season or year), mesocycle (4–8 weeks), microcycle (one week); preparatory → competitive → transition.
Testing
Cooper 12-minute run (aerobic), 50 m sprint (speed), 1-minute sit-ups (muscular endurance), sit-and-reach (flexibility), Sargent vertical jump (power), BMI and skinfolds (composition), Harvard step test (recovery).
Worked example
Aerobic prescription for a 20-year-old with resting heart rate 60 at 70% using Karvonen: HRmax = 220 − 20 = 200; reserve = 200 − 60 = 140; target = (0.70 × 140) + 60 = 98 + 60 = 158 bpm. Note that plain %HRmax gives 140 bpm - a different answer - so always name the method used.
Traps
Confusing heart-rate reserve with %HRmax; listing power as health-related; treating overload and progression as synonyms; omitting specificity when prescribing.