Fitness programme 2003.

GCSE Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Fitness programme 2003

Introduction: I am a 15 year old female. I weigh 116lbs and lead a moderately active lifestyle. I play squash, do gymnastics, dance and visit the gym once a week. I also walk a mile and a half home from school every school day.

Preparatory work: Before my training programme began, I had a trial session, exploring circuit exercises and deciding which sport I should base my training programme around. I would either choose Gymnastics or long/ middle distance running. After this session I decided I would choose gymnastics, as there is more to train and it leaves scope for improvement in many areas.

Aims: The purpose of my training programme is to improve my gymnastics overall through doing a circuit and other basic training, and training focusing on the components of fitness appropriate to gymnastics.

By the end of my 6 week training programme I aim to have improved in flexibility, leg strength, endurance, co-ordination and abdominal strength. I have tested these before commencing with my training, and will test at the half way (three week) mark and also post-training, at the end of the 6 weeks. I will also take my heart rate before, during and after exercise, for use in comparative tables and lastly, as a measure of how quickly my heart is recovering after exercise, I will record how long it takes for me to get back to my resting heart rate after exercise.

Components of fitness: These are the components of fitness that I wish to test and train:

Flexibility
Endurance
Leg strength
Abdominal strength

Testing components: I test my flexibility by doing the sit and reach test. This test involves sitting on the floor with legs out straight ahead. Feet (shoes off) are placed flat against the box. Both knees are held flat against the floor by the tester. The athlete leans forward slowly as far as possible and holds the greatest stretch for two seconds. Make sure there is no jerky movements and that the fingertips remain level and the legs flat. The score is recorded as the distance before (negative) or beyond (positive) the toes. Repeat twice and record the best score.

I test my endurance by doing the cooper run test. The test comprises of seeing how far an athlete can run/walk in twelve minutes. This should be recorded by the total distance covered to the nearest 100 metres.

I test my leg strength using both the standing and vertical jump tests. Using two tests gives more accuracy. For the vertical jump test, the athlete stands side on to a wall and reaches up with the hand closest to the wall. Keeping the feet flat on the ground, the point of the fingertips is marked or recorded. The athlete then stands away from the wall, and jumps vertically as high as possible using both arms and legs to assist in projecting the body upwards. Attempt to touch the wall at the highest point of the jump. The difference in distance between the reach height and the jump height is the score. The best of three attempts is recorded. For the standing jump test the athlete stands at a line marked on the ground with feet slightly apart. A two foot take-off and landing is used, with swinging of the arms and bending of the knees to provide forward drive. Measure the longest distance jumped, the best of three tries. The jump must be repeated if the athletes falls back or uses a step at take-off.

I test abdominal strength by counting the amount of sit-ups I can do in thirty seconds.

As said above, I will test three times over the six week period. I have tested before I started my training programme, I will also test and the half way (three week) mark and also at the end of the six weeks. Then I will compare the results. I am hoping to be able to reach further in the sit and reach test, run further in the cooper run, make more bounces in the coordination test, jump further/higher prospectively in the jump tests and do more sit-ups in the abdominals test.

Why train specific components? We train specific components, instead of the whole body at one time. This is because then we know how much work we are doing on an individual muscle group and can balance out the training, so no part of the body gets neglected, or even over exercised as this could cause injury. By training around the components of fitness appropriate to the sports we participate in, we can improve the vital areas of our fitness needed in our sport and not waste time doing exercises which wouldn’t help your skill or fitness for that sport. Some exercises which may help in one sport may do the reverse in another. It helps specify our exercise schedules to our sports, making us more effective in the required skill areas.

I will train endurance because gymnastics requires both cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Without cardiovascular endurance my performance would not be effective as I would suffer from complaints such as shortness of breath because my body would not be used to working for a long time, i.e. during a floor routine. Floor routines last up to 10 minutes. Some work will be aerobic endurance and some will be anaerobic. I would be less likely to get tired quickly if I trained to improve cardiovascular endurance, therefore this would improve my performance.

I need to train muscular endurance as without it I would not be able to withstand the constant contractions of my muscles. This would lead to injury and would make my performance ineffective. By training muscular endurance I will hopefully be able to withstand the contractions of my muscles and endure a long performance.

I shall train flexibility as you are less susceptible to injury of joints and muscles. Flexibility is the range of movement around a joint. This is improved by regular stretching, therefore slowly improving the elasticity of the muscle. Gymnastics without a level of flexibility is dangerous as joints and muscles are very likely to be damaged as without stretching, they have limited movement. Gymnastics is based around being flexible. For example, gymnasts must be very flexible to do the splits. The more flexible a gymnast is, the wider range of movements they can do.

My programme will train my abdominal strength because it helps with body strength. Tensing the abdominals whilst in a handstand for example, keeps your body and legs straight.

I need to train my leg strength as all gymnastics requires use of the leg muscles. The muscles must be very powerful so to launch the gymnast’s body into various gymnastic moves, i.e. standing somersault. Jumps are very important in gymnastics, and for this leg strength is required. You jump higher with more leg strength.

