There are certain training principles that have to be stuck to in order to make your fitness programme successful. Without following these basic guidelines, no amount of hard work will be effective over the long term. The training principles are what we follow at AdMac Fitness.
The training principles are closely linked and become increasingly important the more seriously training is taken. For a large majority, adherence is the first factor that arguably comes ahead of these - the good workout programme you’ll follow is better than the perfect workout programme that you won’t, so go back to these training principles when you’re designing your workout plan.
So without further ado, here are the training principles that you should know in order to make you training programme more effective.
Specificity
The principle of specificity dictates that in order to achieve your goals the type of training and/or exercises you do need to be specific to the desired outcome.
I’ll explain that in English…
If you’re a powerlifter and your main aim is to get stronger, you need to be focussing specifically on strength. There’s little point in you going for a long, slow jog because it contradicts your goals. A slow jog isn’t going to help you get stronger, so it’s a non-specific form of exercise.
Overload
The principle of overload means that any training you do must be enough stimulus to drive changes.
If you’re a runner, that may come in the form of running longer, running faster or running up more hills. If you’re a bodybuilder wanting to build muscle, you’ll have to lift heavier, you’ll have to do more reps and more sets.
The principle of overload means you overload your body to force it into further adaption by making it work harder than it’s usually capable of for a period of time.
Fatigue Management
Physical improvement can only occur if you put a lot of focus into recovery.
When you’re training hard, demanding a lot of yourself and making sacrifices in other areas of life to make progress, you need to look after your energy levels. Giving yourself adequate recovery time to manage your fatigue is really important.
You can look after your recovery in lots of ways - getting enough sleep in and looking after your nutrition are the big two, but other approaches such as active recovery and regular sauna use have been proven to be effective as well.
Programming
Exercise programming is more than just ‘3 sets of 10 bench press’. There are lots of other variables that require the attention of a personal trainer.
At AdMac Fitness we are looking at frequency, intensity, duration, exercise selection and movement patterns during our workouts. If you’re unaware of fitness programming, you may come into a class or a personal training session and wonder if it’s a thrown-together series of random movements, but it’s actually a thought-through and considered series.
Good programming is the difference between clients getting results and clients drifting through their training without making improvements.
Individualisation
The principle of individualisation is really important and it’s one of the reasons we are so successful when it comes to results.
It’s a case of considering a client’s training history, lifestyle, family/work commitments, injuries etc that can inform programming decisions. If you’re brand new to exercise and have a history of injuries, your programming can’t be the same as someone who has 5 years of strength training and conditioning under their belt.
Training Principles: Concluded
This is a simplified view of the training principles, but the article can serve as a good reminder for areas you might need to focus on whilst you’re programming your own exercise.
These principles might also give clues as to why your progress hasn't been what it could be - perhaps you’ve been going about your training with the wrong approach. If you need any help or advice, get in touch with our team at admacfitness@gmail.com.
Failing that, jump in with us…
Jump on my Home Workout Classes
To help the AdMac Fitness members stay on top of their fitness whilst under lockdown, I’m offering two online zoom sessions a week. These are held on Monday’s and Thursday’s, 6.30-7.30pm.
Each class is £5 and free for NHS staff members.
To enrol, send me an email or WhatsApp (click the link and it’ll let you do it) and I’ll send you the meeting number and passcode to access the session.
AdMac Fitness is keeping the world active during this, you can rely on us!