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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
In this module, you will be able to learn about the different concepts involved
in exercise design. Knowing about these concepts will help you get better in
structuring a long-term training program for yourself.
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. identify the different principles of exercise in planning or designing a
specific exercise program.
2. gain knowledge on proper progressive exercise and its roles in injury
prevention.
3. recognize particular activities that would promote the application of
different exercise principles through exercise programs.
4. understand the importance of exercise principles in inhibiting
adaptations to the body.
Along with the concepts involved in designing training programs, you will be
able to discover several activities that may inspire you to lead a lifestyle of
health and fitness.
Exercise Principles
Welcome to Lesson 12! You are almost done with this Physical Education course!
Hopefully, through the several topics discussed, you have gained enough knowledge
about health, nutrition, and fitness.
Image Source:
Exercise - https://www.sportpartner.com/blog/the-beginners-
guide-to-starting-an-exercise-program
In this part of the lesson, you will learn about some principles or basic concepts in
exercise that will serve as your footing, or stepping stone, in choosing a physical activity
that you would want to pursue.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Aside from this, this module will help equip you in designing a program that would suit
your interest and specific needs.
Actually knowing about the different exercises that you can do is not enough information
as to how you are going to engage yourself in a well-structured training program. You
also have to be equipped with the basic knowledge on how to go about the specifics of
your physical activity.
This way you are ensuring a program that is both effective and safe for you as you go on
your fitness journey.
It seems like the topics are a lot to take in, but they are all necessary information to
specifically help you on how to structure a training program for yourself.
Later, you will notice in the lesson that some of the topics have already been mentioned
in the previous modules; this lesson will serve as an in depth understanding of those
concepts.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Hopefully, you will enjoy learning about the different principles in exercise and figure
out what makes your previous training programs or exercise feats unsuccessful.
Knowing what, when, and how much to work-out is a sure step to achieving a life of
fitness. These principles will surely help as you go along on your own fitness journey.
I. Review – Exercise
What is Exercise?
Do you still remember what exercise means? From the previous discussions in the
course, how does exercise differ from physical activity?
Image Source:
Fitness goals - http://patch.com/illinois/oaklawn/how-set-fitness-goals-guide
SMART Goals – https://www.12wbt.com/blog/fitness/fitness-goals-you-just-need-a-
plan/
Exercise is a type of physical activity that requires planned, structured, and
repetitive bodily movements. This is an accordance to the goal or the objective of
improving your overall physical fitness level.
Do you remember how to properly set your goals? Your Goal/s should always be
S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, & time-bound). Sticking to
this type of goal gets you a higher chance of success in achieving fitness.
Knowing the definition and purpose of exercise, as well as, the proper goal-setting
techniques, you can now be able to start with a good footing as to why the different
exercise principles are very much important in any training program.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Physical INACTIVITY!
Studies support that physical inactivity is a risk factor that people have in developing
a variety of health-related diseases. CV disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity,
hypertension, bone & joint diseases, & depression are some of the chronic conditions
that are directly linked to inactivity. (Warburton, et. Al., 2006)
The goal of any physical training is to produce long term changes and improvements
in the body’s functioning.
This module is just focused at connecting all the informational pieces together. In the
later parts of the module, you will also discover how you can further progress in your
program in case you really do want to stick with one.
These four are the most important things you need to consider as a beginner in
exercise or in fitness. This principle will always serve as backbone of a well-
structured training program.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
How often do you need to engage in exercise for you to reap its said benefits?
Find time!
Often, those people who are physically inactive are those who have “lack of time” as
their main reason for not working-out. If you are really willing to become physically
active, you need to find time and fit it in your schedule. Dedicating specific day/s for
physical activity ensures your success in developing a fit and healthy body!
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Regular exercise has the ability to develop your fitness but, it is very different from
doing optimum exercise. In optimum exercise, your goal is not just to be fit but you also
need to achieve a certain level of skill that you know you can still improve on as the
training program progresses.
Optimum exercise unlike regular exercise, is a structured type of exercise that aims
to vary its focus depending on the specific fitness components you’d want to
develop.
Simply put, if you want to build on endurance, perform endurance activities like
jogging, running, and biking. But, if you want to build on your muscular strength and
power you must engage in resistance exercise.
Walking for 30 minutes to an hour a day may become a regular thing, but after a certain
period of time what overall good will it do to you?
Always find time in your schedule to fit regular and optimum exercise. You may do it
every other day with breaks/rests in between or even everyday with rests during a
Saturday or a Sunday.
However it is that you are going to strategize your time and how are you going to
answer that question of “how often,” clearly depends on you.
Do you still remember how often you must exercise if you are aiming to improve your
endurance? How about for your strength and flexibility?