Potential risks: There are quite a few potential risks whilst training. Because we are training in large groups, circuit stations may get crowded. We should avoid too much over crowding by moving to the next less crowded station and then coming back when it’s not too busy. I must make sure I have enough room around me whilst training to avoid collision with others. Hair must be tied back, this means your hair is not in your eyes so that your vision is impaired and also so that you don’t get your hair caught in any equipment. I must not wear jewellery, as this could get caught; leading to serious injury or in the case of a necklace, strangulation is possible. Shoes must be tied up as you, or others could trip over the laces, causing injury. Any injuries or places of common injury on yourself, i.e. you have sprained your knee before, should be strapped up to help prevent further injury.

Warm up: If done correctly, a pre-exercise warm-up can have many beneficial effects on a person's workout and, consequently, their overall health. It prevents muscle and ligament damaged, by warming up your body and getting it used to exercise again. Muscles are stretchier when warm therefore less damage will take place.

Also, when you begin to exercise, your cardio respiratory and neuromuscular systems are stimulated, as is your metabolic energy pathways. Muscles contract and, to meet their increasing demands for oxygen, your heart rate, blood flow, cardiac output and breathing rate increase. Blood moves faster through your arteries and veins, and is gradually sent to working muscles. Your blood temperature rises and oxygen is released more quickly, raising the temperature of the muscles. This allows the muscles to use glucose and fatty acids to burn calories and create energy for the exercise. All of these processes prepare the body for higher-intensity action.

I am going to take at least 20 minutes warming up, as this will give my body time to get warm and my muscles to get used to the exercise.

A gradual warm-up:

leads to efficient calorie burning by increasing your core body temperature
produces faster, more forceful muscle contractions
increases your metabolic rate so oxygen is delivered to the working muscles more quickly
prevents injuries by improving the elasticity of your muscles
gives you better muscle control by speeding up your neural message pathways to the muscles
Allows you to work out comfortably for longer because all your energy systems are able to adjust to exercise, preventing the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles.
Improves joint range of movement.

My warm-up will consist of two parts.

1) Progressive aerobic activity that prepares the muscles you will be using during your workout.

2) Flexibility exercises. This increases the range of movement around a joint and prevents muscle and joint damage.

After the aerobic warm-up activity I will incorporate more flexibility/stretching exercises. Stretching muscles after warming them up with low-intensity aerobic activity will produce a better stretch since the rise in muscle temperature and circulation increases muscle elasticity, making them suppler. I will stretch all the main muscle groups as gymnastics requires most of these muscles.

What are the possible injuries in training and how can I prevent them? I am aware of the damage I could cause my body if I do not carry this training programme out carefully.

About half of people at any age who participate in competitive running or high impact aerobics experience minor injuries at least once a year. Young, intensely competitive athletes may be at risk for permanent injury. Research proves that women are far more likely than men to suffer knee injuries. As I already have suffered a knee injury before, I am going to strap my knee during training sessions.

The following may prevent injury to bones and muscles during exercise:

Wear shock-absorbing footwear with weight-dampening inserts.
Combine weight lifting with jumping exercises. This may prevent injury by strengthening hamstrings and improving coordination.
Vary training and alternate easy and harder workouts.
Be careful to warm up, cool down, and stretch. Flexibility is the key to preventing many muscle strains.
Take days off now and then. The risk of injury increases when athletes train more than five times a week. This would not be a factor in my training, as I plan to train for 1 -2 hours, twice a week.

Incorrect movements can cause problems in the muscles tissue. They are usually the result of improper exercise instruction and inattention. As examples, a single, jerky backwards walkover or incorrect use of exercise equipment (especially free weights and rowing machines) can cause serious back injuries. To prevent this, when trying a move I am unsure about, I will ask someone to support me and make sure I carry out the move correctly.

Everyone should drink lots of fluid during intense exercise. Thirst is often a poor indicator of dehydration in people who exercise, and people often underestimate the amount of fluid they need. During a tough workout in a hot environment, the body can lose two litres of fluid per hour through perspiration. Anyone who exercises intensively should take the following precautions:

Drink six to eight ounces of fluid about 15 minutes before a workout, and then pause regularly during exercise for more.
Water is the best choice for replenishing body fluids. Glucose-sodium-potassium solutions, the so-called "sports drinks," that promise instant energy are apparently no better than water at improving endurance during prolonged intense running.
Caffeinated beverages like coffee and soft drinks give short bursts of energy but can actually reduce fluid. According to one study, caffeine before a workout temporarily raises blood pressure and reduces blood flow to inactive limbs.

Contrary to popular belief, drinking fluids ...

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Drink six to eight ounces of fluid about 15 minutes before a workout, and then pause regularly during exercise for more.
Water is the best choice for replenishing body fluids. Glucose-sodium-potassium solutions, the so-called "sports drinks," that promise instant energy are apparently no better than water at improving endurance during prolonged intense running.
Caffeinated beverages like coffee and soft drinks give short bursts of energy but can actually reduce fluid. According to one study, caffeine before a workout temporarily raises blood pressure and reduces blood flow to inactive limbs.

Contrary to popular belief, drinking fluids will not cause cramps. Adequate hydration, in fact, helps prevent the painful involuntary muscle spasms that sometimes occur during exercise.

Overheating, or hyperthermia, can be a problem with strenuous exercise or when working out in hot weather. This is particularly a problem as I am doing my training programme in the summer time. Individuals should rest in a cool, dry place, drink plenty of fluids, and bring down their body temperature with ice packs pressed against the skin.

