This document discusses fitness components, tests, and training principles for physical fitness. It outlines the key health-related components of aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. It also discusses skill-related components like speed, power, agility, coordination, balance, and reaction time. The document then covers important training principles such as specificity, intensity, duration and frequency, progressive overload and variety, plateauing and detraining. It concludes by outlining various training methods including continuous, interval, resistance, flexibility, plyometrics, circuit, fartlek, speed, and Swiss ball/core strength training.

1. Fitness Components, Tests and
Training Principles
Unit 2 SAC 3

2. FITNESS COMPONENTS

3. HEALTH RELATED FITNESS
COMPONENTS

4. Aerobic Capacity/Aerobic Power
• Ability of the heart, blood vessels and lungs to
produce and deliver energy
• Sub-maximal effort or when predominately
using the aerobic energy system
• Increased levels allow more efficient
participation and recovery from activity
• VO2 max used to measure
• Examples: team sports, racquet sports, long
athletic events

5. Anaerobic Capacity/Anaerobic Power
• Ability to produce energy quickly
• Anaerobic energy systems used
• Maximal or near-max efforts up to 10-60 secs
• Include skills where acceleration and power are
required
• Examples: sprinting, field events, explosive skills
(rebound, block, mark etc.)

6. Muscular Strength
• 1RM
• One off performance of the skill eg. Tackle, grip
during a hockey hit
• Usually in conjunction with speed to create
muscular power
• Affected by: speed of muscle contraction,
length of muscle fibre, age, warm up, fibre type,
hypertrophy, gender and joint angle

7. Muscular Endurance
• Total body endurance
• Can include local muscular endurance in one
particular muscle group
• Related to the tolerance of metabolic by-
products
• Examples: arms in 200m swim, legs in
marathon or 20km cycling time-trial,
abdominals in sit up test

8. HEALTH RELATED FITNESS
COMPONENTS

9. Flexibility
• Range of movement within a joint
• Required for all sports
• Static (stationary)/ Dynamic (moving)
• Examples: gymnastics, goal keeping, catching
positions
• Affected by: sport, somatotype, skin
resistance, gender, type of
joint/structure/bone, length of
ligaments/muscles, age and warm up

10. Body Composition
• Percentage of body fat, muscle and bone
• Healthy body fat ranges:
– 5-18% males
– 12-25% females
• Unhealthy body fat ranges:
– >25% males
– >32% females

11. SKILL RELATED FITNESS
COMPONENTS

12. Speed
• Quickly as possible from A to B
• Whole body or body part
• Examples: sprinting, accelerating into space,
releasing a javelin

13. Muscular Power
• Combination of strength and speed
• Creates a powerful and explosive effort
• High: field events, tackling, spiking, intercepts,
golf drive etc.
• Medium: 200m, rallies, gym floor routine
• Low: 2000m rowing, 400m, 1km cycling TT

14. Agility
• Combines speed, flexibility &
dynamic balance
• Change direction with max speed
and control
• Examples: evading an opponent,
dribbling, changing skills in
gymnastics/dancing routines &
rallies
• Reactive or planned

15. Coordination
• Brain and activated muscles work together
• Series of movements which appear controlled
and efficient
• Requires strength, balance and agility
• Examples: dance movements, hitting, marking,
kicking etc.

16. Balance
• Effectively control desired movement
• Remain in a state of equilibrium
• Dynamic (moving) & static (stationary)
• Examples: running around the bend in
athletics, sprinting, routines, standing on one
foot etc.

17. Reaction Time
• Speed you react to a
stimulus
• Brain to react to input
senses, process, select
response and activate
muscles
• Examples: fielding,
starter’s gun, passing
in team games

18. TRAINING PRINCIPLES

19. Specificity
• Replicating the requirements of the sport into
training
• Includes:
– Energy systems
– Fitness components
– Muscle groups
– Skills

20. Intensity
• Matches use of energy
systems
– ATP-PC: 95-100% MHR
– AG: 85-95% MHR
– Aerobic <85% MHR
• Heart rate is most
commonly used
• May also use % of VO2
max

21. Duration & Frequency
• Duration
– Length of one training session
– Length of entire training program
• Frequency
– Number of sessions per week
– Consider recovery time

23. Progressive Overload & Variety
• Progressive Overload
– Increasing and progressing existing training levels
– Controlled carefully using frequency, intensity,
time & type (FITT principle)
• Variety
– Different activities, formats and drills during
training sessions
– Maintain motivation and therefore intensity

24. Plateauing & Detraining
• Diminishing Returns
– Fitness level increases, rate of improvement slows
– Overload needs to be carefully managed to avoid injury or
overtraining
• Reversibility/Detraining
– Loss of fitness when training stops
– Aerobic lost in 2-4 weeks; Anaerobic slower
• Maintenance
– Fitness level easier to maintain once reached compared to
when you started
• Individuality
– Responses to training programs vary greatly for each
individual
– Strongly influenced by hereditary

25. TRAINING METHODS

26. Continuous Training
• Long, slow distance
• Improves aerobic power, local muscular endurance &
tolerance of metabolic by products
• Examples: pre-season training, endurance events
– F: 3-4 sessions per week
– I: 70-90% MHR
– T: >20mins
– T: whole body activities

27. Interval Training
• Intervals of work, intervals of rest
• Easily adapted to specific energy systems

28. Resistance/Weight Training
• Isotonic: free weights eg.
Dumbbells, barbells and
resistance machines
• Isometric: fixed resistance in
static position eg. Handstand,
rings, grip strength
• Isokinetic: variable resistance
(machine) through range of
motion

29. Flexibility
• Specific to each joint
• Full range of motion (ROM)
• 3-4 per week for >3 weeks
• Perform after training session
– Static
– Active
– PNF
– Dynamic
– Ballistic

30. Plyometrics
• Skipping
• Increase muscular power by
stretching then contracting quickly
• Enhances neuromuscular
connections
• Examples: skipping, jumping,
tucks, hopping, bounding, box
jumps etc.

31. Circuit
• Number of activity stations in sequence
• Trains a wide variety of fitness components
• Can have minimal/no equipment
• Can alter recovery time/type, work time, reps,
sets, resistance

32. Fartlek
• Change of intensity
(effort of gradient)
through continuous
training
• Work both aerobic &
anaerobic systems

33. Speed
• Use ATP-PC system (<10 secs duration)
• Require full recovery of 3-5mins
• Focus on technique

34. Swiss Ball/Core Strength
• Swiss Ball
– Balance, flexibility &
core strength work
• Core Strength
– Focus on trunk
muscles and
position of lower
back/pelvis
– Balance, strength &
coordination