Part 5 Training Theory

• Fitness is how well a person is adapted

to and capable of living a certain
lifestyle. The fitness of an athlete is
generally greater than that of the non-
athlete. The athlete needs to be fit for
the demands of his chosen athletic event
in addition to being fit for the demands
• Training is a systematic process with the
objective of improving an athlete's fitness in a
selected activity. It is a long term process that is
progressive and recognizes the individual
athlete's needs and capabilities. Training
programmes use exercise or practice to develop
the qualities required for an event.
The process of training can be planned
because training follows certain principles. These
principles of training need to be fully understood
before the coach can produce effective long term
• The three most important of these
principles are:

● Law of Overload
● Law of Reversibility
● Law of Specificity
Training is the work or exercise that an
athlete performs in a training
load session.

is the process of applying training

Loading
loads.
• When an athlete's fitness is challenged by a new training
load there is a response from the body.

• This response by the body is an adaptation to the

stimulus of the training load.

• The initial response is of fatigue

• When the loading stops there is a process of recovery from
the fatigue and adaptation to the training load.
• This recovery and adaptation returns the athlete not just to
his original fitness level, but to an improved level.
• This higher level of fitness is achieved through the body's

overcompensation to the initial training load.

 causes fatigue, and recovery and

Overload adaptation allow the body to

overcompensate and reach

higher levels
of fitness
• For example, if a football player's goal is to improve upper body
strength, he would continue to increase training weight loads in
upper body exercises until his goal was achieved.