Training Circuit
Warming Up
Before I start my training circuit I will have to warm up. By warming up I am loosening my muscles, joints and raising my pulse rate nearer to the working rate therefore reducing the chance of injury.
My warm up will last 5 minutes and will consist of 1 min jogging, 1 min high knees, 1 min heels to bottom, 1 min high skipping then I will finish by doing some stretches using the SAQ methods.
Cool Down
After I have finished my circuit training I will do a cool down. By doing this I will cut down the risk of injury and stop cramp and stiffness after exercise. The cool down will consist on a 1-2 minute gentle jog followed by various stretches to help me cool down. Also by cooling down it will make my recovery rate alto quicker.
Checking Pulse Rate
Before I begin my circuit I will need to check my pulse rate both before and after exercise. I will continue to take my pulse rate every minute after exercise until it returns to my original rate. By doing this I will be able to see how my fitness has changed depending on whether my pulse rate has speeded up or slowed down. I will record my pulse rate so I will be able to compare it at the end of the 6 weeks.
Illinois test
What will it improve?
The Illinois test will help me improve my speed, co-ordination and my agility all of which you need to dribble in football
Diagram
The Illinois Agility Run Test:
- You lie face down on the floor at the start
- When the whistle goes you jump to your feet and follow the course as above
- After you complete the course you take down your score
To measure the test I will use a stop watch so my results will be accurate. I will aim to get in between 12-14 seconds and hopefully my results will get better as I go along
Skipping
Skipping will improve my co-ordination, balance and my stamina.
Skipping
- Start with the rope by your side
- Then start skipping landing and jumping on both feet
I will record how many skips I can do in 45 seconds
Ladders
By doing ladders I will improve my co-ordination, speed and stamina.
Ladders
- Start at one side of the ladder
- When you are ready to start, run through the ladders alternating which foot you land on
- Do this for 45 seconds
2 lengths of the ladder will be classed as 1 point and I will record how many points I have achieved after 45 seconds.
Press ups
Press ups will improve my muscular endurance and strength.
Press ups
- I will position myself as above
- Bend arms so upper arm is horizontal to the floor then stretch out again
I will record how many I can do in 45seconds
Sit Ups
Sit ups will improve my strength and muscular endurance.
- Lie on Back (WITH PARTNER HOLDING FEET DOWN)
- Move your upper body towards your knees with hands behind head keeping legs still
Every time I touch my knees with my elbows I will count that as 1
Sprint Starts
Sprint starts will improve my stamina and muscular endurance.
Sprint starts:
- Start of in a sprinting position.
- Stretch one leg out and keep one bent
- When the whistle goes straighten and bend each leg alternatively
Every time my leg bends I will count that as one
Shuttle Runs
Shuttle runs will improve my speed and stamina.
1. Set two cones out 14 m apart this is regarded as one length .
2. Run backwards and forwards between the cones for 45 seconds. I will measure it by counting how many lengths I can complete.
Alternative Hand Wall Test
This test is to improve my co-ordination. I will simply throw a ball against the wall alternating which hand I catch and throw it with. Every time I catch the ball I will count it as 1 point.
Stalk Stand
Stalk Stand will improve my balance.
Stalk stands:
- Stretch your arms out wide.
- Bend right leg so toes are touching left knee.
- Stand on tip toes
- See how long you can hold the position for.
I will use a stopwatch to see how long I can do it for.
Previous Test
Before we began our training circuit we did several tests, to test different aspects of fitness, we did the following;
After we have finished our circuit we will go back and repeat these tests again to compare the results to see how much we have improved.
F.I.T
When planning my circuit I need to take into consideration, Frequency of the activity, Intensity of activity and the Type of activity, collectively known as FIT.
