Physical Fitness Log

Introduction

For most of this class, we have been working on a continuous project called a physical fitness log. In the beginning of the semester, we wrote down a fitness goal that we wanted to accomplish by the end of the semester. We kept a journal/log to document our journey and how we were going to accomplish our goal. In the pictures below, you will see some of the ways I tracked my journey, like recording all my exercises, tracking my mood, sleep, and food, and reflecting on myself.

Every week, I turned in a video tour of my journal to show my teacher, Mr. Philpot, what I had been working on and if I had progressed with my goal. Also, every two weeks we reflected on our logs and thought about what was going good and what we could work on. Then we created our fitness schedule for the next two weeks, and recorded how each activity went.

In class, my teacher introduced new training principles that we could use in the future. Different types of running, resistance training, high and low impact, how to build muscle, and so much more. I thought this was a really beneficial way to create more of a variety of exercise in our logs.

The first few weeks of our fitness logs, we were required to track 3 exercises on an app called Strava. This made it easier for our class to get the information needed to describe our activities, like the how far we ran, how many calories we burned, and other helpful information. Every week on, the number of activities increased and we would record activities on the app as well as in our own logs.

Content

S.M.A.R.T. goal :

S.M.A.R.T. stands for specific, measurable, actions, realistic, and timely. This acronym is used a lot in setting attainable goals
we set a S.M.A.R.T. goal in the very beginning of the semester, so we had a fitness goal to work toward
my S.M.A.R.T. goal was to lose 8 pounds by the end of the semester, I ended up coming 2 pounds short of my goal, which I think is still pretty good

F.I.T.T. principle :

F.I.T.T. stands for frequency, intensity, time, and type. We used this acronym a lot in setting our fitness schedule
for each health component of fitness, we learned how to use F.I.T.T. in moderation (example for cardiovascular: F- 5 to 6 days a week, I-work in target heart rate range, T-30+ minutes, T-jogging, swimming, biking)
I used the F.I.T.T. principle and guidance from my teacher to create a better fitness plan for each week that included some of the health components of fitness

health components of fitness :

cardiovascular - amount of stress your heart and lungs can be under for a longer period of time, I implemented this by going on longer distance runs and playing in soccer games
muscular endurance - using your muscles many times without tiring, I implemented this by including more body weight activities in my exercises
muscular strength - amount of force your muscles can produce, unfortunately I couldn't test this for myself because I don't have access to heavier weights
body composition - percentage of body weight that is made up of fat, although I don't really have the resources to find out my body composition, I did track my weight throughout my journey
flexibility - ability to use your joints through a full range of motion, I improved my flexibility by doing yoga and stretching more often

interval training :

working really hard, then resting based on a work to rest ratio
I used this in a lot of exercises I did and even introduced it to some of my runs

skill-related fitness components:

power - exerting your maximum into something, I used power to take shots and goal kicks in my soccer games
speed - how fast something is moving, I improved my speed by doing sprint intervals at soccer and on my own
agility - ability to quickly change direction and speed, I improved my agility through 1v1s in soccer
balance - ability to control yourself to hold a position - worked on my balance through yoga sessions in and out of class
coordination - using your body to complete a skill - improved my coordination through passing and hitting in volleyball and receiving and passing in soccer
reaction time - how fast you react to things around you - improved my reaction time by receiving and blocking in volleyball and quick passing and thinking in soccer

overload :

overload is when you continually increase any part of the F.I.T.T. principle in your activities to keep seeing results or gaining muscle
overload is important because a lot of the time, people do the same activities over and over again, (stuck in a plateau state) meaning their body is used to the activity/amount of stress which results in not gaining any more muscle are becoming any more fit
I used the overload principle by first increasing the number of activities I did per week (frequency). When I got up to around 5 activities a week, I started increasing the intensity of my activities (intensity) by doing harder workouts or running on different terrains. I also started increasing the length of my activities (time)

periodization :

periodization is a type of training where you put a lot of stress on your body for consecutive days in a row, then rest for a few days
there are 3 different types of periodization. The longest cycle, the entire training season, is called a macrocycle. A mesocycle is an area of fitness within a macrocycle. Lastly, a microcycle is a fitness cycle with a macrocycle, which lasts around a week
periodization also works off of the overload principle, so you exercise hard for a week or so, then have a few rest days to keep making gains
before sports started I used a little bit of periodization to plan my activities. I would put a lot of stress on my body for 4 or 5 days, then I'd usually take the weekends off

Evidence

overview

this is the front page of my fitness log, stating my goals, motivation, and what my overall plans are

planned week

this was week 12 of my fitness log, I was just starting sports and still had time for other exercises

planned week

this was week 18 of my fitness log, sports were in full swing and I had a lot of games that week

mood log

I tracked my mood everyday by using a key, so I can go back and look at what activities I did what week that improved my mood

sleep tracker

tracking my sleep helped me recognize patterns between my sleep and my mood, along with others

meal tracker

tracking my food intake and the quality of my food made me more aware of what I was eating and how that benefited/hurt me

Reflection

Overall, I really enjoyed keeping this fitness log. I learned a lot about myself and things that I like and dislike. I will definitely use this again in the future, as it proved to be useful for reaching a goal. Also, it's great for looking back to see what activities I enjoyed. I learned a lot of useful concepts that I can implement in my daily routines.

I think I did really good in the conscientious learner section for this project. I managed my time effectively and planned out my days in regard to my school work and sports. I also kept my S.M.A.R.T. goal in mind while planning my activity schedule. I think keeping this fitness log has definitely increased my productivity. Since I would plan my activities days before I would do them, I would force myself to do whatever I had scheduled for the day. This made it harder for me to just push off working out when I didn't really feel like it. I also think I did good in the communicator aspect. When I turned in my video showing off my log each week, I thought I was clear and concise about what the week had been like and how my journal was going.

I think I could've done better with keeping it more up to date and detailed, which relates to the critical thinker category. Sometimes, I would forget about my log for about a day, then I would forget what I had eaten or what I was feeling after working out. In the future, I would like to stay more on top of that stuff so my information can be more accurate. Also, going forward, I would like to exercise more with my friends because I feel that a lot of times I have trouble motivating myself. I think being around others will push me harder than just doing stuff by myself. Also, I will likely enjoy this more. This relates to the collaborator aspect.

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