Males Females Rating
<15.2 <17.0 excellent
16.1-15.2 17.9-17.0 good
18.1-16.2 21.7-18.0 average
18.3-18.2 23.0-21.8 fair
>18.3 >23.0 poor
My results- 20.94 seconds. That is below poor.
Analysis- Injury in the leg and either poor grip on your trainers or on the floor (I think I had poor grip on my trainers giving me a poor mark and it does not help when the floor is slippery)
Balance- The ability to maintain equilibrium while standing or moving.
To test for balance you get a friend to time how long you can stand on one leg with your eyes closed on a bench.
My Results- 2 minutes 20 seconds
Analysis- The test I used is not very good. Although it does test your balance very well it needs a table to compare the result to, so that you can see how well you’ve done. Since there is no table the result I obtained is inconclusive. To make something of it, you would have to do the same test many times over a period of time and get many results. These results could then be made into an average or you make your own personal table up for future or past comparison.
Co-ordination- The ability to use the senses and body parts in order to perform
motor tasks smoothly and accurately.
To test for co-ordination, stand two metres away from a wall and throw a ball against it with one hand then with the other hand catch it again. Time yourself for two minutes and record how many catches you make.
My Result- 41 catches in 2 minutes
Analysis- Again a table needs to be made for comparison of results. To do this, repeat the test 10 times and analyse these results to create a table (average, highest result etc.).
Power- The ability to transfer energy swiftly into force.
The vertical jump test measures explosive power. To do this mark off on a wall the highest you can reach without jumping. Then jump as high as you can and mark off the highest point you reach. Record the difference between the two marks and look the number up in the given table.
Males (cm) Females (cm) Rating _
>65 >58 excellent
50-65 47-58 good
40-49 36-46 average
30-39 26-35 fair
<30 <26 poor
My Result- 44cm- Average.
Analysis- There is nothing wrong with this test as far as I can see apart from if you’re tired or if you are wearing heavy clothing.
Reaction Time- The ability to respond quickly to stimuli.
Here is a test I thought up my self to test any person’s reaction time. However, as a result of being a made up test there is no official and reliable table for comparison. To do this test one person who is taller than you must hold up a ball to his full height and you must stand a metre away from him with your hands below your waist. He then lets go of the ball. Once the ball is released you must catch it as quickly as possible and hold the position you caught it in. The height of where the ball is released minus the height of where you caught the ball from the ground is a number that should be closely related to your reaction time.
Here is a table I made up myself (keep in mind that the distance between the ball and the ground is 2m):
My Results- I got 1.4m metres from the ground out of 2m. Using my table I can see that I got above average. Knowing that the ball weighs 50g I can use the formula speed=distance x time. So I know that the distance is 0.6 and to calculate the time I can take the same percentage of the full time it takes the same ball to reach the ground from 2m to 0m. The percentage of 1.4m from 2m is 70%. The time it takes the ball to reach the ground from 2m is 0.59 of a second- 70% percent of that is 0.413 of a second. My reaction time is 0.177 of 0.59 of a second or 0.3 of a second. From this I can say that the lower the time the better.
Analysis- This, I think is a rather unreliable test, as for each person the statistics will differ. The table I made up only works for me and it only figures out the reaction. To work out the reaction time many calculations have to be done and I am not sure if my measurement is in the right units. There is also the acceleration factor that I didn’t take into account.
Speed- The ability to perform a movement quickly.
To measure speed a sprint would do nicely. A test that fits a sprint includes a 30m track, a timer and a friend to time you. Basically on your friend’s signal you run as hard as you can (you may have a flying start) to cover the distance. As soon as you pass the 30m line your friend stops timing. The time you took to cover 30m is looked up in a table to see how well you have done.
Males (secs) _ Females (secs) _ Rating
<4.0 <4.5 excellent
4.2-4.0 4.6-4.5 good
4.4-4.3 4.8-4.7 average
2.6-4.5 5.0-4.9 fair
>4.6 >5.0 poor
My Results- 4.23 seconds. I achieved a good.
Analysis- There is a couple of factors that may affect this. They are the grip of your shoe and/or the floor, whether there is a wall behind you at the start to give you a push start and how tired you are.
When I was doing all the above tests there are some things that would affect all of my results. One of them is my somatotype because what somatotype I am can affect what areas of fitness I will be good in. There is also my lifestyle to consider, as it will affect both my diet and my fitness. If am lazy and watch too much television then I will not be as fit as if I train every day. I will be fitter and get better results. Habits are also a factor. For instance smoking or drinking will greatly affect my results. All the factors that I have mentioned in my analysis telling you why it was a good or bad test would have also affected my result.