Frequency
Frequency is the number of times exercise is undertaken per week. The more you exercise the fitter you’re body becomes. In the first 2 weeks I will do each station once, to start of doing it twice may be initially too physically demanding and may cause injury. Hopefully in the 3rd week I will have progressed to doing each station twice. Although this will be a lot more demanding, it will push my body to its limit , therefore, by sustaining this level of exercise I will become fitter more quickly. I am aware that the second time I do the each station my results won ‘t be as good as the first results due to tiredness. I will also have to be aware of the risk of possible injury.
Intensity
Intensity is the level of difficulty of the exercise. At the start of my circuit I will have the least physically demanding station, for example the stalk stand, then later on I will introduce the more physically demanding ones such as press ups. By doing this I will be increasing the intensity and making the body work harder. I need to make my circuit as intensive as possible so I am always working in my threshold. I also must remember to pace myself, when I begin to do the circuit twice a week , as the increase in activity could initially predispose me to injury .
Tedium
In order to make my training circuit successful I will have to make sure tedium doesn’t occur, so I will have to make my circuit as interesting as possible. To make sure this doesn’t happen I will only allow 30 seconds rest between each of the stations.This will keep me active and as a result keep me focussed. Another way to make my circuit interesting is to set myself targets for each station. This will make me work harder on each station and also make me more interested in what I am doing
Safety
There isn’t too much risk involved with the equipment that I am using in my circuit, but I feel I still need to be careful in order not to injure myself. My training circuit will take place in a sports hall with a wooden floor. I must wear appropriate footwear with good grip to prevent any injury from slipping on the floor. Also because other people are doing their circuits at the same time I must make sure I have enough space for each station, so as not to clash with neighbouring stations that could result in injury.
I will have to make sure I am keeping my body active at all times, as if my body cools down and becomes stiff, I am much more likely to get an injury when restarting exercise. To stop this happening I will only allow my body 30 seconds of rest between stations therefore maintaining a more constant temperature therefore eliminating the risk.
The warm up is a key part in reducing the risk of injury during the circuit. By warming up my muscles and joints they gradually become used to working at that level. This gradual increase of demand on my body allows it to become more accustomed to the level of exercise, thereby reducing the risk of injury. My warm up will consist of some stretches and then some gentle jogging. Stretches are a good way to reduce the risk of injury as they ease different muscles and joints depending on the particular exercise. This preparation will help to prevent injuries such as twists, strains and sprains.
By performing a cool down programme, I will be keeping the blood circulating therefore preventing it from collecting in areas of the circulatory system and therefore preventing light-headedness. The cool down will also help to get rid of any build up of lactic acid in my muscles, which is responsible for the onset of cramp and also aching in the muscles the next day. My cool down will last 1 minute. For the first 30 seconds i will gently jog around the sports hall then I will stretch my different muscles and joints for the last 30 seconds.
Diagram
Heart Recovery Rate
Week 1-3
The graph below shows my heartrate from week 1-3 of my training circuit.As you can see the first thing I did was to take my resting pulse rate, this was to act as a baseline so I could work out how quickly my heart rate recovers after I complete the circuit. As you can see the resting pulse is inconsistent throughout this is because some weeks I did some exercise before I took my pulse rate. I am pleased with the results of my heart rate as it shows that I have become fitter over the time I have been doing my circuits. I know this because each week I have a faster recovery rate
Week 4-6 results are different to week 1-3 as in week 4-6 we were doing the circuit twice so this meant my heart beat was obviously higher after I completed the circuit as I had worked harder. A good thing about theses results is that it shows my fitness has improved from week 4-6 and it shows my circuit was a success
After each training session I recorded how I thought the circuit went. I recorded the way I felt after each session and what I thought I could improve on the next time I did the circuit. Below are the results:
Week 1
On the whole taking into consideration it was the first time I had done the circuit, I thought week one went well. I was pleased with my sprint start results but I thought I could have done better on the ladders. The good thing that came out of this session was that it highlighted that there was room for improvement. I was overall pleased with my general performance.
Week 2
I felt I had improved from last week and this was evident from my results. The one thing I was disappointed with was my press ups, as my score had lowered by 5 from the previous week. The thing I thought I’d done the best on was the Illinois test as I knocked a second of my previous result. I was also pleased that I managed to improve on the ladders as I got 31 compared to 22 last week. Next week I hope to improve on press ups.
