Principles of Training and how they relate to my goal

1. Specificity – Training benefits depend on the specific training completed. I wanted to make sure that my training was specific to the goal that I had chosen. For example- I focused most of my training sessions on rowing. I also broke the rowing technique down. I need to make sure I was rowing the correct technique.
2. Progressive Overload- Progressive Overload is improving fitness which requires training that exceeds your current ability. I slowly progressed my training over the ten weeks. I also used overload a lot by doing a little bit extra during training.  
3. Rest and Recovery- Recovery after a session is important so that my body can get ready for the next physical activity session. Throughout my challenge I rested on Saturdays and had a light session on Sundays. After an intense training I would go home and ice my knee. I found this helped my recovery as my knee wouldn’t swell up as much.
4. F.I.T.T. Principles- fitness is improved by performing the appropriate frequency, intensity, time and type of activity. When considering the F.I.T.T principles I needed to make sure my training was specific so that progressive overload was achieved and I could plan appropriate rest and recovery. I made sure that during most of my sessions, I was training at a high intensity so that I would improve my fitness and benefit from the session. Usually I would plan each session and know exactly what I was going to do before going to the gym. I made sure every week I went to the gym at least four times.
5. Individuality- I had to make sure that my training progressions suited my own ability, to set my own goals and avoid competition with others.
6. Warm Up / Cool Down- The warm up principle states that training performance is improved by preparing effectively for the session. Every session I would warm up on the bike or the rowing machine. I found this was a good warm up as I would become focused for the session and my body would be warmed up enough for the work out. The cool-down principle states that recovery is accelerated by using appropriate strategies after a training session. Usually I would warm down on either the bike or rowing machine for around five to ten minutes, followed by walking home from the gym.
7. Maintenance principle states that fitness can be maintained by performing some minimal amount of training. When I had a rest week when I was training towards my goal I made sure that I maintained what I had previously gained. I wasn’t increasing my strength or increasing my fitness, just maintaining it.
8. Reversibility- fitness will be lost in the absence of training. I didn’t really use this principle as throughout the ten weeks I attended the gym frequently and I have carried on going to the gym to maintain my fitness and my gains so I can progress even further.