If you want to improve on your aerobic capacity or your endurance, you must
follow a strict exercise frequency of 3-5 days within a week.
Anything more than 5 days would cause you injuries due to the lack of recovery
period you’ve allotted for yourself.
Also, anything less than 3 days will cause you difficulties in improving your fitness, or
worst, you will not see any improvements in yourself as you go through your
program.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Have you chosen a specific exercise that you want to engage in and can specifically
stick to for a long period of time?
Image Source:
Biking – http://angelbay-
bungalows.gr/service/mountain-biking/
Running – http://tone-and-
tighten.com/2015/01/10-running-
resolutions-you-need-to-make-for-2015.html
Swimming –
http://www.coreconcepts.com.sg/article/7-
common-swimming-sports-
injuries/#gsc.tab=0
Brisk Walking –
http://www.topnews.in/healthcare/content/2
2983how-brisk-walking-could-slash-risk-
stroke-50pc
The training frequency for developing muscular strength and endurance is ideally at
2-3 non-consecutive days per week.
Studies have proven that getting the ample resting period during weight training
develops the muscle fibers better compared to those people who physically exert
themselves doing resistance training on a daily basis.
Muscles, just like machines, when pushed beyond their limits will no longer be able to
work at high intensities.
At this stage it is easier to feel fatigue and sore, or worst a person may incur self-
inflicted injuries.
Unlike aerobic exercises that you can perform on a daily basis, muscular strength and
endurance exercises need muscle recovery in order for it to function at its maximum.
When you’re a beginner in exercise, you tend to get all hyped out about the activity
that you sometimes overlook the concept of rest.
Resting is as important as the training itself! In fact, if you allowed your body to
have the ample amount of rest, it would gladly return the favor to you by functioning
better.
So, as you start your program soon, don’t forget to take a day or two days of rest, to
keep you’re your body functioning at its maximum.
The ideal way to go in improving your flexibility is that you should always incorporate
it at the start and at the end of your training program.
Can you still recall the two kinds of stretches? What is the difference of a static stretch
from a dynamic stretch?
Dynamic stretches are moving stretches that you ideally perform at the START
or BEGINNING of an exercise; while Static Stretches are non-moving stretches
that you do AFTER a work-out.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
The amount and type of stretches you do can have a great effect on your overall
performance and recovery. This is because your joints are given the enough space to
move freely together with the movements of your muscles and bones.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Aside from these things, incorporating flexibility exercises specifically at the end of
the program helps remove lactic acid build up on your muscles. This then
prevents your muscles from becoming too sore and it allows your body’s speedy
recovery from exercise.
All four types of exercises (i.e. aerobic, muscular endurance & strength, & flexibility)
are different in nature. Therefore the frequency at which they must be performed
within the week should also differ.
Image Source:
Biking – http://angelbay-bungalows.gr/service/mountain-biking/
Powerlifting – http://www.usaplnewjersey.com/
Flexibility – https://www.fotolia.com/tag/flexible
When you start with any exercise program, make sure to consider the frequency part
of the F.I.T.T. principle, this way you can be more successful in your fitness feat.
Knowing how often and setting the time as to when you are going to work-out is the
first step in convincing yourself for the change that you are about to undertake.
So, start writing the ideal plan for you and begin to tag your calendars with the
appropriate exercise timing. Remember that it’s better to start somewhere than to
never have started at all.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
This should not be done on occasions that you feel like exerting effort, but rather, in
every exercise routine your effort should be more than one hundred percent.
How many times have you attempted to work out in your life and you always end up
falling short? Maybe this principle has something to do with that.
In exercise, you actually need to stress your body enough to inhibit improvements
and adaptations. Exercising lower than normal or with little exertion can waste both
your energy and your time.
This has everything to do with how hard you are exerting effort in an exercise. Your
pulse rates are along your neck or your wrist and you usually count the number of
beats it does within a minute.
Do you still recall the different Target Heart Rate Zones from the past discussions?
Applying it in the right timing during exercise can be a good way for you to measure
your level of effort.
From the chart below, you can determine at which zone you must ideally exert effort
depending on the goal that you want to achieve for yourself:
Determining your heart rate is a crucial part of exercise. Getting your heart rate is a
discipline that you must always carry with you during your workout routines.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Not knowing under which zone you are going to train for is like going blind while
driving a car on a busy road.
In strength training, intensity is measured through the amount of weight you lift.
Which is safe to say that, the intensity you put is measured best through trial and
error.
Of course, you don’t lift 100 kilograms during your first attempt in doing squats, but
instead, you gauge and condition yourself to start off with the lightest weight and
work your way up from there.