All the tests were good and reliable, unless stated otherwise in the analysis, because there were few really bad factors that would have affected it.
Principles of Training-
In this I chapter will look at what affects training and what principles I will have to follow in order to make a good programme.
The only way to train and increase your level of fitness is to overload your body. When you overload your body it will adapt to the new, harder work and then reach a higher level of fitness. This, however needs to be done gradually and little at a time.
The principles of overload are seen in the FITT principles:
F is for frequency- the number of times you train.
I is for intensity- how hard you work
T is for time- how long you train.
T is for type- how specific the training you are doing.
If the following are done accurately and in a way where your body works harder than normal then overload should occur and you should become fitter.
While doing the training though, do not just keep an eye out for overload. Progression, specificity, reversibility and variance are all important as well.
Progression is when you gradually increase the workload as you train (this is important because overload would not occur if you stayed at the same level all the time).
Specificity is choosing the right training for the sport (otherwise your training would not be very efficient).
Reversibility is when you understand that fitness can not be stored for future use and will disappear when you stop training.
Variance is varying the training in order to keep yourself motivated (otherwise you would get bored and stop training).
The 4 types of training I know are; Interval training
Flexibility training
Endurance training
Weight training
Interval Training- Form of training in which periods of activity are
interspersed with short periods of rest.
Interval training exercises both aerobic and the anaerobic systems. Basically it means that you will have more energy if you are running with oxygen (jogging) or without it (sprinting) because this training has increased its limits.
To do this training method you must remember that periods of exercise are always followed by periods of rest. The reason you rest is so that you can get an idea of how fast your body can replace the fuels (especially oxygen) and so know how much you need to train. To do this exercise properly you must look at these 4 factors and see what you personally feel the limit of each one is for you: the duration of how long you work for (the fitter you are the longer you work for), the intensity of the work (again- the fitter you are the harder you work), the duration of your rest period (the fitter you are the shorter you rest for) and lastly the number of work or recovery intervals you have (the fitter you the more work intervals you have and the less rest intervals).
The only measurements you need to do in interval training are the distance, the time and the number of intervals. So for example: 10 (number of intervals) x 60 metres (the intensity) in 8 seconds (how long you work for) with 90 seconds rest (the duration of the recovery period).
Flexibility Training- The range of movement around a joint, or how freely
you can move limbs.
Flexibility is often involved in the warm up and cool down exercise but is also an important type of training.
To become flexible you have got stretch your joint just beyond its point of resistance so that it will adapt to it and when you stretch to that point again it will feel normal and you can go to the next level up. The consequences of stretching is it makes the ligaments and tendons more free to move, giving it a greater range of movement and reduce the risk of joint injury.
Flexibility training involves holding a stretching position for at least ten seconds- to improve at all though it needs to be done at least three times a week. An obvious example of a sport that needs flexibility is martial arts.
Endurance Training-
Endurance training is carried out in two ways:
- Aerobic training
- Fartlek/ Speed Play training
It is known as aerobic training because it improves the aerobic system, which includes the heart, lungs, and vascular system. Aerobic sports include jogging and cycling.
To do endurance training properly it must involve the whole body, must be continuous, must be sub-maximal (where you don’t work too hard but must at least breathless by the end of the session) and must be at least 12 minutes long for adaptation to occur.
Fartlek or, the English equivalent name to it, speed play training is a specific form of training towards improving endurance. It involves running (an aerobic sport) at different speeds; fast and slow both over hills and on flats. A normal session includes normal running, sprinting, hill work (both running and sprinting), and recovery work.
Weight Training-
This type of training improves your strength, as your muscles work against some resistance and adapt to it. This resistance will normally be either the weights or the machine itself.
Weight training is made up of repetitions and sets. Repetitions is the number of times that an athlete repeats a particular exercise (e.g. 10 press-ups), sets is a certain number of repetitions (e.g. 10 press-ups might equal a set) and a number sets make up a session. The good thing about weight training is that every part of your body can be exercised and improved. Also overload can be used, which is particularly effective because it is a certain weight that goes into your adaptation zone and so improves you until that weight is normal and then you go up the next level. This can be done until you get to a stage where you can’t improve any more and you stay at that point. The only bad thing is that you can injure yourself quite easily in an overload. To improve your strength you must train 3 times a week keeping to your programme for at least 10 weeks.
