Principles of physical fitness are the scientific and systematic approach to improve physical fitness, these guide us that how one should proceed to develop further.

These Principles of fitness development are -

1. Regular Exercise – One should do exercise daily and do it regularly without any long break. The person may become lazy and deshaped if there is no regular exercise. The principle of use should be adopted strictly. One may have any type of activity or exercise daily.

2. Proper Loading – Athlete or player should be loaded properly to improve further. The over-loading should be in a systematic and scientific way and should be increased after the previous load adaptation. It should be increased gradually. The principle of progression should be followed for further progress.

3. Scientific and specific training – One should follow scientific and specific training of exercises according to the requirement of the activity (game or sport). It means the physical fitness programmes should clearly reflect the fitness for a particular sport.

4. Individual difference - This is to be considered properly because every one is different from each other. Work should be done according to an individual’s limit, need and requirement, so that it may be performed through one’s ability. this difference may be because of age, sex, weight, height, heredity or environmental factors.

5. Recovery - Proper rest, relaxation and sleep should be given after work, so that one should recover from fatigue and again ready to take furthur work-load. Minimum 7-8 hrs sound sleep is suggested each day. Lack of sufficient rest and sleep results in fatigue and adverse effect on the performance or progress of the individual.

6. Proper warming up and cooling down – The work should be started after proper warming up and cooling down after the load or workout. This play an important role in prevention of injuries.

7. Progression- The work should follow proper progression. It should start from easy to difficult or follow simple to complex method.

8. Safety and Prevention – Prevention is always better than cure, so we should keep in mind the safety measures and perform work preventing injuries etc.