Flexibility – Basics keys

Flexibility

the ability to move body joints through a full range of motion

Elements involved in flexibility

Join

a point at which 2 bones meet

 

Ligaments

a strong, fibrous tissue which attaches bones together

 

Muscle

the meaty tissue surrounding bones.

Tendon

the soft tissues that connect muscles to bones

Types of stretching

Static Stretching

slowly moving a muscle and holding the position for 15 seconds

 

Dynamic Stretching

stretching done in a slow and controlled manner

 

Ballistic Stretching

stretching that involves jerky movements

 

Isostatic Stretching

Form of stretching in which a partner pushes the body beyond the initial limit

Considerations

What limits flexibility?

- ligaments

- muscle

- tendon

Why is flexibility important?

•   helps relieve muscle soreness
• helps reduce chance of developing back pain
• helps relax muscle tightness from injury, fatigue, and emotional tension
• increases capacity of joint movement
• prevents muscles from shortening
• reduces chance of injury
• needed in daily living

 F.I.T.T. (flexibility)

• F - Frequency (2-3 days per week)
• I - Intensity (stretch to the point of mild discomfort, not pain)
• T - Time (Static: hold for 15-30 seconds,Dynamic repeat 10-20 times
• T - Type (static, dynamic)
  

 Safety Precautions for Flexibility

•  unsafe flexibility exercises
• avoid ballistic stretching
• don't use a partner to stretch
• start at your appropriate level and progress slowly
• stretch according to your needs and likes
• combine cardiovascular, muscular strength and endurance to prevent imbalance.

Zonas de entrenamiento

La manera más sencilla de tener una referencia de la intensidad que llevas durante la carrera es por medio de tu frecuencia cardiaca, que nos permitirá programar una serie de zonas de referencia, en estas zonas hablaremos de porcentajes de la frecuencia cardiaca máxima. Si estas iniciándote en la práctica de la carrera puedes seguir estas formulas estandarizadas:

F. C. Máxima en hombres = 220 - la edad
Ejemplo: la frecuencia cardiaca máxima de un hombre de 40 años de edad es 220 - 40 =180

Estudios han demostrado que al paso del tiempo el hombre pierde más capacidad aeróbica que las mujer por tal motivo la formula varia entre hombres y mujeres.

F. C. Máxima en mujeres = 226 - la edad
Ejemplo: La frecuencia cardiaca máxima de una mujer de 40 años de edad es 226 - 40 = 186

De cualquier manera para empezar a correr o si nunca has hecho deporte de manera constante y progresiva los parámetros anteriormente mencionados te serán de gran utilidad para evaluarte conforme continuas con tu entrenamiento.

Intensidad mínima

Hasta un 60% de la F. C. Máx.
Es lo mínimo que podemos hacer para encontrar algún beneficio cardiovascular, al caminar solemos movernos en esta frecuencia cardiaca.

Intensidad baja

Del 60 al 70% de la F. C. Máx.
En esta zona se realiza gran parte del entrenamiento de la carrera para principiantes e incluso de los atletas de elite.

Intensidad media

Del 70 al 80% de la F. C. Máx.
Es la zona de la frecuencia cardiaca en la que te puedes mantener por mas tiempo, también la zona que te marcara el ritmo para correr carreras de larga distancia como un maratón o un medio maratón, es en esta zona donde los corredores encontramos nuestro umbral aeróbico.

Intensidad alta

Del 80 al 90% de F. C. Máx.
Es una zona de F. C. en la que se exige mucho de la capacidad de cada individuo y regularmente se llega a ella en entrenamientos específicos como lo son las repeticiones o las sesiones de fartlek.

Intensidad máxima

Del 90 al 100% de F. C. Máx.
Es la zona en que se entrenan en ocasiones los deportistas de elite que practican pruebas de fondo y medio fondo no es recomendable tratar de alcanzar estos niveles de frecuencia cardiaca, es mejor buscar la asesoria de un entrenador con experiencia en alto rendimiento.

Your Heart & Circulatory System

This article is an extract from Kids Heatlh site.

Your heart is really a muscle. It's located a little to the left of the middle of your chest, and it's about the size of your fist. There are lots of muscles all over your body — in your arms, in your legs, in your back, even in your feet or hands.


Did you give your friends valentines and little heart-shaped candies on Valentine's Day? Do you ever cross your heart when making a promise that you really, really mean? Or turn on the radio to hear a guy singing about his broken heart?

We see and hear about hearts everywhere. A long time ago, people even thought that their emotions came from their hearts, maybe because the heart beats faster when a person is scared or excited. Now we know that emotions come from the brain, and in this case, the brain tells the heart to speed up. So what's the heart up to, then? How does it keep busy? What does it look like? Let's find out.

Working That Muscle

But the heart muscle is special because of what it does. The heart sends blood around your body. The blood provides your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. It also carries away waste.
Your heart is sort of like a pump, or two pumps in one. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart does the exact opposite: It receives blood from the lungs and pumps it out to the body.

