(I) SKIPPING: With a rope, do basic skips, with no jumps in between. (2) PUSH-UPS: Start in the front-support position with my hands and toes on the floor and trunk, hips, and legs extended. I bend my arms and lower my chest to the floor. Then I push my body upward as I straighten my arms, returning to the front-support position. I will repeat this action rhythmically and continuously without stopping.
(3) SCISSOR STEP-UPS: For this I use a step or bench which is approximately mid-shin to knee height. I put my left foot on the step, with my right foot on the floor and arms by my side. Then push down with my left leg and drive my body upward rapidly, switching support (hopping) from left foot to right foot as my body reaches its maximal vertical height. With the right foot supporting my body, I lower the left foot to the floor rapidly but under control. I will repeat this action continuously, back and forth from foot to foot, without pausing at the top or bottom positions.
(4) ABDOMINAL SIT-BACKS: For this exercise I use a step, bench, or chair which does not have a vertical, support for your back. I sit with legs bent and arms extended in front of me, and then recline my trunk backward at the hips by about 45 degrees. That’s the starting point for the exercise. To do the sit-backs, I raise both arms simultaneously overhead while maintaining tight abdominal muscles and a straight chest. Then I return my arms to the extended position in front of me, without moving my trunk or legs. I repeat this back-and-forth arm action in a smooth, continuous fashion without pausing at any point during the movement.
(5) HIP RAISES: Lie flat on back with feet up on a step or chair about 18 inches off the floor. Keeping my head and feet in the same position I raise my hips up off the floor to a height of about 9-12 inches in a controlled fashion before lowering back to the ground. I repeat this in a continuous movement. (6) TRICEP DIPS: I sit on the edge of a bench/chair. Knees bent at 90. Hands outside hips, facing forward placed on bench. I move backside forwards, off bench/chair and keeping upper body relaxed and backside close to bench/chair I bend my elbows to 90 (elbows pointing backwards). Return to start. I avoid locking the elbows. I repeat in a continuous fashion.
(7) LUNGES: I Stand straight with arms at my sides and my feet hip-distance apart. I maintain an upright posture, with shoulders back, chest lifted, abdominals pulled in and gluteal muscles tight. I take a long step forward with your left leg, landing first on my heel. My right knee is slightly bent and right heel lifted off the floor. I lower my hips straight down until both my left and right legs form 90-degree angles. My left knee should be above the left foot, without going past my toes. My right knee should be level with the top of my right ankle. I push my hips up using my front leg to return to the starting position. I maintain a smooth rhythm in both the lowering and powering-up phases.
(8) LOW-BACK STABILISERS: For this exercise, I need a bench. I lie face down with my body extended and hips at the edge of the supporting surface of the bench. My arms are extended straight down toward the floor in front of me. For added stability, it helps if my feet are wedged between the end of the bench and a wall. I raise both arms over my head simultaneously while maintaining trunk in full extension (My body should be horizontal to the floor and held straight), and then I return both arms to the starting position. I repeat this action over smoothly.
Specificity: These exercises are all specific to the muscle groups I want to train. By using specificity I know that I am training the muscles needed for gymnastics. This will improve my strength, flexibility, power, muscular endurance, leg strength (for certain exercises) and abdominal strength (certain exercises). Suitability: My training programme is suitable for me. This is because it is not so strenuous so to cause injury, but is of a level so that I will gradually build up more endurance, strength, power, speed, abdominal strength, leg strength, co-ordination and flexibility. I will build up slowly, starting off with a small number of repetitions and gradually doing more.
Overload: The principle of overload states that a greater than normal stress or load on the body is required for training adaptation to take place. The body will adapt to this stimulus. Once the body has adapted then a different stimulus is required to continue the change. In order for a muscle (including the heart) to increase strength, it must be gradually stressed by working against a load greater than it is used to. To increase endurance, muscles must work for a longer period of time than they are used to. If this stress is removed or decreased there will be a decrease in that particular component of fitness. A normal amount of exercise will maintain the current fitness level. I am not increasing frequency, as I do not have the time in the week for more training sessions. I will also not increase intensity during my circuit. I will increase the amount of repetitions of each circuit exercise without rest.
Although I will be increasing the amount of repetitions without rest, I will still keep the amount of repetitions for all the exercises the same. For example, when I increase the tricep dips from 20 to 25, I will do the same with the lunges. This will make it easier to record and will also mean that all the muscle groups are getting a fair amount of specific training. On top of my warm up, circuit and cool down, I will also do some speed training not incorporated into my circuit.
This will be just 10 minutes. This is because that works out to be about the same amount of time I am spending on the other components of fitness. I am doing a longer session of stretching, therefore am spending more time on flexibility than the other components. This is because I feel that not only it prevents injury but also that gymnastics is built around flexibility. I feel it is one of the most important components in gymnastics. I will spend an extra 15 minutes on flexibility on top of the stretching in the warm up and cool down, meaning I am spending about 30 minutes in total on flexibility.
Energy systems: Whilst doing gymnastics I will be using both my aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. In the body, food energy is used to manufacture adenosine triphosphate (ATP) the chemical compound that supplies energy for muscular contraction. Since ATP is in very low concentrations in the muscle, and since it decreases only to a minor extent, even in the most intense voluntary contraction, tightly controlled energy pathways exist for the continual regeneration of ATP as muscular contraction continues. For continuous exercise, ATP must be recreated at the same rate as it is developed. Aerobic means ‘with oxygen’. During aerobic work the body is working at a level that the demands for oxygen and fuel can be meet by the body’s intake. The only waste products formed are carbon dioxide and water. These are removed as sweat and by breathing out.