LSC: Body Conditioning Senior One

Body Conditioning

Body changes and Participation in Physical Activities

Boys and girls participate in a number of physical activities. Despite the body changes that happen to them, their participation in physical activities should not be changed.

Boys are usually considered to be stronger compared to girls although it may not be true for all cases. Hence there are some similarities and differences in the activities that are played by boys and girls.

Note:

The difference that comes with performance of physical activities are normal and healthy. For example, the weights thrown, pushed or carried by boys are usually higher than those of girls at a particular developmental change. This is mainly for safety reasons.

As adolescents grow, there are physical changes that happen to their bodies. For example, girls grow breasts. Therefore, during physical activity care must be taken not to hit the breast since this can lead to injury. The same applies to the testacles of boys.

Warm-up and cool-down are some of the key principle of injury prevention especially when it comes to engagement in physical activities. It is therefore very important that before any activity you first warm up and after cool down.

Warm-up

• Equipment and facility
• Field/space to work on that is clean and clear of sharp objects
• Proper sportswear

Principles of Warming up

How and when to Warm up

Before any sporting activity, it is advisable to engage in a warm-up session of 5 – 10

minutes, including general exercise, dynamic stretching exercises and specific exercises.

a) One common and better form of general exercise is jogging

b) Dynamic stretching exercises are good because they

i) lengthen muscle and tendon units.

ii) promote blood circulation.

iii) prevent traumatic injuries.

iv) enhance performance.

How to Stretch

Stretching has to be dynamic and not static so that the muscles get warmed up.

When to Stretch

It is important to stretch before and after exercise or sports and games

c) Sport specific exercises are exercises that duplicate the exact movement of a certain action of a sport. They develop strength and flexibility in the same range of motion as the actual skill. These exercises usually depend on the major activity to be performed.

For example, if it is football, do some specific exercises to work on the legs.

Performing warm up exercises

Brainstorm for general and sport specific exercises and perform them in groups of 4 – 6.

Your teacher will lead you through warm-up exercises starting with:

i) General exercises

Try out the following general exercises: walking drills; knee to shoulder exercises, jogging, running, skips, stationery jumps and others that shall be indicated by your teacher.

ii) Dynamic Stretching Exercises

Go through the following stretching exercises and ensure that you do them with a dynamic rhythm.

a) Hamstrings: Sit on the ground with legs stretched out in front. Keeping the back straight, reach forward as far as possible.

b) Quads: Lie down on the left-hand side. With the right-hand, hold the right foot and by bending the knee, draw it up towards the back. The left leg should be bent at 90 degrees. Change legs and repeat.

c) Calves: Lean against a wall or pole and put one foot in front of the other. Bend the front knee until a stretch can be felt in the calf of the straight back leg. Do not forget to stretch both legs.

d) Achilles: Repeat the calf stretch, then slowly bend the back knee until a stretch can be felt in the Achilles tendon (back of the foot).

e) Groin: Sit down, bend the knees and put the soles of the feet together. Hang on to the feet, put elbows on the inside of the knees and slowly pull feet towards the body. Hold.

f) Back: Link hands above the head. Stretch upwards.

g) Shoulders: Lift the right arm so that it is horizontal to the floor. Place the left hand just above the elbow and pull it gently across the body. You can also work with a friend and ask them to stretch you as shown in (Fig. 3.13 ii) below.

h) Arms: Bend the elbow of the right arm and place it behind the head, and with it touch the back. With the left hand, gently push the right elbow down.

iii) Sport Specific Exercises

Try out the following sport specific exercises. Your teacher will demonstrate more exercises as you train in other sport activities.

These may include: squat thrust for athletes, sprint ABCs, plyometric exercises, sprints and any others that your teacher will demonstrate.

Cool-down

It is also important to cool down. Why do you think so?