fitness

STAGES OF A TRAINING SESSION

1. Warm-up

• Whole body exercise to raise heart rate and body temperature. (first)
• Stretching to prepare muscles, ligaments and joints. (second)
• Practising skills and techniques to be used in the session. (we hardly do)

2. Main activity - this could be: (what we are going to work during our session).

• Fitness training – I have been improving our endurance this term.
• Skill development - drills or team practices. (when we are learning a new sport)
• Modified or Conditioned Games.

3. Warm down (sometimes called cool down)

• Light exercise to help remove carbon dioxide, lactic acid and other waste products.
• Gentle stretching to prevent muscle soreness (dolor muscular) and stiffness (agarrotamiento) later.

ENDURANCE WORK COULD BE;

• In aerobic exercise, which is not too fast, the heart is able to supply enough oxygen to the muscles. Aerobic training improves cardiovascular fitness.
• Anaerobic exercise is performed in short, fast where the heart cannot supply enough oxygen to the muscles.

Specific training methods can be used to improve each fitness factor:

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ENDURANCE TRAINING

1. Continuous systems;

·         Continuous jogging: run at a constant pace , when you can breathe comfortably. Your heart rate should not exceed 150 bpm

·         Fartlek training or 'speed play' training involves varying your speed and the type of terrain over which you run, walk, or cycle. It improves aerobic and anaerobic fitness. the heart rate is between 140 and 180 bpm.

·         total training: combing continuous jogging and Farlek with a variety of different exercises interspersed with them.

2. Mixed training systems:

·         Circuit training involves performing a series of exercises in a special order called a circuit. Each activity takes place at a 'station'. It can be designed to improve speed, agility, coordination, balance and muscular endurance. Usually they are short intervals with smaller breaks..

·         Interval training involves alternating between periods of hard exercise (running very fast) and rest During the rest you are active, you don´t stop completely. It improves speed and muscular endurance. Your heart rate can reach 180 bpm and during the break should drop to 120-140bpm

General methods of training can be applied to specific sports. For example, continuous training might involve swimming, cycling, rowing, aerobics or running.

CALCULATING TARGET ZONES AND THRESHOLDS OF TRAINING

To train effectively you must know:

• Your current level of fitness
• The amount of aerobic training you need for your sport
• The amount of anaerobic training you need for your sport

For example, sprinters use mainly anaerobic training and marathon runners use mainly aerobic training.

You can use your maximum heart rate (MHR) to calculate how hard you should work your heart to develop either aerobic or anaerobic fitness.

To calculate MHR:

• 220 - age = MHR

Improve aerobic fitness by working at 60-80% of MHR

Aerobic fitness is another way of describing cardiovascular fitness. You can improve aerobic fitness by working in your aerobic target zone. This is found between 60-80% of your MHR.

You can improve your anaerobic fitness, which includes strength, power and muscular endurance, by working in your anaerobic target zone. This is found between 80-100% of your MHR.

When working anaerobically you create an oxygen debt and can only keep going for a short time. Oxygen debt is the amount of oxygen consumed during recovery above that which would normally be consumed during rest. This results from a shortfall of available oxygen during exercise.

You can monitor (with the heart rate monitor that we have already used) your fitness levels by recording your recovery rate after exercise. The recovery rate is the time it takes for the pulse rate to return to normal after exercise.

Remember that percentages of MHR are approximate and personal levels of activity and fitness will cause differences in the thresholds.