Topic 3

WEEK 4

FITT PRINCIPLE

F.I.T.T. PRINCIPLE
The FITT principles are an exercise prescription to help participants understand how
long and how hard they should exercise. It describes how to safely apply the principles of
overload and progression. With the application of the basic principles of exercise, the FITT
formula will be of great help for you to create a workout plan and know which of the exercises
is effective to meet your goals for a specific period of time.

1. Frequency– is how often you exercise. It refers to the number of sessions per given
amount of time. As a general rule, at least three (3) exercise sessions (non- consecutive days)
per week are required to achieve the physiological benefits associated with exercise.

2. Intensity – is how hard you exercise. It refers to the degree of difficulty of an exercise
session. In general, training intensity ranges from 60% to 90%.

Computation of Training Heart Rate

THR = (MHR – PA x .6)

If: PA = 20

THR = (220 – 20 x .6)

THR = 120 bpm

Thus, 120bpm serves as the training heart rate at 60% level of intensity. This heart
rate must be maintained for at least 20-30 minutes per aerobic training session, 3 times per
week until the athlete is able to comfortably adapt to the training load. After which, training
intensity may be increased to 65% to 70%. Target heart range may also be computed by
getting the lower limit and upper limit of the heart rate.
3. Time – refers to the duration or how long a specific activity or an exercise session will
last.So, how long should each workout be? The American College of Sports Medicine
(ACSM) recommends a conditioning bout of 20 to 30 minutes at an intensity of 60 to 80
percent not including warm-up and cool-down. A similar exercise volume may be obtained at
a low intensity and a longer time or higher intensity and a shorter time. A typical exercise
session would be as follows:

Warm-up Conditioning Bout Cool-down

+ +
5-15 min 20-30 min 5-15 min

4. Type - refers to what kind of exercise you are doing or the classification of
exercise. For example, you might do cardiovascular activity (also known simply as
'cardio'), strength training, or a combination of the two.

Cardio is any type of exercise that improves your cardiovascular system. This includes:

 running
 swimming
 walking
 dancing
 aerobics routines
 cycling

Strength training is any type of exercise that tones and strengthens the muscles. It usually
results in muscular hypertrophy.

This includes:

 the use of weights, like bicep curls and bench presses

 bodyweight exercises, such as:
o squats
o pushups
o pullups
o situps
For example, an individual wishing to increase arm strength must exercise the triceps and
biceps, while an individual wishing to increase aerobic endurance needs to jog, run, swim or
perform some other aerobically challenging activity.