B. Active Living / C. Movement Competence · Active Living and Movement: Train, Plan, Stay Safe and Play Smart

What Affects Fitness? Applying the Training Principles

B2 A1.6About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain factors that affect fitness, such as sleep, food, water, growth, stress, heredity and activity habits.
I can apply the FITT formula and the training principles to plan safe improvement.
I can recognize signs of doing too much, too soon.
I can explain why growth during puberty can change my fitness results for a while.

Words to know

factor
Something that affects a result. Sleep, food and activity habits are factors that affect fitness.

heredity
Traits passed down from your birth parents through your genes, like height or body type.

FITT
Frequency (how often), Intensity (how hard), Time (how long), Type (what kind).

overload
Doing a bit more than your body is used to so it adapts.

progression
Increasing the challenge gradually, in small steps.

specificity
You improve the kind of fitness you train.

overtraining
Doing too much with too little rest, which can lead to tiredness, poor results and injury.

growth spurt
A time of fast growth, often during puberty.

Remember from Grade 6

In Grade 6 you learned the training principles: specificity, overload, progression, rest and recovery, and the warning of reversibility. You also used FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type).

This year you'll look at all the factors that affect fitness, including ones you can't fully control, and practise applying the principles to real plans.

Hook: two friends, one plan

Marco and Kai do exactly the same running plan for six weeks. Marco improves a lot. Kai improves only a little. Did Kai do something wrong?

Not necessarily! Fitness is affected by many factors: how much they slept, what they ate, whether one of them was in a growth spurt, how stressed they were, their starting fitness, and even their genes. Comparing yourself to your own past is much fairer than comparing to a friend.

Factor	How it affects fitness	Can I change it?
Activity habits	Regular activity builds fitness; long breaks let it fade (reversibility)	Yes
Sleep	Your body repairs and grows during sleep; tired muscles and minds perform worse	Mostly yes
Healthy eating	Food gives energy to move and building blocks to repair muscles	Mostly yes
Water	Even mild dehydration can make you tired and less able to keep going, especially in heat	Yes
Stress and mood	Stress can make you feel tired or tense; activity can help reduce it	Partly
Screen time and sitting	Long sitting takes time away from moving and can affect sleep	Yes
Growth and puberty	Bodies grow at different times and speeds; a growth spurt can change coordination and results for a while	No, but you can be patient
Heredity (genes)	Affects things like height and body type, and how quickly you respond to training	No
Illness or injury	Can mean you need rest or a changed plan	Partly
Environment and access	Heat, cold, air quality, safe places and equipment affect what you can do	Partly

Many factors work together. Focus your effort on the ones you can change.

Sorting the factors from the table: some you can change, some only partly, and some (like genes and growth) you can't.

Applying the principles

When you plan to improve one part of fitness, go through each principle:

Specificity: Match the activity to the goal. Want stronger legs for climbing hills on your bike? Do squats, lunges, step-ups and hill riding.
Overload: Make it a little harder than you're used to.
Progression: Increase one part of FITT at a time, in small steps, every week or two. For example, add 1 minute or 2 repetitions, not double.
Rest and recovery: Leave a day of rest or easier activity between hard workouts for the same muscles. Sleep well.
Reversibility: Keep going regularly; fitness slowly fades if you stop for a long time.

Too much, too soon

Signs you may be doing too much: muscles that stay sore for days, pain in a joint or bone, feeling tired all the time, poor sleep, getting worse instead of better, or not enjoying activity anymore. The fix: rest, ease back, and talk to a grown-up. Pain that is sharp or doesn't go away needs a health professional.

Progression done well (left): small, steady increases each week. Done badly (right): Bella doubles her distance in one day, which raises the risk of injury.

Growing bodies

During puberty, bones can grow faster than muscles can adjust. For a while you might feel clumsy, or your flexibility score might drop. That's normal and temporary. Focus on good technique and keep practising. People grow at different times, so comparing with friends doesn't tell you much.

Worked example

Let's apply the principles to a goal

Aiden is going on a 3-day canoe trip in 6 weeks. His arms and shoulders get tired after 10 minutes of paddling. Plan his training.

Specificity: the goal is muscular endurance of the arms, shoulders and core. Choose paddling-like movements: resistance-band rows (or rows with a towel looped around a post, with a grown-up checking it's secure), wall or knee push-ups, planks, and, if possible, real paddling with a grown-up and lifejacket.
FITT, week 1: Frequency 3 days a week (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday); Intensity: an effort of about 6 out of 10; Time: about 15 minutes; Type: 2 rounds of 12 rows, 8 wall push-ups and a 20-second plank.
Progression: each week, change one thing: add 2 rows, or add 5 seconds to the plank, or add a third round.
Rest: rest days between, plus 9 to 11 hours of sleep. Keep doing cardio on other days, like biking.
Check: every 2 weeks, count how many minutes he can paddle (or row) before his arms tire.

