Circuit Training For Football Essay, Research Paper
What is circuit training? Circuit training is a method of training. A circuit
usually has 8 to 15 stations, where at each station a different exercise is
carried out for a certain amount of time. Circuit training can improve muscular
endurance, cardiovascular endurance, aerobic fitness, muscular strength, speed and
agility. A circuit-training program may also be designed for
a certain sport. Circuits for this purpose will include exercises to improve
all the muscles and skills associated with the sport.? Example: A circuit training program for basketball should
include skills ??????????????????????????????? like jumping, catching or throwing. Specificity My circuit-training program is for football and it
is based over a six-week period. The 10 stations are specifically suited to
what is needed to play football. The Circuit is specified for an outfield
player as there are no goalkeeping skills involved in this circuit. My circuit is aimed to improve the following over a
six-week period: muscular endurance, muscular strength, speed, agility,
cardiovascular endurance, and ball skills. These are all needed for
an outfield football player. For example: ·
Muscular
Endurance ? To keep the muscles contracting for the full length of the match
without them becoming tired or weak. ·
Muscular
Strength ? the force your muscles exert when they contract. This is an
important part of football as it is a contact sport and it is also very physical,
players need to be able to guard the ball and hold other players off when they
are challenging for the ball. Also muscular strength is useful when taking a
throw-in, good muscular strength in the abdominal muscles is required to throw
the ball higher and further to reach a player that is a long distance away from
the touch-line. ·
Speed
? the ability to perform a movement in a short period of time. This is
essential in football, for example to be able to sprint after a through ball or
tackle an opponent who is through on goal. ·
Agility
? the ability to change direction quickly and control movements of the whole
body. This is needed to be able to change direction quickly while dribbling or
to collect a loose ball. ·
Cardiovascular
Endurance ? the ability of the heart, lungs and circulation to deliver oxygen
and remove waste during exercise. This is essential for the player to keep a
constant pace all the way through the match. This is hard to perform in a
circuit, so it would be better to improve this by running long distances or
cycling. ·
Ball
Skills ? the skills in football are all open skills. This means that the
movement will change in a different environment. A skill is a particular action
or set of actions. These are essential for football as they cover everything
from a simple pass to a more complicated skills of dribbling the ball in
different directions. These are all motor skills as they are skills involving
movement. Overload To improve the fitness of a part of the body, you
need to overload it. That means you need to make it work harder than usual.
Over time, it adapts to meet the increased demand by getting fitter You can overload your body in three ways : ·
By
increasing the Frequency of exercise- how often you
do it. For example start by exercising
twice a week, then move up to three or four times a week. ·
By
increasing the Intensity of the exercise- how hard
you work. For example run faster or lift
heavier weights. ·
By
increasing the Time you spend on the exercise. If
you are very unfit you might start off jogging just for 5 minutes a session,
and work your way up week by week to 30 minutes a session. Progression Your body takes time to adapt to the increased
demands on it. So you should build up your exercise level gradually. But once
it reaches a certain level when it can comfortably deal with the level of
exercise, it will not improve anymore. This is called plateauing. To
prevent this from happening the exercises must be made progressively harder to
ensure that the body continues to improve. Equipment ·
20
Cones ·
3
Hoops ·
10
Soccer Balls ·
1
Measuring Tape The Circuit The order in which the exercises are to be done are: Warm
up >> Stretches >> The Circuit >> Warm DownWarm up & Stretching ? The warm up is very important, as the exercises you will
be doing are very demanding. The warm up will increase the blood flow and heart
rate, warm up the muscles, warms and loosens joints. This will prevent any
injuries to the muscles or joints. Start by lightly jogging for approximately 10 mins. DO NOT SPRINT!!!. Then move on to some dynamic stretching. For example,
rotating hips and arms. Then stretch all the major muscles used for football,
each stretch should be held for a period of 8 ? 10 seconds. Diagram Key Your movementsBall movementsConesHoops ??????????? The
muscles that need to be stretched are: 1.Hamstrings ??????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
2.Quadriceps???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
3.Gastrocnemiuis ?????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????4.Triceps ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
5.Deltoids ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
6.Trapezium Station One On this station you have to start
at the line, sprint to the first cone then sprint back to the line then sprint
to the second cone, then sprint back to the line then
sprint to the third cone, then back to the line. Then sprint to the second cone and back
then to the first cone and back to complete the exercise. This will improve
your speed, agility and muscular endurance of the quadriceps and hamstrings. Station Two This station is a sit up exercise.
Perform as many as you can in one minute. These will improve muscular endurance
in the abdominal muscles; this comes in hand
thrown over a long distance. This is explosive strength because it is done in
one explosive movement. Station Three This exercise concentrates on a
player?s chipping ability and accuracy, the hoops should be placed 5m apart.
Place a ball behind the line and chip it so it bounces in the first hoop, then
chip a ball so it bounces in the second hoop. Then chip it so it bounces in the
third hoop; next chip it so it bounces in the second hoop, then the first hoop.
