To plan and structure a suitable training programme for a sport of my choice, taking into account the aspects and components of fitness principles I intend improve.

GCSE Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

To plan and structure a suitable training programme for a sport of my choice, taking into account the aspects and components of fitness principles I intend improve. We have to take into account its relevance to the activity, as well as the ability to select exercises that will aim to do this.

This is the capacity to carry out everyday activities without excessive fatigue and with enough energy in reserve for emergencies. It is also the capacity of the heart, blood vessels, lungs and muscles to function at optimal capacity.

Fitness can be split into 2 categories:

Physical fitness
Mental fitness

Physical fitness is the capacity of the individual to meet the varied physical or physiological demands made by a sporting activity, without reducing them to a physically fatigued state. Physical fitness can be split into five components:

Strength: The greatest amount of force that muscles can produce in a single maximum effort.
Endurance: (staying power) The capacity to sustain movement or effort over a period of time.
Speed: The maximum rate of which a person is able to move his/her body over a specific distance. It is measured as the time taken to complete a particular task.
Body composition: The concept describing the relative percentage of muscle, fat and bone on our bodies. Body composition analysis is a suitable tool for the assessment of a person’s state of fitness.
Flexibility: The range of movement possible at a joint or the ability to stretch a muscle or ligament so the joint moves freely.

Motor fitness is the ability of a person to perform successfully at a particular game or activity. Motor fitness can be split into six components:

Speed: Ability to move all or part of our bodies as quickly as possible.
Power: Ability to contract muscles with speed and force on one explosive act.
Agility: Ability to change the direction of our bodies at speed.
Co-ordination: Ability to perform complex movements with ease.
Reaction time: Ability to react to a stimulus quickly.
Balance: Ability to retain balance when stationary or moving.

Specificity

My training programme is for football. The exercises are specifically suited to what is needed to play football. The training programme is specified for an outfield player, as there are no goalkeeping skills involved in this circuit.

This is the regular physical exercise aimed at specific areas for improvement. As there is so much specificity to areas, there are many different types of training programmes.

To become fitter we need to train harder. To improve to specific areas, we should follow the following S.P.O.R.T principles:

Specificity
Progression
Overload
Reversibility
Tedium

Specificity- we must train for our own particular sport, and on specific areas of our body in relation to our sport. We need to use a training programme that puts regular stress on the muscle groups we are concerned with.

Progression- we must increase our training gradually; increase the amount of exercise of exercise we do. This places added stress on our body systems. We must add this stress in a progressive or gradual way.

Overload- we must work harder than usual to improve the fitness of our various body systems. In order to do this, we must overload or stress them. Our bodies will gradually adapt to cope with this extra work and we will become fitter.

Reversibility- we will lose fitness when inactive. Our bodies are able to adapt to more stress by becoming fitter. Consequently, our bodies will adapt to less stress/ it only takes 3-4 weeks for our bodies to get out of condition. We can lose our aerobic fitness more easily than anaerobic as the muscles quickly lose much of their ability to use oxygen.

Tedium- we must make our training programmes interesting. Tedium should be avoided by using a variety of enthusiasm. We can also avoid exercise injuries by varying the way we perform certain activities.

What is a training programme?

Olympic sports people often have their own personal training programmes planned out in advance with sessions set out either daily, weekly or monthly and sometimes even yearly basis. The different parts that divide the training programme are called periodisation. These training programmes are designed so that they perform at their best during the times of major competitions. If we are to take part in competitive sport on a regular basis then we should also plan prior to the competition.

When planning a training programme, we need to think about frequency, intensity, time and type. These are called the F.I.T.T principles:

Frequency- this is training frequently. We should train at least 3 times a week. Our bodies will need time to recover between sessions, so we should space them out over the week.

Intensity- this is to work harder. We will not improve our fitness unless we work hard enough to make our body systems adapt.

Time- if we wish to improve our aerobic fitness, we must make our training sessions longer, gradually over time. We should also increase the heart rate level at which we work.

Type- We should develop the right fitness and skills for our sport.

There are many different types of training methods. They are all based on an understanding of how our bodies have to adapt to training. The different methods include:

Continuous training
Fartlek training
Interval training
Circuit training
Weight training

Plyometrics

Certain training methods are predisposed to developing specific components of fitness; therefore we have to choose the best method that suits out sport.

Warm up- This is a period of gentle exercise using the whole body. It should increase the heart and breathing rate. Our muscles should be warmed up with gentle stretching especially working on the joints. We must get our bodies ready for action both physically and mentally.

