Question:

Assessment task 2: Design, implement and evaluate a periodised
training program.
Principles of training, strength and conditioning and exercise
prescription and nutrition.
Learning Outcome:
This task reflects unit learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4 (content includes principles of training, strength and conditioning, exercise prescription and nutrition).
1. Develop a basic understanding of key areas of sports science including but not limited to exercise physiology, biomechanics, performance analysis, and
sports psychology, principles of training, nutrition, strength and conditioning
and skill acquisition.
2. Develop a basic understanding of the approaches used in each of the key
areas.
3. Demonstrate problem solving and research skills for sports science.
4. Apply problem identification, formulation and solution in sports science.
Introduction:
Sport science examines ways we can improve our physical skills to improve
performance in sport. Some of the key areas in exercise prescription include strength
and conditioning, exercise physiology, aerobic and anaerobic fitness and periodisation
of training programs.
In this task you will undertake pre-exercise screening, pre health screening, prepare
and conduct fitness tests. You will need to determine appropriate testing according to
the goals of your training program and conduct these tests before and after your
training program.
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You will be required to design, implement and evaluate a periodised training program
for an individual to train for a sport.
Task Requirements
You are required to work with a partner for this assignment. Your task is to design,
implement and evaluate a periodised training program for your partner (client).
You need to complete the following:
1. Determine the appropriate testing for your client i.e. measuring endurance
exercise, body composition, flexibility, aerobic and anaerobic power and capacity
and strength (chapter 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39 and 40-43 of Reaburn, 2011).
What measurements are necessary for your client? E.g. would a weightlifter
complete a beep-test? Can you make up and justify one of your own that
matches your client’s sport?
2. Implement the tests that you have determined as appropriate on your client.
Record all your measurements.
3. Design a periodised training program (12 months) for your client. This needs to
include macrocycles.
Aim to include testing and tapering blocks within your periodisation
4. Implement a 3-week microcycle exercise and 1-week nutrition plan within your
mesocycle block e.g. nutrition plan for week 2 of your microcycle
Please justify as to what you would change if you had to pick another week in
regards to nutrition e.g. would carbohydrate intake change?
Review Nutrition Notes from Week 8
5. After the 6-week period re-do tests you completed at the start of theprogram.
Record all your measurements.
Where would you re-test your client? When is it necessary?
6. Analyse and evaluate your results.
Produce an 800 word report that includes.
• Title
• Introduction – brief description of the athlete/team, the problem andaims
• Assessment – pre and post testing – with results
• Intervention – periodised training program (annual plan including the 3
week microcycle) and 1 week nutrition plan.
• Discussion – analysis and evaluation of your results.
Due date: Week 11 Friday 31st August at 5pm
©Copyright: 2016 Swinburne University of Technology
CRICOS: 0011D TOID: 3059
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Reference
Reaburn, P, Dascombe, B, Reeed, R, Jones, A, Weyers, J, 2011, Practical Skills in
Sport and Exercise Science, Pearson, United Kingdom.

Answers:

Introduction

Sports science evaluates multiple ways of improving a person’s physical skills to promote their performance in sports. Some of the key areas in the sport exercise program include the strength and conditioning exercises, aerobic and anaerobic training and periodization of training programs. The chosen subject for the assessment is a tennis athlete. Although a tennis player is entailed to do thousands of movements during a tennis match, a few certain movements most commonly take place.

Movements: There are several different kinds of step movements associated with the sport. These include split step, jab step, pivot step and jab step. Running around the court is also a prerequisite to reach every serve of the opponent (Haff 2016). The service, return, volley or ground strokes require tremendous strength and effort.

Body: During a tennis match the body of an athlete goes through several movements such as leg drive, trunk rotations, elevation and flexion of the upper arm, extension of the forearm, internal rotation of the upper arm and hand flexion for racket orientation (Reid et al. 2013).