Week 3
I wasn’t too pleased with my performance as I felt I hadn’t really improved from the last time I did the circuit. Although I managed to improve my score on the sit ups and skipping I failed to improve on the other stations. Next week I hope to improve my performance on all the stations although I realise I will have to pace myself as I have to do the circuit twice next week.
Week 4
This week I did my circuit twice this meant that my results might not have been as good as the previous weeks because of the extra exercise involved , it also meant that I had to pace myself. The first time around I was pleased with how I performed and I actually managed to improve on my results from the previous week in the majority of stations. The only problem was that after the first time round I was very tired so I new this would effect my performance on the second circuit lap. The second time around I thought I performed well on certain stations which didn’t involve much physical exercise such as the co-ordination test but not so good on physically demanding station. Next week I will try to improve my results on the second time I do the circuit.
Week 5
I felt this week went well and I thought it was my best performance as I managed to get some of my best results so far on the majority of the stations. I was especially pleased with my results on the skipping as I beat my previous scores .The second time I did the circuit I felt it went well as I managed to get better results than the previous week. This showed that I have improved over the weeks and my stamina has improved. Next week will be my last week of doing the circuit therefore I will try my hardest to better all my previous results.
Week 6
I was pleased in the way I performed in this week and it highlighted how much I had improved over the past 6 weeks. In all the stations I did ,I had improved on the results from the first week. After completing the circuit I was pleased with the level of effort I had put in and also how much I had improved.
Evaluation
I applied overload and progression into my circuit by increasing the time and intensity of which I did each station. Overload is a key thing needed in the training circuit, as when you are in your threshold you are working at your best so you are most likely to improve. By applying progression it makes my body work to its full potential, I will apply progression by extending the amount of times I do the circuit starting with once a week then progressing to twice a week. This will improve my fitness by making my body work harder.
I believe I chose the right stations in order to improve my football skills and fitness. I believe I balanced my stations well as some were designed to improve my fitness and others were designed to improve my skill. I feel I could have perhaps put more stations into my circuit and this would have helped to improve my fitness further, as I only had 10 stations, where I could have had 12. I felt however that the stations chosen were the right ones and were the best to help me achieve my goal. If I was to change anything I would have done without the Stalk Stand , as I didn’t feel it helped and also my results on this station didn’t improve throughout the 6 weeks.
A good thing about my circuit was that it was easy to manage in the way that it was easy to set up, record and to perform .This was because I had done lots of planning before I began my circuit so I new exactly what I was doing step by step. Recording my results wasn’t really a problem as I had already planned how I was going to record each station and even made predictions as to how I was going to perform on each station .
One of the main criticisms of my circuit was that I do not believe it was in the correct order and I wish I had taken more time to design it before hand. A problem with not having stations in the right order was that I got tired quickly as I had ladders before step ups and in practise this was a bad decision as these were two physically demanding tasks. What I should have done was to put a less physically demanding station between the two and by doing this I would have given myself more of a rest. I would also have been able to pace myself better making sure I got the best scores possible on each station.
On the whole I believe my circuit went well, as I thought it was at the right level in comparison to my fitness. It was important to make my circuit at the right level as if it had been too easy then it wouldn’t have made me work in my threshold, therefore it would have been unlikely that I would have improved my fitness. Also if I had made my circuit too hard it would have meant that I would have been a lot more likely to pick up an injury and also I wouldn’t have been able to perform as well at each station .I did enjoy completing my training circuit as I enjoy keeping fit. I believe this was one of the main reasons my training circuit was successful as when you enjoy doing something you put more effort into it. I felt I did push myself to the limit on each station of my circuit. I know this because of how I felt physically and my results proved it as they show my fitness has improved over the 6 week period. Overall I am very pleased with the way I completed the training circuit and I am pleased with my results.
My results
