NAME: Auralil S.

Sapio
COURSE: BPE104- PRINCIPLES MOTOR CONTROL AND LEARNING OF
EXERCISE, SPORTS AND DANCE
DATE: May 2, 2024

ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES OF EXERCISE

In every execution of exercise we consider its elements and principles as to set a
designated plan that meets individual health and physical fitness goals within the context
of individual health status, function, and respective physical and social environment.
With the set of principles that aide to guide the workout plan, it aims to improve
flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, and body composition.
Understanding these elements and principles will lead an individual to a safe and
effective workout plan to start.

ELEMENTS OF EXERCISE
Maintaning physical fitness is important for achieving optimal health. In
achieving this, physical fitness consists of four fundamental element that should be
considered in the workout plan: Flexibility, Cardiorespiratory Endurance, Muscular
Strength, and Body Composition.
A. Flexibility
A fundamental component of exercise, as each workout requires different types of
physical movements. Flexibility loosens up the tension in every muscle, it is the basic
component that should be practice and improved to avoid muscle cramps and aides to
improve posture, and enable the body to move in full range. Yoga, tai chi, pilates, and
stretching exercises are ways to improve this element.
B. Cardiorespiratory Endurance
The ability to perform dynamic exercise involving large muscle groups at
moderate-to-high intensity for prolonged periods. Cardiorespiraotry endurance enable to
your body to perform prolonged task without getting easily exhausted or out of breath. It
involves the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, which it increases heart and
breathing rates to meet increased demands for oxygen in working muscles. Aerobic
exercises such as walking, jogging, or biking aides to improve breathing, which
strengthens the heart and lungs, and reduces cardiovascular diseases.
C. Muscle Strength
A component of total fitness, which includes endurance, flexibility, power, and
speed. Muscle strength is the amount of force muscle can produce with a single maximal
effort. It is basically how hard you can push or pull. This element is important in our
daily basis of action because we need strength for us to work. Doing push-ups, leg squats,
abdominal crunches, and other strength exercises aides to build muscles and improve
muscle and bone strength.
D. Body Composition
The ratio of lean mass to the amount of fat in the body. Lean mass of bones,
muscles, and organs. This elements identifies our body mass index, whether an individual
is normal, underweight, or overweight. Healthy and physically fit individual has a
greater proportion of muscle and smaller proportion of fat than an unfit individual of the
same weight. By doing habitual exercise and proper diet, it aides to gradually improve
your body composition and achieve desired fitness goals.

PRINCIPLES OF EXERCISE
In ensuring a workout plan with proper guidance on how to structure your
workouts or exercises for safety, effectiveness, and continued progress, the plan should
start with a solid foundation. The principles of exercise; Specificity, Overload,
Reversibility, Progression, Frequency, and Adaptation and Overload serves as a road map.
A. Specificity
This principle states that physiological systems improve at handling the exact
demands placed upon them when exercising. The specificity principle indicates the
specific exercise to be done according to the desired goals you wanted to achieve. In an
instance, applying the specificity principle to improve muscle strength and size in the
quadriceps muscles, which are located in the front thigh. In applying the principle an
individual should choose exercises that specifically targets the quadriceps; squats, lunges,
leg presses and so forth. Within the exercise an individual can apply adjust repetition
range and load, progressive overload, and variation that will continue challenging the
muscles to develop improvement.
B. Overload
This principle states that the body will adapts to the workload placed upon it. The
more you do, the more you are capable of doing. The system being exercised will
gradually adapt to the overload or training stimulus being applied, and this will go on
happening as long as the training stimulus continues to be increased until the tissue can
no longer adapt. For an instance, a man have been regularly lifting weights as part of his
exercise routine, and he have been consistently lifting 20-pound dumbbells during hs
bicep curls. According to the overload principle, in order to continue making progress
and stimulating muscle growth, the man needs to gradually increase the demands on your
muscles. He can apply the overload principle to his bicep curls by increasing dumbbells
weight, perform more repetitions, increase sets, or increase frequency. By doing these, it
encourages muscle adaptation and growth over time.
C. Reversibility
This principle states that workout gains or progress will be lost when an athlete
stops training. This principle emphasizes that the gains achieved from exercise are
reversible if an individual stop exercising. If an individual take a break from his/her
workouts, he/she will gradually lose the improvements he/she have made in strength,
endurance, flexibility, and so forth. For an instance, a man has been regularly strength
training his upper body, including exercises like bench presses, pull-ups, and shoulder
presses, for several months. Over this period, he have experienced significant
improvements in upper body strength, muscle mass, and overall fitness level. However,
due to a busy schedule or other reasons, he decide to take a break from his strength
training routine for several weeks causing him to gradually lose his muscle strength, mass,
endurance, his cardiovascular fitness, and a change of his body composition. With this
the reversibility principle highlights the importance of consistency in exercise habits.
D. Progression
This principle is used to create a personal training program to improve physical
fitness, skill, and performance. The principle implies that our body adapt to our fitness
routine and we have to challenge ourselves to keep seeing progress. That challenge can
be a variety of tests , from increasing your time, intensity, weight, sets, reps, or so forth.
In an instance, a man have been regularly jogging for 30 minutes three times a week for
the past month, and he had reached a point where this level of exercise feels relatively
comfortable. To continue making progress and further improve his cardiovascular fitness,
applying the progression principle he can increase the duration of his jogging session,
increase intensity and frequency, use additional training methods, and to monitor
progress and listen to his body’s signals. Through incorporating these various progression
strategies, he can continue challenging his body, stimulate adaptations, and improve
overall fitness level while minimizing the risk of injury or overtraining.
E. Frequency
This principle denotes how often you exercise. It is about finding the right balance
between giving your body enough stimulus to adapt and recover adequately between
sessions. Frequency is also dependent upon the type of exercise you’re doing. For an
instance, a man having the goal to improve overall fitness level and choosing running as a
primary form of exercise. His initial frequency starts by running three times a week with
a rest day in between each session. As his fitness improves and and accustomed to
running three times a week, he decided to increase his frequency to four times a week.
F. Adaptation and Overload
This principle means that your body will adapt to the demands you place on it,
but only if you push yourself beyond your current capabilities. Adaptation is how the
body ‘programs’ muscles to remember particular activities, movements, or skills. By
repeating that skill or exercise, the body adapts to the stress and the skill becomes easier
to perform. The principle of adaptation explains why beginning exercisers are often sore
after starting a new routine, but after doing the same exercise for weeks and months the
athlete has little, if any, muscle soreness. Correlation with this is the principle of overload
which is for training adaptations to occur, the muscle or physiological component being
trained must be exercised at a level that it is not normally accustomed to. For an instance,
an individual starts a weightlifting program with the goal of increasing his strength. He
begin by lifting a certain wight for a specific number of repetition. Initially, he experience
muscle soreness and fatigue because his body is not used to this level of stress. With
consistent training, the muscles adapt, and lifting becomes more easier. To continue
progressing and challenging the muscles, he need to apply the overload principle by
increasing the weight and repetitions. By continuously challenging the muscles with
increased demands, it stimulate further adaptation and continued improvement in strength.