Heatstroke is the most dangerous complication of hyperthermia. The victim may suddenly cease perspiring, after which symptoms such as altered consciousness, seizures, and even coma, may quickly follow. Heat stroke is a medical emergency and requires immediate cooling of the victim in an ice-water bath or with ice packs. One study suggests that risk for serious complications from exercising in high temperatures may persist as late as the following day, even if the weather has cooled down.

Order of events: In my training programme I plan to do my circuit so that the muscle groups I use are varied. No muscle groups will have two exercises focused on them in a row. This is because then you have time to work on each muscle group and concentrate on the individually. Also it gives the muscles time to rest, so you don’t do them damage by overworking them.

Cool down: I must do a cool down at the end of each training session. The main aim of the cool down is to promote recovery and return the body to a pre exercise, or pre work out level. During a strenuous work out, your body goes through a number of tough processes. Muscle fibres, tendons and ligaments get damaged, and waste products build up within your body.

The cool down, performed properly, will assist your body in its repair process. One area the cool down will help with is "post exercise muscle soreness." This is the soreness that is usually experienced the day after a tough work out. Most people experience this after having a break from exercise, or at the beginning of their sports season.

This soreness is caused by a number of things. Firstly, during exercise, tiny tears called micro tears develop within the muscle fibres. These micro tears cause swelling of the muscle tissues which in turn puts pressure on the nerve endings and results in pain.

Secondly, when exercising, your heart is pumping large amount of blood to the working muscles. This blood is carrying both oxygen and nutrients that the working muscles need. When the blood reaches the muscles the oxygen and nutrients are used up. Then the force of the contracting (exercising) muscles pushes the blood back to the heart where it is re-oxygenated.

However, when the exercise stops, so does the force that pushes the blood back to the heart. This blood, as well as waste products like lactic acid, stays in the muscles, which in turn causes swelling and pain. This process is often referred to as "blood pooling."

So, the cool down helps all this by keeping the blood circulating, which in turn helps to prevent blood pooling and also removes waste products from the muscles. This circulating blood also brings with it the oxygen and nutrients needed by the muscles, tendons and ligaments for repair.

The Key Parts of an Effective Cool Down

There are three key elements, or parts, which should be included to ensure an effective and complete cool down. They are;

Gentle exercise;
Stretching; and
Re-fuel.

All three parts are equally important and any one part should not be neglected or thought of as not necessary. I will spend 5 minutes on each of these. All three elements work together to repair the body after exercise.

I will do:

5 minutes of easy exercise. 5 minutes of jogging/walking, gradually decreasing intensity as the time goes on. My heart rate will decrease as the intensity does.
I will include some deep breathing as part of my easy exercise to help oxygenate my body.
I will follow that with 5 minutes of stretching.
I will then re-fuel. Both fluid and food are important. I will drink plenty of water. The best type of food to eat straight after a work out is that which is easily digestible. Fruit is a good example.

Seasons: Gymnastics is not a seasonal sport. It is performed all year round and generally performed inside. If the weather is pleasant I may do my warm up and cool down jog outside. I may also train my speed/ anaerobic work outside, using the parachute used for causing air friction; this improves leg strength and anaerobic work. Chute proponents claim that the device strengthens leg muscles and leads to more powerful performances, especially over competitive distances of one mile or less.

My circuit: I am going to do a repetition circuit. 20 repetitions of each exercise for the first session, adding 5 extra repetitions per session.

I have designed this special circuit-training programme with the following objectives in mind:

(1) Circuit efforts will enhance your overall body strength, including the strength and resiliency of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, the integrity of your joints, and the strength and density of your supporting bone structures (strength improvement).

(2) The circuits will improve your movement skill and body awareness, because you'll perform exercises that utilise body weight as the primary form of resistance (skill improvement).

(3) The circuit programme will increase your lean muscle mass by a moderate amount and decrease your body- fat levels through high levels of energy expenditure (body composition improvement).

This is how I arranged my circuit, so that the muscle groups got a rest between exercises so not to strain them. (1) Total-body exercise (2) Upper-body exercise (3) Lower-body exercise (4) Core/trunk exercise (S) Total-body exercise (6) Upper-body exercise (7) Lower-body exercise (8) Core/trunk exercise

The exercises in my circuit: For each circuit, I will do the following exercises in order:
(I) SKIPPING: With a rope, do basic skips, with no jumps in between.

(2) PUSH-UPS: Start in the front-support position with my hands and toes on the floor and trunk, hips, and legs extended. I bend my arms and lower my chest to the floor. Then I push my body upward as I straighten my arms, returning to the front-support position. I will repeat this action rhythmically and continuously without stopping.

(3) SCISSOR STEP-UPS: For this I use a step or bench which is approximately mid-shin to knee height. I put my left foot on the step, with my right foot on the floor and arms by my side. Then push down with my left leg and drive my body upward rapidly, switching support (hopping) from left foot to right foot as my body reaches its maximal vertical height. With the right foot supporting my body, I lower the left foot to the floor rapidly but under control. I will repeat this action continuously, back and forth from foot to foot, without pausing at the top or bottom positions.

(4) ABDOMINAL SIT-BACKS: For this exercise I use a step, bench, or chair which does not have a vertical, support for your back. I sit with legs bent and arms extended in front of me, and then recline my trunk backward at the hips by about 45 degrees. That's the starting point for the exercise. To do the sit-backs, I raise both arms simultaneously overhead while maintaining tight abdominal muscles and a straight chest. Then I return my arms to the extended position in front of me, without moving my trunk or legs. I repeat this back-and-forth arm action in a smooth, continuous fashion without pausing at any point during the movement.