Fitness- The fitness activities we use will depend on the demands of our sport, so our fitness sessions should not be too tiring, as this will prevent us from working well when practising our skills. It is more sensible to include a harder fitness session at the end of the skill phase. We need to apply overload and progression.

Skill development phase- This is when we must work harder to develop the techniques and skills necessary for our particular sport.

Warm down- We should always finish training sessions with a period of lighter exercise. This is to cool down. We should not go directly from hard exercise to rest. Light exercise shortens the recovery time needed by removing lactic acid, carbon dioxide and other waste products in our bodies. It also ensures good circulation of the blood, to avoid light- headedness or nausea.

We were asked to create a training programme. For my training ...

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Skill development phase- This is when we must work harder to develop the techniques and skills necessary for our particular sport.

We were asked to create a training programme. For my training programme I am going to improve my cardio-vascular fitness level. Cardiovascular refers to the heart and blood vessels. Cardio vascular fitness is improved by regular training. When a person trains regularly, their stroke volume increases both at rest and at work. The heart rate slows down and the heart is more efficient. Cardiovascular training is aerobic respiration. Maximum heart rate is not affected by training. It can be worked out by using this formula:

220-age=maximum heart rate.

My maximum heart rate is 205 bpm. I will exercise three times a week. I will try to apply all aspects of training.

Specificity-
Overload-
F.I.T.T-

Frequency, I will train three times a week.
Intensity, I will train as hard as I am supposed to (60-80% of maximum HR).
Time, each session is 20 minutes long.
Type, the training I’m doing is appropriate for cardiovascular fitness.

Progression
Reversibility &
Tedium.

I have also been asked to plan a training programme for a particular sport. I decided to design the training programme for football. The training programme would improve my fitness and health.

Football is a sport that requires strength in all major body parts with particular emphasis on the shoulder girdle, back, hips, and legs. It is also a sport where most injuries are caused by too-tight and inflexible muscles, So stretching and flexibility routines are extremely important, not only to help avoid those injuries, but also to improve agility and speed. A football player, whatever position he plays, needs quickness and power.

The current season for football is off-season. My main aim is to decrease the recovery rate and develop match fitness levels in football through improving recovery after a sprint.

My method of fitness testing is the bleep test (vo2 Max). My Training method will be Fartlek Training.

Fartlek Training

Fartlek training involves training over distances far greater than our actual competition distance. It is a method of training in which we vary our pace and training conditions. It is a very good method for games players as they are involved in short intense activities followed by brief periods of recovery.

The types of exercises I will do are running at various speeds. The method to increase my training is to work at a higher work rate for a longer period of time and increase the time worked and decrease the recovery rate.

As I mentioned above, before every activity there should be a five-minute warm up. This is essential because the warm up would increase the blood flow to the muscles, stretch the muscles and concentrate the mind on the training.

Our warm up should include:

A period of moderate exercise using the entire body, for example, light jogging.
A period of gentle stretching. We should work on the joints most likely to be emphasized during our central training session. The main muscles that need to be stretched are:

1.Hamstrings

2.Quadriceps

3.Gastrocnemiuis

4.Triceps

5.Deltoids

6.Trapezium

In your stretching include all four types of stretching: - static, passive, active and PNF stretching.

Practising the various techniques and skills to be used in our training session. For example, a football player would perform some free kicks, throw-ins, etc.

As I also mentioned above, before every activity there should be a five-minute warm down. This is essential because the warn down helps replace the oxygen debt in your muscles and also gets rid of the extra blood in your veins.

The equipment I am going to use is none of serious precautions. There are no serious safety aspects I will need to take into consideration for this programme, except making sure that all the equipment is in restored order and is safe.

Avoid over-training

It isn't when you are exercising that your fitness increases - it is while you recover. After exercise, your body needs time to build up its muscles before your next training session. If you don't give your body the time it needs, you increase your chances of an injury. For this reason it is particularly important to increase your workload slowly when you start a new exercise regimen.

Beware over-developing just one aspect of your fitness

If you make sure that you have a good level of overall fitness, then you are less likely to get injured. Overall fitness describes good muscular strength, flexibility, aerobic capacity and general conditioning. This kind of fitness will help to balance your body. It is usually best achieved by cross training in a number of different activities.Use the right safety equipment

If your training recommends that you use safety equipment such back supporters or protective headgear, then you should use this equipment at all times. You should also ensure that your kit is correctly fitted by a professional. No jewellery should be worn. You should keep in mind safety considerations while setting up your equipment, lifting correctly, equipment in good order, correct kit and as stated in the previous page, warm up and cool down.

