1) Purpose/aim of the programme in relation to prior fitness, performance levels and any injuries/ health problems. I think I have a good fitness level and do several activities to maintain my level of fitness. I play two hours of sport a week at school. And this sport varies depending on the type of activity we are doing at school. Lately we have been going hockey and rounders. I play sports because they keep my heart and lungs fit and active and the continual playing of sports increases my endurance. I also play squash once a week with my Dad at the local sports centre which increases my flexibility, reactions and aerobic fitness, Health is also about social well-being and I feel happy with the social circle I am within, and also have a close group of friends and I am always included. I feel happy and content most of the time and have a happy and enjoyable time at school.
I attend school all the time and rarely have a day off. I have had no major illnesses or injuries. As extra activities to keep healthy I walk my dogs around the local park for about 30-45 minutes, I walk to and from school with my friends each day and I work from 12:00-5:00 on Saturdays and some nights in the week after school until 5:00. These activities are not exceedingly challenging but help to keep my general fitness good.
I hope to soon start to go jogging after school for about 20 minutes after I have moved house, as the area I am moving to has a short circuit suitable for jogging around. I hope to jog this circuit at least 3 times a week and record the time it takes me to jog the circuit and to see how well I can improve. I hope to do this to improve my stamina and endurance and help to keep my heart pumping sufficient levels of oxygen to my muscles to keep my going throughout the jog.
To test my maximum oxygen consumption I will take the bleep test to see how well my heart performs. The bleep test comprises of continual 20 metre shuttle runs. These are timed with decreasing intervals between each run. If you miss 3 consecutive bleeps in a row you are out. When you have finished, the level and number of shuttles completed are noted and your Maximum Oxygen Consumption is calculated. The higher your M.O.C. is, the fitter you are. In a recent bleep test I gained 5.2 which is less than brilliant and I am keen to improve upon this.
My resting heart rate is 80 beats per minute. I tested this at the radial artery, which can be found in the wrist, but could also have been take from the carotid artery which can be found in the neck. The lower the resting heart rate is the fitter you are. This is because the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to keep pumping oxygen around your body to your muscles just to keep you at a resting level of activity. The quicker your recovery rate, i.e. the time it takes your heart to return to normal pace after you have done an activity, the fitter you are.
The aspect of fitness I will need for hockey is cardiovascular endurance, speed, and flexibility. I will need speed as I will have to dribble with the ball away from my opponent in order to remain in possession of the ball, I will need cardiovascular endurance to keep my muscles working to give my the strength I need to play the game, and I will also need flexibility to dodge my opponents and turn my stick. 2) Awareness of safety aspects/equipment/apparatus, physical/physiological.We need to warm up for several reasons.
One is to prepare mentally for the exercise we are about to do and to get our minds in the correct state to carry out the necessary physical exercises. The other is to warm up physically, to stretch the muscles so they are not all tensed up when we go to do physical activity. This makes our bodies a lot more flexible and a lot more prepared for a game situation. It is necessary to warm up the different muscle groups. For example, warming up your biceps and triceps by reaching for your toes and also warming up your hamstrings by doing squat thrusts to warm up your muscles. You should aim to warm up different muscles at different intervals, so as not to warm up your upper-body muscles all in one go whilst leaving out your lower-body muscles.
You should warm up your arms, then your legs, then your neck, then your ankles, then your shoulders and so on, so your are working on different areas of your body and different intervals. Another point to consider is that muscles have ‘memories’ so you need to familiarise each muscle with your warm up so it is able to perform to its fullest possible potential. The reasons for doing all these warm ups is to greatly decrease the risk of injury when playing sport and carrying out physical activity. Injuries that could occur if you do not warm up are pulling muscles and tendons. After a game of sport or any physical activity it is essential to warm down and not just stop being active altogether (i.e. after a long run, just stopping and sitting down) as this can be dangerous and cause damage to the muscles. Warming down prevents soreness and muscle fatigue by keeping the blood circulating and providing oxygen for the muscles after the activity to reduce the amount of lactic acid that can occur.
A warm down is essential for the maintenance of the muscles as it relives tightness. Looking after your muscles helps to keep them performing to a high standard next time you do physical activity or play sport. Safety aspects, in relation to environment and equipment, include checking the area you are about to do your activity in, i.e. if you’re are going to play hockey, check there is no dangerous items such as large stones or glass on the pitch and to also check the equipment you are going to use to do your activity, to make sure it is all safe and provides proper protection, for example if you going to play hockey, check your stick, ball and goal posts and all in good condition, and ware adequate protection, for the game such as shin pads and possibly a helmet.
3) Appropriateness of chosen exercises/training methods to improve fitness/skills. The reason I am doing a circuit is to improve my fitness levels and to enable me to work on all of my different muscle groups at different intervals, such as led muscles, followed my arm muscles. I will spend 5 minutes doing a warm up run, and then a further 40 seconds on each of my different stations, followed by a final warm down.
For my five minute run I will record how far I got around the track in five minutes, i.e. one and a half times rounds, two times round, etc. Then, for each of my 40 second stations, I will record haw many times I can complete the activity in 40 seconds, i.e. how many sit-ups I can do, and how many shuttle runs I can do. I will also have a 40 second resting period between each station so my muscles do not become over worked, reducing the level of my performance. Each week I will record my score and hopefully I will witness an improvement in my performance. Also, by varying the activities I do, i.e. skipping, sit-ups and bench ups I can work on each of my different muscles groups whilst doing the same circuit. As we are approaching the summer period I will be able to conduct my circuit training on the school field and also the tennis courts.