Although I have been discussing the training aspect of the programme, I have left an important part up till now, which is the start and end of the programme. The warm up (at the start) is as important as the cool down (at the end) because without them we are not properly prepared for the exercise and so can easily injure ourselves.
The Warm-up
This actually does what it says as it does. i.e. warms up your muscles and body before the training (it is basically a mini training session that’s just enough so that it does not start to tire you out). The warm-up is usually gentle exercise like jogging on the spot or squats, then stretching and then the skills practice. It does not matter what you do as long as it gently raises your pulse rate so as to prepare your heart for the more strenuous activity ahead. As a result more oxygen and fuels are transported to the muscles and so become warm (hence the name) and can cope with the training ahead. The stretch is needed to prevent injury to the joints, and the skills practice is needed so that you have the right skills for the exercise ahead and do not do it wrong (which might also cause injury)
The Cool Down
The cool down as you might expect is the opposite of the warm-up. Instead of raising your pulse rate the cool down means to return you to your normal state. The cool down usually involves your whole body but may only include the areas you were training on. That does not matter, what matters is, that you include exercise followed by gentle stretching. A good cool down routine will keep the blood flow high so as to wash out all the waste products produced during the training. A cool down must be done gradually so that no sudden drops in temperatures or anything else will cause injury.
Now that I have looked at what makes up training it is time to see what factors affect its performance.
To do this we must look at what makes up physical fitness. I know that physical fitness is how efficiently our systems work for our everyday tasks and so therefore I can tell that many thing may make it up it can though be defined into two things: Health related fitness and skill related fitness.
Health related fitness includes; Cardiovascular endurance-how fast
the heart, blood, vessels and respiratory
system supplies fuel to the muscles.
Flexibility- how much motion you
have in any one joint
Muscular Strength- to be able to
give an outward force or to lift a heavy
weight.
Body Composition- what your
percentage of fat, muscle, bone and other
tissues are in your body.
Muscular Endurance-how much
You can use muscular strength.
Skill related fitness includes; Speed-how quickly can you do a
movement.
Balance-if you can keep your equilibrium
while doing everyday movements.
Agility- how fast and accurate you can
change the direction of your body.
Reaction Time-how quickly you
respond to stimuli.
Power- how quickly you can change
energy into force.
Coordination- how much you use
outward senses and your body to do physical
tasks.
The better you are in one of the above areas the less your training programme will have to work on it. This is good because with that free time you can concentrate on other areas.
Other things apart from the elements of fitness itself also affect training. You have your physique, your diet (what you eat ands drink etc.), the skill and the mental factor (how quickly you learn the skills).
The physique includes our height, weight, body composition, age and sex-all of which may affect training. First of all our height depicts what sport we do because different sports require different heights (e.g. basket ball players are tall). Because our height is linked to our weight in some way we can look up what our ideal weight is from a number of different charts based on a score called the Body Mass Index.
Once we have our weight we see what type of somatotype we are:
- A endomorph (fat person)
- A mesomorph (Strongly built person)
- A Ectomorph (thin person)
Somatotypes
What somatotype we are greatly affects our training as it defines what sport we do. As you can see from my personal profile my somatotype has quite varied fitness levels ranging from excellent to poor. If I was to place myself somewhere in the somatotypes I think that I would be between an ectomorph and a mesomorph.
Once we have our somatotype we can see how much our body composition affects our training. Body composition is made up of 2 things: the body fat- fat that is stored in our body (found mainly around the organs and just beneath the skin) and the fat-free weight- the stuff that makes up the rest of our body’s weight (organs, blood and other tissues). Bone and muscle are important parts of our body because the bone density decides how floatable you are (a high bone density means you will sink when swimming) and too much muscle tissue is a disadvantage in endurance events.
The only time the sex difference changes anything is after puberty. Before it girls and boys have a similar body structure meaning sports between them will be very even until then. After puberty boys have a distinct advantage over the girls.
After the ages of 20 or 30 peoples performance starts to decline. Our:
- Bones become more brittle.
- Joints stiffen and movement becomes painful (arthritis).
- Muscles and tendons lose their elasticity
- Reduction of cardiac output
- Arteries lose elasticity
- Slower recovery rate
- Increased blood pressure
- Decreased lung capacity
- Decreased VO2 max
- Increased body fat
- Increased chance of disease.