Shoes are usually one of the most important parts of your workout clothes, especially in high-impact sports such as jogging.

Caring for injuries

It is to be expected that at some time during your sports career, you will pick up an injury. Hopefully it will be a minor injury, but whatever it is it will prevent you competing until you have fully recovered. It can be frustrating waiting for an injury to repair and some sportsmen return to their sport too early, or even compete with their injury when they try to "run it off".

Safety Precautions

Before we take part in sport, we should look at the dangers which we may come across when we play that sport. We cannot anticipate what others might do to us but we can before we start go through the routine of risk assessment. What is risk assessment? It is simply looking at the environment, equipment and conditions to ensure that it is safe to proceed with what you are going to do.

Any training session must include three stages. The first is a warm up. There are many reasons for a warm up. One is to increase the heart rate this prepares the heart and lungs for the demands exerted on them during exercise. The second reason is to increase oxygen flow into the muscles. The third reason is to help prevent early fatigue. The fourth and final reason is to increase muscle temperature; this leads to greater elasticity of the muscles, which helps prevent injury and gives a better performance. You must stretch out the muscles you will be using before exercising. This stops the muscles from cramping or ceasing up. Before exercising I will warm up using this method.

It is a multi-stage fitness test in which you must do 20 metre shuttle runs in time with the bleeps until the bleeps get too quick for you. It is a maximal test which means it will take you to your fitness limit. The shuttle runs are done in time to bleep sounds on a pre-recorded audio cassette. The time between the recorded bleeps decreases every minute as the level goes up. The test usually consists of 23 levels.

The bleep test is used by sports coaches to estimate an athlete's VO2 Max (maximum oxygen uptake).

People choose what sport they want to play because they might find it fun. Competing in a particular sport appeals to them. What is their motivation?

Intrinsic
The motivation is the pure pleasure derived from participating in the activity. In other words, you do it because you love it.
Extrinsic
The motivation is the desire to achieve something external: medals, money, fame, etc.

Another motivating factor is the level of excitement or arousal that the athlete experiences as part of the game. The adrenaline buzz experienced by a student as he walks in the gym with a good attitude can be what drives him to improve his fitness. Excitement releases adrenaline into the bloodstream, causing the breathing and heart rate to speed up which transports more oxygen to the body, and this can improve their performance.

Adrenaline in the bloodstream also causes the body to become tense and the person can become nervous and anxious. In order to improve your fitness it is important that you need motivation and a positive attitude.

I am going to do 2 training sessions of Fartlek training and 2 fitness tests, this will all be in the time period of 4 weeks. My Training session will be the following:

You should test your heart rate (HR) before you start your exercise programme. This way you will know how much you have improved it by when you test it again at the end. For cardiovascular fitness the test is the bleep test and then you have to find out your recovery rate. For the recovery rate you must check your resting pulse rate. As soon as you finish the bleep test record your heart rate for that minute. Record how long it takes for your heart rate to return to normal. My resting heart rate was 64 bpm. After doing my bleep test here are my results:

Conclusion

In general my training programme was successful because it tested each area and principle of fitness that I wanted it to. I think that, my training programme not only tested my fitness and my football skills, it also improved them.

Although it was successful, there were some tests such as the Bleep Test on which I had to rely on earlier results because of the lack of equipment to do it at home. This meant that there would have been some results, which would not have been up to date. This could mean that I could have performed worse or better than my previous school results.

The shuttle runs, this station was very successful. By the end of the week, I had improved my speed as I did more runs in one minute. Improving my speed was an encouraging result of the training programme because; speed is an important factor for playing football. It also improved my agility and the endurance of my quadriceps and hamstrings.

The sit-up exercise was very tiring; after each time I performed this exercise I could feel my abdominal muscles stretching and becoming stronger. I improved throughout the six weeks because as my results show I could do more sit-ups at the end of the training programme than in the beginning of the training programme. But as a whole I improved the strength and endurance of my abdominal muscles.

Chipping balls into hoops, I found this exercise fairly uncomplicated. Although my accuracy and chipping ability are somewhat good, they still improved as a whole.

