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BASIC EXERCISE SCIENCE (BES) COURSE

Lecture 1 – Introduction to exercise science, terminologies
and principles of training

School of
Sports, Health
and Leisure
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Learning outcomes
• Explain exercise science in the context of health and fitness
• Define fundamental concepts of exercise and fitness
• Identify and explain the different health- and skill-related fitness
components
• Identify and explain the principles of training
• Apply the principles of training in exercise programmes

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Exercise science in the

health and fitness
context

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Explain exercise science in the health and

fitness context
• What is exercise science?
• “Exercise Science is a theory-based, research-led discipline that seeks
applied solutions to health problems related to physical inactivity, and
which aims to understand and promote individual and public health
and wellbeing through evidence-based physical activity
interventions.”
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26396350_What_is_Exercise_Science

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Fundamental concepts of
exercise and fitness

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Fundamental concepts of exercise and fitness

• Physical activity
• “Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy
expenditure – including activities undertaken while working, playing, carrying out
household chores, travelling, and engaging in recreational pursuits.” (WHO, 2018)

• Exercise – a subcategory of physical activity

• “planned, structured, repetitive, and aims to improve or maintain one or more
components of physical fitness.” (WHO, 2018)

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Fundamental concepts of exercise and fitness

– continue
• Health
• “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (WHO, 1946)

• Fitness
• Degree of balance, flexibility, agility, speed, strength, power, and endurance
• A state of ability to perform sustained physical work characterized by effective
integration of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, coordination, and
body composition
• The ability to conduct daily tasks with vigor and alertness without undue fatigue,
and with ample energy to enjoy leisure time pursuits and to meet unforeseen
emergencies (President Council of Fitness, 1971)
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Fundamental concepts of exercise and fitness

– continue
• Fitness
• Ability to perform moderate to vigorous levels of physical activities without
undue fatigue and the capability of maintaining such ability throughout life
(ACSM, 1990)
• A set of attributes that people have or achieve that relates to the ability to
perform physical activity (Caspersen CJ et al., Pub Health Rep,1985)
• Ability to perform muscular work satisfactorily (WHO, 1971)
• Is NOT defined according to a set of performance standards
• It is defined according to occupational and lifestyle tasks
• It is individualized, i.e., the ability to perform lifestyle and occupational tasks that
are expected of the individual

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Health- and skill-related

components of fitness

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Health-related Skill-related

Reaction
Power
Time
Body CV
compositio endurance
n

Speed Agility
Muscular
Strength
endurance

Coordin
Balance
ation
Flexibility

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Health-related components of fitness

• Cardiovascular endurance – or cardiorespiratory fitness, or aerobic fitness/capacity,
etc. is the ability to perform large muscle, dynamic, moderate-to-high intensity
exercise for prolonged periods
• Muscular endurance – the ability of a muscle group to execute repeated contractions
over a period of time sufficient to cause muscular fatigue, or to maintain a specific
percentage of the maximum voluntary contraction for a prolonged period of time
• Flexibility – the ability to move a joint through its complete range of movement. But
flexibility is dependent upon which muscle and joint is being evaluated; therefore, it is
joint specific
• Muscular strength – the maximal force that can be generated by a specific muscle or
muscle group
• Body composition – refers to the relative percentage of body weight that is fat and
fat-free tissue (muscle tissue and organs)
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Skill-related components of fitness

• Power – the ability to transfer energy into force at fast rate
• Agility – the ability to change rapidly and accurately the direction of the
movement of the entire body and space
• Balance – maintenance of equilibrium while stationary or while moving
• Coordination – the ability to use the senses with the body parts to
perform motor tasks smoothly and accurately
• Speed – the ability to perform a movement in a short period
• Reaction time – the time elapsed between stimulation and the beginning
of reaction to that stimulation

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Differences between health-related and skill-

related fitness
Health-related fitness Skill-related fitness
Promote optimum health Enhances one’s performance in
Prevent onset of diseases athletic or sports events
Prevent functional disabilities Motor skills

(Hoeger & Hoeger, 2011)

“The five health-related components of physical fitness are more

important to public health than are the components related to athletic
ability.” (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

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Principles of training

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Eight principles of training (Part 1)

Specificity Overloading

Perform exercises that Progressively increased in

involves the exact action, order to further increase
skill and energy system. adaptive responses.
Intensity, Volume, Rest Time

Recovery Adaptation

Adequate rest periods are Biological systems can adapt

required for positive to the stimulus of a training
adaptations to occur. load

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Principles of training: Specificity

• Energy pathways, muscle fibre types and neuro-muscular responses
adapt specifically to the type of training to which they are subjected.

• For example, strength training has little effect on endurance. Conversely,

endurance training activates aerobic pathways, with little effect on
speed or strength.

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Principles of training: Overload

• In order to progress and improve fitness, our bodies require additional
stress (training load).
• Overloading can be achieved by following the acronym FITT

Frequency Intensity

Time Type
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Principles of training: Recovery

• Adequate rest between workouts is required in order to recuperate.
How much rest you need depends upon your training program, level of
fitness, diet, and other factors.

• Over time, too little recovery can result in signs of overtraining.

Excessively long periods of recovery time can result in a detraining
effect.

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Principles of training: Adaptation

• Biological systems can adapt to loads that are higher than the demands
of normal daily activity.

• However, training loads must be increased gradually, to allow the body

time to adapt and to avoid injury.

• Many adaptive changes reverse when training ceases.

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Principles of training: Adaptation

During recovery, the body over-compensates

to achieve a higher performance level

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Eight principles of training (Part 2)

Variation Individualization

Training modalities and Responses to trainings differs

structure should have variety among people. Coach needs
to avoid staleness, boredom. to be in-tune with his charges

Progression Reversibility

Demands of sport to be Detraining effects occurs

introduced gradually and within 2 to 3 weeks of zero
systematically. activity.

