PE Coursework - Section 2

Cool down

The purpose of a cool down is to help return your body to its pre-exercise condition. This includes reducing your heart rate, breathing rate, and core body temperature. A thorough cool-down prevents blood pooling in your legs, removes lactate from your muscles and blood more quickly, reduces levels of adrenaline in your blood and reduces muscle stiffness and decreases your likelihood of future injury.

Cool down should consist of the following:

• 5 to 10 minutes jogging/walking - decrease body temperature and remove waste products from the working muscles
• 5 to 10 minutes - decrease body temperature, remove waste products from the working muscles and to increase range of movement.

 are more appropriate to the cool down as they help muscles to relax and increase their range of movement.

Circuit training safety

When doing circuit training there are many safety issues that should be considered.

Firstly you have to make sure all equipment is safe. To make sure the equipment is safe regular checks must be made on it.  All surfaces around equipment must be checked for slippery surfaces as this could increase chance of falling.  All equipment should be stable so the chance of it breaking is reduced e.g. the pull up bars I use must be securely screwed together so it does not come apart.

When doing your circuit you should have regular recovery periods to allow you to regain breathe and so you do not strain yourself. In my circuit I will be having 30 second recovery periods.

I will also carry a bottle of water with me so I do not get dehydrated. I will be losing a lot of water through sweat and I need to make sure that water is restored in my body.

I will try not to put any exercises next to each other that work the same muscle as if I overwork my muscles I could cause injury. However as most of my exercises work on my legs this will be difficult.

When performing my circuit there are a few personal factors that need to be considered. As I am only 16 my age should not get in the way however older or younger people may not be able to cope with the amount of exercise I will be doing.

My gender may affect the amount of reps I will be able to do.

I am usually pretty healthy however I do have asthma. But as I have discussed before, as long as I have my inhaler with me this should not affect my performance.

I am in good physical condition and I do not have to overcome any injuries.

By having all these activities in my circuit they will improve my performance in different ways. Bench dips and pull ups will improve my muscle tone in my arms, particularly in my biceps and triceps. This will make it easier to hold my arms in a certain position for the length of the song.  

Sit ups and stomach crunches will improve muscle tone in my abdominals they will also improve my stamina if I improve on the amount I do every circuit.

Ladder run and shuttle runs will improve my agility. As agility is vital to a dancer this will be extremely helpful. They will improve all my lower body muscles including my gastrocnemius.

Squat thrusts, step ups and skipping are similar to sit ups and stomach crunches but for the lower body. They will improve my stamina if I aim to improve them every time I perform my circuit. They will work all the lower body muscles particularly my hamstrings and quadriceps.