UNIT III
The Exercise Program
What is an
Exercise Program?
Exercise Program
- is a structured plan outlining a series of
physical exercises and the duration/intensity
of each, designed to help individuals achieve
their fitness goals. It can be tailored to
individual needs and should consider factors
like current fitness level, goals, and medical
history.
Components of Fitness
Program
1. Warm up – it prepares the body for
physical activity. There are two good reasons
for warming up prior to activity. The first is to
prepare the heart muscle and circulatory
system. A proper warm up decreases the risk
of irregular heart beats associated with poor
coronary circulation.
The second reason for a warm up is to
stretch the skeletal muscle. By gradually
warming up the body, the muscles become
more elastic and extensible. The skeletal
muscle warm-up should statically stretch of
the major muscle groups involved in the
exercise.
The Work Out
– elevates the heart and achieves aerobic
fitness. Activities which may be included in
this phrase, are walking, jogging, running,
swimming, skipping, and aerobic dancing.
This phrase should follow the principles of
training about frequency, intensity, and
time.
MFIT
In the context of physical education, "MFIT" refers to
the Mode, Frequency, Intensity, and Time principles,
which are key components for designing effective
workout programs.
MFIT
Here's a breakdown of each component:
Mode:
Refers to the type of activity or exercise you're doing
(e.g., running, swimming, cycling, strength training).
MFIT
Frequency:
How often you engage in physical activity or exercise
(e.g., 3 times a week, 5 times a week).
MFIT
Intensity:
How hard or strenuous your workouts are (e.g.,
moderate, vigorous).
MFIT
Time:
How long you engage in physical activity or exercise
during each session (e.g., 30 minutes, 60 minutes).
3. The cool-down
– Is immediately done after the work-out. This part
helps in returning the blood to the heart for re-
oxygenation, thus preventing a pool of blood in the
muscles of the arms and legs. After vigorous activity,
enough blood may not circulate back to the brain, heart
and symptoms such as dizziness and faintness may
occur without cool-down. Two principal components of
a cool-down: static muscle stretching and activity for
cardiovascular system.
Three Types of Exercises
- Isotonic Exercise – where the muscles are made to do some
contraction and relaxation to gain tones. These movements are
common to many physical education activities.
- Isometric Exercise – where the muscles are made to undergo
tension and hold a certain position for some time in order to
develop muscle strength.
- Aerobic Exercises – which entails vigorous movements such as
brisk walking, jogging, running and dancing. The body
experiences fast breathing so that the muscles of the heart and
the lungs are exercised.
6 Scientific Rules That Lead to
Fitness
by Elizabeth Quinn
- In the study of exercise science, there are
several universally accepted scientific
exercise training principles that must be
followed in order to get the most from the
exercise programs and improve both
physical fitness and sports performance.
Rule 1 – The Principle of
Individual Differences
The principle of individual differences simply
means that, because we all are unique individuals,
we will all have a slightly different response to an
exercise program. This is another way of saying that
“one size does not fit all” when it comes to
exercise. Well-designed exercise programs should
be based on our individual differences and
responses to exercise.
Some of these differences have to do with
body size and shape, genetics, past
experience, chronic conditions, injuries, and
even gender. For example, women generally
need more recovery time than men, and
older athletes generally need more recovery
time than younger athletes.
Rule 2 – The Principle of
Overload
The exercise science principle of overload
states that a greater than normal stress or
load on the body is required for training
adaptation to take place. What this means
is that in order to improve our fitness,
strength or endurance, we need to
increase the workload accordingly.
In order for a muscle (including the heart) to
increase strength, it must be gradually stressed by
working against a load greater than it is
accustomed to. TO increase endurance, muscles
must work for a longer period of time than they are
accustomed to or at a higher intensity level. This
could mean lifting more weight or doing high
intensity interval training workouts.
Rule 3 – The Principle of
Progression
The principle of progression implies that there is an
optimal level of overload that should be achieved, and
an optimal time frame for this overload occur. A gradual
and systematic increase of the workload over a period
of time will result in improvements in fitness without
risk of injury. If overload occurs too slowly,
improvement is unlikely, but overload that is increased
too rapidly may result in injury or muscle damage.
For example, the weekend athlete who
exercises vigorously only on weekends
violates the principle of progression and
most likely will not see obvious fitness
gains.
The Principle of Progression also stresses
the need for proper rest and recovery.
Continual stress on the body and constant
overload will result in exhaustion and
injury. You should not train hard all the
time as you’ll risk overtraining and
decrease in fitness.
Rule 4 – The Principle of
Adaptation
Adaptation refers to the body’s ability to adjust
to increased physical demands. It is also one
way we learn to coordinate muscle movement
and develop sports-specific skills, such as
batting, swimming freestyle, or shooting free
throws. Repeatedly practicing a skill or activity
makes it second-nature and easier to perform.
Adaptation explains why beginning
exercisers are often sore after starting a
new routine, but after doing the same
exercise for weeks and months they have
little, if any, muscle soreness.
Additionally, it makes an athlete very
efficient and allows him to expend less
energy doing the same movements. This
reinforces the need to vary a workout
routine if you want to see continued
improvement.
Rule 5 – The Principle of
Use/Disuse
The Principle of Use/Disuse implies when it
comes to fitness, you do actually “use it or
lose it.” This simply mean that your
muscles hypertrophy with use and atrophy
with disuse. This also explains why we
decondition, or lose fitness, when we stop
exercise.
Rule 6 – The Principle of
Specificity
We’ve all heard the phrase, “practice
makes perfect.” Well, this is the principle
of specificity in action. This principle
simply states that exercising a certain
body part or component of the body
primarily develops that part.
The principle of specificity implies that, to become
better at a particular exercise or skill, must perform
that exercise or skill. A runner should train by
running, a swimmer by swimming and cyclist by
cycling. While it’s helpful to have a good base of
fitness and to do general conditioning routines, if
you want to be better at your sport, you need to
train specifically for that sport.