Training Principles & Team Sports

Using the FITT principle: Frequency — train 4 times per week, allowing 3 recovery days for rest and muscle repair. Intensity — work at 70–80% of maximum heart rate, which for a 12-year-old is approximately 145–166 bpm, ensuring the aerobic energy system is being challenged. Time — each session should include 30–45 minutes of sustained aerobic activity. Type — use continuous running, interval sprint sessions, or small-sided football games that mimic match demands. This applies the principle of specificity by using football-related activities rather than swimming or cycling.

Overload is the principle that training must be harder than the body’s current level in order to stimulate adaptation and improvement. If you always train at the same level, the body has no reason to get fitter. Progressive overload is the method of applying overload gradually over time — increasing the training load in small, controlled increments (e.g., 10% more distance per week). Progressive overload is important because sudden large increases in training load cause injury. The principle of progressive overload ensures the body is continually challenged, but within safe limits.

This best demonstrates the principle of specificity. Specificity states that training adaptations are specific to the muscles used, the energy system stressed, and the movement patterns trained. By focusing on breaststroke laps, the swimmer is training the exact muscles, range of motion, and cardiovascular demand required for their event. If they spent most of their time running or cycling, their fitness improvements would transfer poorly to breaststroke performance.

Step 1: Calculate estimated maximum heart rate: 220 − 13 = 207 bpm
Step 2: Calculate 75% of max HR: 207 × 0.75 = 155.25 bpm
Answer: The athlete should target approximately 155 bpm during training. This falls within the moderate-to-high intensity aerobic training zone, appropriate for developing cardiovascular endurance.

Mental wellbeing strategies directly improve athletic performance in several ways. Stress management techniques (such as controlled breathing or visualisation before competition) reduce excessive anxiety, which otherwise tightens muscles, impairs decision-making, and disrupts timing. Goal setting (using SMART criteria) keeps the athlete focused and motivated during long training periods when progress feels slow. Intrinsic motivation (competing because you love the sport) is more sustainable than extrinsic motivation (competing for prizes), meaning athletes who have it are more consistent in training. Finally, fair play and positive team culture build trust between teammates, improve communication on the field, and create a supportive environment where athletes perform closer to their potential.

This approach is flawed in two major ways. First, training every day without rest violates the principle of recovery. Muscle adaptation and fitness improvement happen during rest, not during exercise itself. Without recovery time, the body cannot repair micro-damage to muscle fibres, cortisol (stress hormone) remains elevated, and performance will decline — this is overtraining syndrome. Second, consuming only protein shakes ignores carbohydrate and fat needs. Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for sustained aerobic exercise; without adequate glycogen stores, performance and energy will rapidly deteriorate. Protein is essential for muscle repair but cannot replace carbohydrates as a primary training fuel. This student needs to apply progressive overload with scheduled rest days and a balanced diet.

The “I” stands for Intensity — how hard the training is. For a runner, intensity is typically measured as a percentage of maximum heart rate (max HR = 220 − age). A runner training at moderate intensity would aim for 60–70% of their max HR; high intensity would be 80–90%.

This violates the principle of specificity. Volleyball requires agility, power, cardiovascular endurance, and specific movement patterns (jumping, lateral shuffling, spiking). A training plan focused only on strength would develop muscle but would not improve the aerobic capacity, court movement, or sport-specific coordination needed for volleyball performance. Training must be specific to the demands of the sport.

Progressive overload. The distance increases by approximately 10% each week — a gradual, controlled increase in training load. This allows the body to adapt to each new level before the demand is increased again, reducing injury risk while continuing to stimulate fitness improvement.

Intrinsic motivation comes from within — the enjoyment, satisfaction, or love of the sport itself. Extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards — trophies, praise, rankings, or scholarships. Intrinsic motivation is generally better for long-term participation because it persists even when external rewards are absent. Athletes driven intrinsically continue training when they are not winning, during injury recovery, and into adulthood without competitive structures.

Dehydration impairs performance in multiple ways: it reduces blood volume, making the heart work harder to deliver oxygen to muscles; it impairs cognitive function and decision-making speed; it reduces the body’s ability to cool itself through sweating, increasing the risk of heat exhaustion; and it causes muscle cramps. Even a 2% reduction in body water can measurably impair endurance performance. Athletes should hydrate before, during, and after training.

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Instead of “I want to get fitter,” a SMART goal might be: “I will run 5km in under 28 minutes by the end of the 8-week training block, improving from my current time of 32 minutes.” This works because it gives a clear target (5km in <28 min), is measurable (timed), is achievable (4-minute improvement over 8 weeks), is relevant to cardiovascular fitness, and has a deadline. SMART goals direct training effort and provide a way to assess whether training is working.

Communication is fundamental to team sport performance. Verbal communication (calling for the ball, directing teammates’ positioning, warning of opponents) allows players to coordinate movement in real time. Non-verbal communication (eye contact, gestures, pointing) enables fast, silent coordination that opponents cannot easily respond to. Good communication reduces hesitation and collision errors, speeds up decision-making, and builds trust within the team. In MYP PHE Criterion C, demonstrating effective communication with teammates is a key indicator of high performance.

This is explained by the principle of reversibility (also called “detraining”). Reversibility states that fitness gains are lost when training stops. Without the stimulus of regular exercise, the body has no reason to maintain its current level of cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, or efficiency. Aerobic fitness begins to decline noticeably within 10–14 days without training. The student will need to rebuild their training gradually, applying progressive overload from a lower starting point.