Sports training: what it is, principles and types

Sports training is carried out and planned by a physical education professional for the student according to the objective set by the athlete. This objective may be a competition or simply the desire to improve physical performance.

The professional must prepare the training based on the principles of sports training that must be followed to achieve the benefits that this type of activity offers.

What is sports training?

In other words, it is a set of long-lasting physical exercises with more intense complexity, with the aim of challenging and improving the practitioner's development.

However, it is not enough for the athlete to create a training session with more intense and longer exercises on their own; these activities must be interconnected and performed progressively in accordance with the principles of the sport.

Basically, the physical education professional must develop an individual plan respecting the athlete's needs and physiological capacity.

Some instructors carry out group training, however, it is important to emphasize individual care with each athlete, after all, each organism responds differently to stimuli.

What are the principles of sports training?

As mentioned at the beginning of the text, this modality follows a line of principles that must be considered by the professional when planning the training. Check out some of them below.

1. Adaptation

It is about getting the athlete's body and organism to find balance in each challenge and environment where the exercise will be carried out.

2. Continuity

Basically, continuity is the clarification that, in order to enjoy the gains from training, the athlete must perform the exercises for a certain period, without any significant gaps or pauses.

3. Specificity

The professional must create a technical sheet explaining each exercise in a systematic manner, giving the necessary coordinates regarding the execution and the energy aspects spent and acquired with the activity.

4. Biological individuality

Understanding that each athlete has an individual genetic load and that activities need to be performed according to individual characteristics is also an important principle in the sports training process.

5. Interdependence of volume or intensity

This principle is based on the application of volume versus exercise intensity or vice versa, using both factors intelligently and effectively.

6. Reversibility

It is nothing more than understanding that the body can return to the same condition as before training if the individual does not continue the training and lifestyle established with the physical education professional.

7. Overload

The issue of respecting the necessary rest time is also fundamental, remembering that this period must be proportional to the intensity of the exercise.

8. Trainability

Controlling the amount of training is also a fundamental part of the sports training process, understanding that excessive practice and lack of overload can lead to injuries that make it difficult to achieve results.

What are the benefits of sports training?

There are many benefits of this training that directly impact the quality of life and work of those who practice it.

To make things easier, we have listed below some of the most common advantages that can be noticed after just a few months of training. Check it out!

1. Prevention of physical problems.
2. Increases cognitive control.
3. Development of bone health.
4. Greater motivation to practice activities.
5. Increased healthy competitiveness.
6. Improves physical performance.
7. Helps combat stress, depression and anxiety.

Finally, it is important to emphasize that the benefits are the result of training carried out correctly, respecting the athlete's limits, needs and objectives and the basic principles mentioned above.

How to put together a sports training plan?

There are many techniques for putting together an efficient plan in line with the athlete’s goals.

It is important to emphasize that most of these concepts that aid planning are developed with the practitioner in mind as a professional, someone who will compete in the future .

Therefore, the division is planned according to the preparation, the competition and the post-competition period.

There are several names for these periods and, below, we clarify a basic planning model, considering the periodization and evolution of the professional athlete.

Remembering that, if the individual is not a sports professional and only wishes to participate in sports training with the aim of personal development and performance, the planning of these activities must respect the individual's physical limits.

Periodization of sports training

Training needs to have a periodization divided into three categories, known as preparatory, competitive and transition.

There are two categories for the preparatory period: general preparation and specific preparation. By focusing on their optimal physical preparation, strength, agility, and endurance, this stage aids the athlete in being prepared for the competition.

In this periodization model, the athlete must start his training in a lighter way, progressively increasing the complexity of the exercises, so that, in the next stage, his body is in the best sporting shape.

Competitive period: upon reaching this stage, the athlete must be physically prepared for competition, carrying out intense and stable training that will be maintained until the day of the competition.

During this period, the coach needs to help the athlete with physical and psychological preparation, as a nervous individual or one with low concentration may make small errors in execution, increasing the possibility of muscle injuries .

Transition period: after the competition, the coach establishes a transition interval for the athlete, reducing the intensity of training so that he can recover from the previous periods.

That is, the transition period does not count as a total inertia, because it is necessary to maintain the evolution of sports training. Therefore, it is essential that training is only reduced in favor of muscle rest, so that injuries caused by overtraining do not occur.