Kinetics: There are fundamentally two segment coordination strategies used in playing tennis which include Power stroke and the Precision stroke. Power stroke is used for service and groundstrokes and precision stroke is used during the volley at the net. In power strokes, a number of body segments are required to be coordinated in a way that generates a high and effective racquet speed at impact (Reaburn et al. 2011). On the other hand, the precision stroke requires the body segments to work as a unit and even lessens the number of segments being used. Although the drive volley challenges this principle.

Assessment

Physical fitness is essential for any person, especially for the ones who participate in sports. For athletes, fitness is crucial to achieve success in sports. The tests required for a tennis athlete include several endurance tests, strength tests and power tests. These tests help plan a training program for the athlete that would be the most effective for them. Tennis demands intense bouts of activities which can be followed by periods of rest. Training the athlete’s body the way they utilize it on the court helps them give their peak performance on the court and keeps fatigue away as long as possible. Pre and Post tests were used to measure different sections of fitness which include cognition, energy pathways, flexibility and strength and muscle endurance. The energy pathways used the aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Aerobic exercises included a timed 1.5 mile run test, whereas anaerobic exercises included 20 yard dash test, spider run and sideways shuffle to improve speed and agility. For flexibility improvement, sit and reach test was performed (Kenney, Wilmore and Costill 2015). Speed endurance training helps the athletes prepare their muscles and cardiovascular system (CVS) to face the challenges of the fiercest opponent. It is recommended that the athletes use a heart rate monitor and work 65-85% of their maximal heart rate. The endurance programs were split into three sections which included strength, balance and muscular endurance. To gain more strength, sit-up and push-up exercises were performed. For maintaining balance, one-leg stability tests were performed. This involved a single leg squat on alternate legs. Every time the subject lost his balance it was noted.

After completion of the pre-tests, the subject went through a tennis-specific post-test to evaluate their fitness gains. During this time, several exercises were performed which includes interior and exterior rotation, triceps kickback, bicep curl, bench press, leg press, seated cable row and lat pull down. Each of these exercises were performed in a repetition to set ratio of 15/2. Several lift exercises have also been performed which included dumbbell fly, dumbbell press or inclined press, calf raises, squats and military press on the balance ball. The last session of post-tests included lunges, dips, pull ups, push-ups and bench step ups (Murphy et al. 2014). All the speed endurance training entails high intensity work-outs and thereby, there must be 30 seconds to four minutes interval between each tests. This helps to improve the athlete’s oxidative capacity. All these tests help to provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervening programs and thereby enables the coaches and other staffs to monitor the progress of the athlete. Therefore, these tests are required to be conducted on a regular basis.

Intervention

Even though the concept of periodisation is relatively new in the field of tennis, its origin dates back to the Olympic games of the Ancient era. In recent days, periodization is considered as a process of structuring the framework of the training program that maximizes the athlete’s potential ability and help them to achieve their competitive goals through a peak performance. The periodization consists of 3 cycles: microcycle, mesocycle and macrocycle. Periodisation in tennis is more complicated than any other sport, since it does not really have any off-season which poses a major impact on the type and quality of training practice for the athlete (Haff and Triplett 2015). There are several different phases in the annual periodization plan.

Fig. 1. Annual Periodisation Plan

The microcycle is the shortest training cycle. For the subject, the microcycle would last for 3 weeks during the entire periodization. The microcycle helps facilitate the goal of achieving physical endurance. This included endurance block training where the subject stringed three to four long rides together within that time to progressively increase the training level. The subject was exposed to two to three days of extensive work outs, followed by an equal days of recovery time (Behm et al. 2017). The goal of intense work-out sessions of the microcycle is to improve the physiological abilities of the athlete including their lactate threshold and aerobic capacity.

A better understanding of the cycles of periodization plan helps to achieve the maximum result out of the training program. These cycles are used to create the plan for the [peak performance of the athlete throughout the year.

