Although the cool down may not be considered vital it is just as important as the warm up and should last for around 20-30 minutes. In my PEP I will not work on any skill related fitness. However if my PEP were to be used by a goalkeeper I may include an exercise which involves him making 10 diving saves in a row, this would improve his flexibility as he would have to stretch for the ball. I will describe my warm up and cool down now so I do not have to repeat it for every training session. Both sessions should last between 20-30 minutes in order for them to do their job fully.
Warm up 1. Begin with a short jog between 400-800 metres, this will increase your heart rate and loosen your muscles. 2. Run 50 metres at a steady pace lifting your knees up then another 50 metres when you flick your legs towards your back when running. This will help loosen your leg muscles. 3. Stretch all of your important muscles for 8-10 seconds, beginning from the top working your way down. This will make them more flexible for your exercises. Cool down 1. Begin with a short jog between 400-800 metres, this will help loosen the muscles and prevent them becoming stiff. 2.
Stretch all your important muscles for 6-8 seconds beginning from the top working your way down. This will also help loosen the tight muscles and avoid stiffness after exercise. As one of the 5 factors of fitness that I will be aiming to improve is flexibility, I will make a special programme for it. However rather than writing it in each session I will devise it now as I have done for the warm up and cool down. My flexibility programme is aimed at improving the flexibility of my muscles as it is very useful for many sports. There are two types of stretching, they are active stretching and passive stretching.
Active stretching is when you do the work whilst passive stretching is when a partner stretches you when you are relaxed. I will include both of these types in my flexibility programme. The programme will last 10-15 minutes. By stretching, I am making the connective tissue of muscles more flexible allowing me to move more freely at my joints. Here is my programme: 1. Stretch your muscles in the top half of your body, for example. Biceps, triceps, abdominal muscles and trapezius. Do these stretches on your own. 2. Stretch your muscles in your lower body, for example your quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius.
3. Begin passive stretching with a partner, you should relax and let your partner do the work. Stretches that should be included are back against the wall with arms pointing towards the sky and your partner holding your legs at a 45 degree angle. Another stretch includes you sitting on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you whilst your partner holds your hands up straight and makes sure you keep your back straight by placing their shin on your back in a parallel line. 4. The active stretches should be held for around 15-20 seconds whilst the passive stretches should be held for 30-35 seconds.
5. Repeat this routine so you have completed each stretch twice. Now when I write my instructions for each session if the flexibility programme is to be included I can just write follow description as I can for the warm up and cool down. Thinking back to six weeks ago before I began my PEP I was not as strong at these particular factors as I am now. The training regime has definitely improved my overall fitness. However it has also made me feel more tired and if I were to create another exercise plan, I may not pack as many exercises into each session or I may reduce the amount of sessions to two per week.
I have used a variety of different exercises and training routines in an attempt to avoid tedium. I feel that this has definitely helped me as by the end of 6 weeks I was not getting bored of any work out. However I think I could improve the warm up, cool down and flexibility programme by adding new sections to them. Especially the warm up and cool down as I had to do them in every session. If I were to create another PEP, I may attempt to include some exercises aimed at improving skill related fitness. For example if I was designing one for a football player I could have some shooting or heading practice.
This would also decrease the risk of tedium as being a footballer they will probably want a football included somewhere in the exercise plan. I feel that the section that gave me the best results was muscular strength. From completing the bike rides, swims and runs I have definitely improved the endurance in my muscles. I am now able to play at a higher maximum heart rate for a longer space of time. This gives me an advantage on the football pitch as I will still feel fresh when other players are beginning to tire.
The three particular exercises that I did to improve my muscular endurance are easy to take part in anywhere and not much special equipment is needed which is also useful. Even if I do not continue with my PEP I may be inclined to go for 2 or 3 runs every week to keep my muscular endurance at a high level and avoid the effects of reversibility. Overall I think that my personal exercise plan was a great success as not only have I improved my fitness but it can be used by other sportsmen, especially footballers if they want to improve their fitness.