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Lesson 9 of 12
  • Year 9

The FITT (frequency, intensity, time and type) principle

I can apply the FITT principle to my training to help improve my fitness.

Lesson 9 of 12
New
New
  • Year 9

The FITT (frequency, intensity, time and type) principle

I can apply the FITT principle to my training to help improve my fitness.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Move: increasing overload on the body will ensure it continues to adapt and make progress.
  2. Think: planning for suitable increase in overload using the FITT principle reduces risk of injury or burn out.
  3. Feel: challenging yourself to work harder than you did previously gives you a sense of satisfaction.
  4. Connect: discussing how to safely increase training with others helps share ideas and encourages mutual support.

Keywords

  • Frequency - how often you exercise, e.g. running 3 times a week to build endurance.

  • Intensity - how hard you work out, e.g. sprinting at 80% of your maximum effort

  • Time - the duration of your workout, e.g. running for 30 minutes

Common misconception

Pupils often massively misjudge how much incremental overload can be achieved week on week.

Explain that small incremental increases in overload using the FITT principle will bring about results safely.


To help you plan your year 9 physical education lesson on: The FITT (frequency, intensity, time and type) principle, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

This lesson suggests using the running drills which featured in lesson 3 of this unit. However, you could choose to use the circuit (lesson 5), the interval training (lesson 7) or the plyometrics (lesson 7) to effectively allow pupils to make the same decisions on progressing overload.
Teacher tip

Equipment

worksheets/books, cones, stopwatches, masuring tape

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - physical activity

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
What must we do with test protocols when checking for progress?

ignore them
choose only some
Correct answer: repeat them exactly

Q2.
Why should you only compare progress against your own benchmarks?

make it competitive
Correct answer: progress is personal
everyone improves equally

Q3.
How can we help others to progress?

Correct answer: praise their improvements
highlight their failures
ignore their effort

Q4.
What determines progress is being made?

Correct answer: even slight improvements
same results again
results getting worse

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
What could happen if you increase overload too quickly?

faster progress
Correct answer: injury or burnout
easier sessions

Q2.
How should you feel after adding a suitable overload to your training?

Correct answer: satisfied and challenged
tired and worried
bored and unchallenged

Q3.
Why might you discuss changes in your training with someone else?

Correct answer: share safe ideas
avoid doing work
compare results

Q4.
What would happen without progressively adding overload using FITT?

make more progress
Correct answer: stop getting fitter
get worse results

Additional material

Download additional material