Principles of Training and Physical Adaptation Mechanisms

Written on October 24, 2025 in English with a size of 3.15 KB

Core Principles of Effective Physical Training

Understanding these fundamental principles is crucial for maximizing results and ensuring safe, sustainable fitness development.

Principle of Individuality

Training must take into account the particular characteristics of each person, such as age, sex, and current physical fitness (CF base).

Principle of Progression

Physical condition will not improve if the body becomes accustomed to the effort. We must gradually increase the load (e.g., increasing weight, repetitions, speed, or distance) to continue adapting.

Overload Principle

To improve, we must use weights, distances, speeds, or repetitions that involve overload and force an extra effort. Avoid comfort, as improvement requires challenging the system.

Principle of Continuity

Physical work must be consistent. Without continuity, the body cannot achieve effective adaptation.

Principle of Specificity

Training should focus on preparing the specific parts of the body and skills most utilized in the chosen sport or work activity.

Principle of Transfer

Training one type of exercise can positively influence another. For example, improving speed can enhance performance in the long jump.

Principle of Effective Effort (Training Readiness)

Training sessions must involve effective efforts. This means avoiding training when excessively tired or in poor physical condition, ensuring the quality of the stimulus.

Understanding Physical Adaptation

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

The General Adaptation Syndrome is defined as the body's non-specific adaptive response to any cause that endangers its ecological balance.

The effort required during training is considered an aggressive agent, especially when the body is not accustomed to it. The organism's mechanism goes through three distinct phases:

Alarm
Resistance (or Fitness/Strength)
Exhaustion

Phase 1: Alarm Stage

This stage produces the first aggressive action of the agent (the training stimulus), followed by the body's reaction to compensate for the assault. If we perform appropriate training—making an effort to which we are not used—we must reach our limit (known as the threshold law of Shultz). Performing work to which we are already accustomed will not yield any change.

Phase 2: Resistance Stage

The body attempts to return to equilibrium using its existing mechanisms to cope with the aggression. If we force a particular training pace, the body may try to reduce that rate to feel comfortable, but this is not the purpose of effective training.

Phase 3: Exhaustion or Adaptation Stage

In this final stage, the body may succumb, or its mechanisms may readjust to adapt to the workload. Through successful training, we achieve a modification of our body so that facing the task again no longer constitutes an aggression.

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