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Principles of training: Progression

Loading must continue to increase incrementally as adaptation occurs,

otherwise the training effect will plateau and further improvements will not
occur.

E.g. Muscle groups adapt to a specific training stimulus in about three

weeks and then plateau.

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Principles of training: Individualization

• Each individual will respond differently to the same training stimulus.

• There are many factors that alter the training response: genetics,
maturity, nutrition, prior training, environment, sleep, rest, stress, illness
or injury, motivation etc.

• Training programmes should be customised and flexible.

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Principles of training: Variation

• Implies that you should consistently change aspects of your workouts.
• Training variations should always occur within ranges that are aligned
with your training directions and goals.
• Varying exercises, sets, reps, intensity, volume, and duration, for
example, prevents boredom and promotes more consistent
improvement over time.
• A well-planned training program set up in phases offers built-in variety
to workouts, and also prevents overtraining.

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Principles of training: Reversibility

• Refers to the loss of fitness that results after you stop training. In time,
you will revert back to your pre-training condition.
• While adequate recovery time is essential, taking long breaks results in
detraining effects that may be noticeable within a few weeks. Significant
levels of fitness are lost over longer periods.
• The Principle of Reversibility does not apply to skills. The effects of
stopping practice of motor skills, such as weight training exercises and
sport skills, are very different. Coordination appears to store in long-
term motor memory and remains nearly perfect for decades. A skill once
learned is never forgotten.

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Eight principles of training

Specificity Overloading Recovery Adaptation

Variation Individualization Progression Reversibility

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Exercise programming

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FITT method of exercise design

• How often you perform the exercise.
Frequency • Usually we measure this by number of days
each week

• How hard you train.

Intensity • We might categorize this as low, moderate,
or high intensity.

• Refers to the time of day you exercise and

Time how long each session lasts.

• Refers to what kind of exercise you are doing.

Type For example, you might do cardiovascular
activity strength training, or a combination of the
two.
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Types of physical activity

Lifestyle activities
• Lifestyle activity can easily be built into your daily life. It helps burn calories.

Aerobic Activities
• Refers to an activity in which your large body muscles move in a rhythmic manner for a
sustained period of time of at least 10 minutes.
• Such activities help prevent disease and add more healthy years to your life.
Strength activities
• Refers to an activity that increases skeletal muscle strength, power, endurance, and
mass and bone strength (e.g. strength training, resistance training, or muscular
strength and endurance exercises).
• It should involve major muscle groups including the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest,
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Lifestyle activity: every day

F • Daily

I • Light to moderate

T • Intermittent

T • Take the stairs regularly at the office, the mall and the MRT stations
• Walk to run errands located within your neighbourhood instead of driving or
riding a vehicle
• Alight one MRT stop or a few bus stops before your destination or
• Park your vehicle further away from your destination and walk there
• Also, break up long periods of inactivity lasting longer than 90 minutes with
5 to 10 minutes of standing, moving around, or doing some physical activity.
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Aerobic activity: spread throughout the week

F • Most days of the week

I • Moderate-intensity or vigorous-intensity

T • 150 min or 75 min

T • Moderate: brisk walking 5–7 km/h, dancing, low-impact aerobics, leisurely

bike riding, snorkelling, playing doubles tennis or table tennis, etc.
• Vigorous: jogging, step aerobics, swimming laps, fast bike riding, playing
soccer, volleyball, basketball, netball or badminton, etc.
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Strength activity: some days of the week

F • 2 or more days per week

I • Proportional to the mass of the weights being lifted

• Manipulated through Volume, sets, repetitions, rest time

T • 150 min or 75 min

T • muscle-, bone- and joint-strengthening activities e.g. using hand-held

weights, resistance bands, callisthenics, strength-training equipment, dragon
boating, and rock climbing
• mind body exercises e.g. Qigong, Tai Chi, yoga and Pilates
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Summary
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Summary
• Exercise science is the study of the bodily movements that contribute to
human fitness, holistic wellness and longevity.
• Physical activity is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles
that requires energy expenditure.
• Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and
repetitive and has as a final or an intermediate objective to improve or
maintain physical fitness.
• Physical fitness is a set of attributes that are either health- or skill-
related.

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Summary
• The five health-related components of fitness make up the base of
fitness and are closely related to improvements in health outcomes.
• The six skill-related components of fitness contribute to your ability to
successfully participate in sports and activities.
• All eight principles of training are taken into consideration when
designing a program.
• The FITT Principle is one tool used to prescribe exercise.

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References
• Health Promotion Board (2011). National Physical Activity Guidelines: Summary Guide for
Professionals. Retrieved March 27, 2020, from
https://www.healthhub.sg/sites/assets/Assets/PDFs/HPB/PhysicalActivityPDFs/NPAG_Summary_Gui
de.pdf
• Hoeger, W. K., & Hoeger, A. (2009). Fitness and Wellness (8th ed.). USA: Yolanda Cossio.
• Hoeger, W.W. K. & Hoeger, S. A. (2011). Lifetime physical fitness and wellness: a personalized
program. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
• Sport Singapore. (2015). Basic Sports Science Course Manual. Singapore: Sport Singapore.
• Wilmore, J. H., Costill, D. L. & Kenney, W. L. (2006). Physiology of sport and exercise (4th ed.).
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
• World Health Organization (2018). Physical activity. Retrieved March 23, 2020, from
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity
• World Health Organization (2020). What is the WHO definition of health? Retrieved March 23, 2020,
from https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/frequently-asked-questions

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