PHYSICAL EXERCISE.

a) Structured and planned physical activity

b) Healthy physical exertion;
c) A single acute bout of bodily exertion;
d) A muscular activity which requires an expenditure of energy above resting level and
which generally results in voluntary movement.

TYPES OF EXERCISE

1. High-Intensity Exercise:
Involves short bursts of intense physical activity.
Pushes your body to work at or near its maximum capacity.
Examples include sprinting, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), CrossFit, and jumping jacks.

Benefits:
Burns more calories in less time.
Increases metabolic rate.
Enhances strength.
Triggers the EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption).

Caution:
May not be suitable for everyone, especially beginners or those with certain health conditions.
Proper warm-up and cool-down are essential to prevent injury.

2. Low-Intensity Exercise:
Involves gentle movements and is less demanding on the body. Can be sustained for longer
periods without causing fatigue. Examples include walking, yoga, swimming at a leisurely pace,
and cycling at a slow speed.

Benefits:
Improves overall fitness.
Reduces stress and anxiety.
Enhances flexibility and balance.
Supports weight management.
Suitable for all fitness levels
 TRAINING PRINCIPLES
1. Progression
– training programme should increase its demands in a systemic and organized manner
-Starting slowly and gradually building up
2. Overloading
– making the body work harder than normal
Training activities which are harder and lengthier than normal exercise undertaken for activity.
Stress on biological tissues causes a long term increase in its ability to cope with the stressor.
✓ Increases the capability of the athlete’s body to cope with demands of his or her sport
✓ Duration – time over which training regime is undertaken
✓ Frequency – how often training is done --- repetitions per cycle of training.
✓ Intensity – how hard exercise activity is done --- difficulty and quantity of training
undertaken.

3. Specificity
– training directed towards a definite skill/sport with all elements of training relevant to the
needs of the sport.
✓ Focusing on areas of development/relevance of the choice of exercise to the activity to be
improved --- power, strength, energy system, endurance, skill etc.

4. Regression
– if training stops adaptation gained through long term training will return to untrained state –
effects of training will be lost when one stops training due to injury, illness and prolonged break.
5. Individualisation
– training should be adapted to the needs of the individuals since athletes have different strengths
and weaknesses
Training needs are different basing on fitness needs, psychological needs (motivation,
confidence), maturation (stage of development), gender and cultural differences.
6. Maintenance
– As an individual reaches an acceptable level of physical fitness the changes are sustained to
avoid decline.
7. Warm-up and cool down
– preparation of the body for activity and what to do after activity.
✓ Warm-up – preparation of body for activity involving light exercise, stretching and
practice of skill related movement patterns involved in the activity.
✓ Cool down – gentle exercise and stretching which keep capillaries open and flush waste
products as part of recovery after exercise.

TRAINING METHODS

The seven methods of training in sports are:

• Continuous training
• Fartlek Training
• Circuit Training
• Interval Training
• Plyometric Training
• Weight Training

Why do we need to know about the different types of training methods used in sports?

Sports coaches need to know that there are a number of different methods to train with and the
advantages and disadvantages of each method of training. Each sports training method is unique
and has its own advantages and disadvantages. Certain types of training complement specific
sports, such as continuous training works well with athletes who compete marathons and sports
coaches and athletes should be aware of these and how to best in cooperate them into their
training programmes.

1. CONTINUOUS TRAINING

Continuous training is any form of training that maintains the heart rate at a desired level over a
sustained period of time.

An example of continuous training would be cycling for 30 minutes at an intensity that raises the
heart rate. Other examples of exercises include running, swimming or a mix (e.g. Triathlons).

When completing continuous training, an athlete should aim to keep their heart rate between
60% and 80% of their maximum heart rate.

Advantages

Continuous training is useful as it improves cardiovascular fitness and you can train in most
places. It is also good as you can train on your own or with a group.

Disadvantages
The main disadvantages of continuous training is that it can become boring and tedious. We all
know how boring it can be doing the same activity over and over again. Varying your activity
can help and our article on 5 ways on how to be a better coach may be of interest here.

2. FARTLEK TRAINING

Fartlek training is a method of training that uses periods of exercise and rest. An example of
Fartlek training is running at a full sprint for 10 seconds, walking for 1 minute followed by a
medium intensity jog for 4 minutes. An athlete would then rest for a set period of time and then
repeat the programme again.

Fartlek training should always consist of both high and low intensity training.

Advantages

An advantage of Fartlek training is that it develops both aerobic and anaerobic systems as this
type of training uses different types of intensity.

A further advantage of Fartlek training is that you can use this method virtually anywhere so
very little equipment is needed.

Disadvantage

A disadvantage of Fartlek training is that it can become very repetitive and those new to training
can find the intensity difficult to sustain for a long period of time.

3. CIRCUIT TRAINING

Circuit training is a type of training that involves exercises at a variety of different stations. An
example of circuit training could be to have six stations where an athlete completes 30 seconds
of activity at each station. The stations could consist of:

• Burpess
• Press ups
• Sit ups
• Skipping
• Tricep dips
• Squats
Advantage

• An advantage to circuit training is the stations can be easy to set up and can require very
little equipment.
• Another advantage is that the stations can work on the same or different parts of the body
and circuit training can also involve sport related activities, fitness exercises or both.
• Circuit training can also allow for a period of rest between each station and work on both
the aerobic and anaerobic systems.

Disadvantage

• A disadvantage of circuit training is that athletes can fatigue very easily if the circuit is
not designed correctly.
• A further disadvantage is that you may need a lot of equipment depending on how you
have planned your circuit.

4. WEIGHT TRAINING

Weight training is a method of training using weights. This could be free standing weights such
as the Yes4All adjustable dumbbells, body weight exercises, resistance . Athletes use their 1 Rep
Max to determine the intensity of the activity in weight training. Weight training is measured
using Sets and Reps.

Advantage

An advantage of weight training is it works on developing a number of components of fitness

such as Power, Speed, Muscular Strength and Muscular endurance.

Disadvantage

• A disadvantage of weight training is that you need to have weight training equipment
available to use, these can be expensive to purchase.
• A further disadvantage is that serious injury can occur if an athlete is not trained correctly
on how to use the machines.

5. INTERVAL TRAINING

Interval training is exercising with periods of rest planned into the session. An example of
interval training is completing 10x30m sprints with 20 seconds rest in between each effort.
Interval training works on both aerobic and anaerobic systems as well as developing the body’s
recovery system.
Advantage

• An advantage of interval training is that training sessions can be quick compared to other
methods of training such as continuous training.
• Another advantage is that this method of training uses rest to help aid recovery and can
be relevant to sports (such as football or tennis).
• It is also possible to measure the intensity of a training session by measuring a persons
heart rate (check out our article on our top 5 heart rate monitors for more).

Disadvantages

• A disadvantage of interval training is that athletes new to exercise can find this method of
training hard to repeat over a sustained period of time.

6. PLYOMETRIC TRAINING

Plyometric training is a type of training that involves exercises with short bursts of high
intensity. An example of a plyometric exercise is a reverse lunge with knee-up. This method of
training involves high intensity exercises/stretches aiming to improve muscular speed and
muscular strength.

Advantages

• An advantage of plyometric training is that it can reduce the chances of injury in the long
term. It can also improve power, speed and strength.

Disadvantages

• A disadvantage of plyometric training is that this method of training may not be suitable
for beginners. A further disadvantage to plyometric training is that coaches will need to
research the stretches and activities beforehand and if they are performed incorrectly or to
the incorrect athletes, it can cause pain or even injury to the athletes.