The following is a list of techniques that I have considered using on my circuit. It includes diagrams and instructions on how to carry out each exercise.
There are several different training methods available to me, most of which has been covered on the different techniques page. There are approximately twenty-two different types of training methods. Out of these, my task was to choose three specific and five fitness stations, design a circuit using football or basketball, and make one in our gymnasium. The five fitness stations I chose were squat thrusts, sit-ups, shuttle runs, ladder test and sprint running. The reason why I chose these methods for my stations is to exercise and enhance the performance of the legs when playing football, because footballers need to be fast with their legs, and have very good ball control.
I carried out this exercise in the middle of summer, where I believe I was at the peak of my fitness. I did this exercise for eight weeks to hopefully progress to a higher fitness level.
We train to improve our physical abilities, but this can only be achieved by a change in everyday activity. Every type of training that takes place has a principle behind it. These principles are Specificity, Progression, Overload and Reversibility.
Specificity – Training must be specific to the activity or sport that you are training for. There is no point going swimming everyday if you’re a basketball player. You may wish to work on one particular area, such as building muscles in legs and arms (E.g. Football, Rugby). Specific training will produce specific results, so it is important to remember two things;
- Individuals will respond different.
- Each activity will have different demands.
Overload – This is making work harder to improve performance. The workload must be extended to improve at a faster pace. This can be achieved in the following ways:
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Frequency of training. Start once a week and progress to two times a week etc…
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Intensity of training. Increase heart rate to a higher level, to increase stamina.
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Duration of training. To increase the length of the training session.
Progression – The training that you are doing must be increased progressively. As your body adjusts to the demands you are putting on your body, you must increase the workload steadily. Do not do too much too soon.
Reversibility – Just as progression can lead to an improvement, if you either stop or decrease the training, you reverse and lose the effect. All the hard work you have done will be lost.
I designed the circuit to work mostly on the legs, to increase speed and precision. This can be seen on the design of my circuit.
Station one is the squat thrust. I chose this as my first station because it is fairly easy to do, and it helps to get the muscles warm. Squat thrusts work on the [GET PART OF BODY THAT IT WORKS ON] muscles, and help to boost the power in the legs. I carried this out by positioning my body as if I was going to do a press-up. Shoot in legs to the elbows and then back to the starting position. Correct technique needs to be used in this exercise, because serious damage can occur to the lower back and legs.
Shooting is at station two. This station works on the accuracy of the legs, and helps with acquiring the proper shooting technique. I did this exercise by standing behind the ball, placing my left foot parallel to the ball with my toes pointing towards the target, and kicking the ball with my right foot at my specific target.
After station two is station three with sit-ups. This works on the abdominal area to help with developing a six-pack. This is one of the favourites exercises amongst male teenagers, because it is used to woo and impress female teens. Sit-ups are done with a partner, in a sitting position, hands just behind ears. Legs at right angles, lie back and then curl towards knees while partner holds legs down.
At station four there is the passing exercise. This exercise helps one’s abilities to perform accurate passes when playing football. The technique for passing is the same for shooting, except more care needs to be taken when passing to a teammate. You have to put yourself in the shoes of your teammate and pass it how you would like someone to pass it to you. There is no point in kicking the ball as hard as possible if you are passing to your teammate who is right next to you. He might not be able to control it.
After the passing is the shuttle run at station five. This helps the legs to perform at an increased pace to increase speed, which will in turn be very useful if you need to retrieve a loose ball in a football match. This exercise is done by standing sideways on to the start line, knees slightly bent. Run to the line at the other end of the station, bend down and touch with right hand and then run back to first line and repeat.
There is the ladder test at station six. This, amongst all the other stations work on the legs, but this exercise has a somewhat advantage over the rest. It is a mix between using speed and precision to successfully complete it. The aim is to run as fast as possible through the ladder without hitting the ropes. One must try their best to refrain from getting tangled with the ropes. If that happens, he/she could fall and the injuries could be fatal.
All footballers must be able to dribble the football. Station seven is specific to this technique. To complete this exercise, one must be very agile and very precise with the legs. This exercise is done by manoeuvring the ball through the cones, trying desperately not to hit them.
The last station on my circuit is the sprint running. This helps the legs to perform at a faster pace and helps footballers to have much more stamina. It is also highly used in small areas because there is no movement. This exercise is done by running on the spot, but with sprinting with high knee lift and fast arm action.
I was motivated by my friends to do this circuit, because they all thought that I was falling behind in my football skills. I asked a friend to help me with completing the sit-up exercise, because I needed a partner to hold my legs down. I felt very good with myself, knowing that my fitness levels were increasing. I did this programme once a day for eight weeks. I spent one minute on each station, and 20 seconds of rest between them and I started to notice changes in my physical appearance after my fourth day. My calves were beginning to get bigger and my hamstrings also begun to get bigger.
To warm up, I did two laps around the circuit to warm up my muscles. After successfully completing my warm up, I started with my stretches [TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF STRETCHES THAT I DID]. And to warm down, I simply walked with my hands behind my head for approximately five minutes to increase the capacity of my chest, which make more oxygen available to me to breathe in.
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
From analysing these graphs, I can safely say that in most cases, my heart beats per second decreased as I moved further into the training programme. This means that the volume of my heart had increased, which means that I am able to pump more blood around the body from one contraction.
In my opinion, this was the best training method available to me in the given space. The circuit was appropriate to this programme because my chosen area to work on was football. I did all the exercises in the right order, because I wanted to spread the workload over the upper body, instead of working on the feet first, then the body, or vice versa. If I wanted to make this exercise even harder, I could adapt the principles of overload, and decrease my recovery time, putting more effort on my heart.
Holidays and day offs affected the running of the programme dramatically because it means that I miss a week off doing it, which could explain why some of my results were worst than that of the previous week. I enjoyed the programme very much, because it has increased my morals. I am very pleased with the results from this exercise, because it shows that I have a healthier boy, which in turn will attract the ladies.
On week one I was hardly able to complete thirty sit-ups on my circuit, but by week eight, I was able to do over eighty, this therefore means that the muscular endurance in my abdomen has increased, making me able to complete more sit-ups in a shorter period of time.
