Aspects of training

1. Warm up

1.1. Why is it important

1.1.1. to prepare the body for the activity and increase blood flow, also allowing you to become psychologically prepared

1.1.2. To reduce chance of injury , warming up muscles as cold muscles are more prone to injury

1.2. What should it be designed to do?

1.2.1. A pulse raiser , e.g some sort of continuous movement

1.2.2. Raise body temperature

1.2.3. Light exercises , stretches / flexibility movements which prepare main muscle groups

2. fitness phase

2.1. This is where you concentrate on the aspect of fitness specifically identified, this would normally include physical endurance and the principle of overload

2.2. In circuit training it could include a variety of exercises

3. Skill or team play phase

3.1. If you are training for a team activity the skill phase is where you would link with the rest of the group

3.2. However you could also practise individually

4. Warm down

4.1. Rather than just stopping at the end of your session , you should end the session gradually doing light exercises and stretching to remove lactic acid and other waste materials so that you are not sore or stiff later

5. Key terms

5.1. lactic acid - a mild poison and waste product of anaerobic respiration

5.2. Training zone - the range of the heart rate within which a specific training effect will take place

5.3. Training threshold - the minimum heart rate to be achieved to ensure that fitness improves