•Continuous Training is a good way to improve your aerobic system. It is also a good way to burn body fat. •You walk/jog/run, swim, row or cycle for at least 30 minutes without rest. This can be done in a gym!

•You overload by increasing the time, distance, speed or all three.

In continuous training you should:

Build up the time slowly, if you are unfit

Work in your aerobic training zone. Start at around 60% of your maximum heart rate and work up to 80%

If you are training for competitions, work up to distances that are 2-5 times the competition distance.

Continuous Training

Some advantages of continuous training are:

Relevant

Specificity

Cheap

Easy to measure

Easy to overload;

work longer/faster

increase incline/distance

wear weights

Some disadvantages of continuous training are:

It includes no real skill work

It can be very very boring

Fartlek Training The fartlek training method involves many changes of speed

It is used to improve both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems

Fartlek training is suitable for games players as games have many changes of speed

The mix of fast and slow work can be changed to suit the sport and energy system you want to work on

To overload, increase the time or speed of each activity

The disadvantages of fartlek training are:

The athlete decides how hard to work. Coaches can’t tell if athletes are working as hard as they should!

It needs a lot of motivation to work at maximum speed, so it is easy to drop the effort

random nature means it is difficult to replicate or record

The advantages of fartlek training are:

mimics the working pattern of a match with periods of intense activity and slower pace recovery.

It needs a lot of motivation to work at maximum speed, so it is easy to drop the effort

Interval Training

In interval training, you follow a fixed pattern of fast work followed by rest or slower work (active recovery)

An example of a interval training is sprinting and jogging then taking a 2 minute rest and repeating this 3 times.

The jogging is to help remove lactic acid. The 2 minute rest is to allow full recovery

To overload you can increase the number of reps, reduce the time for slow work (i.e. jogging) or reduce the rest time between sets.

Interval training can be used for anaerobic or aerobic work, depending on the distance and the number and length of intervals

It can be used for other activities such as cycling rowing and swimming

Since there is a set pattern it is easy to tell if someone is giving up-easy to record

advantages disadvantages

It does cause pain so you need high motivation to keep going.

It can be repetitive and boring

Improvement cannot be seen easily

Isotonic Training

Isotonic contraction is when muscles shorten and pull on bones. In isotonic training you use isotonic contractions to improve your muscle strength and endurance

Examples are press-ups, sit-ups and weight lifting

Isotonic training strengthens muscles through the full range of movement

You can use isotonic exercises to suit your sport

Isotonic training can make muscles sore. This is caused by the stress on them when they lengthen

you gain most muscle strength at the weakest point of the action, you don’t gain it evenly throughout

Isometric training

Isometric contraction is when muscles contract but stay the same length

Isometric contractions produce static strength. You need this in sumo wrestling, weight lifting and gymnastics

Isometric training is quick to do and doesn’t hurt very much

It doesn’t need expensive equipment and can be done anywhere

In isometric training, muscles gain strength only at the muscle you use in the exercise and this might not help much in your sport

During isometric exercise, the blood flow to the muscle stops, blood pressure rises and less blood flows back to the heart, this can be dangerous for people with heart problems

Isometric training is most effective if you combine it with isotonic training