Safe & Effective Training

Introduction

Warming Up

Cooling Down

Seven Principes of Safe & Effective Training

Introduction

Gone are the days when common sense and a loud voice, coupled with a love of training, were enough to make a good instructor. In today's world the personal qualities of common sense & the skill to motivate must be based on a firm knowledge of the scientific bases of the material to be taught. A modern martial arts coach education programme should provide the basis for you to become a safe and effective instructor. You should learn how the human body is built (anatomy), how it works (physiology) and how it moves (kinesiology). You should then appreciate what makes some movements safe and others potentially dangerous and how to train the bodily systems that are relevant to your area of study.

WARM UP

One purpose of "warming up" is to slowly elevate the temperature of the muscles and the core of the body. However, temperature alone not the only goal - perhaps a better term than "warm up" would be a "preopare for training". The initial phase should comprise at leat 5 minutes of light aerobic work to gradually increase the heart rate.

Mobility and flexibility exercises (rotations and maintenance stretches) should follow this initial phase. It is safer to stretch the muscles and rotate joints when they are warm - joints will be more lubricated after the initial phase leading to less wear & tear

The benefits of the warm up include: -

1. A decrease in muscle viscocity, improving the mechanical efficiency of the muscle.

2. An increase in the speed of nervous impulses and the sensitivity of nerve receptors - this raises coordination levels.

3. An increase in blood flow to the muscles therefore poviding more oxygen & nutrients.

4. A decrease in the risk of injury to muscles, tendons and ligaments.

5. An improved level of cardiovascular response to sudden strenuous exercise.

6. An increase in the breakdown of oxyhaemoglobin, allowing greater delivery of oxygen to the working muscles.

7. An increase in the breakdown of myoglobin within the muscles, so oxygen is more readily available for muscle metabolism.

8. It facilitates the crossover in emphasis from anaerobic to aerobic metabolism.

9. It leads to earlier sweating which reduces the risk of over-heating.

10. It allows for mental preparation for the task ahead.

The most important function of the warm up is the preparation of the heart muscle for training. Sudden strenuous exercise could cause an insufficient supply of blood & oxygen to the heart which could be potentially dangerous for some people.

COOL DOWN

The cool down is the reverse of the warm up. The aim is to lower the heart rate and temperature slowly to near resting levels at the same time as relaxing and stretching muscles to avoid tension and improve recovery.

The benefits of the cool down include : -

1. By doing light aerobic movements during recovery we decrease the levels of lactic acid in the muscles and blood promoting faster recovery from fatigue.

2. It prevents "blood pooling". Veins are dilated after exercise and therefore blood return to the heart is less efficient. By using the legs during cool down we assiat in veinous return of blood preventing the risk of dizziness and feinting.

3. By cooling down we help in the removal of hormones secreted during hard exercise that can cause cardiac problems after exercise in some.

4. Cool down is a good time to include developmental stretching as this promotes recovery and obviously increases flexibility levels.

5. Cool down facilitates the mental state in returning to "normal mode" rather tahn an agressive state that can result from martial arts training.

SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF TRAINING

The principles of training are a set of guidelines intended to make exercise safe and effective. They have evolved through research and experience in sports training, health related fitness & sports medicine. These principles, although developed for fitness training, apply also to the development of martial arts skills. To remember the seven principles of training it may help to use an acronym such as :-

"Decisions Strengthening Our Physical Ability Require Incentive"

PRINCIPLE 1 - DO NO HARM

This applies to both physical & psychological hazards. Unsafe exercise practice increases the risk of physical damage and makes training unpleasant. If training is unpleasant it is unlikely to become habitual. In practice, this principle is applied through screening, using correct warm up procedure, providing progression though varying options and setting realistic targets.

PRINCIPLE 2 - SPECIFICITY

Exercise causes physical changes known as "training effects". There is no such thing as "general fitness" - all fitness is specific. Put simply the type & amount of training performed dictates the type & amount of fitness or skill an individual will achieve.

PRINCIPLE 3 - OVERLOAD

This is the most abused training principle - the word overload implies that the body must be pushed to a near or actual breakdown condition and has given us the myth of "no pain no gain". What overload actually means is that in order to increase fitness it is necessary to work harder than you have done previously - in small progressive increments. The danger with too much overload is that it may instigate a catabolic state i.e. a state where the rate of breakdown exceeds the rate of recovery, also there is a risk of injury and a resulting spell of the dreaded "rest".

PRINCIPLE 4 - PROGRESSION

This is closely linked to the principle of overload, and dictates the need to increase work load gradually. In the development of skill, co-ordination etc. it means that training exercises etc. should become progressively more difficult as skill level increases, thus maintaining a learning environment.

PRINCIPLE 5 - ADAPTATION

Adaptation is the process by which fitness or skill level changes. Training is a means by which the body is put under stress and when done habitually the body adapts by changing to meet the stress. The key point about physical adaptation in fitness level is that it takes place during recovery from the activity. This means that adequate rest & recovery are an important part of any training programme.

PRINCIPLE 6 - REVERSAL

Fitness and physical skill are not permanent (use it or lose it). The principle of reversal states that, at any fitness or skill level, if the amount of training is reduced, then fitness or skill level declines. The rate of decline is strongly influenced by the level attained and the number of years that training has been habitual. If habitual training ceases then fitness level reverts to a genetically set base.

PRINCIPLE 7 - INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

This important principal requires you to be aware that all individuals are uniquely different. Individual differences include :-