What this simply means is that as a person trains the body, the brain’s functions also
adapt to the stress, causing effective recruitment and addition of muscle fibers
(hypertrophy), as well as overall improvements in performance. (Mangine, et.al.,
2015)
Say for example in running; during your first attempt, you don’t run the whole
marathon, but rather you start small and work your way little by little.
Intensity – Flexibility
While in flexibility, you don’t just twist and contort your body as you please but
instead, you do it with baby steps. Say for example you want to perform a split, you
don’t automatically push your body to do the activity, but rather, you bend or extend
your body little by little, or day by day, so that your muscles and joints will adapt and
align with what you’re trying to do.
Intensity, just like frequency, is an exercise principle that you need to strictly consider
and include in your training program.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
This is because, not only does it help you in achieving a certain level of fitness but it
also ensures your safety throughout your progress in fitness.
Safety, it should always be your number one priority every time you decide to move
your body. Exercise really does entail a lot of experiments, trials, and errors, but at the
end of the day, you have to always make sure that you are safe.
Image Source:
Squats – http://www.healthlisted.com/30-squat-exercises-killer-
butt/
Running – http://loveforrunning.com/
Split – http://fitnessstarnetwork.com/photo/splits-
2?xg_source=activity
To secure safety for yourself, you should take the time to know and explore about the
intensity of your program at all times. Too little effort will lead to no improvements,
while too much of everything puts you at high-risk for injuries.
Knowing how long you should work-out is a good step in gaining the maximum
benefits from your exercise.
This principle’s main goal is for you to find the appropriate duration for each type of
activity you do, whether it be cardio, strength and endurance, or flexibility trainings.
The higher the intensity that you do, you must always make sure that the bout of
EXERCISE IS SHORTER. But, if your intensity is average or low, you must do the
opposite and make the EXERCISE BOUT LONGER.
Time has everything to do with the adaptation that your body may possible go
through when it is put in a specific stress-response situation.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
If you don’t know the exact duration of your exercise bout, you might end up either
overtraining yourself because you are pushing your body to do more than it can
recover from. Or sometimes it could be the exact opposite, where you don’t reap any
benefits at all from your exercise because adaptation time did not set-in within your
body.
Each type of activity needs a specific duration so that your body will be able to obtain
the benefits it offers.
After these types of training it is ideal that you allot at least 24 hours of rest in
between your work-outs.
2. Flexibility
While in flexibility training, the duration of each stretch should at least last for
thirty seconds which should be repeated three to four times per muscle groups.
Unlike cardio and weigh training, flexibility exercise can be performed every
day and there is no actual limit as to how long you can stretch.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
The only measure that you can use to stop stretching is when you have already
achieved the appropriate range of motion of ach joints within your body.
A well-structured exercise program is not just about the movements that you can do,
it is also dependent on the time at which you spend in doing the activity. These things
can greatly affect the adaptation of your body to stress.
Image Source:
Biking – http://angelbay-bungalows.gr/service/mountain-biking/
Powerlifting – http://www.usaplnewjersey.com/
Flexibility – https://www.fotolia.com/tag/flexible
Too little or too much time you spend in the gym or, wherever you are working out,
can greatly impact how your body will respond to the stress.
You don’t and should never undergo a fitness journey without asking this question to
yourself. Knowing what specific activity you want to pursue keeps you on the
right track to achieving fitness.
While, not knowing what exactly to do or what to develop will only make you
unsuccessful in your journey to fitness.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
You should make it clear in your head what exactly it is that you want to do, this way
you are conditioning your mind for the activity that you are about to undertake.
Remember that exercise is not just about moving the body but it also greatly requires
your focus and concentration. It is also not just a challenge to the body but rather a
challenge for the mind to perform more than what is expected of it.
Choosing the type of activity that specifically interests or brings curiosity in you, is
something that you should aim to pursue. This is because, activities that spark up
interest in you are the ones that can surely motivate and push you to love what you do
and pursue it with great passion!
#fitspiration
If you don’t know which activity best suites you, try to find a fitness advocate online
that will bring a spark of curiosity and motivation in you. Finding the role model and
teacher is a baby step that you can take to start your fitness journey. Look for a teacher
on social media (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, etc.) or find friends who are also going
through the same endeavor. These small motivations will definitely help you start
somewhere.
The different F.I.T.T. principles are the most basic principle in exercise and are very easy
to remember. Make sure that you’ll always include this in making an exercise routine for
yourself.
F.I.T.T. is actually the most important principle out of all the other exercise principles. It
sets the course for you to have a successful training activity that you will not only enjoy
but, also something that you will correctly perform and do for a long period.
Before you engage in any activity, you should not forget to ask yourself these series of
questions. This way, you are setting your course to a fitness journey that will be done
continuously and hopefully, for a lifetime.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
All the other principles are linked to the FITT principle. Hopefully, at the end of the
course you have discovered more meaningful foundations in engaging in regular
exercise that is correct and efficient!
