Sport and Exercise Science: Resistance Training

• Introduction to Sport and Exercise Science module rationale examines resistance training.

Physical Activity and Training

• Physical activity encompasses everyday movements like walking, shopping, or climbing stairs.
• Physical activity helps maintain a healthy lifestyle, but fitness improvement is not the primary goal.
• Planned exercise or training is a physical activity subset with the specific goal of improving fitness and enhancing sports performance.
• Planned exercise requires careful planning and consideration of training variables for effectiveness.

Training Variables

• Trainers must understand and manipulate training variables to achieve desired outcomes.
• Effective training requires a thorough application of training principles.
• Training for fitness or performance goals demands structured and deliberate planning.

Training Program Design

• Differentiate between physical activity, which is everyday movement, and planned exercise, which is training.
• Training variables are critical for achieving specific fitness or performance outcomes.
• Planning and structured training are essential for effective fitness or sports performance improvements.
• Designing training programs is a core responsibility of trainers.
• Designing training programs involves much more than selecting exercises or weights.

Steps for Designing a Training Program

• Collect information, including the athlete's goals, strengths, weaknesses, physical capacity, sport-specific demands, and current abilities.
• Define goals by identifying desired outcomes and creating a logical structure.
• Manipulate acute training variables by adjusting sets, reps, exercise selection, intensity, and rest periods.
• Adherence to foundational training principles is essential for driving adaptations and improvements.
• Program design requires careful integration of athlete-specific data, training principles, and logical planning.
• Program design must consider both short-term and long-term progressions.
• Training program design is a logical, step-by-step process involving information gathering, goal setting, and manipulation of training variables.
• Trainers must understand foundational principles and customize programs.

Resistance Training

• Resistance training involves muscles moving against an external resistance, like weights or gravity, to perform a movement.
• Examples of external resistance include running uphill, lifting weights, and jumping.

Importance of Resistance Training

• Muscles adapt to produce force against resistance, leading to increased muscle size (hypertrophy), strength, and power.
• Achievable goals through resistance training include fat mass reduction, increased lean body or muscle mass, enhanced strength and power, and improved overall fitness.

Trainers Role in Resistance Training

• Trainers should understand various training modes and methods that fall under resistance training.
• Trainers need knowledge of how to coach resistance training using diverse external resistance types.
• Training equipment provides varied external resistance and different levels of difficulty for exercises.
• In Resistance Training muscles overcome external resistance to create adaptations.
• Benefits of resistance training are fat loss, muscle growth, strength, and power improvement.
• Trainers must understand diverse resistance types and effectively coach clients to meet their fitness goals.

Warm-Up and Cool-Down Strategies

• The purpose of a warm-up is to prepare the athlete for training, reduce the risk of injury, and enhance performance during the session.
• A warm-up is often overlooked but is a critical part of a training session to ensure the athlete is mentally and physically ready.
• Trainers should utilize warm-up time effectively by implementing a well-structured protocol and tailoring it to the session's goals and the athlete's needs.
• The purpose of a cool-down is to transition the body from exercise to rest and aid in recovery by reducing muscle stiffness and promoting circulation.
• A cool-down is often skipped or underutilized, it helps the athlete recover and prepare for subsequent sessions.
• Trainers should develop and implement effective cool-down strategies and emphasize the cool-down's role in overall recovery and performance maintenance.
• A warm-up prepares athletes physically and mentally reducing injury risk.
• A cool-down facilitates recovery and prepares the body for future sessions.
• Trainers must plan and prioritize both warm-ups and cool-downs for optimal training outcomes.