Explain the principles of training (specificity, progressive overload, reversibility, tedium) and apply FITT to a programme

What this dot point is asking

SEAB wants you to explain the principles that make a training programme work and to apply the FITT framework to adjust it. The central idea is that improvement is not random: the body adapts only when training is specific to the goal, made progressively harder, and kept up, and FITT gives you the levers to control that.

The answer

The principles of training

Four principles govern whether training improves fitness.

• Specificity: training must match the demands of the sport or the fitness component you want to improve. Train the right energy system, muscles and movements.
• Progressive overload: to improve, the body must be worked harder than it is used to, with the demand increased gradually over time so it keeps adapting without injury.
• Reversibility: fitness gains are lost if training stops or eases off. "Use it or lose it" applies, which is why an injured or resting athlete declines.
• Tedium (variance): training that is repetitive becomes boring, so motivation falls. Varying the sessions keeps an athlete engaged and training consistently.

A useful memory aid is SPORT: Specificity, Progression, Overload, Reversibility, Tedium.

The FITT framework

FITT is the practical way to apply overload. It stands for:

• Frequency: how often you train (sessions per week).
• Intensity: how hard you train (speed, weight, heart-rate zone).
• Time: how long each session lasts.
• Type: the kind of training (continuous, interval, weights and so on).

To create progressive overload you increase one or more of frequency, intensity and time over the weeks, while choosing a type that fits the goal (specificity).

Putting it together

A good programme is specific to the athlete's sport, overloads them gradually using FITT, varies the sessions to avoid tedium, and is kept up to avoid reversibility. Ignore any one principle and progress stalls or the athlete gets hurt or bored.

Examples in context

Example 1. A swimmer building endurance. The coach keeps the training specific (swim sets, not running), overloads by adding sessions and distance through FITT, varies the strokes and drills to beat tedium, and keeps the athlete training year-round to avoid reversibility. All four principles operate at once in a single programme.

Example 2. A footballer returning from injury. After weeks off, the player has lost fitness through reversibility, so the coach restarts with lighter loads and rebuilds using progressive overload. Pushing straight back to full training would risk re-injury, which is why overload must be gradual.

Try this

• Cue. Name the five principles summed up by SPORT. (Specificity, Progression, Overload, Reversibility, Tedium.)

• Cue. Explain how a weightlifter applies progressive overload over a month. (They gradually add weight or repetitions each week so the muscles keep being worked harder than before and keep adapting.)

• Cue. State what each FITT letter controls and give one way to overload using two of them. (Frequency, intensity, time, type; for example train four times a week instead of three and extend each session from 30 to 40 minutes.)