I am going to do my training programme on Tennis and am working on producing and more powerful and faster server.

GCSE Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Jake Gallop

What am I going to do my fitness training on?

Equipment

During the training I will only need several weight machine and a handgrip test to test how much I have improved.

What are my targets?

My aim of the training programme is to be able to server a faster serve in Tennis. I want to speed up the server itself and I will do this by developing strength in my upper body, especially my arms. This will make my whole upper body stronger and hopefully result in a stronger serve.

How am I going to improve?

I am going to do 6 training sessions working on my upper body. I will use a lot of weigh machines to work my upper body, such as the shoulder bench press. I will do the training over a period of about 6 weeks (1 hour/week) and use a variety of machines. I will gradually increase the amount of weight on the machines to make the intensity increase. I will also increase the number of reps for each machine. This again will increase the intensity as the training goes on.

How will I know if I improve?

I am going to do tests during the training programme. One test before and one after to check if I had improved. I am going to test the strength in my arm. I want to do this because my aim of the training programme is to make my arms stronger to improve the speed in my Tennis serve. I will test my strength using the handgrip test. I will pull on the handgrip as hard as I can, as I will record what I got. I will do this a further two more times and work on my average score. I will the do the test again after I finished all the training sessions and see if my average score is better of f than when I started. I chose this over the 1 rep max test because this test specifically focuses on the strength in my arm, whereas the 1 rep max tests your strength in your shoulders too. All I will need for the handgrip test is the hand grip itself so it is simple but efficient to carry out.

Factors involving training

Age, sex, fitness levels, injuries and medical conditions all affect my training programme. Males will find the training easier because a lot of weight machines will be involved in the training. Males have more muscle in their body composition and this is why they would find it easier. Age would definitely affect the training programme, as middle-aged people wouldn’t be able to do it. Teenagers might find it more difficult that people in there 20’s because there body isn’t a strong etc. People with higher fitness levels wouldn’t really benefit from the training because they wouldn’t be improving unless the intensity was really intense, example doing about 50 reps on each machine. People with medical conditions would definitely find it harder depending on their condition. People with asthma would find it difficult to train continuously on the weights because they would have to stop occasionally and this would be disruptive.

Safety

Safety is a very important factor, as I do not want to injure myself. To prevent injuries I will check every piece of equipment before I use it. I will make sure I know how to use the machines before I actually get on them so I don’t do something wrong which will result in injury. I will wear suitable clothes for doing the training and will take off any jewellery. I will also first do a warm up so I will not pull any muscles when I am doing my training. The area I am training in should be tidy and so no accidents will happen. If I need to set up any equipment I will make sure that I set it up correctly. This way there is less chance that I will do any harm to myself. I will do a cool down at the end of the session. This should prevent any muscle strain I might have. The order in which I use the weights is also important. I should do a little bit of exercise at a time, not all at once because I might overload and it might cause injury. If I do happen to get an Injury, it might cause me to be unable to do further training and this would be a very bad effect so I will try to make safety and important factor.

Seasonal Factors

The season also affects my training. There are different amounts you should do depending on what the season is. Tennis is now peak season so I will have to train extremely hard so I will be at my peak. This will mean a lot of intense training and a good diet so I will be at my best during the season.

Weight training

I am doing weight training to increase the speed and power in my Tennis serve. Using weights is the best training I could do because I will be using machines ...

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Seasonal Factors

Weight training

I am doing weight training to increase the speed and power in my Tennis serve. Using weights is the best training I could do because I will be using machines that work on the whole of the upper body and some specifically for the arm. This will improve the strength in my arm and upper body resulting in a better server. Although weights are a good method, they can be very expensive and this is a down side of them. More advantages are that you don’t need that much space and several people can do the training at a time.

Specificity

Weights will specifically work on my upper body and this is what I want to improve strength wise. Weights are also an easy training to do as there all together in a confined space.

An example of a training session:

Warm up

Do a pulse raiser- jog on the spot for 30secs.
Stretch muscles-especially the muscles in upper body

Session

I will do weight training. I will use the weights, which work on the upper body. This will improve my strength in my upper boy (mainly my arms) so that I will be able to hit a more powerful server In Tennis.