Probably at some point in your life you have exercised or at least attempted to exercise.
During these periods did you notice anything about your performance?
As the activity progressed, did you notice how much your strength has improved? This is
what the overload principle is all about.
The body becomes stronger and functions better if you increase the demands or
stress on it.
This principle does not mean to say that if you lift 5 kilograms today, the next session
you lift 40 kilograms. This is a perfect example in which people engaging in exercise
endanger themselves in the process.
Image Source:
Principle of Overload – http://slideplayer.com/slide/4755117/
Listen to your body - https://organicfruitsandveggies.com/listen-to-
your-body/
A good example of this is during resistance exercise. If for example, you lifted 5
kilograms of weight today, the next session you can attempt to lift 6-10 kilograms of
weight, instead of jumping right over to 20 kilograms.
As you progress through your strength training routine, you’ll notice that your body can
bear more load. This is the principle of overload at work. When this situation happens, it
is a signal to your body that it is already the right time for you to increase your training
intensity further.
If you know and apply the right amount of progression in your training, your fitness level
will continue to increase. Too little overload causes no effect on fitness
developments, while too much overload causes injuries.
You have to remember that your body is an adaptive machine and that, whatever
challenge you place upon it, it resists the stress and it eventually adapts for it to survive.
Putting the right amount of overload in the right timing will definitely give you great
fitness benefits.
Also, the secret to the overload principle is for you to learn how to listen to your
body. Your body knows when it is experiencing too much or too little stress already.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
That’s why when these specific situations comes up, you need to listen intently. For these
are signs that you either need to push harder or completely stop your exercise.
IV. Specificity
The next principle in training or exercise is known as the Principle of Specificity.
Aside from this, being specific in choosing the right exercise can also be a measure or a
gauge for you to see your areas of strengths and weaknesses in your training program.
Simply put, specificity is like this, if you want to develop your cardiorespiratory
endurance perform cardiorespiratory activities (i.e. running, biking, walking). If you
want to develop your muscular strength and endurance, engage in resistance exercise
either with the use of free weights, exercise machines, or only your body as your lever.
While, if you want to improve your flexibility you should perform stretching and other
flexibility activities.
You cannot and you should not interchange these types of trainings with each other.
You cannot expect to develop flexibility if you keep on performing weight training
exercises, and in the same way, you can’t improve on your cardiovascular endurance if
you only keep on performing stretching exercises in your training regimen.
Specificity addresses this concern and it puts you in the right path on your fitness map
because your goals are clear and you know what to specifically develop or improve on
your body.
Functional Training
Ever heard about this type of exercise? Functional training is one of the types of
training that is very common in societies today. What this type of training does is
that it incorporates activities of daily life to a training program. The focus is on the
improvement of a person’s core, leg muscles, and other stabilizing muscles.
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Image Source:
Cardio – http://www.livestrong.com/article/360819-top-ten-cardio-
activities/
Resistance training – http://muscularstrength.com/article/Bodyweight-
Training-Vs-Weight-Training
Flexibility – http://crytekindustries.com/2015/02/16/the-benefits-of-
flexibility-exercise-and-training/
What are they and how are these two principles associated with each other?
For the rest of the lesson, keep in mind that the body is an adaptive machine that needs
stress at certain amounts for it to be able to function efficiently. This statement relates to
these next two (2) principles.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
In order for you to maximally gain the benefits of exercise, you must continuously
present it with different stresses or changing stimuli. This experience shifts the brain to
focus on different stressors.
In turn, the different overloads cause the body to inhibit several positive physical
adaptations.
While, Variation is the principle that focuses on changing your activities in able for
you to prevent boredom from happening and you won’t lose interest in your
training program.
Both are somewhat associated or related with each other because of their ability to
provide you with the ample stressors you need in exercise.
Without progressing or varying your activities, you will experience plateau in your
training routine.
Every single time you exercise, your aim should always be to reach the highest peak of
your performance.
Eventually, as you become used to the activity, your body adapts to the stress; with such
adaptation, the need to be challenged all over again is a must, for you to reap the
continuous benefits of exercise.
When such plateau happens, you will begin to experience little or no improvements at all
in your exercise.
Hence, the need for ample progressive and varying activities. Knowing what to do and
when exactly to change your activity/ies, gives you the chance to be more successful in
your training routine.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Here in this next part of the lesson, is a brief example of what exactly progression and
variation is:
Progression
Ever tried running? The first time around you did it, were you successful in
continuously running for 30 minutes?
Most of you would say no, and some would say yes, but the consequences of this in
the form of body pains the following day is evident.
The walk-jog-run progression is the most correct principle to follow when you
want to achieve running both for short and long distances.