A specific, gradual plan with rest days, changing one part of FITT at a time.

Worked example

Let's spot the mistakes

Bella wants to run faster in the fall cross-country race. Her plan: stretch for 30 minutes every day, and on the first day run 5 km as fast as possible. Next day, run 10 km.

Specificity mistake: stretching builds flexibility, not running endurance. She needs running (or other cardio).
Progression mistake: doubling from 5 km to 10 km in one day is far too big a jump.
Rest mistake: hard running every day, with no easier days, increases injury risk.
Better plan: run (or run-walk) 3 or 4 days a week, starting at a distance she can finish comfortably, adding a little each week, with easy days and rest days in between.

Bella needs specific training, small increases and rest.

Just for fun

Riddle: What gets stronger while you're doing nothing at all?

A trained muscle! Muscles repair and rebuild during rest and sleep, which is why rest days are part of the plan, not a break from it.

Hands-on activity

Principle detective: a one-week trial

You need: a notebook, a timer, a sturdy wall, a clear floor space, and a grown-up to check your form.

Warm up first (5 minutes): march or jog on the spot, arm circles, leg swings holding a wall, and a few gentle skips.

Choose one part of fitness to work on: cardio (skipping or jogging on the spot), muscular endurance (wall push-ups or planks), or flexibility (gentle stretches after activity).
Day 1: test yourself (for example, how many wall push-ups with good form, or how long you can hold a plank). Record it.
Write a FITT plan for the week, with one small progression on day 3 or day 5.
Do it on 3 non-consecutive days. Each day, also record your sleep last night, how much water you drank, and your mood (1 to 5).
Day 7: retest. Did you improve? Which factors seemed to help or hurt?

Safety: Good form beats more reps. Stop if you feel sharp pain. Wall push-ups: hands at shoulder height, body straight, feet a step or two from the wall on a non-slip floor.

Your turn

Name three factors you can change that affect your fitness.

Name one factor you cannot change.

What does each letter in FITT stand for?

You can easily do 12 knee push-ups. Using progression, what would be a good next step?

Which training principle explains why stretching won't improve your running time?

Give two signs of doing too much, too soon.

More practice: warm-up

What is heredity?

Which training principle warns that fitness fades if you stop?

When does your body do most of its repair work?

True or false: You should change all four parts of FITT at once.

Name an activity specific to building leg strength.

More practice: on your own

Maya's flexibility score dropped this spring, though she stretched just as much. She grew 5 cm since fall. What might explain it?

Write a FITT plan for building cardiorespiratory endurance with skipping, for one week.

Explain why rest days are part of a good plan, not a sign of being lazy.

Rohan slept 6 hours, skipped breakfast and drank no water before a fitness test. Predict how this might affect his result and explain.

Your friend says, "I'll never be fit because my family isn't sporty." How would you respond?

Challenge

Plan a 4-week progression for wall sits starting at 20 seconds, increasing by about 10% each week. Round to the nearest second.

Lucas trains hard every single day and is now tired, sore and slower than before. Explain what is happening and write him a better weekly plan.

Pick an activity you love. Explain which parts of fitness it builds and which factor most affects your performance in it, and how you could improve that factor.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which factor can you not change?

You want better cardiorespiratory endurance. Which activity fits the principle of specificity?

Which is the best example of progression?

Which is a sign of doing too much, too soon?

Why might a student's coordination feel off for a while in Grade 7?

What does the I in FITT stand for?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 7 students describe factors that affect fitness and apply training principles (specificity, overload, progression, rest, reversibility) using FITT.

How to help at home:

Talk about sleep, water and breakfast before sports days.
Help your child change only one part of FITT at a time and keep a short log.
Praise improvement compared with their own past, not with siblings or classmates.

Common difficulties:

Huge jumps in training. Encourage small steps (about 10% more is a common rule of thumb).
Comparing with peers who are at different stages of growth. Remind your child that puberty timing varies a lot.
Ignoring pain. Sharp or lasting pain needs rest and, if it continues, a health professional.

Note: Bodyweight exercises with good form are appropriate for this age. Focus on technique and enjoyment, not on maximum lifts.

Social-emotional learning: Analysing factors and fixing flawed plans builds critical and creative thinking (A1.6).