- Skipping - Do fast skipping with cross-overs - This will improve Cardiovascular Endurance and involves my heart
- Biceps Curls - With a heavy weight in your hand bend your elbow and bring in your arm towards your body, flexing your bicep muscle - This will improve Muscular Endurance and involves my biceps
Each week I will increase my circuit by…
- 10 Reps - increase by 3 then 2 reps each week
- 1 Minute - increase by 10 seconds each week
- 2 Minutes - increase by 10 seconds each week
- 2 minutes - increase by 30 seconds then 10 seconds each week
- 10 Reps - increase by 2 reps each week
- 2 Minutes increase by 30 seconds then 10 seconds each week
- 15 Reps - increase by 5 reps each week
- 1 minute - increase by 10 seconds each week
- 1 minute - increase by 10 seconds each week
Organisation
- My circuit-training program is for swimming and it is based over a 5-week period
- I have designed a circiut that is 9 stations long and it will concentrate on all the areas of fitness that swimming requires.
- The purpose of the program is to improve myself physically using a designed circuit training method
- I will improve my level of fitness in all areas to improve my swimming
- Swimming consists of using all areas of fitness so I designed this circuit to suit this priority
- To make my circuit harder I will increase the reps and time limit each week
- I will use mats and strong equipment to prevent injury
- I will add 10 second rests between stations if I feel tired
Uses of the Principles of Training
For my circuit I will be using the four principles of training which are ~ Specificity, Overload, Progression and Reversibility.
For my circuit I will be using Specificity a lot in order to improve in my chosen sport which is swimming.
I will be specifying in all the areas, which I need to train to be better at swimming.
Every week I will make my circuit harder by either by increasing the number of reps I do, or the length of time I do the activity. This means I will be using the principal of Overload in my circuit.
To use the principal of progression I will use Overload to make my body work harder and therefore progress each week. But to progress safely I will add rests in between each training station, this will help to avoid injuries such as torn muscles.
To avoid Reversibility I will stick to a pre-drawn plan and exercise harder each week. It takes 3 to 4 weeks to reverse, so training once a week will prevent Reversibility.
Testing My Circuit
A week before my circuit training I will have a bleep test to see how good I am in different areas of fitness.
A week after my circuit training I will have another bleep test to see how well my circuit has performed.
The tests will be ~
- A Multi Stage fitness test
- A Vertical Jump test
- Sit Up Test
The results for my first test were ~
- Level 10
- 18
- 4:55
The results after my training were ~
- Level 12
- 19
- 5:50
These results show that my circuit was successful in improving my fitness.
Evaluation
In general my circuit program was successful, it tested each area of fitness that I designed it to. Although it achieved its aim, there wasn’t enough equipment to do a large variety of workouts, so I couldn't exercise certain muscles or combinations of muscles at one time.
My bleep test proved that in my bleep tests I had improved in the areas that were tested, but out of all the areas that were tested some were not used in my chosen sport. It would have been a better test if the area tested were more specific to my sport.
As shown in my 'Monitoring The Programme' sheet, I had to change some rep and time limits in order to create an achievable level at the start for each station however this meant that I was not concentrating on a individual muscle all through my programme. That would mean that all the tested muscles were not up to their full potential by the end of the programme.
I found my circuit very intense and tiring, but effective because the circuit tested all the appropriate areas. By the end of each session I felt that I could not do any more exercise as my muscles were aching, this would mean that I am using the principle of overload correctly in my circuit.
Although I had improved by the end of my program I had only improved minimally, so if I were to repeat this again I would make it last 14 weeks. I would have a longer of time to make improvements to the programme and improve my fitness to a higher level.
Definitions
Rep ~ the amount of times an activity is performed
Multi stage fitness test ~ A test where you have to race to a point against a set of beeps
