PE 2
In PE 2 year, our focus would typically be on team sports, but because of the online platform this year, we focused on setting and working toward individual fitness goals. The main idea for the entire semester was to establish healthy habits and goals in our fitness journal. Here is some of my work toward that.
To the right is my first fitness goal check in. This is where I stated my original goal and my intentions within the goal. My goal changed over the course of the semester as I realized that I was putting too much stress on my hip (which I have had problems with in the past) by focusing on lower body workouts. My new goal was more focused on maintaining a consistent amount of physical activity for my whole body, and also on gaining weight in a healthy way so that I can finally hit my long awaited goal of 100 lbs.
The main project we did over the course of the semester was our fitness logs. Each week, we were required to do a certain number of workouts (the number grew as the weeks passed), and we used our fitness journals/logs to keep track of what we did, how we felt about it, and more. To prepare us for this, we watched several videos about fitness journaling and exercise plans. We then built fitness plans for ourselves that we evolved as time passed to fit our goals. Below, I have included pages from my fitness log, which I also used as a planner for all of my classes. It is mostly a mess because I was usually exercising while I was writing in it. Below our the documents that we completed for our four phases of our fitness log assignments.
Fitness Log: Phase 1: (PHILPOT COPY) Note taking on how to trackFitness Log: Phase 2: HIIT and planning for body weight exercise workoutsFitness Log: Phase 3: (PHILPOT COPY) Building your log from NOTESPhase 4: Finalizing the Fitness Logs (BP)To the left are some worksheets we did in class to help us create our fitness plans for every week. The first document has exercise routines we made for certain areas of the body. The second is formulas to find our target heart rate range during and after exercise.
Major Concepts This Semester:
Overload
A foundational principle. If you don't overload your muscles, you will not make gains in strength or otherwise. It states that you must change aspects of your workout in order to continue to put an appropriate amount of stress on your muscles to make adaptation.
FITT Principle
FITT stands for frequency, intensity, time, and type. These are the aspects of workouts that must be changed in order to achieve proper overload.
Periodization
Periodization is a part of overload. It is important to organize your workout schedule into periods (macrocycles, mesocycles, and microcycles) in order to effectively overload your body in training.
Macrocycles
A long training period which can last from 6 months to a year or potentially more. Consists of large, overarching fitness goals, perhaps in order to be in peak physical condition for a competition or race.
Mesocycles
There are typically three or four mesocycles within a macrocycle. They can last one month or several months. Consist of smaller goals or focuses for training such as strength, endurance, flexibility, etc.
Microcycles
The shortest period, typically lasting one or two weeks. Focus on daily workout schedules with specific, detailed goals for the period, but keeping the larger goals in mind.
HIIT Exercises
HIIT workouts are about high intensity training. They usually include intervals in which you will work out really hard for a certain amount of time, then take a short break. This is then repeated. These workouts are good because they don't have to take much time, but can burn as many calories and fat as, and build muscle quicker than a slower cardio exercise.
Fartlek Training
Fartlek training is a loose structure for running. It allows for speed play, as you are allowed to set goals for yourself while running, and change your pace whenever you feel comfortable doing so. For example, you could run through the park and sprint from a designated point A to point B, then return to a slower pace before doing so again.
Resistance
Resistance training can use free weights or resistance bands to make it more difficult more your muscles to complete the task that you are giving them. This type of workout is great because it is versatile, efficient, uses stabilizing muscles, and uses a full range of motion.
Here are some photos from my fitness log:
These photos give an idea of what my journal looks like and what I keep track of. I also included a photo of some notes I made while trying to first organize my fitness plan, and the main idea that I decided on is that fluidity is important. I like to be able to adjust my schedule to accommodate the way that I am feeling day by day or week by week. It also accounts for my changing sports schedule. Some weeks I have nothing, and some weeks I have three or four practices that can apply to my PE plan.
Reflection
I really have enjoyed this semester. I think that we have learned a lot of important concepts and how to apply them to our fitness logs. I definitely want to continue to exercise regularly after the semester ends, and I feel prepared to apply what I have learned in this class to my future plans. I think that it was important to be open minded in this class. Conscientious learning is critical because what we learned about here is based in science, a field in which we are constantly discovering new things. I think that the most incredible thing that I learned this year was when we looked at the benefits of exercise on the body. I was surprised to see the impacts of physical activity on the mind in addressing depression and anxiety. I think that learning this allowed students to apply cultural competence to their learning. It makes you aware of the benefits of exercise and your own mental health, which is an important thing to give time to, particularly in the pandemic being apart from friends and family.