My warm up will include:-
- 5 to 10 minutes jogging - to increase body temperature
- 10 to 15 minutes of dynamic stretching exercises (e.g. Joint Rotations, Neck Mobility, Shoulder Circles, Arm Swings, Side Bends, Hip circles and twists, Half Squat, Leg Swings, Lunges, Ankle Bounce...) - reduce muscle stiffness
- 10 to 15 minutes of drills: Lower Leg drills (e.g. Double foot hops, Astride jumps, Compass jumps, Rat-a-tats...), Leg drills (e.g. walking on toes, walking on heels,bum kicks with high knee, skip with high knees, jog with high knees, skips for height, side strides...)
- 4 to 8 easy run outs over 30 to 60 meters
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5 to 10 minutes of static stretching exercises (e.g. chest stretch, biceps stretch, upper back stretch, shoulder stretch, shoulder and triceps stretch, side bends, abdominal and lower back muscles, hamstring stretch, calf stretch, hip and thigh stretch, adductor stretch, groin stretch, front of trunk stretch, iliotibial band stretch, quadriceps stretch...)
Cool down.
I will include a cool down because it aids the dissipation of waste products – including lactic acid. A cool down also reduces the chance of dizziness or fainting caused by the pooling of venous blood at the extremities. It reduces the level of adrenaline in the blood and allows the heart rate to return to its resting rate.
My cool down will include:
- 5 to 10 minutes jogging/walking – to decrease my body temperature and to remove waste products from my working muscles
- 5 to 10 minutes of static stretching exercises (e.g. chest Stretch, biceps stretch, upper back stretch, shoulder stretch, shoulder and triceps stretch, side bends, abdominal and lower back muscles, hamstring stretch, calf stretch, hip and thigh stretch, adductor stretch, groin stretch, front of trunk stretch, iliotibial band stretch, quadriceps stretch...)
I included static stretches because they are very appropriate to a cool down, as they help muscles to relax, realign muscle fibres and re-establish their normal range of movement. I hold these stretches for approximately 10 seconds each.
Other areas where I will prepare is safety within the circuit – checking the equipment I use is fit for purpose and the surface is not wet.
Pre tests.
Circuit.
The circuit will be time based for activity followed by a timed rest.
Week 6 - The direction of the circuit was changed from clockwise to anti-clockwise. This was so that the less impact stations were both at the beginning and end.
Ten week programme.
Evaluation.
Post tests.
From the results you can see that I have improved in all of the test. I am very happy with this. At the end of my training programme I found I had better stamina, flexibility and better agility. This has been a great result and has really helped me in both my sports, especially dance.
Doing circuit training has also lowered my blood pressure. I am very pleased with 119/75 because it's very close to the 'normal blood pressure'. This is where a person is said to be healthy and at least risk of getting heart disease. Currently normal blood pressure is thought to be below 120/80mmHg.
I would definitely continue with circuit training.
Overall evaluation.
I think that my circuit has been effective because my weight and heart rate have both decreased. My initial aim was to improve all of my components of fitness as I consider all of these to be key to both of all of my sports . At the beginning of my 10 week training programme I tested my stamina (with the cooper run), cardiovascular endurance (with the Multi-stage fitness test), flexibility (with the sit and reach test) and my strength (with the grip dynamometer). I did not overexert myself in the first week of my programme as I understood that I would need to use the principle of 'progression' to gradually work my way into training. During this time I continued with my usual commitments. The activities I chose were specific to trying to improve the overall components of fitness. Over the 10 week period I challenged myself by making simple adjustments to make my circuit to make it more complex. I gradually increased the amount of time on an activity and decreased the time off the activities. I also changed one of the activities, so I used and worked more muscles. I also increased the distance between each activity. After about 3 weeks, with session per week, I saw that my body had progressed and I was able to keep going for a longer period of time. After this, I increased the intensity of the sessions by adding more circuits with less rest time between each circuit. This relates to the FITT principles.
I am very happy with the training programme I have produced as it has proven to work with my testing. I did have to adapt my circuit by drinking more water and using an I-pod to motivate me.
If I had to redo these 10 weeks than I would properly change a couple of things within my circuit. For example, I would use different exercises with every other set as this would use different muscles and keep me more motivated.
