What does fitt mean in fitness

Related to the second principle of progression is the FITT formula: frequency, intensity, time and type. I'll say it one more time: frequency, intensity, time and type. And this is simply a formula that's used as a guideline for creating an exercise program that's both safe and effective for developing physical fitness. Frequency, we're talking about how often you exercise, once a week, twice a week, five times a week. So, you might have six sessions a week that you do, or it can even be broken down over like a periodization program.

Are you hitting the gym? So, that just gives you sort of an overview. Now when it comes to this FITT principle, I feel is most beneficial when it comes to recovery and rehabilitation and so forth. But after we get over that your body starts to adapt to the training and starts to getting stronger.

The problem is that your muscles adapt much quicker to the training than the rest of your body does. So, your joints, your ligaments, your tendons, the joint capsules, your bones, everything else takes a lot longer to catch up.

And so, what happens is you start exercising and you get over that initial sort of soreness, and then you start feeling really good. Your muscles start feeling stronger, you feel like you can run further, you feel like you can lift more weight and you feel really good. You feel encouraged and you feel sort of encouraged to push and do more and more. The issue is that your muscles have adapted, and your muscles have got stronger.

But the tendons that attach those muscles to the bones are still lagging behind the ligaments that provide the structure and the support of your joints.

And what typically happens is about two to three months into an exercise program, or after someone started an exercise program, they typically start to get these little aches and pains and little niggles and twinges and knee starts hurting a little bit, or my shoulders a little bit sore.

And then what we do is we just cut in half the frequency. So, if they were exercising six times a week, we just cut that down to three times a week, and we cut the time in half. So, cut the frequency in half, cut the time in half, you can keep the intensity and the type of exercise the same but just cut that frequency and time in half.

The standard recommendation for cardio training is as follows. When the FITT Principle is used as part of strength training, the standard recommendations are as follows. Frequency — 5 to 7 times per week. Unlike other types of exercises, like cardio and strength training, stretching when done properly is very relaxing and therapeutic, and will help you recover from your other activities.

So feel free to add stretching to your exercise program every day. Intensity — Slow, easy and relaxed. When the goal is to improve flexibility and range of motion you should do your stretching at a low intensity. Move into the stretch position and as soon as you feel deep tension within the muscle group, stop there.

On a scale of 1 to 10 aim for a tension of about 6 or 7 out of Time — Anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes, and hold each stretch for 40 to 60 seconds. For improving range of motion and creating permanent changes in your flexibility the best types of stretching to use are long-hold static stretching, passive or assisted stretching and PNF stretching.

How does all this relate to injury prevention? The two biggest mistakes I see people make when designing an exercise program are:.

Frequency After you finish exercising your body goes through a process of rebuilding and repair. What usually happens is that you end up getting tired or injured and just quit. Sure beats dragging yourself out the door everyday because you feel guilty about taking a day off every now and then, or just having an easy training day. Many elite level athletes have seen big improvements in performance when forced to take an extended break.

In regards to intensity and time, vary your effort. Dedicate some of your workouts to long, easy sessions like long walks or light, repetitive weights. According to Harvard Health , aerobic exercise is when your heart rate reaches between 70 and 85 percent of your MHR.

To find your target heart rate zone, use this calculation: MHR multiplied by percentage rate in decimals. According to the American Heart Association , the target heart rate zone for a year-old is approximately 95 to beats per minute. Experts recommend at least minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or at least 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise a week. Of course, you can increase or decrease this duration based on several factors, including current fitness level, age, weight, health, and others.

A cardio workout is recommended to last a minimum of 30 minutes. This can be longer, depending on the exercise. A long bike ride, for example, could take up to 2 hours. Once your endurance builds, you can gradually increase the time spent exercising. Strength training is any type of exercise that tones and strengthens the muscles.

It usually results in muscular hypertrophy. When you notice that your weight is no longer budging, you can look to your FITT plan and find ways to improve it. In addition to busting through plateaus, the FITT principle encourages cross-training.

This is when you use several modes of training to reach your desired fitness goals. For example, you may alternate between walking, strength training, and dancing to help you see results — and keep boredom at bay.

Cross-training comes with several other benefits. Incorporating the FITT principle into your life can be simple. Before you create your plan, get concrete about your goals. For example, when strength training, the goal is to push your muscles to the point of fatigue without overexerting them.

Only increase the weight for an exercise when you can still maintain proper form. The intensity of your workouts can also depend on the length and frequency of them.

To achieve a balanced body, you need to work several different muscle groups.