(5) HIP RAISES: Lie flat on back with feet up on a step or chair about 18 inches off the floor. Keeping my head and feet in the same position I raise my hips up off the floor to a height of about 9-12 inches in a controlled fashion before lowering back to the ground. I repeat this in a continuous movement.

(6) TRICEP DIPS: I sit on the edge of a bench/chair. Knees bent at 90°. Hands outside hips, facing forward placed on bench. I move backside forwards, off bench/chair and keeping upper body relaxed and backside close to bench/chair I bend my elbows to 90° (elbows pointing backwards). Return to start. I avoid locking the elbows. I repeat in a continuous fashion.

(7) LUNGES: I Stand straight with arms at my sides and my feet hip-distance apart. I maintain an upright posture, with shoulders back, chest lifted, abdominals pulled in and gluteal muscles tight. I take a long step forward with your left leg, landing first on my heel. My right knee is slightly bent and right heel lifted off the floor. I lower my hips straight down until both my left and right legs form 90-degree angles. My left knee should be above the left foot, without going past my toes. My right knee should be level with the top of my right ankle. I push my hips up using my front leg to return to the starting position. I maintain a smooth rhythm in both the lowering and powering-up phases.

(8) LOW-BACK STABILISERS: For this exercise, I need a bench. I lie face down with my body extended and hips at the edge of the supporting surface of the bench. My arms are extended straight down toward the floor in front of me. For added stability, it helps if my feet are wedged between the end of the bench and a wall. I raise both arms over my head simultaneously while maintaining trunk in full extension (My body should be horizontal to the floor and held straight), and then I return both arms to the starting position. I repeat this action over smoothly.

Specificity: These exercises are all specific to the muscle groups I want to train. By using specificity I know that I am training the muscles needed for gymnastics. This will improve my strength, flexibility, power, muscular endurance, leg strength (for certain exercises) and abdominal strength (certain exercises).

Suitability: My training programme is suitable for me. This is because it is not so strenuous so to cause injury, but is of a level so that I will gradually build up more endurance, strength, power, speed, abdominal strength, leg strength, co-ordination and flexibility. I will build up slowly, starting off with a small number of repetitions and gradually doing more.

Overload: The principle of overload states that a greater than normal stress or load on the body is required for training adaptation to take place. The body will adapt to this stimulus. Once the body has adapted then a different stimulus is required to continue the change. In order for a muscle (including the heart) to increase strength, it must be gradually stressed by working against a load greater than it is used to. To increase endurance, muscles must work for a longer period of time than they are used to. If this stress is removed or decreased there will be a decrease in that particular component of fitness. A normal amount of exercise will maintain the current fitness level. I am not increasing frequency, as I do not have the time in the week for more training sessions. I will also not increase intensity during my circuit. I will increase the amount of repetitions of each circuit exercise without rest.

Although I will be increasing the amount of repetitions without rest, I will still keep the amount of repetitions for all the exercises the same. For example, when I increase the tricep dips from 20 to 25, I will do the same with the lunges. This will make it easier to record and will also mean that all the muscle groups are getting a fair amount of specific training.

On top of my warm up, circuit and cool down, I will also do some speed training not incorporated into my circuit. This will be just 10 minutes. This is because that works out to be about the same amount of time I am spending on the other components of fitness. I am doing a longer session of stretching, therefore am spending more time on flexibility than the other components. This is because I feel that not only it prevents injury but also that gymnastics is built around flexibility. I feel it is one of the most important components in gymnastics. I will spend an extra 15 minutes on flexibility on top of the stretching in the warm up and cool down, meaning I am spending about 30 minutes in total on flexibility.

Energy systems: Whilst doing gymnastics I will be using both my aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. In the body, food energy is used to manufacture adenosine triphosphate (ATP) the chemical compound that supplies energy for muscular contraction. Since ATP is in very low concentrations in the muscle, and since it decreases only to a minor extent, even in the most intense voluntary contraction, tightly controlled energy pathways exist for the continual regeneration of ATP as muscular contraction continues. For continuous exercise, ATP must be recreated at the same rate as it is developed.

Aerobic work:

Aerobic means 'with oxygen'. During aerobic work the body is working at a level that the demands for oxygen and fuel can be meet by the body's intake. The only waste products formed are carbon dioxide and water. These are removed as sweat and by breathing out.

Aerobic endurance can sub-divided as follows:

Short aerobic - 2 minutes to 8 minutes (lactic/aerobic)
Medium aerobic - 8 minutes to 30 minutes (mainly aerobic)
Long aerobic - 30 minutes + (aerobic)

Aerobic endurance is developed through the use of continuous and interval running.

Continuous duration runs to improve maximum oxygen uptake
Interval training to improve the heart as a muscular pump.

Aerobic threshold: The aerobic threshold, point at which anaerobic energy pathways start to operate, is considered to be around 60-80% of maximum heart rate. This is approximately 20 beats lower than the anaerobic threshold.