We Got the Beat

How does the heart beat? Before each beat, your heart fills with blood. Then its muscle contracts to squirt the blood along. When the heart contracts, it squeezes — try squeezing your hand into a fist. That's sort of like what your heart does so it can squirt out the blood. Your heart does this all day and all night, all the time. The heart is one hard worker!

A small animated clip about the heart.

Principles and methods of training

Getting the best out of your training requires a little planning. The best training programmes are built on principles of specificity, overload, progression and reversibility.

You can also use the FITT acronym to help remember the key things to consider when tailoring programmes for individual sporting goals. It stands for; Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type. Calculating the target zone also helps assess how much aerobic or anaerobic training you need to do to improve fitness. Just don’t forget to warm down!

Principles of training

By using the principles of training as a framework we can plan a personal training programme that uses scientific principles to improve performance, skill, game ability and physical fitness.

Training should be matched to an individual's needs.


A successful training programme will meet individual needs which are personal fitness needs based on age, gender, fitness level and the sport for which we are training. A successful training programme will also include exercise in the correct heart-rate target zone.

The key principles when planning a programme are:

• Specificity – training must be matched to the needs of the sporting activity to improve fitness in the body parts the sport uses.
• Overload - fitness can only be improved by training more than you normally do. You must work hard
• Progression – start slowly and gradually increase the amount of exercise and keep overloading.
• Reversibility – any adaptation that takes place as a result of training will be reversed when you stop training. If you take a break or don’t train often enough you will lose fitness.

In planning a programme, use the FITT principles to add the detail:

• Frequency - decide how often to train.
• Intensity - choose how hard to train.
• Time - decide for how long to train.
• Type - decide which methods of training to use.

You should also consider the principle of moderation. It is important to have rest periods which allow the body to adapt. Too much training (overtraining) can lead to injury.

Methods of training

Training can be aerobic or anaerobic.

• In aerobic exercise, which is steady and 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 bursts where the heart cannot supply enough oxygen to the muscles. Anaerobic training improves the ability of the muscles to work without enough oxygen when lactic acid is produced.

Aerobic training improves cardiovascular fitness. Weight training improves muscular strength, endurance and power.

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

• 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.
• Continuous training involves working for a sustained period of time without rest. It improves cardio-vascular fitness.
• Cross training involves using another sport or activity to improve your fitness. It happens when an athlete trains in a different environment. For example a volleyball player uses the power training for that sport to help with fitness for long jump.
• Fartlek training or 'speed play' training involves varying your speed and the type of terrain over which you run, walk, cycle or ski. It improves aerobic and anaerobic fitness.
• Interval training involves alternating between periods of hard exercise and rest. It improves speed and muscular endurance.
• Weight training uses weights to provide resistance to the muscles. It improves muscular strength (high weight, low reps), muscular endurance (low weight, high reps, many sets) and power (medium weight and reps performed quickly).
• Altitude training (AQA only) is aerobic training high above sea level, where oxygen levels are lower. It is used to increase aerobic fitness quickly.

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

Ficha de estiramientos

Aquí os dejo una ficha con numerosos estiramientos que podéis incluir en los calentamientos de las sesiones de Educación Física.

Endurance in sport

There are two kinds of endurance:

Muscular

• Your muscles can continue to exert a lot of force for a long period
• The feeling of heavyness and weakness means your muscles are fatiguing
• Athletes with high muscular endurance have higher proportions of slow twitch muscle fibres
• Muscular endurance can be increased through weight trainin

Cardiovascular

• Your heart and lungs can keep your muscles supplied with Oxygen throughout exercise
• The harder your muscles work the more oxygen they need, so the heart and breathing rates rise
• The better your CV system is, the slower your heart rate is because you pump more blood with each beat
• You can improve your CV endurance through aerobic training
• The graph below will help you work out what heart rate you should train at to get the best results

The aerobic zone is where you should be working if you are looking to improve your CV endurance. You can work out your maximum predicted heart rate by taking your age away from 220 (220 - your age).

Aerobic vs Anaerobic

Respiration is the way in which energy is released from the food we eat. Respiration can be either aerobic or anaerobic:

Aerobic

• Means with Oxygen
• Your heart and lungs supply enough Oxygen to the muscles to maintain the level of exercise
• This equation explains the process of respiration:

Glucose + Oxygen = Carbon dioxide + Water + Energy

• The Carbon dioxide and water are breathed out. Water is also lost through sweat
• As long as you get enough Oxygen to the muscles, this can continue for long periods

Anaerobic

• Means without Oxygen
• Your heart and lungs do not supply enough Oxygen to the muscles to maintain exercise
• This is the equation:

Glucose = Lactic acid + Energy

• Lactic acid builds up in the muscles because there isn't enough Oxygen
• Lactic acid makes your muscles feel very tired and heavy
• Soon enough you have to slow down or stop altogether

Does Stretching/Warming Up Actually Help?

We were wathcing last week this video about warming up.

Remember, you can enable subs using the button below (it only works in YouTube site, sorry!) and also, access to the transcription from the YouTube menu. In order to read the text spoken in the video we are going to work with it.