The shooting exercise tested my shooting (!) and accuracy ability. This was one of the easier stations as shooting isn’t a very backbreaking work out, although I did improve in the six-week period. I could pinpoint a spot between the cones and then usually get it there. This improved my accuracy.

The burpees’ exercise was the exercise that I found quite difficult, during the training programme, as it was very tiring and challenging. Overall, this did improve my agility, cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance and strength of the quadriceps and hamstrings.

The dribbling exercise was a fairly easy exercise. I have improved on my speed and ball control. I noticed that I could do dribbling faster at the end of the training programme than at the beginning. I also noticed that I was not as tired as I was before.

The kick-ups exercise, I am fairly good at kick-ups already but by the end of the program I was able to keep the ball under control at a lower height than what I started with.

The passing exercise, this exercise tested my right and left foot, my accuracy and my speed, my left foot has improved a lot by doing this exercise, my right foot has slightly improved.

The 12 Minute Cooper Run was a very tiring exercise. It greatly improved my muscular endurance, speed and agility. To do it three times a week was very challenging, but I observed that at the end of the week, I could complete more metres than at the beginning of the week. This was a sign of improvement. I also got rid of the habit to start walking; I kept going at a steady jog throughout the run.

The Bleep Test is an exercise from hell. It is very gruelling and needs a lot of muscular endurance, speed, agility and aerobic capacity. Especially just after completing the 12 minute Cooper Run, the results may have been a bit low. I could not do this test at home, because of the lack of the equipment, and so had to rely on previous results,

I do not find the Harvard Step Test, difficult and I think that my results show that I was above average. I completed two Harvard Step Tests during the training programme. The Harvard Step Test measures my aerobic capacity and my recovery rate and my results show that my fitness index increased during the period of training. This also proves that the training programme helped my pulse and recovery rate which would enhance all of the rest of the exercises.

The pull-ups were not very hard. They tested my muscular strength. I found that after doing the pull-ups my arms were very sore. I learned that it was better to do pull-ups at a constant speed than doing them quickly, because if you do them quickly then you tire out your voluntary muscles very quickly.

I am useless at doing press-ups but I did find that at the beginning of the weak I could only do a couple of press-ups but by the end of the week I could do 12. This tested my muscular strength and maybe muscular endurance.

The standing broad jump and the standing vertical jump were very easy and my results show that my muscular strength in my legs was above average.

The free kick, penalties, headers and volleys exercise tested my accuracy at being able to pinpoint a spot to shoot at. My accuracy is good and I found that I was able to be even more accurate in my shooting and heading.

The sit-and-reach test tested my flexibility and my results show that I was above average.

The Illinois agility run was testing. I learned to speed my way through it, and learned that every second counted. It measured my agility (!) and speed. I was a bit out of breath at the end of the run.

The ‘football assault course’ was just a way to reduce tedium but also to see if I could combine all of my football skills together. The key to the course was speed but also to fulfil each section as best as possible.

I found the training programme to be very intense and tiring, but very effective as my training programme tested all the areas I wanted it to. I was very tired though after completing each week of the program, my muscles were aching and my heart and breathing rate had increased drastically. The positive aspect was that I recovered quicker as I went on in the training programme.

If I were to perform the training programme again I would start by making the exercise time slightly less at the beginning of the program so I could get use to doing the exercises gradually. This would also be overloading because the exercises would get harder.

If I was given another chance to perform he training programme again, I would have included more tests and exercises such as wall-sits, combination tests, dynamometer and shoulder lift test. I would also have compared my skin fold measurement to see if it changed during the training programme. I would expect that it would not change because it would take some time for the fat to reduce. I would also compare the change in my pulse rate during the training programme.

Although I had improved during the six-week period I had only improved slightly, so if I were repeating this programme I would make it last 12 weeks so improvements could be seen more easily. Once the training programme becomes too easy I would have to make it harder (overload) to affect reversibility. If the training programme is not made harder the body will stop improving in the areas of muscular endurance and anaerobic respiration. The body must train regularly to prevent reversibility. Reversibility is when the affects of training decrease and the benefits are lost.

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Evaluation

The results are clear, there has been an improvement in my agility from testing myself in the first week to testing myself in the 6th week after training for 5 weeks in-between.

Good points in my program I thought were:

I used a variety of training methods.
I made sure that to so I wouldn’t get bored (tedium) I trained on a variety of surfaces such as both gyms, the sports hall and on a football pitch.
I also, to reduce tedium, trained with a friend to make it enjoyable and for a little bit of competition. Without having a partner I think that my training program wouldn’t have been as successful because I would have been prone to give up and got bored.
I used the equipment we had to its full potential and used all the possible resources.

