The purpose of this Blog is to introduce a series we will cover about the basics of training. We want to provide you with information that you can easily apply to achieve your desired outcomes with training.
Introduction to training
"Methods are many, principles are few" - Harrington Emerson
It is important to note that as we dive into this series, you remember this quote. It may change how you view and plan your training. The great news is, you don't have to be stuck doing the exact same exercises week in, week out to achieve a specific outcome. You can play with variation to yield similar, if not the same results.
Fitness has evolved a lot in the last 2 decades. New concepts have emerged. We have gone from saying, "fit people are the ones who do marathons", to "fit people are the ones who can go for a long run, lift heavy weights, powerfully, throw a ball accurately, and can change direction swiftly."
Basically people who have a great all-round ability.
Even though this perspective change has occurred, the original fitness principles still remain true. In order to understand what fitness is, and how to develop it, we need to understand its core components. Let's break down the components of fitness.
Fitness Components
Fitness components have been listed and named differently between various industries and authors. Here is our simplified version of it:
Cardiovascular endurance (cardio) - The ability of the body to maintain delivering oxygen to the muscles, or the ability to sustain a lower intensity over a long duration of time.
Muscle Endurance - The ability of a muscle to produce force over a longer duration of time
Strength - The ability to overcome a load
Power - The ability to overcome a load with speed
Speed - The ability to contact rapidly
Agility - The ability to quickly change direction
Balance & Coordination - The ability to move the body effectively and accurately
Technically body composition is also an element, but for the sake of training specifically, we will leave this element out as it relates a lot more to nutrition.
These can also combined to form a new component, for example power endurance - the ability to maintain a high power output over time. We will stick to understanding the components on their own so it will be easier to understand.
Terminology
When applying these components, there are certain principles that should be followed. Here are some important ones to remember as we go through the series:
SAIDS Principle: Specific adaptations to imposed demands - basically the body adapts to the stimulus it gets ie. lifting heavier makes you stronger
Frequency: number of training days per week
Volume: Sets x Reps over the week
Load: % 1RM or load in Kilograms
VO2max: Maximal Oxygen Consumption
HRV: Heart Rate Variability
RPE: Rating of perceived exertion out of 10 or 20 (See both in image 1)
Image 1
Borg scale is traditionally used for cardiovascular activities and the modified is more for strength training.
Overview of the series
In each blog of the series, we will dive deeper into each of these components, in the above order, so that by the end you will understand:
What it is exactly and how it works
Why it is important and what it is predominantly used for
How to measure and improve it
We will also end off the series with a practical example of how to fit them all in to one program.
If you have any questions about our blogs, perhaps we didn't answer all of your questions, please feel free to contact us or DM us on socials and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Happy Training :)
Coach Jordy
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