Your diet is another important factor of training. A good diet can help very much towards good fitness. A diet is made up 7 things.
-
Carbohydrates- can be either simple (are known as sugars or complex (are known as starches). They give us the energy needed for our muscles. Inside our body it is stored in small amounts, as glucose. When it is stored in greater amounts it is called glycogen. When training we need to make sure we have a good supply of glycogen beforehand.
-
Proteins- can be either non-essential amino acids (the 13 which the body can make itself) or essential acids (the remaining 8 which we get from food). We can get our proteins from fish and meat and their products. Protein provides material to build and repair cells and tissues. Excess protein is thrown away.
-
Fats- can be either unsaturated fats (e.g. fish) or saturated fats (e.g. meat- if we eat to much of it we increase our cholesterol). Our body uses fats as an energy source for when we are asleep. This is because fats, to be efficient, must be combined with oxygen and so can only be used aerobically (with oxygen). Excess fat is stored under the skin and so can serve as protection in sports but slows us down.
-
Minerals- there are quite a few different types of minerals:
- Calcium: Hardens bones and teeth.
Used during muscle contraction.
- Zinc: Keeps skin healthy.
- Iron: Helps produce haemoglobin in red blood cells.
- Sodium: Helps the contraction of muscles and the
transmission of nerve impulses.
- Potassium: Helps with the contraction of muscles
Controls many chemical reactions inside cells.
-
Fibre- (is also called Roughage) is found in vegetables, fruits and nuts. Has no nutrients and is not digested. It adds bulk to our food, helping it through our digestive system.
-
Vitamins- all vitamins help many of the body reactions to take place. Each one helps different functions though:
- Helps with vision, keeps tissues healthy
- Helps with growth
- Helps to heal wounds, protects against germs
- Builds up bones and teeth
- Helps skin (in cream form)
K- Helps to clot the blood
-
Water- water is 60% of our body weight and is found in most tissues. It enables us to keep our bodies cool but because it is always being lost (sweat etc.) it needs to be replaced to stop dehydration.
Drugs can also affect performance but is illegal in most cases and can be very dangerous.
The next component that affects performance is skill. Skill is a movement that that can be used in various things. The more skilful you are the better you can do this movement. As you improve in skill you will do the movements more accurately and be more in control. Obviously the more skilful you are the better you train and do the sport after.
The factors that affect skill are personality and aggression. Within personality there are two types: extroverts, who tend to like team sports, with aggression and competition, and introverts, who like solitary, less active/competitive sports. Aggression, although part of personality, is a more important part of it as aggression is needed in most sports or training (contact sports like football and rugby) for you to be successful but too much can lead to fights, which is bad. So a fine balance of aggression is also needed in sports and in training (it gives you the right mind to train in).
The last thing that affects training is the mental factor. This is made up of 4 things: motivation, arousal, anxiety and goal setting.
Motivation is made up two things: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the drive to do well from only yourself in a sport that you like. Extrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from your environment. It usually comes in the form of a reward.
Arousal also plays a part in motivation: the more aroused we are the more motivated we are. Our arousal level affects how well we do. But if you’re over-aroused it can be harmful to you (can cause injury if you over do it). Arousal causes:
- The heart to beat faster, sweating, slight shaking, rapid breathing, and causes us to feel anxious, excited and nervous.
Sometimes before an event we become anxious about how well we will do (it can be called stress). Anxiety is normal but too much can cause us to perform badly. The only way to stop this is to do these things:
- Give him verbal reassurance.
- Ensure that he’ll succeed by giving him easier tasks.
- Make him relax.
- Make him think positively.
- Give him calm, relaxing imagery.
- Make him mentally rehearse everything in his mind.
Goal setting can also help our performance. Goal setting can either be short term or long term depending on what your goal is. The reason it helps is because it motivates us and it controls our anxiety- as soon as we set a goal we work harder to get it done and once it is done you feel calm because it is one less thing to do. To make good goals for yourself you must consider the SMARTER rule that is used by coaches.
-
Specific to what you want to be better (for instance improve your endurance).
-
Measurable. If you can not measure something you will not get results. Without results the performer will not see his progression and will lose his motivation.
-
Agreed. The coach and performer should agree to the sport for then they can discuss how to do it together.
-
Realistic. Goals must be in the reach of the performer.
-
Time phased. If a goal has steps (which it usually has) then each step must be harder than the last.
-
Exciting. Exciting goals motivate the performer more.
