Specificity – This is when a person will have a training programme according to their
sport. For example a person who plays Basketball will train different
from a Tennis player.
Progression – This is when you steadily increase the amount of training that is done.
For example at week 1 you may run for 10 minutes but by week 6 you
may run for 15 minutes.
Overload – This is when you make your body work harder than it normally would.
This is done by pushing your yourself to the limit, which is based around
the FITT principle.
Reversibility – This means that however hard you train, if you stop training then you
will lose the level of fitness you were at.
Tedium – This is when you change the activity that you are doing, so you don’t get
bored.
The other principle of training is the FITT principle. This was also considered whilst I was planning my circuit training programme. These are listed below:
Frequency – How often you should be doing exercise?
Intensity – This is done to measure how hard someone should do exercise. The
amount of exercise you do, should raise your normal heart rate by up to
75%.
Time – How long you exercise for?
Type – The type of exercise someone does. It is good to vary the type of exercise you
do, so you won’t get tired of the same routine.
Although the SPORT and FITT principle were both thought about whilst planning the training circuit, they were not the only factors considered. Another factor that was considered whilst designing the circuit was if this circuit can be done regularly so keep up my fitness level or can it only be done through the six week period. As with this circuit I feel that it can be whenever you want to do it as all the stations apart form one don’t require any equipment, which means that it can be done at home.
Warm Ups and Warm Downs
Although these principles should be considered whilst designing or taking part in a circuit training programme, so should warm ups and warm downs. It is important while playing any sport to first warm up and then to warm down afterwards. A warm is done to get your body ready for the training, in this case for Basketball.
The first part of the warm up will have to include an increase of the body’s temperature and also an increase of the amount of blood flowing to the muscles. This is done to ensure that the muscles will be able to play the sport later on in the session. Another reason for warming up is because it stretches the muscles, moves the joints, and it will also increase the range of movement. It is important to have a range of movements, so you’re ready to play Basketball and also to ensure that you don’t injure yourself. The final reason for doing a warm up is to allow your mind to concentrates on the training. From the warm up the muscles that need to be stretched before playing Basketball are the Biceps, Triceps, Quadriceps, Hamstring and Gastronomies.
Once the warm up is down, there should be a warm down to follow. A warm down is done to get your body back to normal. A warm down is done to replace the oxygen debt in our muscles, which will then allow the body to get rid of the Lactic Acid. Lactic Acid in our body has to be removed to prevent stiffness later on after exercise. A final reason for doing a warm down is to get rid of the extra blood in our muscles, which is done to stop pooling in our veins. If the blood in our veins was to pool then it would make us feel dizzy and weak if we were to stop exercising suddenly.
The Stations and What They Do?
I am now going to tell you what each station is and what you will have to do at each one.
Station 1
On station 1 the activity is a Bench Steps exercise. This activity involves someone standing in front of a bench and stepping up and down. This will exercise the legs and the muscles in the legs.
Station 2
The exercise on this station is Sit Ups, which is done to improve muscular endurance in the abdominal muscles.
Station 3
On station 3 I will be doing Press Ups, which will improve the muscles in my arms. Once the muscles in my arms are improved I will be able to throw the ball at a long distance whilst playing Basketball. I will be able to throw the ball at a long distance whilst playing Basketball.
Station 4
Jumping Jacks is the next exercise on station 4. It will help me to improve the strength of my Quadriceps and Hamstrings in my leg.
Station 5
The next exercise is Side Bends, which involves bending your body to one side and then the same on the other side.
Station 6
At station 6 I am going to do Bench Dips. This exercise will involve placing your hands on the bench and then moving upwards and downwards using my arms. This will develop the biceps and the triceps in the arms, which will allow me to throw the basketball further.
Station 7
High Knee Lifts will be at Station 7 and will improve the leg muscles.
Station 8
The eighth station will have Trunk Hyperextensions for beginners.
Station 9
This station will involve shooting a ball into a hoop and will begin on a line.
