1. UNIT 3. IMPROVING THE PHYSICAL CONDITION (page 44)
1. REASONS TO IMPROVE THE PHYSICAL CONDITION (page 46)
We workout to improve our physical condition and to get more out
of the sport activity we are practicing.
Multiple medical studies prove that the systematic performance
of physical exercises throughout life has a lot of advantages.
Maintaining a good physical condition has a lot of benefits.
There is no limit to what age you can start training nor is there any
limit to the age you should stop training. The important thing is
that in every moment the intensity and duration must
be adequate to the characteristic of those that practice it.
Reasons to train
- To maintain a good physical condition
- To lose weight
- To improve specific physical aspects
- To improve on the sport
- To recuperate the physical condition after an injury or illness
- To release stress
Having good physical condition doesn’t mean being a “super athlete”. It focuses on developing the
capability to achieve success with the physical activities that you practice.
Your physical condition depends on your personal characteristics.
General advices to create your training program
- Choose exercises adapted to your personal characteristics and capability.
- Be realistic. Estimate your level. Do not overestimate yourself
- Be consistent to notice improvement, dedicate time every
week to training
- Look for fun ways to train in order to stay motivated
- Check your improvement often. It will help you
set new goals and be satisfied with your
achievement.

2. 2. HOW TO PROGRESS ON THE TRAINING (page 47)
One of the principles of training is progression. As we do strenuous exercises, your organs get
exhausted and then recuperate to a superior level. This process is called principle of
supercompensation (graphic)
This way, you can gradually increase the training load (the total amount of work that you should
perform). When performing a set of exercises, you should ask yourself: how many times do I perform
an exercise? How many repetitions? How many miles? How long? This is the quantitative aspect
called VOLUME
Next, ask: At what speed? "Slow or fast? This is the qualitative aspect called INTENSITY
The load depends on two factors: Volume and intensity.
Training Load = volume (duration+ frequency) + training intensity (pace/power)
Volume: Is the parameter that indicates the quantity of training,
or how many you perform.
According to this type of training, volume can be expressed
in the following forms:
- Total distance covered (number of meters)
- Total time of workout
- Number of exercises needed
- Number of reps needed
Intensity: Is the factor that indicates the quality of the training,
or how much effort you put into it
Is the measure of effort applied during the volume. It can be
measured in many ways (example: heart rate).
According to the type of training, we can express the intensity
with the following parameter:
- % of effort
- Velocity of execution
- Weight
- Difficulty of the exercises

3. There is an inverse proportional relationship between intensity and volume. "The harder you do it, the
less time you can do it".
The width of the red triangle shows the intensity of the session. The
width of the tan triangle denotes the duration for which you can hold the
intensity.
The volume and intensity in the development of physical capabilities
As we increase the volume of the workout, we decrease the intensity and vice versa. If I run long
distances (high volume) I must use a low speed (low intensity) in order to endure the effort.
Physical quality Intensity Volume
Endurance Medium-low High
Strength High Medium-low
Speed Maximum Low
Flexibility Low Medium

4. 3. PHASES TO CREATE YOUR TRAINING PROGRAM (page 48)
Question Answer
Which aspect do I want to improve? 3.1 Establish a goal of training
In which condition am I? 3.2 Evaluate the start level
Where do I want to be? 3.3 Set goals that you want to achieve
What am I going to do to achieve
my goals and how am I going to do it? 3.4 Choose the training activities and their distribution
How can I evaluate if I have achieved
my goals? 3.5 Evaluate the level reached
3.1. Establish a goal for training
Which aspect I want to improve? What kind of capacity do I have to develop? What are the methods I
need to achieve them? Here are some examples:
Examples of goals for training
Goals for training Methods to achieve them
When I play a game I get Improve the aerobic and - jogging increasing intervals
tired and my endurance anaerobic resistance - Fartlek
decreases - Continuous exercises of the sport
maintaining the rhythm while
increasing the intervals
I want to increase my Increase maximum -Do exercises with auto load
muscular body mass force and resistance - weights
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I want to lose weight Increase aerobic - continuous low intensity run
resistance increasing the intervals
-Resistance exercises (lots of
medium intensity reps)
-Swimming, cycling
When I play a game I get Improve reaction speed -Sports and exercises with reaction
late to the balls and Improve maximum speed speed
the opponent goes Improve running -Exercises to improve the running
ahead of me technique technique
-Speed running
-Circuits with obstacles to improve
reaction speed, maximum speed and
coordination
I can’t do certain elements Improve flexibility -Individual stretching exercises
in gymnastics due to lack of -Stretches with a partner’s help
flexibility. I tend to injure myself -Balancing exercises to improve
the articular mobility