-
Recorded. If goals are recorded then as the performer goes on and his goals are crossed off it motivates the player to see how well he is doing and then do more.
Safety also plays a big part in training or the sport itself. It is made up of understanding the health and safety aspect, the correct clothing, footwear, equipment and playing surfaces.
First of all you must always play in a safe and healthy environment knowing what injuries or conditions the player might have and taking it into account (each sport requires different safety aspects but can be summed up in the safety guidelines). The safety guidelines is self explanatory and includes:
-
Obey the rules of the following sport.
-
Wear the correct clothing or footwear: should allow unrestrictive movement, no jewellery, watches or sweets/gum, long hair tied back, consider protective clothing and studded boots and footwear should provide good grip.
-
Only use the correct equipment: can not be faulty/ broken- to make sure follow this: look for damage, feel if it is stable or smooth and field equipment, like goalposts, should be firmly anchored and protective gear should be taken into consideration and extra safety should be taken in some events (mostly throwing ones like javelin etc.).
- Remember the warm up/cool down.
-
Competition should be balanced (age, sex and size should be categorised).
-
Check the playing surfaces are suitable: for instance if the ground is uneven then ball bounces could be unpredictable, litter is also a problem (glass etc. can injure) and weather is also something to look out for (frost will make the ground hard).
-
First aid should be known how to be used so as to prevent injuries.
-
Emergency procedures should be known also to prevent or treat extremely bad injuries.
Safety also includes the consideration of injuries that have either occurred or might occur during play. Injuries tend to fall into 2 categories:
Impact injuries- any injury from impact. It usually occurs during play especially contact sports.
Overuse injuries- happen from gradual overuse on any parts of the body, so it can only happen over time. It can only occur in sports that need a lot of training like tennis.
There are different types of injury and can fall under joint and muscle injuries or skin damage.
Skin damage-
Cuts- when the skin is broken and bleeding occurs. Infection can happen and so should be treated.
Grazes- when a layer of skin is taken off and nearly broken. This is best avoided by wearing pads.
Blisters- repeated friction on the skin causes the layers to separate and fill with fluid. This is best dealt with by wearing well-fitting and correct shoe wear.
Bruises- swelling caused by impact and broken blood vessels leak blood. Again padding can deter this.
Joint and muscle injury-
Strains- the muscle is overstretched or twisted.
Pulled muscle- the muscle fibres are torn or overstretched.
Sprain- the ligaments are overstretched or torn at a joint.
Dislocation- the bone is jolted out of its normal position at a joint.
Tennis/ Golf elbow- overuse injuries to the lower arm.
Not much can be done to prevent joint or muscle injuries. Rest and time is the best cure for it though.
Serious injuries include concussion, which is caused by the brain being shaken violently about from an impact. You can be knocked unconscious and should only play sport after full recovery, which is about several weeks. Dehydration is when the body loses too much water. This can seriously affect your performance and so taking plenty of drinks is vital. The last one is hypothermia, which can only occur after prolonged periods in cold conditions that cause your body temperature to fall below 37oC. Hypothermia should be recognised before anything fatal happens and treated immediately.
When an injury happens the RICE principles should work in most cases:
R- rest- stop playing.
I- ice- put something cold on the injury.
C- compression- prevent further swelling wrapping or compressing the injured area with a bandage.
E- elevation- elevating the injured area will slow swelling as the blood flow also slows down.
Before any of this is done or thought about the performer must know what the short term and long term effects are of training. In short term effects it will depend on how hard you train but it will effect the heart; increasing the heart rate (more blood pumped around the body), the hormones; a hormone called adrenaline will be released increasing the heart rate and make the blood pump faster, the lungs; increase in breathing rate and depth, the blood; more of it will pumped around the body, it will become more acidic (the waste product, lactic acid will do that) and its pressure will rise, and the muscles; they will produce heat, use up the energy fuels and produce energy as a result.
The long-term effects have different affects on different parts of the body. On the skeletal system the:
- Tendons become stronger.
- Ligaments are stretched so they become loose and more flexible.
- Calcium is added to bony tissue, strengthening the bones.
- Cartilage at the ends of the bones gets thicker, cushioning the shock in the joints.
The main effects on the muscular system are:
- Muscle myoglobin increase.
- Muscle mitochondria increase.
- The energy stores get bigger and better.
The cardiovascular system effects are:
- The heart improves, pumping more blood with each beat.