Anaerobic work

Anaerobic means 'without oxygen'. During anaerobic work, involving maximum effort, the body is working so hard that the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply and the muscles have to rely on the stored reserves of fuel. In this case waste products accumulate, the chief one being lactic acid. The muscles, being starved of oxygen, take the body into a state known as oxygen debt. The body's stored fuel soon runs out and activity ceases - painfully. Activity will not be resumed until the lactic acid is removed and the oxygen debt repaid. Fortunately the body can resume limited activity after even only a small proportion of the oxygen debt has been repaid. Since lactic acid is produced the correct term for this pathway is lactic anaerobic energy pathway. The lactic anaerobic pathway is the one in which the body is working anaerobically but without the production of lactic acid. This pathway can exist only so long as the fuel actually stored in the muscle lasts, approximately 4 seconds at maximum effort.

The expression lactic acid is used to describe the pain felt during hard exercise, especially short/midlength events like the 400 metres and 800 metres. Actively contracting muscles get Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) from glucose stored in the blood stream and the breakdown of glycogen stored in the muscles. First pyruvic acid and small amounts of ATP are generated from the breakdown of glucose. The pyruvic acid mixed with oxygen is converted to carbon dioxide, water and ATP. When muscles contract strongly for long periods the circulatory system begins to weaken in delivery of oxygen. In these conditions most of the pyruvic acid produced in the breakdown of glucose is converted to lactic acid (LA). As the lactic acid is produced in the muscles it leaks out into the blood and is carried around the body. If this condition continues the functioning of the body will become impaired and the muscles will get tired very quickly. When oxygen becomes available the lactic acid is converted to pyruvic acid and then into carbon dioxide, water and ATP.

Anaerobic endurance can be sub-divided as follows:

Short anaerobic - less than 25 seconds (lactic)
Medium anaerobic - 25 seconds to 60 seconds (mainly lactic)
Long anaerobic - 60 seconds to 120 seconds (lactic +aerobic)

Anaerobic endurance can be developed by using repetition methods of relatively high intensity work with limited recovery.

Anaerobic threshold: The anaerobic threshold, the point at which lactic acid starts to accumulates in the muscles, is considered to be somewhere between 80% and 90% of your maximum heart rate. This is approximately 20 beats high than the aerobic threshold. Your anaerobic threshold can be determined with anaerobic threshold testing.

Training zones: For my training to be effective I must use both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. This is because gymnastics uses both. I will do speed work which will be working anaerobically, stretching will be aerobically and my circuit which will be working both aerobically and anaerobically.

For my anaerobic training I must keep my heart rate at 80%+ of my maximum heart rate.

220-my age (15) = 205

205/100= 2.05

2.05x80=164

80% of my maximum heart rate is 164 bpm (beats per minute). Therefore whilst doing anaerobic work (primarily the sprint/speed work) I must keep my heart rate above 164 bpm.

For my aerobic training I must keep my heart rate at 60-80% of my maximum heart rate.

220-my age (15) = 205

205/100= 2.05

2.05x60=123

60-80% of my maximum heart rate is 123-164 bpm (beats per minute). Therefore whilst doing aerobic work (primarily flexibility work) I must keep my heart rate between 123 and 164 bpm.

Training sessions: I plan to have two training sessions a week. One will be on Tuesday morning. This will take place at school. This will primarily be circuit training. It will start with a warm up, then my circuit, then some speed/anaerobic work, flexibility work and finally a cool down.

My second training session will be after school one day a week. It will consist of the same warm up, but then instead of doing my circuit, I will do some work on the rowing and cycling machines, followed by a session on FSP (weights) circuit. Then I will do the same cool down. It will take place at the gym I am a member of.

Sessions simplified:

Session 1 (at school)

Warmup (20 mins)

Stretches (10 mins)

Circuit (about 20 mins- 20 reps of each exercise)

Warm down (10 mins)

Session total 1 hour.

Session 2 (at the gym)

Warmup (20 mins)

Section 1 (20 mins)

FSP (15 mins)

Section 2 (20 mins)

Stretch (15 mins)

Cool down (10 mins)

Session total 1 hour 40 minutes.

Session 1:

The warm up:

Jog for 5 minutes, keeping between aerobic thresholds (123-164 bpm)

Stretches:

Stretch for 10 minutes, doing the following stretches:

NECK:

Look as far as you comfortably can over your right shoulder and hold. Repeat on the left side.

Drop the head so that the ear goes towards the right shoulder and hold. Repeat on the left side.

UPPER BACK:

Clasp hands in front of me and turn palms outward. Push forward with the hands and separate the shoulder blades, and hold.

LOWER BACK:

While lying on my back, bring both knees up towards the chest with the hands.

Bend at the waist placing your hands on the thighs. Round up the lower back like a cat stretch and hold.

SHOULDER

Cross left arm over chest, and use right hand to pull arm in tight to chest by placing it on the triceps. Hold, and then repeat stretch with other arm.

BICEP

Extend both arms out the sides level with the shoulders. With hands in a fist, raise both thumbs up, and then turn hands down so thumbs are facing the floor. Hold.

TRICEP

Raise both arms over head and bend both elbows. Take left hand and place it on right elbow, and slightly pull the right elbow in towards the ear until I feel a stretch. Repeat with other arm.

CHEST

Sitting on the floor, extend both legs in front of me. Take both hands at the same time and place behind me with finger faced away from the body. Try to place the hands as close together as I can. Push chest out and hold.

Standing up, clasp both hands behind me. Raise both arms together as high up behind me as I can. Push chest out and hold.

