IV. METHODS OF TRAINING

 

Ex. 1. Scan the text. Decide under what conditions each method is the most effective.

 

Training can be aerobic or anaerobic.

Aerobic training improves cardiovascular fitness. 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.

Specific training methods can be used to improve each fitness factor. For example, weight training improves muscular strength, endurance and power.

· 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.

· Far track 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.

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!

 

Ex.2. Read a passage, taken from a book “Sport and Exercise Psychology. The Key Concepts” by Emilee Cashmore. Discuss the key concepts of coach – athlete relationships.

COACH–ATHLETE RELATIONSHIP

The word for a trainer or instructor is a figurative use of the noun popularly used to describe a vehicle used for transportation (the root of the word ‘‘coach’’ is Kocs a town in Hungary where they used to make wagons).

The coach or fitness trainer is responsible for transferring trainees, clients, or team members from one place to another destination, that being performance success, or some other defined. As such, the process of coaching in any field of endeavour involves leading, making decisions, managing (or controlling) change and communicating.

David Peterson and Jennifer Millier write of “ the alchemy of coaching ” which involves: strategies to get to the desired destination; MOTIVATION, engagement and guidance; team building by the empowerment and enablement of individuals; accountability; and the assessment of results.

Sophia Jowett and Artur Poczwardowski analyze coaches’ relationships with athletes in terms of their effectiveness/ineffectiveness and their being successful/unsuccessful. Ideally, a coach’s RELATIONSHIP should be both effective and successful, the trainee maturing and improving his or her skills as well as achieving success. Should the coach promote personal growth and maturity but without tangible success, the relationship is characterized as effective but unsuccessful.

Some coaches have uneasy, perhaps conflictual, relationships with their athletes; if the relationship is productive in terms of achieved goals, then this is ineffective yet successful. A relationship that fails both in terms of stated goals and interpersonal development is ineffective and unsuccessful.

The qualities of closeness (trust, liking) or connectedness (affinity) are important. A coach’s amiable, approachable style might attract a similarly friendly and pleasant trainee, suggesting RECIPROCITY. On the other hand, a coach’s authoritarian style might attract a trainee who is accommodating and compliant. However, “autonomy-supportive style”, in which coaches supply opportunities for choice, explain reasons and acknowledge feelings, is most beneficially influential in motivating a sportsman and improving performance (that is, effective and successful).

While coaches and trainers and their methods are often appraised in terms of their strengths or weaknesses, excellence or incompetence, insight or ignorance, research suggests that there are few stable qualities possessed by coaches that are effective and successful across all situations. Much more influential are the relationships the coach establishes with athletes and the context in which such relationships develop.

Taken from Cashmore E. Sport and Exercise Psychology. The Key Concepts / Ellis Cashmore. – T & F Books Uk; 2 Edition, 2009. – 528 p.

 

Ex. 3. Read the article. Discuss advantages of good sleep with your group mates.