Station 10
The final station in my circuit will be a Free Squats exercise. Free Squats is when you put your self in the press up position, but will only be moving your legs backwards and forward.
The Sessions
Session One and Two
In this session I preformed each circuit for 30 seconds and had one rest half way through the circuits for 40 seconds. I think that this session went quite well. However I feel that I didn’t put in a 100% effort in today and will put in more in the second session. In the second session I feel that I have put a lot more effort in than session one.
The results for the first and second sessions are as follows.
Session Three and Four
These sessions also went quite well with the changes being that the session at each station lasted for 40 seconds and had a recovery time of 20 seconds. The results for this session were a little worse than the first two sessions.
Session Five and Six
In these sessions I had to do each circuit for one minute without any recovery time. I found it a little tiring in session five, but I kept on pushing myself I order to improve my level of fitness. By session six I felt less tried and was able to do the stations much better than session five, although the results for both these session are near enough the same with a little improvement at some of the stations.
Session Seven and Eight
The seven session was the hardest as it pushed me a lot as I had to do the same circuit as session five and six but twice. I found this hard to do, but not as hard as I thought I would have been if I had started by doing this. This means that the sessions I did before have improved my level of fitness. In session 8 I found the circuit to be easier than session seven.
Session Nine and Ten
In the final two sessions of the six week period I had to do each circuit for one minute 30 seconds without a rest. I feel that this went quite well, as I feel that I have improved a lot. Hopefully this will hep me whilst playing my chosen sport; Basketball.
In the results table below there are all the results of all the 10 sessions in the six week period.
/ = two results as I had to do the circuit twice.
The graph on the other page is there to show how my level of fitness has improved. This has been shown by the red bars showing my level of fitness in session one and the amount of the different exercises I have be able to do. The green bars show the level of my fitness in session 10 with the different amounts of exercises that I have done and improved over the weeks.
Evaluation
In general I feel that this circuit training programme was a success, as it tested the areas of fitness I wanted it to. The circuit training was quite easy to begin with but as the session progressed they got harder as I changed certain aspects of it, e.g. the length of each exercise and the amount of time the circuit was preformed. The way in which my fitness improved over the weeks was also to do with changing how long each exercise was done for, and how many times the circuit was done in each session. I think that decisions that I made for both of these changes to the circuit and the circuit as a whole were the right ones because they work on all of the parts of my body, which are needed for Basketball.
Before the fitness training programme my level of fitness was at an intermediate level. I now feel that my level of fitness has improved. This can be seen on my results table and my bar graph, as it shows the amount of each exercises I could do in week one; session one and the how many I could do in week 6; session 10. As you can see on my graph all the exercises in session one were all between 1-30 apart form the jumping jacks which were done 60 times in 30 seconds. However when the session went on to the final session, session 10 all the exercises went up three times higher than the original amount done. This means that my fitness level has increased three times more, which will help me whilst playing my chosen sport; Basketball.
Over the six weeks my aim was to improve certain skills which were needed to play Basketball. These were Agility, Balance, Muscular Endurance, Coordination, and Speed. Once the circuit training programme was over I think that all of exercises I did, helped me to achieve my aim. This is as I am able to change direction quickly whilst I play Basketball and also I have more muscular endurance, which means that I can throw the ball much quicker.
In conclusion I think that all the sessions went well and that my level of fitness did improve over the six weeks. However when looking back at my results table of all the session I found that in session seven and eight the first set of results were quite good, but when I repeated the circuit without a rest I noticed that the amount of exercise done went down. A reason for this to have happened could have been that when I did the circuit the first time I was full of energy, however when it was repeated I was tried and found it hard to do the exercises, although I tried my best. I think this could have been improved if there was a little break after the first time that I did the circuit. Although my results were not that good whilst I was doing sessions seven and eight, but as a whole they have been quite good. A reason for me saying this is because my level of fitness has improved and not only that it has improved specifically towards my chosen sport; Basketball.
