Using the FIT Principle for Triathlon Training

Video Transcript

"One of the most basic concepts in training is we call it the FIT principle. Frequency, Intensity and Time and those three variables govern what you do in your training and their ability to build fitness in you. So by frequency, we mean how often you do the activity, intensity is how hard and time is the length of duration during which you train. During the off season, both frequency time and intensity are all very low and during the preparation phase, you begin to increase the frequency, but the overall time of the activities and the overall intensity is still very low. During the base period, you primarily build the time and the frequency of the activities. You do start to introduce some high intensity work, but its a small volume. During the pre-competitive phase, your frequency will stabilize, your volume will drop a bit and the intensity of the activities will increase. And finally during the competitive phase of the year, the intensity is at its highest. The volume will drop to handle that intensity and the frequency will maintain. Many time athletes risk over training when they increase all three at one time and its best to do things gradually starting with increasing the time and then using the intensity as the last component that you increase."