Stamina: I believe that my level of fitness in this are is Average, I need this in my sport because I need to be able to hold a fast pace for an long period of time.
Flexibility/Suppleness: I believe that my level of fitness in this is Poor, not really need in my sport because no need for any flexibility.
Specific Fitness
Balance: The ability to hold a position without wobbling or falling over.
Coordination: The ability to move body parts smoothly and accurately in response to what your senses tell you.
Explosive strength/Power: A combination of strength and speed.
Speed of Reaction: The time it takes to respond to a stimulus.
Timing: The ability to act at just the right moment.
Agility: The ability to change the body’s direction and position fast.
Current level of fitness in area, if needed and why?
Balance: I believe that my level of fitness in this area is poor, but not really needed in my sport because we are continuingly moving and the water is holding my weight.
Coordination: I believe that my level of fitness in this area is Poor, not needed in my sport because no need to move my body in response to my senses, like returning a serve in table tennis
Explosive strength/Power: I believe that my level of fitness in this area is Good; I need it in my sport because I need to be able to move fast but powerfully.
Speed of reaction: I believe my level of fitness in this are is Good, I need this because I need to get off the blocks quickly.
Timing: I believe my level of fitness in this area is Average; I need this because I need to be able to time tumble turns correctly.
Agility: I believe my level of fitness in t his area is Poor; I don’t need this in my sport because I am only going forwards and not trying to avoid anyone or thing, like in football.
The aims of my P.E.P are:
- Improve my Core strength
- Improve my power
- Muscular Endurance
Core Strength
I aim to improve my core strength because I only got 38 sit ups in 1.00 minute and I believe that this is a necessary part of swimming because if I have a stronger core strength it will give me better support in the water balancing my body so that I am in a straight line when I am travelling threw the water, also making the kick part of my stroke better as I wont have to use legs to support the rest of my body.
Power
I aim to improve my power/Explosive strength because I had quite a poor result in my fitness test for this area (standing broad jump) and I only achieved 178cm which was quite poor for an elite athlete so by improving my power by a little bit will give me a stronger dive at the start of the race and also improve my turns as I will be able to push off further and harder giving me a big advantage in any race.
Muscular Endurance
As well as showing my core strength was lacking the sit up test also showed me that my muscular endurance was not to good and without it I wont be able to perform at the highest level of intensity for a long period of time so by improving my muscular endurance it will help me be able to harder for longer which would help me a lot in a race.
Warm Up
Before exercise I must warm up so that I:
- Increase body temperature
- Increase heart rate
- Increase blood flow
- Increases the range of movement in joints
- Increases focus on the exercise
A good warm up should do all this meaning that I:
- Reduce the risk of injury
- Prepare the body for the task you are about to undertake
- Prepare the mind for the task you are about to undertake
Cool Down
After exercise I must cool down so that I:
- Repay oxygen debt
- Prevent blood pooling
- Increase lung capacity
- Help remove lactic acid
- Prevent stiffness the next day
- Help return the body systems to normal by:
-Return heart rate to resting heart rate
-Return heavy breathing back to normal
Stretching phase
During the stretching phase of my warm, I will focus on the key muscle groups that I will be using during the training session or competition. One of the main muscle groups I focus on are the shoulders because these are the muscles that I will be using most in my swimming. The stretching session I have will last for only five minutes and I will hold each stretch for 15 seconds.
Mental phase
During my mental phase of my warm-up I usually think about my tactics for the event ahead and prepare my mind for the event. This improves my state of mind before the exercise this helps as it makes my mind ready for the start of the event. A mental phase of a warm-up is a necessity as it will make sure your mind is ready and will not be unprepared for anything that could happen at the start of the event that you are taking part in.
Exercise safety points
Program
Heart rates
Conclusion
Based on my first sessions recovery rate I was already quite fit before the P.E.P however based on the gradual increase in my recovery rate it seems my fitness levels have increased and this is proven by my resting heart rate before the last session was lower then the other ones and also as well as being the highest heart rate I had, had in the whole P.E.P I had also had a very quick recovery rate which shows my fitness improving. Over all I am very happy with how the P.E.P had gone especially as I had started to notice the difference in my training for swimming and have now considered to use this programme as a long term programme to aid my swimming.
Evaluation of the whole P.E.P
Final evaluation
All in all I was satisfied with how my P.E.P went. I found the sessions challenging but rewarding and despite not reaching all my test targets I am happy with the result. I have considered to do some of the exercises as just another way to aid swimming and a different type of training outside of the pool which will certainly remove some tedium from all the training that I have to do.