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Sports Training Theory: Principles of training · Overload and Progression

How progressive overload drives adaptation, the variables that create it, and how to progress load safely from beginner to advanced.

Sports Training Theory · 23 questions

Try 3 questions

1. What does the principle of progressive overload require?

  1. Gradually raising demands beyond current capacity
  2. Training at maximum effort in every session
  3. Keeping the same workload to build a habit
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Answer: Gradually raising demands beyond current capacity

The body adapts only when a stimulus exceeds what it is used to, and once it adapts the demand must rise again for gains to continue.

2. The FITT acronym lists variables a coach can adjust to apply overload. What do the letters stand for?

  1. Force, impulse, tempo, torque
  2. Frequency, intensity, time, type
  3. Fitness, intake, tension, training
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Answer: Frequency, intensity, time, type

Overload can come from training more often, harder, longer or in a more demanding mode, which gives coaches several levers besides simply adding weight.

3. Why does a workout that once felt hard stop producing gains if it is repeated unchanged for months?

  1. Muscles lose the ability to grow
  2. Repetition causes chronic fatigue
  3. The body has adapted to that stimulus
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Answer: The body has adapted to that stimulus

Adaptation makes the same session less disruptive to the body's balance, so it no longer acts as an overload and progress stalls.

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