QUADRICEP

Standing up, bend right leg behind you and grasp foot with right hand. Pull back slightly on right leg until I feel a stretch and hold. Repeat with other leg.

HAMSTRING

Place left foot out in front of the right. Bend right leg and stick rear end out behind me. Lift left toe up in the air. Support upper body weight by placing hands on right thigh and hold. Repeat for other leg.

Place feet far apart, and bend over toward one foot reaching hands as far down as I can. Hold and repeat on other side.

INNER THIGH

Place feet very far apart and bend right leg. Keep left leg straight and raise toe up, while supporting upper body by placing hands on right thigh. Hold and repeat on other side.

OUTER THIGH

Lying on my back, cross the right leg over the left. Raise both legs up like that towards the chest and hold. Repeat for other side.

CALVES

Find a step or curb. Place right toe on the edge of the curb and lower the right heel down below the plane. Hold, and repeat for other side.

Place left foot out far in front of the right, keeping the right heel down on the floor. Hold and repeat for other side.

Jog for another 5 minutes.

Progressive stretches:

I am doing a longer session of stretching, therefore am spending more time on flexibility than the other components. This is because I feel that not only it prevents injury but also that gymnastics is built around flexibility. I feel it is one of the most important components in gymnastics.

For this I will repeat the above stretches. Also I will stretch my legs further by going down into the ‘splits’ position (or as far as I can into the splits position) and holding that position for 15 seconds. I will do that for my left leg, then right, then the ‘box’ position. I will do 3 sets of those stretches.

Circuit:

I will do my circuit as fully explained before in the programme. This will be:

(I) SKIPPING

(2) PUSH-UPS

(3) SCISSOR STEP-UPS

(4) ABDOMINAL SIT-BACKS

(5) HIP RAISES

(6) TRICEP DIPS

(7) LUNGES

(8) LOW-BACK STABILISERS

Sprints/ anaerobic work:

Sprint the below programme

I will sprint 50 metres, then break for 30 seconds, then sprint another 50, then break for a minute, before repeating the cycle. On the 2nd week however, I will run 3x50 with 30 second breaks then have my one minute break, before repeating the cycle. On the 3rd week I will run 4x50 with 30 second breaks before my one minute rest, etc. This means my anaerobic system will have to recover quicker each week, therefore gradually improving my sprint times.

Cool down:

5 minutes of jogging/walking, gradually decreasing intensity as the time goes on. My heart rate will decrease as the intensity does.
I will include some deep breathing as part of my easy exercise to help oxygenate my body.
I will follow that with 5 minutes of stretching (from the stretching plan).
I will then re-fuel. Both fluid and food are important. I will drink plenty of water. The best type of food to eat straight after a work out is that which is easily digestible. Fruit is a good example.

Session 2:

This session is to be done at the gym.

Warm up:

Walk on treadmill at a speed of 5.5 miles per hour for 10 minutes.

Stretch using the stretches above, working from the neck to the calves (10 minutes).

Workout section 1:

15 minutes rowing (on machine- resistance 1 for week one, 2 for week two and so on)

5 minutes cycling (on machine- resistance 1 for week one, 2 for week two and so on)

FSP (weights) circuit:

Complete 2 full sets of FSP (Weights) circuit (on a 45 second timer, with a 20 second break between FSP machines)

1) Tricep press

2) Leg adductor

3) Pectoral machine

4) Leg extension

5) Shoulder Press

6) Abdominal board

7) Bicep press

8) Leg curl

9) Vertical bench press

10) Abdominal machine

11) Lats Pulldown

12) Horizontal press

I will keep the weights the same for the start of the training programme as I do not want to strain any muscles. I will keep them at the weights recommended to me by the instructor at the gym. I want to maintain my muscle strength. I may increase the weights if I think my muscles will cope with the strain. I will only increase the weights by a kilogramme because it would not be sensible to increase them further as I may do more injury than good.

Workout section 2:

Stepper machine (for 5 minutes on minimum intensity week 1, intensity 2 on week 2 and so on)

10 minutes rowing (on machine- resistance 1 for week one, 2 for week two and so on)

Anaerobic/speed work:

Cycle on level 10 at (60 revelations per minute for 1 minute, followed by a minute at 70 revelations per minute) X 2 followed by the last minute at 80 revelations per minute.

Stretching:

15 minutes doing the routine stretches (as before in the programme)

Also I will stretch my legs further by going down into the ‘splits’ position (or as far as I can into the splits position) and holding that position for 15 seconds. I will do that for my left leg, then right, then the ‘box’ position. I will do 3 sets of those stretches.

Cool down:

5 minutes of jogging/walking, gradually decreasing intensity as the time goes on. My heart rate will decrease as the intensity does.
I will include some deep breathing as part of my easy exercise to help oxygenate my body.
I will follow that with 5 minutes of stretching (from the stretching plan).
I will then re-fuel. Both fluid and food are important. I will drink plenty of water. The best type of food to eat straight after a work out is that which is easily digestible. Fruit is a good example.

I plan to monitor many things during my training programme.

Before I get out of bed on the day of my training I plan on taking my resting heart rate. I will do it then because It will be most truthful because it guarantees that I wont have been active before taking this rest rate. This I can analyse at the end of my training programme. I will put this data into a graph to see whether my resting heart rate has gone down. If it has gone down it means I am benefiting from the training programme as my heart is becoming more efficient in pumping blood round the body and therefore has to pump less often.

