Circuit Training.

GCSE Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Circuit Training

Circuit training is a method of training. A circuit usually has 8 to 15 stations, where at each station a different exercise is carried out for a certain amount of time. Circuit training can improve muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, aerobic fitness, muscular strength, speed and agility.

Specificity

My circuit-training program is for running and it is based over a six-week period. The 10 stations are specifically suited to what is needed to run.

My circuit is aimed to improve the following over a six-week period: muscular endurance, muscular strength, speed, agility, cardiovascular endurance, these are all needed for a runner.

For example:

· Muscular Endurance - To keep the muscles contracting for the full length of the race without getting out of breathe too easily.

· Muscular Strength - the force your muscles exert. When a runner gets too tired, we always rely on our arms to keep us going as it acts as our pace setter.

· Speed –This is maybe not as important as some of these points, but it is still important, I will not be sprinting my whole race as I don’t run short distances, buy it does come in handy when I try and chase someone on the last 100 metres or so.

· Cardiovascular Endurance - the ability of the heart, lungs and circulation to deliver oxygen and remove waste during exercise. This is essential for a runner to keep a constant pace all the way through the race. This is hard to perform in a circuit, so it would be better to improve this by running long distances or cycling.

. Overload

To improve the fitness of a part of the body, you need to overload it. That means you need to make it work harder than usual. Over time, it adapts to meet the increased demand by getting fitter

You can overload your body in three ways:

· by increasing the Frequency of exercise- how often you do it.

For example start by exercising twice a week, then move up to three or four times a week.

· by increasing the Intensity of the exercise- how hard you work?

For example run faster or lift heavier weights.

· by increasing the Time you spend on the exercise. If you are very unfit you might start off jogging just for 5 minutes a session, and work your way up week by week to 30 minutes a session.

Progression

Your body ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

You can overload your body in three ways:

· by increasing the Frequency of exercise- how often you do it.

For example start by exercising twice a week, then move up to three or four times a week.

· by increasing the Intensity of the exercise- how hard you work?

For example run faster or lift heavier weights.

· by increasing the Time you spend on the exercise. If you are very unfit you might start off jogging just for 5 minutes a session, and work your way up week by week to 30 minutes a session.

Progression

Your body takes time to adapt to the increased demands on it. So you should build up your exercise level gradually. But once it reaches a certain level when it can comfortably deal with the level of exercise, it will not improve anymore. This is called plateauing. To prevent this from happening the exercises must be made progressively harder to ensure that the body continues to improve.

Equipment

· 20 Cones

· 3 Hoops

· 10 Soccer Balls

· 1 Measuring Tape

The Circuit

The orders in which the exercises are to be done are:

Warm up >> Stretches >> The Circuit >> Warm Down

Warm up & Stretching - The warm up is very important, as the exercises you will be doing are very demanding. The warm up will increase the blood flow and heart rate, warm up the muscles, warms and loosens joints. This will prevent any injuries to the muscles or joints.

Start by lightly jogging for approximately 10 mins. DO NOT SPRINT! Then move on to some dynamic stretching. For example, rotating hips and arms. Then stretch all the major muscles used for football, each stretch should be held for a period of 8 - 10 seconds.

The muscles that need to be stretched are: 1.Hamstrings

2.Quadriceps

3.Gastrocnemiuis

4.Triceps

5.Deltoids

6.Trapezium

Station One

On this station you have to start at the line, sprint to the first cone then sprint back to the line then sprint to the second cone,

Then sprint back to the line then sprint to the third cone, then back to the line. Then

Sprint to the second cone and back then to the first cone and back to complete the exercise. This will improve your speed, agility and muscular endurance of the quadriceps and hamstrings.

Station Two

This station is a sit up exercise. Perform as many as you can in one minute. These will improve muscular endurance in the abdominal muscles; this comes in handy when a throw-in needs to be thrown over a long distance. This is explosive strength because it is done in one explosive movement.

Station Three

This exercise concentrates on a player's chipping ability and accuracy, the hoops should be placed 5m apart. Place a ball behind the line and chip it so it bounces in the first hoop, then chip a ball so it bounces in the second hoop. Then chip it so it bounces in the third hoop; next chip it so it bounces in the second hoop, then the first hoop.

Station Four

This is a shooting exercise. Place two cones 5m apart, then line up five balls 10m away from the cones and one cone 2m behind each ball. Strike the first ball then turn around and sprint around the cone and strike the next ball then turn around and sprint to round the cone etc. this will improve muscular strength and accuracy.

Station Five

Use this time (1 minute) to rest and relax. Some light stretching can be done to remove the lactic acid that has built up in your muscles during the first four exercises.

Station Six

The exercise on this station are burpees, burpees are squat thrusts and star jumps mixed together. Do a squat thrust then stand up and do a star jump and then another squat thrust then stand up and do another star jump. This will improve your agility, cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance and strength of the quadriceps and hamstrings.

Station Seven

Place six cones 1m apart then dribble a ball in and out of them and sprint back to the start, repeat this for 1 minute. This will improve ball skills, speed and agility. Record how many complete runs are done?

Station Eight

The exercise on this station is kick-ups. Do as many as you can in one minute. This will improve ball control, and muscular endurance.

Station Nine

This exercise is passing; make a rectangle with cones 5m by 2m, then pass the ball back and forth using both feet. See how many complete passes are done in 1 minute. This exercise will improve the ability to pass the ball accurately and ball control.

Once the circuit is finished it can be repeated or a warm down will take place, the warm down will consist of gentle jogging and stretching to remove the lactic acid that builds up in muscles while they are being worked. The warm down should help you perform better next time you exercise.

The muscles that were stretched in the warm up should also be stretched in the warm down. The stretches should be held longer then they were in the warm up to prevent stiffness and soreness.

The table below displays results for one week of this circuit.

In six weeks time these results should improve, below is a results table set over six weeks.

*On target/Scored

Evaluation

Typically the endurance strength session consists of several sets of exercises (eg squats) with a lightweight and the performance of anywhere from 20-50 repetitions per set. The athlete might complete 4 sets for a maximum total of say 200 repetitions. In a running environment 400m reps/steps would be equivalent to less than 400m of running!!!

So what is the distance athlete developing when they complete such a strength routine? Mainly it is further anaerobic adaptations to the muscular system. Whilst this has some benefits, it is not really strength training and could probably be equally if not more successfully developed performing hill sprints (at least you are simulating the movement of running in this example).

So what are the benefits of a structured strength routine and what should the distance athlete look to be doing in a gym environment?

Firstly the benefits can be broken down into several components:

Resisting collapse each time the foot hits the ground. Eccentric forces (the forces that occur at each foot contact) are very high in distance running and the stronger the athlete in the appropriate areas, the less collapse at contact, the quicker off the ground and the faster they can move into the second phase of the stride.
Push off takes place at the end of each contact. The stronger the push off the longer the stride meaning the athlete is covering more ground with each step therefore needing less steps to complete a distance (less energy expended).
Strength through the athlete's mid-torso will also assist in maintaining efficient running technique throughout the race.

From my experience with endurance athletes, pelvic stability is generally pretty bad and performance improvement can be substantial with a good general program for this region.