Notice the 2-week transition for each exercise progression? This is because 2 weeks
is the usual adaptation of the body to a specific stimulus.
After that said period, you need to restructure your program for your body to find
ways in adapting to new stressors again.
Progression when done in these bouts will help you achieve your fitness goals easily.
This is because you are not pushing yourself to the limit, nor are you undertraining
yourself in the process.
Variation
While the best and simplest example for variation is the transition of the sport of
triathlon from swimming, biking, and running.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Athletes who are engaged in this kind of sport, don’t perform all three activities in
every training session that they have. What they simply do is that they interchange a
different activity and assign it on specific days in the weeks that they are training.
Variation can work best for beginners like you who are still experimenting on
activities that you want to pursue.
If you want to try running, you can vary your activity by engaging in swimming or
biking, as this reduces the impact on your skeletal muscles because both are low-
impact activities.
Meaning less stress is put on your joints and muscles because of the environment
and the type of equipment you use. The resistance of the water and the resistance of
the pavement are both different kinds of experiences that your body can either
recover or adapt from.
Another example is when you want to develop both your CV endurance and
muscular endurance, you can interchange resistance training and cardio training in
certain days of the week.
Variation is important not only because it takes off the boredom in exercise, but, it
also allows your body the short time to recover from the activity you do.
Aside from this, the continuous change in stimulus triggers your body to become
more exposed into different kinds of stress, thus, inhibiting better adaptations and
results.
When you start training or performing regular exercise, you should structure your
program in such a way that it fits your gender, age, level of fitness, needs, and previous
experiences in exercise.
In the same way that you cannot expect to feel less tired compared to a youngster
moving and exercising.
Individualizing or personalizing your training plan to suit your exact needs is also
a key to optimizing your training routine.
Remember goal-setting? When you know your exact goal and what specific component
you aim to develop you can personalize your exercise program easily.
This is the quickest and easiest way for you to know what you need and want in your
activity. Write it down and try to plot your goals.
These principles have something to do with your improvements in exercise, and these
are the Principles of Reversibility and the Law of Diminishing Returns.
What are these principles all about? How do they relate to your overall performance and
adaptation in exercise?
Principle of Reversibility
Ever tried exercising consistently and then you stopped somewhere along the way? Did
you notice any change in your performance after deciding to resume exercise?
Course Module
PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
This is what this principle is all about, the moment you stop training you slowly lose
your level of fitness and general adaptation to exercise.
That’s why the principle of reversibility is also known as the “use it or lose it”
principle.
What this simply means is that, what the body doesn’t utilize it will lose it, but the
reverse may also happen when you start to move and use it. If you start to use your
body through physical activity and regular exercise, the body begins to adapt to the
situation all over again.
When this happens, what do you think is the best thing to do?
The principle’s point is very easy, you just need to use your body, move your body, and
find ways on how to improve it; otherwise it will just undergo a state of slow
deterioration through time.
This law applies to individuals who are both beginners and professionals.
At the start of your exercising journey you’ll notice that you lose weight, gain muscles,
or, strength easily. But, as you progress in the training routine, and the longer that you
practice, you’ll notice that little to no improvements are seen in your performance.
This is where the Law of Diminishing Returns work. The more your body becomes
adapted to the activity, the more stimulus it needs to keep on pushing with its
improvements.
Set-up an alarm!
Often, people who find themselves quitting in exercise are those that don’t have a
constant reminder that they have to work-out. The best thing that you can do is to
set-up an alarm each day so that you can get your groove in exercising. This way,
your improvements will be continuous and you will not lose focus in your fitness
goals.
This law actually works best for beginners like you because, the rate at which you see
improvements is faster when you’ve come from a sedentary lifestyle to suddenly
choosing into living an active one.
As you continue on with your exercise, you would eventually need the extra stimuli to
make your body experience further improvements.
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PE 101 – Foundations of Physical Fitness
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Just is the case in the pictures on the slide. The training of Manny Pacquiao is much
more complex and structured compared to the training of a young aspiring athlete.
Image Source:
Manny Pacquiao –
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxing/mayweather-vs-
pacquiao/11585285/Manny-Pacquiao-wants-rematch-with-Floyd-Mayweather-Jnr-in-
April-2016.html
Young Exercise enthusiast – http://www.stockphotos.ro/body-building-
image44903911.html
Manny Pacquiao has been at the sport for many years, hence his body has already been
used to intense training and physical exertion.
The law basically gives the reason why as Pacquiao further progresses in his training
routine, he needs to find other activities that are more challenging and more
stimulating, to keep his adaptation at par.
While the young boy in the picture, starts off by developing his basic skill and then
eventually climbs up the ladder of his training/exercise routine.
Little exertion is needed for the boy to train because his body will immediately adapt to
the load he places upon it, unlike Manny Pacquiao who has been doing it for several
years already.
