VCAA Physical Education What are the foundations of an effective training program?

With the application focusing on strength, load should reflect a heavy percentage of the one repetition maximum (1RM), with 2–6 repetitions across 3–5 sets, with a slow and controlled rate of repetition completion. Rest between sets should be approximately 4–6 minutes. The heavy load, and lower set and rep numbers combined with longer rest periods for strength-based recovery, allow for a strength focus.

With the application focusing on power, load should reflect a moderate-to-heavy percentage of 1RM, with 2–8 repetitions across 4–5 sets, with a fast and explosive rate of repetition completion. Rest between sets should be approximately 6–8 minutes. The moderate-to-heavy load, set and rep numbers allow for explosive repetitions. Rest allows sufficient recovery to repeat explosive repetitions in future sets, allowing for the power focus.

With the application focusing on endurance, load should reflect a low-to-moderate percentage of 1RM, with 20–40 repetitions across 1–3 sets, with a fast and consistent rate of repetition completion. Rest between sets should be 30–90 seconds. The load and duration of rep numbers and sets, allow for sustained/consistent resistance against the muscle, coupled with reduced rest periods for an endurance focus.

Answers could include:

• epimysium: connective tissue surrounding the whole muscle (creating tension on the bone to generate movement)
• perimysium: connective tissue surrounding each fascicle
• endomysium: connective tissue surrounding each muscle fibre.

Type IIa muscle fibres. It allows for endurance and power and anaerobic capacity. Power allows the basketball player to jump, and endurance allows the basketball player to run up and down the court.

The mesocycle targets muscular endurance.

Muscular endurance is promoted by keeping the heart rate (HR) high for a long period of time. This mesocycle has many low-intensity and high-repetition activities, which allows HR to remain high and movement to be extended over a longer time frame. This correlates to contractions being held for an extended time, requiring HR to remain high for longer.

Many activities involve constant movement. This promotes elevated HR, while limited recovery time between activities also keeps HR high.

The volume is increasing with the increased weight in the back squats and increased repetitions in the box jumps. By increasing volume, we target increased adaptations through progressive overload.

Limited rest between repetitions does not permit sufficient recovery for repeated maximal efforts. This infers power and strength will be reduced in consecutive sets/efforts, targeting muscular endurance. Heart rate (HR) stays high, operating at or above threshold. The work periods are relatively short, not developing cardiovascular endurance.

Work:rest ratios are increasing in the back squats, because the repetitions are decreasing; however, the work:rest ratios are decreasing in the box jumps, because the repetitions are increasing, while rest remains constant.

Intensity is increasing in the back squats, which will increase muscular fatigue prior to beginning the box jumps. As the repetitions of box jumps increase, athlete fatigue increases. This targets muscular endurance through progressive overload.

Muscular endurance is optimised using the lactic acid system, as the work has a longer duration than more explosive power-based or strength-based movements. The aerobic system also provides contributions to the energy requirements; however, due to the work periods being short, it is not a primary contributor. This mesocycle supports improvements in muscular endurance through focusing on the required energy system, building of lactate tolerance and repeated contractions against a resistance.