I will be using heavier weights, and doing repetitions and at quite a fast pace. I will gradually increase the number of repetitions and the amount of weights. I will also increase the pace of how fast I do the repetitions.

Equipment

I will need weight machines. I will mainly use the weight machines that work on the upper body but I will use other weights also but not as frequent.

Safety

I will make sure that all the machines are in working order before I use them.
I will make sure that I carry out the training in a sensible fashion.

S.P.O.R.T

The training I am doing is specifically working on my upper body and arms. This is good because I want to improve my strength in upper body, which will result in a more powerful (faster) server in Tennis.

I will increase the amount of weights and the amount of reps every session. This will hopefully build my strength up over a period of time and I will progressively become stronger in my upper body.

Increasing the amounts of weight will make my bodywork much harder and beyond its capabilities. This is called “overload” and should build my strength up as my body gets used to lifting heavier weights and overloading.

I will have to keep doing exercise regularly; I will do a session a week so that reversibility does not occur. This means that if I stop training every week, I will lose what I have gained in strength and my previous training sessions would have been wasted so I will make sure that I continue to train.

To stop me from getting tedious of the training I will change the machines I use to hopefully stop me from getting bored of using the same machine. Also, there will be music playing in the gym, which should help too.

F.I.T.T

I will be doing a training session about once a week. I will keep the frequency up and hopefully reversibility won’t occur. I will be gradually progressing my upper body strength by doing frequent training sessions and overloading.

I will make each training session harder every time. This will increase the intensity and my body should overload and get used to lifting heavier things, resulting in more strength in upper body.

I will spend the same amount of time at every session but I will be increasing the number of reps and the amount of weight each time so it shouldn’t really matter.

I will be doing weight training because it will specifically work on my upper body. I won’t use machines that will work on the legs, just the arms and rest of upper body.

My maximum heart rate is about 205bpm. If I work on the weights at about 160bpm, I should be gradually increasing my fitness level.

Safety and Effectiveness

During my training sessions I will be aware of safety factors such as using the weights correctly and making sure that they are in good working order before I use them. This should prevent me from using broken machines and will lower the risk of me being injured.

Also, using the weights correctly and effectively should be better for training as I will be using the machines properly so I will get the most out of what I am doing.

Consideration of others

When I am training there will also be other people using the weights at the same time as I am. I will have to consider the other people using the gym. I will make sure that I have enough space to use a machine so that myself and other people won’t get injured. I will also wait for people if they are on a machine so that we will not overcrowd the place because that could be a danger issue.

Attitude

Throughout the training I will need to keep focused on what I am doing and not get distracted by others. I will have to have a positive attitude so that I am kept motivated. Also, to keep motivated during training I will be doing the training with a friend and there will be music playing which should help me from getting bored. By keep motivated etc, I will hopefully be improving my fitness faster than if I was bored and not motivated.

Time

I will be performing the sessions over a period of time. I will have to do approximately 6 sessions and will have to keep myself from getting bored. To pass the time while I am training I will be listening to music and I will be doing the training with a friend. This should keep me motivated; therefore I should be doing my best and hopefully increasing my fitness at a fast rate.

Warm up and cool down.

Before each training session I will do a warm up. This should prevent me from getting any muscle strains within the session and should prevent injury. It will also get me mentally ready for the session as I will get me motivated. I will also do a pulse raiser to get ready. I will jog on the spot for about 30seconds as a pulse raiser. After the session is over I will be doing a cool down. This again should prevent any injury that might occur after the session and prevent cramp etc.

To check if my training is all going to plan I will be recording my results. I have stuck to doing 1 session a week all of the same time and the same type of training. However, I have increased the intensity of training gradually. I use the same weight machines but I increase the amount of weight on each so that my body will get used to it (overload).

Results

These were the results of the handgrip test. You can see that the strength in my arm has actually increased. I did the handgrip test and the average after the training sessions is higher than the average before.