I also plan to take my heart rate during a set point in each training session. In Tuesday’s training session, I plan to take my heart rate just after my circuit, having just done the ‘low-back stabilizers’. I can tabulate this and can time how long it takes my heart to get back to its rest rate post exercise and compare this every session. I also plan to take my heart rate straight after my anaerobic/speed work so I can work out how hard my heart has to work when I’m sprinting. I was going to time how long it took my heart to get back to rest rate after the anaerobic work, but I realized that suddenly stopping after strenuous exercise puts a strain on the heart, so it would be dangerous to do that. As an alternative I am going to check to see if there is a difference in the percentage of maximum heart rate. If this figure goes up, it shows I am having to work harder than the session before, showing negative results, whereas if it goes down, my heart is working more efficiently, pumping blood round my body with more ease, showing positive results.

Whilst at my sessions at the gym, I plan to do the same thing. I plan to take my heart rate just after my FSP (weights) circuit. I can tabulate this and work out what percentage of my maximum heart rate I am working at. I also plan to take my heart rate straight after my anaerobic work so I can work out how hard my heart has to work when I’m doing this interval/ anaerobic work, and to compare how long it takes my heart to recover completely after each anaerobic session. On both sessions, both at school and at the gym, after my anaerobic sections I plan on seeing what my heart rate is whilst I have been recovering for 1 minute.

Executing my training programme

Rest rate in the morning on the day of training

See graph

Session type 1 (School sessions)

After Circuit

After anaerobic/ speed work

Session type 2 (gym sessions)

After FSP circuit

After anaerobic work

-I was ill for the 5th week of my training programme, so I did not train.

Diary of programme

I decided that I would show any results achieved by this programme by testing the components of fitness I decided to train around at the beginning, middle and end of my training programme. This is so I have another comparison and can more accurately sum up the results of this programme.

Your resting heart rate indicates your basic fitness level. The more well-conditioned your body, the less effort and fewer beats per minute it takes your heart to pump blood to your body at rest. My heart had a rest rate of 70 before I started the training programme. Next I checked it had a negative result, and had risen to 71 BPM. I took this to be an anomaly or to be down to slight inaccuracy as it is unlikely that the first training session had a negative result on my heart and general fitness. Then, gradually my rest rate improved, and decreased as far as 67 BPM. Following that, I was off school and too ill to train for a week (2 sessions) so that had a negative result on my training and my rest rate increased to the original 70 BPM, which then the session after had decreased by 1BPM to being 69BPM. Overall the training programme had a positive outcome on decreasing my rest rate and therefore improving my overall fitness.

The time taken for your heart to fully recover, and return to rest rate post exercise was recorded by me as a way of checking whether my general cardiac fitness had improved. The longer it takes my heart to return to rest rate, the less used to exercise my heart is. If my heart recovers from exercise quickly, it is stronger, more used to exercise and more efficient.

There was a steady improvement in the time it took my heart to return to rest rate after exercise. Prior to training it took my heart 5.32 minutes to return to rest rate. It improved steadily until I stopped training for a week due to illness. During that week the time it took increased, showing a negative result. I conclude that if I had been training for that week, and was not ill, the results would follow the trend- there would be a steady improvement in the time it took my heart to return to rest rate.

The percentage of maximum heart rate after anaerobic/ speed work steadily decreased throughout the training sessions. This is good because it means my heart doesn’t have to beat as fast in order to get blood around my body, it is more efficient at pumping blood, therefore doesn’t have to do it as often. At first, I was using 82% of my maximum heart rate during the anaerobic exercise. This went steadily down by 1% each session for the next 2 sessions. Then in the 4th session of session type 1, it plummeted down by 3%, to be using 77% of my max. heart rate. After that I was ill for a week and missed a session type 1 session. When I got back into my training I was back up to using 82% of my max. heart rate. This is the same as it was on the 2nd session of this type. This shows fast reversibility and demonstrates that if you stop training, very quickly your fitness levels drop.

This aerobic session had a very steady improvement in the maximum heart rate used. Every session the percentage of maximum heart rate used decreased by 1%. When I was ill and did not train for one session of each type, reversibility meant that I backtracked by 2 sessions, so my percentage of maximum heart rate used went back up to 65%.

This demonstrates improvement followed by reversibility. There is vast improvement followed by a plateau where there is no change, which is followed by another vast improvement. The reversibility factor only reverses one session; it reverses by 2% of my maximum heart rate.

Flexibility:

I steadily improved throughout the training, with minimum reversibility. I felt an improvement in my flexibility after the first session, and I could do the splits before half way through my training programme.

Endurance:

I improved my endurance during the programme. I felt that my aerobic, endurance work was one of the strongest points in my training programme, and I also feel it is a very important attribute to gymnastics. I really pushed myself in the aerobic work in the last week, which reflects in my results, as by the 3 week test I had only improved my cooper run distance by 100m. On the end of programme test I had improved by 400m from the 3 weeks into trainings’ test.

Leg strength:

Overall my leg strength improved, although not by a huge amount. The results weren’t very steady, and measuring for both leg strength tests is quite inaccurate. I could not feel the progress in my legs, the results where quite insignificant. I did do quite a lot of work with my legs but I didn’t spend as much time on them as I did on endurance or flexibility.

