Physical Training

What Physical Training covers

Physical Training is examined in Paper 1, The human body and movement in physical activity and sport. It covers health, fitness and exercise, components of fitness, fitness tests and their data, principles of training, types of training, training intensities and one rep max, injury prevention, altitude training and training seasons and warm up and cool down.

The 8 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Health, fitness and exerciseWhat health, fitness, exercise and performance mean, how ill health affects fitness, and why a person can be fit but unhealthy or healthy but unfit.Open →
• Components of fitnessAgility, balance, cardiovascular endurance, coordination, flexibility, muscular endurance, power, reaction time, strength and speed, with worked examples and the demands of different sports.Open →
• Fitness tests and their dataThe protocols of the Illinois, Stork Stand, Multi Stage, Wall Toss, Sit and Reach, Sit-Up Bleep, Vertical Jump, Ruler Drop, One Rep Max, 30 m sprint and handgrip tests, and their limitations.Open →
• Principles of trainingSpecificity, progressive overload, reversibility and tedium, and the FITT principle of frequency, intensity, time and type applied to real performers.Open →
• Types of trainingCircuit, continuous, Fartlek, interval, static stretching, weight and plyometric training, with the advantages and disadvantages of each.Open →
• Training intensities and one rep maxTraining thresholds and zones, maximum heart rate and the aerobic and anaerobic zones with worked calculations, and using one rep max for strength or endurance.Open →
• Injury prevention, altitude training and training seasonsHow to prevent injury through matched training, rest, clothing, taping, hydration and technique, altitude training and its limits, and the three training seasons.Open →
• Warm up and cool downThe stages of a warm up and why each matters, how warm ups prevent injury, what a cool down includes, and warm ups designed for sprinters and goalkeepers.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Physical Training further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Health vs Fitness

  Health: a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing. Fitness: the ability to meet the demands of the environment.

• Muscular endurance vs Cardiovascular endurance

  Muscular endurance: the ability of a muscle group to contract repeatedly without tiring. Cardiovascular endurance: the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen to the working muscles over a long period.

• Power vs Strength

  Power: force combined with speed in one explosive movement. Strength: the ability to overcome a resistance.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Why can a person with no illness still lack good health?

   Model answer

   Good health means complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not just freedom from disease. A person who is lonely or highly stressed lacks full health.

2. 2

   Why does the fitness a person needs depend on the demands placed on them?

   Model answer

   Fitness is the ability to meet the demands of the environment. A person fit enough for office work may not be fit enough for a rugby match.

3. 3

   What is exercise?

   Model answer

   Exercise is physical activity done to maintain or improve health or fitness. Exercise is not the same as competitive sport.

4. 4

   What is meant by performance in physical activity?

   Model answer

   Performance is how well a task is completed. Health and fitness both affect the level of performance.

5. 5

   How can ill health lead to a fall in fitness?

   Model answer

   Ill health can leave a performer unable to train. Fitness then falls because the body loses its training adaptations.

6. 6

   A footballer catches flu and misses two weeks of training. What happens to her fitness, and why?

   Model answer

   The footballer's fitness will fall because she cannot train. Cardiovascular endurance drops once regular training stops.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Physical Training revision questions

What does Physical Training cover in AQA GCSE Physical Education?

8 subtopics: health, fitness and exercise, components of fitness, fitness tests and their data, principles of training, types of training, training intensities and one rep max, injury prevention, altitude training and training seasons and warm up and cool down. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Physical Training organised?

By the AQA 8582 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.