5. 3.2 Evaluate the initial level (page 49)
It is important to know our initial level in order to set an adequate training for our characteristics. To
do so we use tests.
Tests to evaluate the physical qualities
Tests to evaluate the physical qualities
Endurance - 1000 meters test
-Cooper test (12’)
-one mile test
Flexibility - Bend and reach
- Bend deep
Strength -Sit ups
-Vertical jump
-Long jump
-Medicine ball throw
-Push ups
Speed -20 meters run
-40 meters run
-5 x 10 meters
These tests must:
- Be clear and easy to do
- Be done correctly
Have a scale to establish the level

6. 3.3. Set goals to achieve
3.4. Choose training activities and their distribution
TRAINING SESSION (page 53)
Every session must last between 50 minutes to 2 hours
based on the type of workout. In addition, it must have a
specific objective and be related to the previous sessions
of the program. Next we will explain the most important
aspects of a training session.
1. Warm up
• Duration: 10 to 20 minutes.
• The more intense the activity, the longer your
warm up should be.
• You should warm up the muscles that are going
to be used in the session.
2. Main Part
• Duration: 40 to 90 minutes. In this part we perform
activities to develop the areas we wish to improve.
• The distribution of your exercises should be performed
according to the following order :
- Exercises that require concentration or coordination of
movements (technique and tactic of the sport,
running technique, reaction speed, coordination and agility
exercises)
- Exercises of great intensity (speed and strength)
- Exercises of less intensity (resistance)
• You should take short breaks to rest, especially if the session is long
3. Cool down
• Duration: 10 to 20 minutes. The purpose of this is to reestablish normality after an intense
workout and it is needed for a full body recovery.
• Stretching, relaxation, breathing exercises or light games should be performed.
• When finished, your heart rate should return to normal and you should also have a feeling of
relaxation.

7. 4. CONCLUSION (page 55)
In conclusion, the main aspects that you have to consider when setting a training program:
1. Set realistic goals. Evaluate your capabilities and establish an adequate level of improvement
2. Choose and achieve correctly the tests so that the obtained data is reliable
3. In a workout session, first do the high intensity exercises or the ones that require the most
concentration and leave the low intensity for the end
4. Do not perform high intensity workouts (strength and speed) two days in a row. Do not
perform more than 2 or 3 sessions in a week
5. Exercises that improve your flexibility: at least 4 days a week
6. You can do resistance workouts everyday
7. As we advance in the progress sessions, we can increase the difficulty of the exercises to
continue our improvement
8. If you notice that the training is too hard, decrease the intensity or take a day off: this will avoid
discouragement and injuries
9. Remember that the success of training depends on continuity: try to be constant
10. You can use a few days to do fun activities (games): this way you will keep on exercising and it
will be more pleasant.
Take advantage of daily routine activities to train
To make your training program more pleasant take advantage of your daily routine activities (go do
errands, play with your friends) and transform them. See how a student did it to develop resistance:
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
Swimming Hockey Swimming Hockey Play Go hiking on
game in Do errands game in a game the mountain
P.E. class on my bike P.E. class with my friends with my friends
friends family
Walk to Continuous Walk to Continuous Walk to Go biking
school running in school running in school with my
P.E. class Football P.E. class Go dancing friends
game with with friends
friends