Both principles (i.e. Reversibility & Law of Diminishing Returns) have something to do
with the level of improvements a person must aim to achieve in exercise.
These principles focus on what a person can and should do during an exercise routine. It
pushes a person beyond his/her limits to perform more than what is expected.
Every time you are engaged in an activity or every time you are training for a sport, you
should always aim to achieve excellence. You do this by means of finding the most
strategized and complex training routine that can improve your performance.
Aside from these things, these principles, just like the principles of variation and
progression, focus on preventing a plateau in performance from happening.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Knowing how important extra stimuli are in training, gives you an edge in coping with
the mechanics of your activity.
Active Rest
This concept is very much useful when you start to learn how to regularly exercise.
Active rest is when you find physical activities that are less demanding than your
work-out routine. Basketball players do this in their practice. They spend days doing
heavy work-out, but to not lose their condition, they also allot just a shooting day as
a part of their active recovery and rest.
Aside from considering the different exercise principles, you also need to give attention
to how you arrange the exercises in your training program.
When exercising it is always important that you work your large muscle groups first
before proceeding to working the smaller ones.
The largest muscle groups that your body are composed of are the muscles of your lower
body. It is composed of bundles of muscles that slide unto each other in every movement
you perform.
These muscle groups include your quadriceps, the muscles at the front of your thighs;
the hamstrings which are located at the back of your thighs; your gastrocnemius or the
muscles of your calves; and your glutes or gluteus maximus and minimus that compose
the muscles of your buttocks.
You need to arrange your exercise routine in such a way that these muscle groups are
stimulated first. The reason for doing this is because:
a. these large muscle groups are used for support and as stabilizers of the body
for the duration of the exercise. Without these stabilizers being stimulated, you
would have a hard time in balancing your body and moving it as agile as it’s
supposed to be.
If you have noticed, throughout the previous discussions the importance of warm-ups
and cool-downs have been emphasized. This is because, both have the capacity in
changing the homeostasis of your body.
Warm-ups
A warm-up is an activity done at the beginning of an exercise routine with the goal
of raising your body’s core temperature and increasing the capacity of your musles
to perform contractions and relaxations during activity/ies.
Cool-downs
While, cool-downs attempt to slow your body down, and are the opposite of warm-
ups. It is an activity that is done towards the end of an exercise routine, with the goal
of gradually returning your body to homeostasis and complete relaxation.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
These two components are very much important in injury prevention. Without these two
things being incorporated in your exercise routine, you would have a lot of complications
during and after your exercise.
Exercise does not only involve movements, but rather, it is a good exercise/training for
your brain. Both activities are actually responsible in conditioning your body and mind
before and after light or heavy trainings.
Your body when faced with stressors needs preparation for it to always maintain its
homeostasis. Without warm-ups and cool-downs, you are endangering yourself every
single time you exercise.
Including these two components in your exercise routine enables you to perform your
work-outs safely and effectively.
What are some examples of warm-ups and cool-downs? Where do you insert them in
your exercise? How long must you perform them during your training routine?
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Warm-up Exercises
Some very basic examples of warm-up
exercises are:
a. jogging in place
b. brisk walking
c. dynamic or moving stretches
Image Source: Warm-up – When your heart rate has already increased,
http://www.egeszsegessuli.hu/index.php?pa it would be easier for blood to circulate
ge=Blog&category=none&article=serulesmeg
elozes within your musculoskeletal system.
This then heats up the body, giving you more fluid and agile movements when you
have reached your main exercise.
Cool-down Exercises
Some basic examples for cool-down
exercises involve:
a. slow walk
b. static/non-moving stretch
Obviously, when you are to perform heavier or longer periods of exercise, you’d need
longer warm-ups and cool-downs that range between 10-20 minutes.
But, if you are to perform light to moderate activities, you’d need shorter periods for
both.
Please do remember!
1. Warm-up = Beginning of Exercise = increase core temperature
2. Cool-down = End of Exercise = decrease core temperature
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Both of these parts of training are most of the time, overlooked by people who are
engaged in regular exercise. Some tend to skip these parts of exercise and automatically
begin or abruptly end the training session.
Not allowing your body to adjust to the demands that you will put it to, puts you at high
risk in experiencing injuries and other bodily complications.
Remember that story about that marathoner who abruptly stopped at the end of the
finish line? What happened to him?
He ended up having a heart failure after the race. That’s a worst case scenario if cool-
down exercises have not been incorporated in your training.
Other consequences include, muscle cramps during the activity because of insufficient
warm-up exercises. Aside from this, the lack of focus in the activity will be apparent
because the brain was not conditioned to perform the task it is about to do.
