By James Collier

Planning

I am doing my personal exercise programme to hopefully increase the level of my muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness. I would also like to improve my overall flexibility and agility. Also improving my arm and leg strength increase my aptitude in my football. I can see from my results from the multi stage fitness tests that I have a reasonable level of fitness which can be improved. During these tests I did suffer a slight back injury which did affect my movement and amount of sport I played whilst I had that injury.

The tests we have performed during the programme are:

  1. Multi-Stage Fitness Test
  2. Continuous Fartlek Training
  3. 12 minute Cooper run
  4. Indoor Fartlek Circuit Training
  5. 3k run
  6. In the second physical education lesson of every week we also performed our circuits.  

The multi-stage fitness test was performed during the first week of the programme. This is also known as ‘the bleep test’. During the multi-stage fitness test you are running between 2 lines in time with a bleep, the bleep gets faster and faster as the test goes on. The aim of the test is to run for as long as you can and achieve the highest possible level you can. In my first attempt at this test I reached a level of 11.4. It took me 6 minutes to recover from this exercise. My heart rate at the end of this activity was 120 beats per minute. My resting heart rate was 60 beats per minute.

Continuous Fartlek Training was the second fitness test we performed during the second week of the programme. This test consisted of running round the school on different terrain, the different terrains were concrete, tarmac, grass and up steps. We had to complete as many laps of the course as we could during a 15 minute period. I managed to complete 6 laps of the course during the 15 minute period. After this exercise it took me 5 minutes to recover back to my resting rate which was 64 beats per minute. My heart rate at the end of the activity was 122 beats per minute.  

12 minute Cooper Run was the third fitness test we completed during the third we of the programme. In this test you have to run round a square as many times as possible during a 12 minute period. The amount of laps you do, distance covered and period of time will give you an estimation of your fitness. I completed 28 laps during the 12 minute period. It took me 7 minutes to recover from this exercise; my resting heart rate was 64 beats per minute and my heart rate at the end of the activity was 140 beats per minute.

Indoor Fartlek Circuit was performed in the fourth week of the programme and therefore was the fourth test we performed. In this test the pace at which we was moving differed every 30 seconds, because for 30 seconds you walk then 30 seconds sprinting and then 30 seconds jogging and we had to continue this for a 15 minute session. After this activity my heart rate was 118 beats per minute, it took me 5 minutes to get back to my resting heart rate which was 64 beats per minute.

3 kilometre Run was performed during the fifth week of the programme and therefore was the fifth test we performed. During this we ran 3km round the running track and timed it to see how long it took us. I ran 3km in 14 minutes and 8 seconds. It took me 7 minutes to recover from this activity. My heart rate after the activity was 132 beats per minute and my resting heart rate was 62 beats per minute.

During each week I participate in 2 training sessions for football, a football match, 4-5 lessons of P.E. and 30 minutes jog every night. On Thursday I go to the gym for an hour session. My weekly exercise is usually like this:

Monday:

Tuesday: One 50 minute physical education lesson and a 30 minute jog in the evening.

Wednesday: One 50 minute physical education lesson, 30 minute jog in the evening and then a 1 hour and 30 minute football training session.

Thursday: Two 50 minute physical education lesson, 1 hour at the gym and a 30 minute jog in the evening.

Friday: One 50 minute physical education session and 30 minute jog in the evening.

Saturday: 2 hour football training session in the morning and then a 30 minute jog in the evening.

Sunday: 80 minute football match and 30 minute jog in the evening.

In these activities I train at my training zone, which is between, 80% and 90% of my maximum pulse rate: 220 - 15 = 205.

Working at this rate allows me to get the most out of each of my activities without working to hard and injuring myself. My main target of this programme is to improve my level of fitness, agility, flexibility, muscular strength and my power, all of these will help me when I play football. Improving my level of fitness will help me to perform as well as I can for longer for example during a football match. Building up my agility and flexibility levels will help me in football when tackling and challenging for a header. Improving my muscular strength particular in my legs will help when I’m running and help me to put more power into the ball. Building my muscular strength in my arms will help when challenging.  

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Safety Aspects

When planning my circuit I must consider safety. Safety is of paramount importance so that I will not hurt myself or any other people. I must consider my equipment when planning my circuit. Not preparing my equipment correctly could lead to an injury. Jewellery is not aloud during any physical activity because of safety. Girls should have their hair tied back so they can see without problem. Jewellery is not aloud because it could hurt you or your opponents in a physical contact sport. Before I perform my circuit I must complete a warm up. ...

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