Bad points about my fitness program were:

Although I used the equipment we had well, I think it could have been more successful if we hade more of what we already have and a larger selection.
I had to share my equipment and wait for it when I needed it.
We had very little time. The lesson only an hour long and by the time you get to the lesson and get changed into kit, sometimes 15 minutes had already been wasted.
I would have liked to go out onto the grass on more occasions but the weather was too bad and the pitches were waterlogged so I couldn’t.
There wasn’t as much space as I would have liked in the sports hall.

What could I have done to improve my fitness program?

I could have come in after school to train but on a lot of the days I had sport after school or just didn’t have time.
I could have done a little more research into training techniques for agility in the library, sports books, teachers or the Internet.
I could have had a competition with my partner that maybe tested who improved the best over the 5 weeks. This would make me work harder and add extra motivation into it, which is a factual characteristic that helps improve performance.
I could have introduced more friends also to take away the currently limited tedium.

If I was going to extend my program I would:

Use more techniques to improve.
Do more skipping through cones and changing pace by accelerating off and slowing back down.
Used more of a ball in my training because it was aimed to improve my football including my dribbling and I don’t think that I did enough dribbling skills.
Set goals to achieve in a certain space of time.
Tested myself half way through or even on numerous occasions to test how I am doing and push me to improve if I’m not reaching my goals.

Conclusion

I think that my program was successful considering time I had and facilities. I followed the principles of training as well as I could and it paid off.

I have noticed a difference in my game when it comes to agility. I feel more comfortable on and off the ball. Part of this I think is because I know I have improved so I’m more confident in my ability. I have enjoyed doing the training program and I think will do one in my own personal time to improve other aspects of my game at a later stage while still doing regular agility training so my fitness doesn’t tire.

I’m positive my results were like this because of the six-week programme I did. I think the most effective part of my training was the swimming. Not only did it improve my fitness but has helped my tone up as well. I think the least effective part of my training was using the exercise bike at the Gym. This only worked out my legs and made me ache afterwards. This may have been because I didn’t cool down properly afterwards or maybe because I wasn’t used to exercising my legs so much. I will continue to swim once a week or maybe twice. I think I will jog occasionally as well because it helps receive my stress. Swimming is a very good exercise to do for my chose sport, Dance. It helps to tone my muscles and keeps me fit at the same time. Most strokes of swimming exercise all the muscles. This is good because I need strength in my muscles for dance. With jogging I have sometimes increased the training time. This has improved my stamina and now allows me to dance for longer periods of time. The whole project has been quite beneficial.

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Progressions from Using the Training Program

There are a number of advantages to be had from undertaking the training program and no obvious disadvantages that can be thought of immediately. Some of the stations included in the program can be fun to carry out and only the odd one or two that can be slightly tedious. Undertaking any sort of training will be beneficial to your health in general and this one improves the state of your body, your fitness, and how you feel about yourself mentally.

There are a number of physical progressions you would go through over the weeks as a program is carried out. As the weeks go by you would be able to see and feel differences in the state of your fitness. You would improve your skills with the motor fitness training methods and would improve the state of your body with the physical fitness training.

The program that I have created is no different from any others in the terms stated above. As the weeks go by you would be improving the strength mostly in the leg muscles, such as the quadriceps and hamstrings, and your explosive strength would be greatly improved with events such as vertical jumping and standing broad jumping. This would allow you to go on to be able to do more of the activities mentioned for longer periods of time each week as your body would be getting strong enough to cope with a steady rate of exercise.

Undergoing this program would allow you to carry out the activities with greater ease of movement because your flexibility would be getting better from exercise such as the sit and reach station.

In this program endurance is covered in a number of different activities and great improvements in this would lead to better performances in other activities such as sprinting.

Motor skills and actual on the ball skills would be improving with the motor fitness activities such as balancing or juggling the ball.

At the end of and during this program you would notice a great change in your body. You would be feeling stronger, physically and mentally, your body would be able to cope with harder workloads with every activity done and your muscles would be strong. Your health and fitness will have improved greatly and the skills for the sport you are training for (football in this case) will be getting better.

The end result from such a program is a healthier life with an improvement in fitness and skills but a program like this would have to maintained and expanded upon in order to stay healthy and to keep the body and muscles in good shape.