Ultimately, your performance will not become efficient and you are risking yourself to
become injured in the process of exercise, when these components are not included.
It is a type of training that may possibly aid in weight loss and gains in muscle mass. In
this type of training, the use of special equipment (e.g. bands, weights, kettle bells)
allows for the progression in the work-out routine.
This type of training is ideally done after certain numbers of weeks of adaptation.
Remember the 2-week adaptation period mentioned in the earlier parts of the module?
Progressively lifting a said load at certain durations of the exercise allows an increased
in performance. This is because the stressors are changing and the body slowly finds
different ways to adapt to these changes.
Aside from the adaptation that it brings to the body, many recent studies have concluded
that Progressive Resistance Training aids more in weight loss and strength gains
compared to just performing cardio training regularly.
If you want to lose weight and gain lean muscles and strength, you need to lift weights or
perform body weight training consistently. This is because of the domino effect it has to
the body.
Weight training, increases the rate at which your metabolism works especially when you
couple this training program with a regular cardio training program.
When this happens, it is easier for you to recover from your work-outs and you gain
extra lean muscle mass.
When you have an increased number in muscle fibers, the body will find it easier to burn
the excess calories it takes in.
Why is this? Because compared to fat, muscles require higher number of calories or
energy to perform efficiently.
Many myths have surrounded the weight training industry, to the point that women
don’t want to lift weights or perform body weight exercises because they think that it
will make them too bulgy or too muscular.
A discussion on this will be done in the last part of the course. This way, you will be
educated enough to debunk those myths in exercise that you are probably holding in
your thoughts for quite some time.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
How would you know how much or how little are you supposed to be lifting at the gym?
Or when you are performing body weight training?
Always remember that exercise is all about experimentations. This is how progressive
resistance trainings should go about, especially that you are a beginner in exercise.
The most advisable way to go during your first few sessions is to learn the exercise.
Learning how to perform the skill correctly not only prevents you from obtaining
injuries but it highly affects the efficiency of your exercise.
Knowing how to move and when to exactly move those body parts in exercise, ensures
you of a better training program that is efficient and beneficial in the long run.
Choosing a weight that can be lifted 8-12 repetitions in one set is the usual beginner
repetitive mode that is mostly applicable to you if you are to engage in weight training
activities.
From there, you gradually progress and add weight to the program until the number of
sets you do increases or decreases.
This strategy of progressive resistance training is applicable to help both the brain and
the body to get familiarized to the stress that it is about to undergo on.
At the end of this module is a 4-week training program both for aerobic and resistance
exercise that you can use.
These programs gradually progress and follow the different principles of exercise
discussed. It is specifically designed for you to better understand how Progressive
Resistance Exercise works.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
You can download or print the program after this course so that when you do the
exercise it will be easily accessible to you.
Principle of Retrogression
This principle may not only lead to a decrease in performance but also into several
forms of injuries, over fatigue, and worst exhaustion.
Principle of Recovery
How much time should you allot for recovery?
Usually, the recovery time depends on the type of activity or training that you do.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Image Source:
Recovery - http://ectomorphworkout.org/ectomorph-bodybuilding/how-to-
build-muscles/
High impact (jog) – http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/low-impact-high-
intensity-interval-cardio-workout/
Low impact (swim) – https://fitnessrunning.net/fitness/womens-
fitness/high-impact-vs-low-impact-exercise
But, most athletes or active individuals don’t apply this rule in their training, that’s
why retrogression occurs and they experience a lot of complications in their training
routines.
Allowing your body the ample time to rest and recover through eating the right
amount of food, drinking the right amount of fluids, and giving it the right amount of
relaxation and joy can help you become more efficient in your active lifestyle.
Spending too much time and effort in exercising may also give you a feeling of distress
and being burnt out. So, you need to make sure to always incorporate recovery in
your training program.
But what does recovery exactly mean? Does it mean that you just lie down the whole
day and be a couch potato because you’ve exerted so much effort in your exercise
routine?
No, this is not true. Most athletes and active individuals apply the concept of active
recovery. What exactly is active recovery?
The term itself is self-explanatory, this is where you still spend the day exercising
but at a much, much lower intensity.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
If you have been continuously jogging for 30 minutes and you can cover 3-5
kilometers already, you can spend your recovery day by doing only half or part of that
activity. Or maybe, you can alternate high-impact exercises with low-impact
exercises such as jogging and swimming.
These exercises require different terrains where the load is transferred to the body at
a lower impact in the water and at a higher impact on land.
You don’t have to go all the way and exhaust all your efforts when you are doing
active recovery. Remember that you are giving your body the chance to relax and
unwind from the stress.
Active recovery can be beneficial in your training routine because your body is
still kept active the whole week of your training program. This ensures that in
between the days of your exercise you don’t feel lazy to re-energize or move your
body again.
