By reaching these above 4 aims I would have successfully completed my PEP with a good and positive result. Therefore my fitness and skill when playing cricket would have improved. Programme Outline: As mentioned in the introduction, before I can plan my workout routine for the 6 weeks, I will have to specify the training principles: S.P.O.R.T. and F.I.T.T. These training principles will help me plan out a precise workout routine that will help me achieve my aims and by producing a productive workout routine. I have chosen to base my circuit training on cricket therefore I will be concentrating on working on and improving:
Aerobic fitness, agility, body strength, eye and ball skills, speed, footwork and muscular endurance. S.P.O.R.T.: Specificity: My circuit training will be base don the sport of cricket therefore I will have 7 stations in the workout routine for the following aspects: 1. Aerobic fitness – Being able to maintain a heart of 65 – 75% of maximum and still be able to hold light conversation at the same time. This should be done everyday for about 15 – 30 minutes and should result in good level of sweat produced. Aerobic fitness can be gained by running (not flat out) and cycling.
2. Agility – the ability to change direction quickly and control movements of the whole body. This is very important as it is needed to be able to change direction when running between wickets or fielding. This can be improved by stretching and flexing muscles, and with a series of specific drills. 3. Body Strength – This is very important for cricket. Upper body strength is needed by everyone. Batsmen need lots of upper body strength to help them play big shots. Bowlers need upper body strength to help them bowl fast deliveries. Fielders need upper body strength to help them throw the ball fast and far. This would need to be gained by working out in a gym.
4. Eye and Ball Skills – These are very important as a bowler in cricket needs to have very high ball skills to place the ball in the correct place. A batsman on the other hand needs very good eye skills to see how the ball is delivered, where it pitches to decide how to play the shot. Fielder’s also need high eyes skills to be able to take successful catches and ball skills to be able to throw the ball accurately. This can be improved by practicing to throw balls at small targets, catching fast throws, playing shots at fast deliveries etc.
5. Speed – This is essential in cricket as is needed by batsmen when running between wickets, bowlers when bowling and fielders when fielding. Speed can be gained by practicing running short distances flat out in order to gain muscle to make legs more powerful to gain higher speeds when running flat out. 6. Footwork – This is needed mainly by fielders and bowlers. Bowlers need to ensure they not overstep the crease and give away a no ball, and fielders must be able to run fast and change directions quickly and still stay stable and on their feet. This can be improved with a set of specific drills.
7. Muscular endurance – This is being able to play the game for a long period of time without getting muscle stiffness, tiredness or weakness. This can be improved on by constant flexing of muscles and stretching during a game and via a series of drills in training. Progression: I will plan out a workout involving one of the seven aspects listed above. I will then move onto the next aspect the next day and so on covering all 7 aspects within a week.
The next week I will do the same, however I will change the workouts slightly making them a little harder and more pressurizing week by week. The body will take time to adapt to the changes therefore the changes made will have to be gradual. If the changes are too much (e.g. One week I run 100m the next I run 1000m) then my body will not be able to progress and the new task will be a burden. However, changes will have to be made otherwise the body will get suited to a task and complete it easily and will therefore not progress further. This is plateauing and can be prevented from continuous gradual changes in the workouts.
Overload: In order to successfully gain fitness and improve the aspects listed above, I will need to overload the body by making it work harder than usual. However I will not overload it too much as this can be dangerous as this can lead to injuries. Reversibility: I will plan a workout for every day of each of the 6 weeks so as to not let my body weaken and get tired to easily due to time off from regular training.
Tedium: I will plan out workouts that are not too long so as to overload the body with too much exercise that can lead to injuries. Also even if injuries are not sustained, the length of each training session should be of a suitable length so as not to be tedious and/or boring. This is because tiredness and boredom can lead to less effort being put into the training session therefore getting a bad result. Therefore a time length for an average training session would be around 20 minutes.
F.I.T.T.: Frequency: A training session will be taking everyday of length of about 20 minutes making 140 minuets (2 hours 20 minutes) a week and 840 minutes (14 hours) for the whole 6 week period. Intensity: I will plan out the workout sessions to be challenging for myself and will progress the difficulty level as the weeks progress (each week the task will get more pressurizing and difficult). However I will build up the exercises gradually as to not overload myself with too much to do as this can be tedious and dangerous. Time: Each workout training session will be about 20 minutes long depending on the exercise being carried out. Type: There will be seven different types of training sessions which will be carried out over a week, therefore one session a day covering all 7 in a week. The next week will have the same workouts but with more intensity and so on for the next week etc.