Abdominal Strength:

This did improve, as the amount of sit-ups I could do in 30 seconds increased. I only improved before the 3 week, despite increasing the amount of abdominal based exercises I did each week. If I did this again I would make the increase greater. I could feel my abdominals strengthen, and the muscles built up over the 6 weeks.

In general my 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, groups had to be formed so the equipment could be shared.

My flexibility training was very successful by the end of the six week period I had improved my flexibility as reached further in the sit and reach test. It mainly improved the flexibility of my quadriceps and hamstrings.

Evaluation of session type 1 circuit:

(I) SKIPPING- I found this quite easy and enjoyable, although it ached my arms after a while. I Could feel my calf muscles contracting and relaxing.

(2) PUSH-UPS- I found these quite hard. I felt my triceps and biceps working. My arms were quite weak before the programme and now I feel they have got stronger. At the beginning of the programme I struggled to do 20 push ups, by the end of the programme I found 20 easy.

(3) SCISSOR STEP-UPS- I was tired by this point in my training programme and I struggled to do the set amount of these. They worked my calf muscles the most.

(4) ABDOMINAL SIT-BACKS- I found these a welcome break from the scissor step ups! They didn’t tire me out because they involve little cardiovascular endurance. My abdominals were tense after this exercise.

(5) HIP RAISES- These were quite easy to do, but toward the beginning of the programme I found the last couple required a lot of effort, as the muscle contractions made my gluteals and abdominals ache.

(6) TRICEP DIPS- I found these quite easy. I could feel it working my triceps, but not enough so that they ached. Because the two prior exercises weren’t cardiovascular exercises I found these easy because I wasn’t out of breath.

(7) LUNGES- these worked very well! I could feel at least one muscle in my legs pulling during all of the exercises. My quadriceps benefited most from this activity.

(8) LOW-BACK STABILISERS- I found that these didn’t work particularly well. I couldn’t feel any muscles being worked. I wouldn’t put these in my programme if I did it again.

I found the speed work very enjoyable and of great benefit. Because I was always thinking about what I had to do next, I didn’t have time to find it boring and didn’t think about it too much. Not only did this decrease the percentage of maximum heart rate I was using, but I felt it strengthened my leg muscles.

My warm ups and cool downs really worked as I didn’t feel achy the day after exercising and I didn’t pull any muscles or have any injuries during the training programme. I feel the stretches had the most benefits to my warmup as they prevented me from straining any muscles. I didn’t get any stitches throughout my training programme, and I think that was because I warmed up properly.

Evaluation of FSP (weights) circuit:

1) Tricep press- this had a high air resistance on it before the weights were put up so it was very challenging. I found it easy to push down on it but steadily pulling it up proved to be harder. I felt this working, but I don’t think it made any significant difference to my training programme.

2) Leg adductor- I found this really worked the inside of my legs. My hamstrings were stretched. I think this machine was important to my programme as I could really feel it working.

3) Pectoral machine- I was a little too small for this machine- my arms couldn’t comfortably reach the rest pads. Therefore I didn’t use this machine.

4) Leg extension- This machine really worked my calf muscles and I had to put the weights up to feel the difference.

5) Shoulder Press- This machine was very difficult and I often had to rest while using it. This machine, like the tricep press, already had a high air resistance on it, making it very hard. I did feel it worked my triceps and biceps, the muscle contractions were very strong on this machine.

6) Abdominal board- I found this quite boring as I simply did sit-ups on it. I did feel it pull my stomach muscles, but not as much as the abdominal machine.

7) Bicep press- This machine put a lot of pressure on my wrists so I had to turn the weights down. Because of this, I didn’t feel it had a lot of effect.

8) Leg curl- I found this worked my gluteals quite effectively. I put the weights up on this machine in the 3rd week because I was finding it very easy.

9) Vertical bench press- I found this machine important to my programme. It worked my biceps and made them quite tense even after I had finished the exercise.

10) Abdominal machine- This machine worked well if used properly. I found it was very easy to ‘cheat’ on this machine as you could make your arms do the work as it was less effort! I learnt how to use it correctly and after that I found it very effective. By about 4 weeks in I found this machine very easy.

11) Lats Pulldown- I was too short to reach the arms on this machine so I had to get a member of the gym staff to reach it for me, when I used it however, It was worth it.

12) Horizontal press- I disliked this machine as I found it didn’t work at all for me.

I improved throughout the six weeks, there was a slight glitch in the results, which was in week 5 not trained that week due to illness and that, was why I was under performing towards the end of my training. The height of my fitness during the 6 weeks was the end of week four, as my heart rates had improved steadily and after that week I was ill, so reversibility meant that I went back to the state I was at in about the 2nd week.

As a whole I improved strength, endurance and flexibility. My leg strength I feel did improve, but not drastically and not enough to properly measure.

During week 6 my results decrease, the reason for this is I had a virus the week before and was unable to perform that week, and in week 6 I was not able to perform to my full potential, because I was recovering, as my results show.

I found the circuit to be very intense and tiring, but very effective as my circuit tested all the areas I wanted it to. I was very tired though after completing each week of the program, my muscles were aching but my cardiovascular fitness improved. If I were to perform the circuit program again I would start by having a recovery time between each station, also I would make the increase of repetition each week higher as I began to find my circuit quite easy toward the middle of my programme.

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 seen more easily. Once the circuit becomes to easy I would have to make it quite a bit harder to affect plateauing. 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 benefits are lost.