Station Four This is a shooting exercise. Place
two cones 5m apart, then line up five balls 10m away from the cones and one
cone 2m behind each ball. Strike the first ball then turn around and sprint
around the cone and strike the next ball then turn around and sprint to round
the cone etc. this will improve muscular strength and accuracy. Station Five Use this time (1 minute)? to rest and relax. Some light stretching can
be done to remove the lactic acid that has built up in your muscles during the
first four exercises.? Station Six The exercise on this station are
burpees, burpees are squat thrusts and star jumps mixed together. Do a squat
thrust then stand up and do a star jump and then another squat thrust then
stand up and do another star jump. This will improve your agility,
cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance and strength of the quadriceps
and hamstrings. Station Seven Place six cones 1m apart then
dribble a ball in and out of them and sprint back to the start, repeat this for
1 minute. This will improve ball skills, speed and agility. Record how many
complete runs are done. Station Eight The exercise on this station is
kick-ups. Do as many as you can in one minute. This will improve ball control,
and muscular endurance. Station Nine This exercise is passing; make a
rectangle with cones 5m by 2m, then pass the ball back and forth using both
feet. See how many complete passes are done in 1 minute. This exercise will
improve the ability to pass the ball accurately and ball control. Once the circuit is finished it can
be repeated or a warm down will take place, the warm down will consist of
gentle jogging and stretching to remove the lactic acid that builds up in
muscles while they are being worked. The warm down should help you perform
better next time you exercise. The
muscles that were stretched in the warm up should also be stretched in the warm
down. The stretches should be held longer then they were in the warm up to
prevent stiffness and soreness. The table below displays results
for one week of this circuit. Exercise Amount Shuttle runs 3 Sit-ups 30 Chipping ball into hoops 2 Shooting 4/1 Rest – Burpees 14 Dribbling 7 Kick ups 27 Passing 50 In six weeks time these results
should improve, below is a results table set over six weeks. Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 3 30 2 4/1* – 14 7 35 50 2 3 31 2 4/2 – 15 8 39 53 3 3 30 3 4/3 – 15 8 43 54 4 2 28 3 4/2 – 14 6 40 53 5 4 33 3 5/4 – 18 8 48 56 6 4 36 4 5/5 – 19 8 56 56 *On target/Scored Evaluation In general my circuit program was successful, it
tested each area of fitness that I wanted it to. Although it was successful,
because there were so many people doing their own circuit program there wasn?t
enough equipment, groups had to be formed so the equipment could be shared. Station 1, shuttle runs, this
station was very successful by the end of the six week period I had improved my
speed as I did more runs in one minute. It also improved my agility and the
endurance of my quadriceps and hamstrings. Station 2, sit-up exercise, this
station was very tiring, after each time I performed this exercise I could feel
my abdominal muscles becoming stronger. I improved throughout the six weeks,
there was a slight glitch in the results, which was in week 4 I?d had a cold
that week and that, was why I was under performing. But as a whole I improved
the strength and endurance of my abdominal muscles. Station 3, chipping balls into
hoops, I found this exercise very difficult my accuracy and chipping ability
improved drastically. Station 4, shooting this station tested my shooting and
accuracy ability. This was one of the easier stations as shooting isn?t a very
strenuous work out, although I did improve in the six-week period. Station 6,
burpees, this I found was the most difficult as it was very tiring and I had
already done 4 other stations. This did improve my agility, cardiovascular
endurance, muscular endurance and strength of the quadriceps and hamstrings.
Station 7, dribbling, this was a fairly easy exercise I have improved on my
speed and ball control, I noticed this in week five when I wasn?t as tired as I
was the weeks before. Station 8, kick-ups, I am fairly good at kick-ups already
but by the end of the program I was able to keep the ball under control at a
lower height than what I started with. Station 9, passing, this station tested
my right and left foot, my accuracy and my speed, my left foot has improved a
lot by doing this exercise, my right foot has slightly improved. During week four my results
decrease, the reason for this is I had a cold that week and was unable to
perform to my full potential, as my results show. I found the circuit to be very
intense and tiring, but very effective as my circuit tested all the areas I
wanted it to. I was very tired though after completing each week of the
program, my muscles were aching and my heart and breathing rate had increased
drastically. If I were to perform the circuit program again I would start by
having a recovery time between each station, also I would make the exercise
time slightly less at the beginning of the program so I could get use to doing
the exercises gradually. Although I had improved during the
six-week period I had only improved slightly, so if I were repeating this
program I would make it last 12 weeks so improvements could be seen more
easily. Once the circuit becomes to easy I would have to make it harder to
affect plateauing. If the circuit is not made harder the body will stop
improving in the areas of muscular endurance and anaerobic respiration. The
body must also train to prevent reversibility. This is when the affects of
training decrease and the benefits are lost.