Fitness Foundations: FITT Principle & Speed Training for Peak Performance

To increase your training workload, you can achieve this in several ways:

• Lift heavier weights.
• Increase the number of repetitions with the same weight.
• Lift the same weight for the same number of repetitions but decrease the rest time between sets.

Optimizing Your Training: FITT Principle & Recovery

FITT Principle: Type of Exercise

The third component in the FITT principle dictates what type or kind of exercise you should choose to achieve the appropriate training response.

Choosing Resistance Training

The best form of exercise to stress the neuromuscular system is resistance training. However, resistance training does not necessarily mean lifting weights. Resistance bands could be used as an alternative, or perhaps a circuit training session that only incorporates bodyweight exercises.

FITT Principle: Training Duration (Time)

The final component in the FITT principle of training is time – or how long you should be exercising for. Is longer always better?

Resistance Training Session Length

The common consensus for the duration of a resistance training session is no longer than 45-60 minutes. Again, intensity plays a role, and particularly grueling strength sessions may last as little as 20-30 minutes.

The Critical Role of Rest and Recovery

Perhaps the most important principle of training (that ironically doesn't have its own letter in the FITT principle) is rest. Exercising too frequently and too intensely hinders the body's ability to recover and adapt. As a rule of thumb, the harder you train, the more recovery you should allow for. Unfortunately, many athletes don't have that luxury!

Mastering Speed: Definition, Types, and Training

Defining Speed as a Physical Skill

From the perspective of Physical Education (PE), speed is considered a physical skill that allows you to perform motor activities as quickly as possible.

Therefore, we must distinguish different types of speed, as speed does not manifest itself equally in various motor skills such as throwing a ball, running, or making a jump. Similarly, we appreciate a common denominator in all of them: the rapid implementation of a gesture.

Components of Speed: Reaction and Movement Time

Speed is a combination of reaction time and movement time:

• Reaction time: The time it takes you to respond to a stimulus (e.g., a goalie responding to a shot in football or the starter's gun).
• Movement time: The time it takes to perform a movement (e.g., sprinting to catch an opponent or the arm speed in a golf swing).

There are fundamental factors upon which the rate of reaction depends.

Understanding Different Types of Speed

• Starting Speed: The ability of an athlete to go from a stopped or non-moving state to a moving or mobile state.
• Acceleration: The ability of an athlete to reach maximal speed in the shortest amount of time, under control.
• Speed Efficiency: Covers both the range of motion of the athlete and the deliberateness of the athlete's movement.

Biological Factors Influencing Speed

Speed can be improved through training that concentrates on strength and technique, although some factors may limit your speed:

• Inherited Characteristics: Such as the number of fast-twitch fibers you have.
• Body Shape and Size: Bone structure, weight, and muscle size will affect how quickly you can move. There is a direct relationship between strength and speed.
• Event Duration: Over longer distances, it is not possible to run at full speed.

Effective Methods for Speed Training

Regarding methods to gain speed, you have to take into account the following:

• The distances used in the movement will be short (40-50 m).
• The movements must be performed at full speed.
• You should make a few repetitions.
• Rest abundantly between repetitions (2-3 minutes) to perform the next repetition at maximum speed.
• Recovery time should not be measured by heart rate alone, as muscle recovery is slower than organic recovery.
• There should be a recovery time of between 48 and 72 hours before repeating the next speed training session.
• If you are working on several physical capabilities in one session, you should start with speed training.