Nutrition plan:

The player must consume a balanced diet that will include the right amount of carbohydrate, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals and essentially the correct amount of fluid. A healthy diet for the subject will include:

Carrots: this will help to increase their eyesight that is essential during a match.

Zinc: foods high in zinc such as oysters, pumpkin seeds, whole grains, sunflower seeds, animal proteins, beans and nuts, help with the hand-eye coordination of the athletes

Vitamin C: this aids muscle repair and are found in high amounts in citrus fruits and peppers

Vitamin A: Cod liver oil is a great source for this vitamin which aids formation of white blood cells and increases immunity of the athletes.

Choline: eggs, potatoes, tomatoes are high in choline that helps neurotransmitter secretion and aids reaction of the players during matches.

Banana: eating bananas during matches or training helps to keep the blood sugar level of the athletes in the normal range.

Apart from these, the players must strictly avoid protein shakes or caffeinated drinks before the matches. Athletes are required to eat healthy foods since exercise cannot neutralize the effects unhealthy foods have on the body (Fernandez-Fernandez et al. 2015). In order to achieve their highest efficiency, the athletes must provide the body with the correct fuel.

Discussion

The success of the periodised program is depended on the training principles which include:

Planning: The annual plan of periodization must be methodological and based on scientific knowledge, to help the players achieve the highest level of training and further achievement of their goals (Comfort and Turner 2017).

Volume: This describes the duration of each of the training being done. This also depends on the quality of training that is being implemented.

Intensity: This includes the hardships of the training procedure and is evaluated through a quality vs. quantity aspect.

Frequency: This details the frequency of training and considers the time of training with the time of recovery.

Specificity: this indicates to the similarity of training to the actual demands of the tennis matches.

Variation: Different methods must be applied in the training to add some enjoyment to the training programs.

The entire process of periodization divided into small phases of training, allows the program to be set into more manageable segments to ensure the achievements for the athletes (Vescovi 2017). High level of performance depends on the athlete’s power of adaptation, transition, their preparation and competitiveness. Thus the periodization planning enhances the ability of the players and thus helps to conduct the training program in a systematic manner.

References

Behm, D.G., Young, J.D., Whitten, J.H., Reid, J.C., Quigley, P.J., Low, J., Li, Y., Lima, C.D., Hodgson, D.D., Chaouachi, A. and Prieske, O., 2017. Effectiveness of traditional strength vs. power training on muscle strength, power and speed with youth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in physiology, 8, p.423.

Comfort, P. and Turner, A., 2017. Periodisation. In Advanced Strength and Conditioning (pp. 116-136). Routledge.

Fernandez-Fernandez, J., Sanz-Rivas, D., Sarabia, J.M. and Moya, M., 2015. Preseason training: the effects of a 17-day high-intensity shock microcycle in elite tennis players. Journal of sports science & medicine, 14(4), p.783.

Haff, G.G. and Triplett, N.T. eds., 2015. Essentials of strength training and conditioning 4th edition. Human kinetics.

Haff, G.G., 2016. 17 The essentials of periodisation. Strength and Conditioning for Sports Performance, p.404.

Kenney, W.L., Wilmore, J. and Costill, D., 2015. Physiology of sport and exercise 6th edition. Human kinetics.

Murphy, A.P., Duffield, R., Kellett, A. and Reid, M., 2014. Comparison of athlete–coach perceptions of internal and external load markers for elite junior tennis training. International journal of sports physiology and performance, 9(5), pp.751-756.

Reaburn, P., Reed, R., Dascombe, B.J., Jones, A. and Weyers, J.D., 2011. Practical skills in sports and exercise science.

Reid, M.M., Duffield, R., Minett, G.M., Sibte, N., Murphy, A.P. and Baker, J., 2013. Physiological, perceptual, and technical responses to on-court tennis training on hard and clay courts. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27(6), pp.1487-1495.

Vescovi, J.D., 2017. Acute: chronic training loads in tennis: which metrics should we monitor?.