Training sessions

I started off by using small weights and using various weight machines to see what was what. The training at this stage wasn’t that intense but in the second session I stuck to using one machine and in one session I gradually increased the weights. In the third session I used all the machines that worked on the upper body and I used weights that I could lift but I was on them individually for quite a long time. In the fourth session I used a single machine and I trained intensely. I used the bench shoulder press and used a weight of 30kg and I worked on it for about 10mins had a break and then did this about 4 times so I was gradually improving. In my penultimate training session I again worked on all the machines and gradually increased the amount of weight on them so I was overloading. I did the same thing in the final session, however I spent a longer amount of time on each machine and worked hard as it was my final session.

Heart Rate

My heart rate was about 160 during the training so I knew that I was working hard. My max heart rate would be about 205 so I was quite close and about 80bmp up on my normal heart rate. As well as increasing my strength in my upper body I was also improving my cardio vascular system by working it hard a lot.

Recovery Rate

After the training sessions I found that my recovery rate had reduced. By working on the machines, my cardio vascular system improved, therefore resulted in my recovery rate also improving. In the final session of my training I found that I wasn’t getting as tired as I was during the first sessions.

Conclusion

The training benefited me in 4 different ways. Firstly, my aim was accomplished. My strength in my upper body increase, resulting in a more powerful serve in tennis. Secondly, my cardio vascular system improved too. This was a positive affect of training hard on the weight machines. This also linked with my recovery rate. My cardio vascular system helped my recovery rate to lower. I found that I could work for longer amounts of time at the same intensity during the final sessions of the training than I could at the start.

Summary

My results prove that my training has worked. My average handgrip test was higher than it was before the training programme. The strength in my arm has increased and so has the power in my tennis programme. My results also show that my lowest score out of the three after the training was actually higher than the highest score before the training so there was a big improvement.

Planning the Programme

I believe I choose the right training and type of training. This is because I linked the sport I was doing to the type of training. I wanted to improve the strength in my arm so I decided to use weights that worked on my arms. By doing this, I would increase the power in my server in the game of Tennis.

Monitoring the Programme

I think that I did choose the right exercise because it was specifically working on my arms and my strength. I increased the intensity, (heavier weights) so that I was able to cope with the same weights later on easier. I also worked for longer so that my cardio vascular system also improved. This wasn’t part of my aim but it linked into the same type of training and improved at the same time as well as my recovery rate.

Performing the Programme

Before I started my training programme I did the handgrip test and got an average of 3 readings of 35, which is an average score for my age group. I wanted this to improve so I started my programme spending a little amount of time on various weights in one lesion. I thought that this would push me and that I would find it difficult but it wasn’t proving right.

I think I used the right weight machines because the specifically worked on my arms and my biceps.

I initially intended to use a variety of machines but I then decided to work on one that worked specifically on my bicep as I thought this was necessary to improve my power in a server. I applied all the rules I thought I should. I increased the intensity, i.e. the amount of time on the machines, the weight on the machines etc. This made me gradually work harder each session so I was pushing myself further each time, overloading. Using the weight machines was very simple. I didn’t need much equipment as it was already there and I found them all easy to use.

I also found the sessions quite enjoyable as I was working with a friend and was listening to music at the time, this was to prevent me from becoming bored and losing my motivation. I didn’t feel that I should have chosen a different type of training as this, I thought worked well and was enjoyable.

During the fourth session, I found that I wasn’t as tired as I was in the first session using the same machine at the same intensity. However, I did feel tired in the 5th session because I had done a session the previous day and my body was tired and aching and this was maybe a down side of training so much and I think that if I had more time I could make the results better as I would be fully fit in each individual training session. After I completed all the sessions I did the handgrip test again. I got an average of 39. This proves that the training did actually work and demonstrates that my strength did improve in my arms and my cardiovascular system and recovery rate also developed further as a secondary result of training.

Final Evaluation

Overall I think that the training programme was very successful, I not only accomplished my aim, but I did two further more improvements to my body. I improved my cardio vascular system by doing the training and my recovery rate was reduced. I found the training sessions enjoyable and even in the fourth session when I was tired, I was still motivated and carried on with the training

Which proves how much I thought the training was working. Doing the training programme had several benefits and I don’t think there is one down side apart from the fact that a lot of time has to be spent during the training. My aim was to improve the power in my tennis serve and I completed the task and my power is now better.