Each week i am hoping to overload my body, i can do this by three ways:
- By increasing the frequency of exercise- how often i do it
- By increasing the intensity of exercise- how hard i work
- By increasing the time spent on the exercise- how long i do it for
F- Frequency
I- Intensity
T- Time
T- Type
Stations
1. Jogging- This will improve my stamina, muscular endurance to the quadriceps and hamsrtings and cardivascular endurance as it is important to keep a steady pace, then to be able to sprint.
2. Bicep curls- This will improve my muscular endurance to the triceps and biceps, helping to catch a hard chest pass, and to be a strong shooter.
3. Stepper/step-ups- This will improve stamina and muscular endurance to the quadriceps and hamstrings and cardivascular endurace, this will help me to keep going throuhout the game.
4. Abdominal crunches- 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.
5. Exercise bike- This will improve my stamina, and muscular endurance to the hamstrings and quadriceps, which will help me to keep going throughout the game.
6. Lunges- This will improve my stamina, and muscular endurance to the hamstrings, quadriceps and abdominals.
7. Skipping- This will improve my stamina, and muscular endurance to the hamstrings, quadriceps, triceps and biceps. This will help me with my explosive strength (passing the ball) and to keep on going throughout the game.
8. Leg raises- This will improve my muscular endurance to the quadriceps and hamstrings. This will stop my muscles becoming tired and weak in the game.
I have arranged my circuit in such a way so that i perform a stamina exercise, then a strength exercise so that i do no become tired so early in the circuit.
Equipment
- Stop watch
- Bench
- Exercise bike
- Skipping rope
- Weights
The Circuit
The order in which the exercises are to be done are:
Warm up >> The Circuit >> Cool Down
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. The cool down down is also important is stops the muscles from feeling sore and stiff afterwards. My warm-up and cool downs consist of stretching each of these muscles:
- Hamstrings
- Quadriceps
- Gastrocnemius
- Trapezius
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Abdominals
- Lattimus dorsi
R- Rest
I- Ice
C- Compression
E- Elevation
This term is very important to remember, incase i have an injury
Evaluation
Session 1
I found my first fitness training session quite easy. Before and after the session i performed a warm-up and cool down so i would not be injured or feel sore afterwards. I quite enjoyed this session, however there was not enough equipment for us all to share so i have to perform two stamina activities one after the other, so i became tired. My circuit tested each area of fitness that I wanted it to. I need to organise my session better so i am able to fit all the exercises in 50 minutes. I feel i have to push myself a little harder next week and overload my body as i do not think i made any progress this week with my fitness levels. Also i began to feel rather bored at times (tedium) as i was waiting to use equipment.
Session 2
I found this circuit a little more interesting as i pushed myself harder this week. If i felt i did not overload my body i would do the exercise for a little longer, this also stopped me from becoming bored. However if i felt my muscles becoming sore I stopped and moved on to the next activity. One example is the abdominal crunches, i perform these at home on a regular basis and i did not feel i set myself a high enough target to reach, so i performed them that little bit longer until by abdominals began to ache. I am having to rush from station to station , to fit all the exercises into 50 minutes, therefore my pulse rates are quite high.
Session 3
Every week i am finding my circuits that little bit harder, which i enjoy, as i like a challenge and to push my fitness levels as high as possible. I am coping well with all the activities as they increase in time and intensity apart from the skipping. I am finding that both the muscles in my legs (gastrocnemius, quadriceps and hamstrings) and the muscles in my arms (triceps and biceps) are aching too much for me to cope with, so i will be reducing the time in which i have set for myself. The fast pace at which the lunges are conducted have improved my fast twitch muscle fibres allowing me to change direction much more quickly in sports such as netball.
Session 4
Although I did not use the exercise bike for any longer this week, I have found it much easier to perform this activity this week. My cardiovascular endurance has improved a little over this time, however it is hard to examine my pulse rate when it is at different rates due to the exercise i have performed prior. Sometimes i have had to wait to perform my activity so therefore it has decreased. Other times i have moved straight from one activity to the next therefore it has been extremely high.
Session 5
This week i did not have enough time to perform a cool down, so therefore when i woke up the next morning my muscles were very sore. I have been unable to perform as well as i thought i would, the longest i can perform the station for skipping is for 3 minutes, however i have performed the exercise bike station better then i thought i would, so my stamina is still being improved. I only just found out this week that i was performing the bicep curls wrongly (I thought i was not feeling overload within my biceps) so this week i have been feeling more of the strain on my arms.
Session 6
Finally the last week. In general my circuit program was successful, it tested each area of fitness that I wanted it to. Although it was successful, because there were so many people doing their own circuit program there wasn’t enough equipment, so the equipment had to be shared. I found the circuit to be quite intense and tiring, but very effective as my circuit tested all the areas I wanted it to.
If I were to perform the circuit program again I would start by having a recovery time between each station. Although I had improved during the six-week period I had only improved slightly, so if I were repeating this program I would make it last 12 weeks so improvements could be more obvious. Once the circuit becomes too easy I would have to make it harder to affect my fitness levels. If the circuit is not made harder the body will stop improving in the areas of muscular endurance and anaerobic respiration. The body must also train to prevent reversibility. This is when the affects of training decrease and the your fitness levels decrease.