. Take your blood pressure and the blood pressure of someone else. List both the systole and diastole. Define systole, diastole, and list the ranges of excellent, good, fair, and poor. Do you see any correlations between blood pressure and lifestyle, stress level, or activity level? How will you incorporate knowledge of blood pressure into your future training endeavors?
2. Have a graded exercise test (GXT) performed on you by a qualified physician. Describe the experience. What were the results? Are you surprised by the results, or are they as expected? How does this learning experience influence your future training endeavors?
3. Use the Karvonen method and the general method (220-age) to determine the target heart rate for yourself and four individuals. What are the differences between the two. What method do you think is more appropriate and why? Once you determine target heart rate for yourself, perform any exercise until you reach your target heart rate. (Only attempt this experience if you are in good health and have a solid grasp on how to achieve your target heart rate. Be sure to warm up and cool down.) What exercise did you do? How did you monitor your heart rate? How long did it take to get into your target heart rate? How long did you remain in the target range? How will you use target heart rate in your future training endeavors?
4. Meet with three individuals who have been regularly working out for over a year. Test different fitness components such as maximal strength, strength endurance, aerobic endurance, flexibility, etc. List the component and the results. How do your results compare to theirs? Is one of you more fit than the other or are you just different from one another? How does this learning experience influence your future training endeavors?
5. Following a good warm up, start in a seated position on an exercise ball and jump as high as you can. Do this for a total of three repetitions. Record the height you reach each time you complete the exercise. Next, repeat the process, but start from a standing position. Jump as high as you can. Record the height you reach each time you complete the exercise from standing. Now, compare your results of the seated start and the standing start. In which scenario did you jump higher? Why? Relate this example to weight training technology and explain how it is used in exercise performance.***May require outside research of the stretch-shortening cycle. How will you incorporate this knowledge into your future training endeavors?
6. Critically analyze the following three popular training systems: bigger, faster, stronger (BFS); crossfit; and high intensity training (HIT). How do they compare to the seven laws of training? Which of these systems of training would be most appropriate for you? Why?
7. Critically evaluate the workout programs of five individuals. How do they compare to the seven laws of training? Under what conditions would you change these programs? How will you utilize your knowledge of the seven laws of training in your future training endeavors?
8. Define periodization and its components (cycles). Provide a detailed explanation for how periodization could specifically benefit each of the following clients and how it would assist them in obtaining their ultimate goal(s)/objective(s): college soccer player, 35-year-old sedentary adult wanting to tone, long distance runner. Is periodization beneficial for everyone? Why or why not?