Getting fitter...
'Fitness incorporates a number of different areas - usually five MAIN areas, and a bunch of specific skill areas after that.
The five main areas of fitness, just briefly, are:
- Body Composition
- Muscular Strength
- Muscular Endurance
- Cardiovascular Endurance
- Flexibility
After those basics, there is also specific skills, including things such as:
- Power
- Speed
- Agility
- Co-ordination
Basic fitness will include proficiency in the five basic areas, but as a person focuses on their area of performance - there skill base becomes very specific.
Target Performance
In order to go about training for a given sport/ goal - as a base most people take an 'all of body' approach, ie: core strength and balance, neurological conditioning, muscular strength, range of motion and flexibility, aerobic fitness and so on. Once this is established, corrective measures/training programs need to be put in place to achieve in each of these areas - and the real training starts.
When developing a plan there could be a number of goals such as:
- To maximise strength to body mass ratio
- To maximise muscle strength with explosive movements for push off power
- To maximise speed
And different plans would therefore incorporate any number of the following:
- Warm ups/ cool downs
- Anaerobic training (learning to perform ‘when experiencing discomfort’)
- Train with ‘good form’ and proper technique
- Developing mental strength, ie pushing the limit. Learning visualisation and focusing techniques is important here
- Ensuring built in adequate rest, including good sleep and recovery techniques (very important if the body is to perform well under stress)
- Re-testing to re-set training every 4 – 6 weeks
PLEASE NOTE: Good nutrition and advice about calorie requirements, macronutrient levels, supplements, chemical “assistance” or anything else is also essential here and there are many bits of bad information (and myths) out about training programs and what 'works'.... One size does NOT fit all goals - so be cautious about what it is you choose to follow/ believe.
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