- The blood volume increases, meaning that it can carry more oxygen.
The respiratory system has:
- The rib muscles improve, making breathing more efficient.
- The lung volume increases.
- Surface area of lungs increase, meaning more oxygen can be transported there.
- More oxygen can reach the muscles and so the VO2 max increases.
You can see that the long-term effects of training are all very positive and basically make you stronger, healthier and let you breathe easier. All your heart rate zones improve including the stroke volume and your VO2 max. The stroke volume is how much blood is ejected from the heart in one beat and as you exercise this improves by ejecting more blood out in one beat, which in turn lets more oxygen through the body. The VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen we can transport and use in one minute, which also improves with training by increasing that maximum number.
Measuring Improvements-
To measure improvements you can use scientific tests, video analysis, and a check sheet or peer analysis.
The first thing you could do is do one of the tests in my personal profile and see what score you get. Then after the training programme do the same test and see how much you have improved. Using calculations or other methods can also be used to measure your improvements. For instance the heart rate can be measured using your pulse (you just put your hand either over your wrist or your neck in a specific place over your artery to feel the pulse) in however much time. If you have your heart rate and your stroke volume then you can use a calculation to see what your cardiac output is. Also after the Harvard step test you can use your pulse and a calculation to measure your recovery rate.
The other thing you could do is get outside advice or results. The two ways to do this is to either get information or analysis from a video (video analysis) or you can use a check sheet, which also gives peer analysis. To form a check sheet you’ve got to produce a series of questions that will analyse the performance of the athlete.
Example (this is completely made up)-
The 30-metre sprint
1. What is the performers best time? 5.26
2. What is the performers current time? 5.16
3. Any advantages/ disadvantages given to the performer? What were they?
One disadvantage- the floor had little grip.
4. Is there any way the performer could improve?
He could improve his running technique and starting off technique.
- Any good points about the runner worth remembering for next time?
That he carried on running full speed until he crossed the line and didn’t slow down at all until after the finishing line. Also, leave the soft pad at the back behind the line so that he doesn’t smash into a wall after he has finished.
This check sheet can either be filled in during the test or after it. It is advisable to get a friend (or peer- this is where peer analysis comes into it) to fill it in though because he can watch you and see your mistakes much easier than you can.
The Training Schedule I Undertook-
The first thing to remind you about this is that I will be improving and measuring the flexibility in my legs over the course of 6 weeks. For each week I will record which week it is, the method, results, and my conclusion so as to justify what I have done.
Aim-
The aim for the first week will be to measure my current flexibility in my legs using various tests and to then work out for half an hour to an hour every day afterwards. At the end of every week on Sunday I will use the same tests from the first measuring to see how much I have improved. I will then record the results.
Using the SMARTER principles I will set my goals. I will be specific by saying that I will increase my leg flexibility by using a training schedule specific towards that task. The task is measurable because I have 2 tests ready to see how well I will do. I do not have a coach to agree with but the programme is safe and does contribute only towards my aim. My goal is realistic and can be achieved. As I become more flexible I will naturally push harder anyway so my training will be time-phased. To make this exciting I will vary my training (maybe the locations but most probably the types of training I’ll do). Lastly I will record my results and if I do well it will motivate me and if I do badly I will become motivated/ determined to do better.
Method-
While doing my schedule I must remember all my training principles. Things like FITT and RICE will all contribute towards the efficiency of the programme.
To measure my current flexibility I will do only a warm up so that I do not pull a muscle and a cool down to return to my original state- I will not do any stretching because I aim to measure my flexibility at a normal state and although the warm-up will help increase my flexibility a bit it has to be done to prevent injury.
First test-
This warm up will include:
- being inside a room (for the warmth),
- doing exercises that do not exert too much energy (I want to save some energy for the actual stretches); these may include:
- running on the spot,
- star jumps,
- jumping up and down from a crouch,
- some press-ups.
- I would also include doing minor and gentle stretches like:
- reaching my leg out as far as possible while keeping the other one bent
- bending either leg back so as to stretch my quadriceps.
After that I would use the sit and reach test and a test I have made up.
The test I have made up includes a measuring tape pulled out as far as it can get and put down across the room. Then putting one foot at 0 do the side-splits both ways (right and left) and the splits, measuring and recording the distance between my two legs.
I will have to make up the table using averages etc. from my own data that I have collected from the two tests and so will input and compare the data in this essay after the 6 weeks. After collecting the data of my current state I will do a cool down.