CONCLUSION
In summary, understanding the elements and principles of exercise is crucial for
designing effective workout programs and achieving fitness goals. The principles, which
includes specificity, overload, reversibility, progression, frequency, and adaptation and
overload, provides a framework for structuring workouts. These principles guide the
body's response to physical activity, promoting adaptation and improvement in fitness
levels. By incorporating these principles into exercise programming, individuals can
optimize training effectiveness, minimize injury risk, and achieve sustainable progress
towards their fitness goals.
 REFERENCES

Bueckert, S. (2021, October 29). What is the Principle of Progression in Weight Training

& Conditioning? Sunny Health and Fitness.

https://sunnyhealthfitness.com/blogs/health-

wellness/progressionprincipleweighttrainingconditioning?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0

CMTAAAR0JDGx2nJnubXpAD8PiWwrEdjJcX_xAVsNJAL8uJBCWCTgCY6RiY

pSMz8_aem_Ad6WX9Ly1hOasP0DE3fK72waYOK2XzL9nkr8zaqz_LTxO1ViPiO

cErlvRQIaU-vHdJ1qMmWnnpziCgA921JsK

Callahan, A., Rdn, H. L. M., & Rdn, T. P. M. (2020, October 14). Essential Elements and

Benefits of Physical Fitness. Pressbooks.

https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/nutritionscience/chapter/10a-physical-fitness-

elements-

benefits/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3sIzjDE6Xn_SWDBe_JsC4X-

gzEKOQihHuAXQCSERuhm9VHRQEFpT5le0_aem_Ad6N8E7bwpPdEpfdn3x_Q

1qO-k6x-

E03Ei4950MhZxb4_OFrFY8Ox1S8IvTMYdOsVvkUdbnjAT0ANbVYyxp_qcaK

I. (2023, January 30). Top 6 Training Principles. International Association of Strength

and Conditioning.

https://iascfitness.org/trainingprinciples/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0zC

ddqagCUPi_Kq1WxNcJLXihSz2rg_4yDTx8L_bdIahJHLPhpjyNU_aem_Ad5o5VA

MdCVH7B4NquuFh9bVAEI24DrokhUJyaFYW3XYF9i8jElhjbPGPIIpAcAGrGilU

uh6TI3XR00F4PBkCh

Principles of Exercise. (n.d.). Physiopedia.

https://www.physiopedia.com/Principles_of_Exercise?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0C

MTAAAR3OLAR6PaXEn5ASe82vP88aJ43Uiuzu9myPkW9LFtYQTZfio9GWki3a

qw_aem_Ad6Rh8P1VbrmWNLN8nBQXkqQM6G8UJ8HGwVmWyC8Q3BZNj2Oi

cGhMbxfdG_rLKO15bNjOfuHBos7FlR55SUksqx3

Program, U. P. (n.d.). 2. The FITT Principle. Pressbooks.

https://open.online.uga.edu/fitness/chapter/fittprinciple/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0C
MTAAAR1SzC3oRSfkd_IStCZgWgQuQJmtC5ELB8OJlUckMwhKDtNXV7I460L

pw_aem_Ad7qiKzbt8UL5IkrpoNYuDFBSgD8ei4v11bY2K2Z9VQM27OMqldWE

1o6E9ap0NwpIo2Ojqxj4gJqmRlIPiik8V