Overall I enjoyed completing the training sessions and I am very pleased with the way that my fitness has improved during the course of the PEP. I feel that the weight training has increased my muscular strength and my overall cardiovascular fitness has also improved. I feel that weight training was the right method of training to do, as it was appropriate to my goals and fitness requirements. The intensity levels of my training programme was just right as the sessions made me work hard but I could still do them.
This shows that I managed to incorporate overload and progression in to my training programme. I now understand how to implement gradual changes to the intensity without risking injury or fatigue. I also have a better understanding for the need to include a good warm up and cool down before and after training. If I were to do another PEP I would probably use weight training again because this was the most relevant method of training to me. I feel that other methods of training would still help my fitness levels but would not be as beneficial to me as weight training.
The retest results show that I have improved in nearly all of the tests that I retested. None of the retest results were worse than my original results, this shows that my overall muscular strength has improved but I was also really motivated for the retests as I wanted to get really good results. The 1 rep max tests show that my upper body strength really improved quite considerably. The only test that was the same was the leg extension. The other lower body results also show that my lower body strength hasn’t improved as much as my upper body strength. This is my only disappointment from my training programme. Both of the jumps and the medicine ball throw results all improved slightly, these tests don’t show the improvement in my muscular strength as much as the 1 rep max tests do.
I found the entire programme very enjoyable. I think that it really helped my motivation levels, as I wanted to constantly strive for improvement. Also my levels of concentration have improved because I was getting tired so I had to really focus on the lifting techniques. I made sure the whole training programme was carried out safely. I always made sure that I used the correct techniques on the weight machines. I also made sure I never became dehydrated by always having a bottle of water near me.
I feel that I performed well during the sessions and that I always incorporated the principles of training in to my training sessions. The training was specific to my requirements and this shows in my retests and in my general fitness levels. I made sure that I include overload so the training was hard enough for progression to happen. I also trained regularly so that reversibility would not happen. To ensure this still doesn’t happen I will carry on doing training sessions using my training programme.
I found the evaluation of each individual session really useful as it allowed me to consider problems and plan changes for my next session. As I continue to do this training session I will also carry on evaluating my sessions in the same way so that I can keep progressing. I have also started to evaluate my performances in football matches that I play in a similar way and this will hopefully help my future performances.
To improve my training programme I could my motivation levels, this would really help my performances and this would help speed up my progression. I could also add in some more cardiovascular work, I could do some more running instead of just running in my warm up and cool down. As well as running I could do more cycling and/or rowing. These activities would help raise the fitness levels of my cardiovascular system, which in turn could help my weight training due to increased oxygen intake and supply to my muscles. When I do some more training sessions in the future I will incorporate these changes, using more cardiovascular training. Instead of using the treadmill just for the warm up and cool down I will do 10 minutes at a higher speed. I will also have two periods on the rowing machine and two periods on the cycling machine. These will be separated by the weights.