This cool down will include:
- gentle stretches and exercises that gradually decrease in how hard you work over a period of time. The stretches will be:
- sitting on the floor reaching for your toes,
- gentle side-splits and splits
- pulling your legs out as far as possible while sitting on the ground.
- The exercises will be much the same as the warm up exercises- running on the spot, star jumps etc. but they would all be gentler and if it is a cool evening I may choose to work outside so as to cool off quicker.
Although I will not do it here during the next 6 weeks I will take into account the frequency and time for each warm-up, cool down and the work- out in between (the type has already been mentioned and the intensity will be to work as hard as possible).
The normal workouts
Every day from there on I will do a work out including a warm up, stretches and a cool down, all for obvious reasons which have already been mentioned. The warm up and cool down will be same as I have already mentioned and the stretches will include the same as in the warm up and cool down; these being-
- reaching either leg out as far forward as I can while sitting and then trying to touch my toes bending my back forwards.
- another stretch that I will do is to touch my toes while standing. I will not specifically use this as a stretch but as a way to give me a rough idea of how much exercise I have done (the easier it will be to touch my toes the more I have worked out). This is not a very efficient stretch because personally I find it very easy to do.
In all of the above though I will hold my furthermost position for as long as I can, making the stretch as efficient as possible. Since the number of times that I have to do the stretch to make it efficient can not be guessed I can only say that I will do the stretches as many times that I feel fit. I think that once I have completed all 4 of the said stretches I will repeat them again in the same order. By the time I have reached the same stretch that muscle will have rested and be ok to stretch again. If I do all the stretches one after the other one muscle will have time to rest while I am stretching another muscle.
Important Note-
The thing I must remember to do is to use the different types of exercises and stretches I have mentioned and vary them in all the aspects of the training programme (whether it be the warm up, cool down or the actual stretches) so that I do not get bored and lose interest or start to make less effort and not improve myself as much. I have to keep myself going for as long as possible using other means.
Results and Tables-
For the sit and reach test I will compare my results to this table given below (it is an official table and so any comparison will be reliable):
Males (cm) Females (cm) Rating
>14 >15 Excellent
11-13 12-14 Good
7-10 7-11 Average
4-6 4-6 Fair
<3 <3 Poor
Original condition-
The result I got for my current condition is 10 cm, which is an average result.
First week-
12cm- good result
Second week-
14cm- excellent result
Third week-
15cm- above excellent result
Fourth week-
16cm- above excellent result
Fifth week-
17cm- above excellent result
Sixth week-
17cm- above excellent result
Conclusion and Summary of results-
As you can see from my results my training schedule at least for my hamstrings went well. You can see that my flexibility
increased every week but started to plateau near the end. This means that my exercises weren’t strong enough near the end and that if I wish to continue training I will have to think of harder exercises.
For my own test I managed to come up with this table after the 6 weeks training:
This table, you must remember, was made up from my results and so is only made suitable for me.
Original condition-
Side-Splits: Left- 161cm Right- 165cm Splits- 156cm
poor poor poor
First week-
Side-Splits: Left- 165cm Right- 168cm Splits- 160cm
below av. below av. below av.
Second week-
Side-Splits: Left- 168cm Right- 171cm Splits- 164cm
Average average average
Third week-
Side-Splits: Left- 171cm Right- 174cm Splits- 167cm
Above av. above av. above av.
Fourth week-
Side-Splits: Left- 173cm Right- 176cm Splits- 170cm
Above av. above av. above av.
Fifth week-
Side-Splits: Left- 175cm Right- 178cm Splits- 173cm
Above av. above av. above av.
Sixth week-
Side-Splits: Left- 177cm Right- 179cm Splits- 175cm
Above av. above av. excellent
Conclusion and Summary of results-
From the graph you can see, again, I managed to improve my flexibility every week, but I can also see that at the beginning the 3 types of leg flexibilities were quite far apart in their measurements, then, near the end, they were considerably closer. This implies that the right side-splits plateau more than the
flexibility.
Week by Week Analysis-
Week 1- this being the first week I felt a bit confused as I didn’t quite know how to go about it. Once it became an everyday thing I quickly got into the rhythm. I generally warmed up in the garden. I also realised that training in the right clothing helped (like jogging bottoms help as they will not tear when you do stretches). I found that half an hour a day was too short a time and so increased it to ¾ hour - an hour.
