Training Methods

What Training Methods covers

Training Methods is assessed in Unit AS 1, Fitness and Training for Sport, which is internally assessed and externally moderated. It covers principles of training: SPORT and FITT, goal setting and SMARTER targets for training, periodisation and training cycles, the ATP-PC, lactic acid and aerobic energy systems, continuous, fartlek, interval and speed training and circuit, resistance, SAQ, core stability and stretching.

The 6 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Principles of training: SPORT and FITTSpecificity, progression, overload, reversibility and tedium, FITT, variance, recovery and individual differences, and applying each principle to runners, footballers and swimmers.Open →
• Goal setting and SMARTER targets for trainingWhy performers set goals, the letters of SMARTER, short-term and long-term goals, outcome, performance and process goals, goals set too high or low, and agreeing goals with a coach.Open →
• Periodisation and training cyclesMacrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles, the preparation, competition and transition phases, tapering, peaking, double periodisation, recovery and the problem for a football club.Open →
• The ATP-PC, lactic acid and aerobic energy systemsATP and its resynthesis, the ATP-PC, lactic acid and aerobic systems, their durations and events, fatigue, fat as fuel, the energy continuum, thresholds and a midfielder's energy use.Open →
• Continuous, fartlek, interval and speed trainingAerobic and anaerobic training, continuous, fartlek and interval training, HIIT, speed training, resisted, assisted and hollow sprints, and choosing a method for 400 m and 10 km runners.Open →
• Circuit, resistance, SAQ, core stability and stretchingCircuit and resistance training, free weights against machines, plyometrics, SAQ, core stability, active, passive, PNF and dynamic stretching.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Training Methods further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Continuous training vs Fartlek training

  Continuous training: steady exercise at one pace without rest for a sustained period. Fartlek training: running with varied pace and terrain without full rest.

• ATP-PC system vs Lactic acid system

  ATP-PC system: energy from breaking down phosphocreatine for about ten seconds of maximal effort. Lactic acid system: energy from breaking down glucose without oxygen for up to about two minutes.

• Macrocycle vs Microcycle

  Macrocycle: the longest planned training period, usually a season or year. Microcycle: the shortest planned block, usually one week of sessions.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What does the SPORT acronym stand for?

   Model answer

   SPORT stands for specificity, progression, overload, reversibility and tedium. Each letter is a principle to apply when planning training.

2. 2

   What is the principle of specificity?

   Model answer

   Specificity means training must match the demands of the sport, including its muscles, energy systems and movements. A sprinter trains with short, fast efforts rather than long jogs.

3. 3

   What is the principle of progression?

   Model answer

   Progression is the gradual increase in training demand as the body adapts. Too little progression causes a plateau, while too much risks injury.

4. 4

   What is the principle of overload?

   Model answer

   Overload means working the body harder than it is used to so that it adapts. Overload is applied by raising the frequency, intensity, time or type of training.

5. 5

   What does FITT stand for, and how does it relate to overload?

   Model answer

   FITT stands for frequency, intensity, time and type. Each of the four factors can be adjusted to apply overload.

6. 6

   Give an example of overload through each part of FITT for a runner.

   Model answer

   Frequency rises from three to four runs a week, and intensity rises from easy pace to tempo pace. Time rises from 20 to 30 minutes, and the type changes from flat routes to hills.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Training Methods revision questions

What does Training Methods cover in CCEA A-Level Sports Science and the Active Leisure Industry?

6 subtopics: principles of training: sport and fitt, goal setting and smarter targets for training, periodisation and training cycles, the atp-pc, lactic acid and aerobic energy systems, continuous, fartlek, interval and speed training and circuit, resistance, saq, core stability and stretching. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Training Methods organised?

By the CCEA 7210 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.