But, mind you, active recovery applies only to those people who are highly trained or
well-exercised. Beginners like you must always take the time to do complete
recovery or rest.
This is because your body has not been conditioned to perform the work that you are
demanding it to do. You need to let your body fully recover so that your adaptations
will be quicker and you will reap the benefits of exercise better.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Conclusion
Those are the many exercise principles involved in fitness. Hopefully, you are more equipped
with the right knowledge about fitness and how to specifically improve on it.
You might have given up at some point in your fitness journey because you’ve experienced
plateau in your performance many times. You can use this lesson as a guide to identify where
you might have gotten your activity wrongly.
The trick in remembering all these is to simply put in your mind that the body is an adaptable
machine. Whatever stressor you put it in to, it will always find its way to adapt, save, and
restore itself.
Image Source:
Adaptable machine –
https://somuchfattitude.com/2015/01/28/machines/
Exercise regularly and eat the right type of food, and your body will continuously adapt and
improve through time. But, if you do the opposite, your body will always find ways on how to
restore the damaged part/s and eventually will get too tired and give up in the long run.
It is a machine that needs to be continuously presented with different positive stimuli for it to
adapt more and for it to become healthy, fit, and well. Knowing and applying the right
principles in your exercise can help you be more efficient and successful in your fitness
routine.
So be sure to strictly try and follow the beginner-training program provided for you at the end
of this lesson. Hopefully within the month, you’ll see improvements in yourself that you never
thought could happen! Good luck and enjoy!
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Glossary
Active Recovery – a type of recovery where a person trains at a very low intensity to
allow continuous adaptations of the body to exercise stimuli.
Cool-down – an activity done towards the end of an exercise routine, with the goal of
gradually returning the body to homeostasis.
Dynamic Stretch – the opposite of static stretch; a type of stretch where joints are
stretched while in movement.
Exercise – a type of physical activity that is planned, structured, and involves repetitive
bodily movements with the goal to improve a person’s overall fitness level.
F.I.T.T. Principle – the most basic principle in exercise is known as the F.I.T.T. principle. F
stands for, frequency, I stands for, intensity, T stands for, time, and the other T stands for
the type of exercise; serve as backbone of a well-structured training program.
Frequency Principle – a component of the F.I.T.T. Principle; asks the question, “how
often”; refers to how often will a person work-out to gain the said benefits of exercise.
High-impact activity – activities that place a great stress on the body’s skeletal system
due to the environment it is exposed to or the type of equipment used; examples of high-
impact activity include jumping, running, plyometric activities, & heavyweight resistance
training.
Intensity Principle – a component of the F.I.T.T. Principle; asks the questions, “how
much effort? How hard?”; the goal of the principle is to push a person to exercise more
than the normal level.
Law of Diminishing Returns – the higher the skill and fitness level, the less the
improvements will be reached.
Low-impact activity – activities that place less stress on the body’s skeletal system due to
the environment it is exposed to or the type of equipment used; examples of low-impact
activity include walking, swimming, biking, and lightweight resistance training.
Optimum Exercise – a structured type of exercise that aims to vary its focus depending
on the specific fitness components a person wants to develop.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Overload Principle – the principle of exercise which refers to the adaptations the body
experiences for continuous stimuli; the body becomes stronger and functions better if a
person increases the demands or stress place on it during exercise.
Principle of Recovery – the process of allowing the body to have ample rest after
physical activity/exercise; cardio training is to 24-hr. recovery, weight training is to 24-48
hrs. recovery.
Principle of Reversibility – also known as the “use it or lose it” principle; refers to the
reversibility of adaptations when a person seizes from exercising.
Principle of Variation – refers to the change in activities with the goal of preventing
boredom and losing interest to a certain activity; provide ample stimuli needed in
exercise.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals – goal setting that is geared at being specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic, and time-bound.
Static Stretch – a type of stretch were joints are pulled and stretched in a fixed point.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
Target Heart Rate – determines your heart rate capacity at certain intensities aimed to
develop specific fitness goals; composed of Zones 1-3 pertaining to percentage/level of
maximum heart rate.
Time Principle – a component of the F.I.T.T. Principles; asks the question, “How long?”;
principle that refers to the exact time or duration of an exercise bout; dependent on the
intensity principle.
Type Principle – – a component of the F.I.T.T. Principles; asks the question, “What kind
of activity?”; refers to the specific type of activity a person chooses to develop in a training
program (i.e. CV Endurance is to jogging, Muscular Strength is to resistance exercise).
Warm-up – an activity done at the beginning of an exercise routine with the goal of
raising the body’s core temperature and increasing the capacity of musles to perform
contractions and relaxations during activity/ies.
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Lesson 12 – Exercise Principles
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