Challenger Sports

I went to an interview for challenger sports to coach in America over the summer. As part of the interview we had to coach a 10 minute session, for mine I had to coach a shooting drill. I had some ideas of what I was going to do but it did involve participants standing in lines. Therefore after seeing other people sessions, I quickly thought up a new simple drill where there are two goals which were coned out and then smaller lines either side of the goal. By doing this there are now four lines of people rather than one big line which is more inclusive for the participants. Also if a shot is missed the line behind the goal can retrieve the balls, this kept the drill more free flowing and less stop start.

During different stages of the drill I questioned participants on the best ways to shoot, whether to use the laces to use more power or use the side of the foot to create more accuracy. I also tried to pick out bad shots and then question the participant how he could have improved it. For example: if the shot went in the air, I asked them why it went over, and if they couldn't answer, I would give hints that when they took the shot they were leaning back so that made the ball go higher than normal.

To end the drill I got everyone in and spoke with them, again asking more questions on the different techniques of shooting.

Once the drill was finished I was taken to the side and went over the drill with the assessor. He said that he liked the idea of the drill with the four lines to stop people standing around and gave me some tips on how he would have changed it round.

We then went inside to find out if we were being taken on as a coach for challenger sports. I received good feedback and told they were happy to take me on. I then received my contract via email and have been placed in Atlanta for 10 weeks.  

Gym Plan

Over Christmas I went to the Gym with a friend back home, before I came back up to university for semester two he asked me if I could write him up a gym plan for him. As I take an interest in working out and chose the Training and Conditioning module I thought that it would be good practice to write up a gym plan. Below is an example of the layout of what I came up with, this example focuses on chest and tricep exercises. The sessions are split up and arranged into hard – medium sessions based on how demanding the exercises are for the performer and how hard the performer wants to push himself on the day of training. I have been through each and every exercise with the performer so he knows what he is doing and making sure the technique is correct.  

Chest And triceps
Hard session
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Chest Press (Barbell)	4	Between 8 and 12
Drop set decline	1	4 x untill fail (drop weight when fail)
Drop set incline	1	4 x untill fail (drop weight when fail)
Flys flat bench	4	Between 8 and 12
dips	3	untill fail
Overhead Extensions (DB)	4	Between 8 and 12
Cable pull downs	4	Between 8 and 12
Medium/hard session
Exercise	Sets	Reps
200 Press ups	20	20,19,18,17,16 ... down to 1
Flys Flat bench (DB)	3	Between 8 and 12
Flys Incline Bench (DB)	3	Between 8 and 12
Dips	3	Untill Fail
One arm pull downs	3	10 Per Arm
Cable pull downs	3	Between 8 and 12
Medium session
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Chest Press (barbell)	4	Between 8 and 12
Incline Chest Press (barbell)	4	Between 8 and 12
Drop Set Decline	1	4 x untill fail (drop weight when fail)
Press ups	1	Untill Fail
Cable Cross Overs	4	Between 8 and 12
One Arm Push Downs	3	Between 8 and 12
Overhead cable extensions	4	Between 8 and 12
Overhead extensions (DB)	3	Between 8 and 12
Press ups	1	Untill Fail

The performers aims was to just get generally stronger and gain more muscle therefore I focused the sets and reps on muscle hypertrophy based on some studies I have read regarding intensity and frequency.

I have chosen to focus on hypertrophy sets as an increase in muscle size has been observed in various studies which have shown that muscle growth has occured due to hypertrophy alone (Fleck et al, 2004). Which is backed up by other studies stating that ‘muscle hypertrophy refers to musclar enlargement resulting from training’ (Baechle et al, 2008). These studies back up why I have used hypertrophy for the athletes sets and reps. As the performer wants general muscle growth hypertrophy is the perfect place to start.

Training programs intended to maximise hypertrophy emphasize moderate to heavy loads of weight (70-85% of 1RM) and high volume of repetitions of 8-12 for multiple sets (Chandler et al, 2008). This is why in my program I have chosen sets of 3/4 and reps of 8-12, as it helps maximise hypertrophy training.

Reference list:

Baechle,T, Earle, R. (2008) Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Pp 100

Chandler, J, Brown L. (2008) Conditioning For Strength And Human Performance. Pp 282

Fleck, S, Kraemer, W. (2004) Designing Resistance Training Programs. Pp 83