Week 2- My legs start to ache, realising that I am pushing myself too hard I slow down- decreasing my time from before to ½ hour - ¾ hour and work a bit harder on the cool down. Everything else goes smoothly
Week 3- Start to get a bit bored with the programme and so start to vary my locations and stretches to keep me interested.
Week 4- everything is pretty much ok during this week.
Week 5- I really have to start motivating myself now as I am bored with doing the same programme over and over again. To keep me going I set up a little table of my results so far to show me how well I have done.
Week 6- as a final effort to keep me going I incorporate some other exercise like sit-ups or running to give some variation and interest in my programme. The main thing that keeps me going is that it’s the last week. I start to get cramps in my legs so once again I slow down the pace working more on my cool down.
Justification-
The first week of my training programme went very smoothly as there were no setbacks. I did everything for a reason; the first test, the exercises and the second test at the end of the first week. The first test was to measure my original state, the exercises were to improve myself and the second test was to see how well my training programme went and also how hard I worked.
I did the first test so as to warm up certain parts of my body:
- The jumping, star jumps and running warmed up my legs
- The star jumps and the press-ups warmed up my arms
I did more on my legs because those were the parts I was actually stretching but to keep my body balanced in the warm up I also did my arms (the rest of the body warmed up naturally during the exercises).
The stretches were efficient and specific to the course because they concentrated on all the different parts of the legs (quadriceps, hamstrings etc.) and only on my legs and nowhere else, which is specific to my aim. Also, another thing that I kept fresh in my memory was to hold the stretch so as to make it as efficient as possible
The cool down also did what it was supposed to do: Return my body back to its normal state as slowly as possible so as not to injure myself from a rapid change in temperature and in overall condition. Since I spent about 10-15 minutes on every cool down I would say I did that successfully. This changed as injuries started to occur like cramps and so more effort was put into the cool down to prevent such injuries. So as a result my programme became safer.
I believe that my training schedule was quite appropriate and looking at my results I must have done something right as they were very successful. I managed to motivate myself enough to keep on going by finding different methods or incorporating new things.
Conclusion and Evaluation
Although the actual stretches were efficient in themselves I think that I did not give myself enough stretches and exercises to do. I therefore lost interest and got bored with the same workout every day for 6 weeks. If I were to do this again I would definitely research some more stretches to do before doing the 6 weeks again. Another thing I would research is more tests to do because I think that I did not efficiently measure my leg flexibility. If I were to repeat the programme I would research more official tests so that I could measure each muscle in my legs. My own test was not too reliable because it only took into account my legs and so I could not use my table to compare it to a top athlete of my age.
While doing the programme I found that motivation was a big problem. Since I have no coach and do not go to a gym I didn’t get much extrinsic motivation (apart from the fact that I what I am doing is my P.E coursework) so most of my motivation was intrinsic (motivation that comes from myself). I followed the SMARTER principles especially the Time-phased one, by creating short-term goals I managed to get through the 6 weeks.
Another problem I encountered was that I worked too hard and so got aches and pains in my legs from the sudden contrast in lifestyle. The next time I do this I shall make a specific timetable for myself alternating the days of rest and workouts. It might be something like this:
Workout= W Rest= R
Heart rate and recovery rate were two things that I considered doing. The reason I did not do it is because I did not believe that it would show me much. Since the programme did not do very tiring exercises I would not get a very accurate result for either my heart rate or my recovery rate. In the end I decided that doing either tests would be pointless. I also did not include a pier sheet because there was little skill involved in doing stretching so I needed little advice. The last thing I did not take into account was my somatotype. The reason I did not do this is because I do not think that your somatotype affects your flexibility.
Other than those points I think that the training programme was a success. The results prove that I did extremely well as they go up on every week and not down. I think the reason that the sit and reach test stayed at 17cm for the 5th and 6th was because I was reaching a point where I needed a lot more work to improve (I was plateauing). You can see that the results increased but they did not increase in a constant manner- they decreased over the weeks. This means that I either did not work out constantly or that my legs were starting to plateau and needed to work harder - I can not do any tests to figure this out exactly but from my own judgement I can safely say that the workouts I did in the first week were exactly the same as in my sixth week which means my legs must have been plateauing. Even though I got slightly bored with the exercises I do think that I managed to cover the aim: to stretch my legs. The warm up, stretches, and cool down all managed to stretch my legs without to much injury-, which is what a good programme is supposed to do.
In the end though all my results, even through boredom, aches and plateauing, came to a successful finish, increasing all the way.
