Q1 - Principle of specificity: only the muscles trained will respond.
Provide a concrete example of the principle of specificity to athletics/sports preparation, personal fitness training, or rehabilitation. Choose one exercise and explain why this exercise meets the goal(s) of the program.
Answer: Specificity is the principle of training that states that sports preparation should be pertinent and appropriate to the sport for which the person is training in order to create a training effect. For example, the Specificity Principle concerns how the athlete's body adapts to the stress placed on it. Specificity also applies to practice conditions and the surroundings in motor learning literature.
The principle of specificity is also vital for Strength and Speed coaches when designing power and speed programs to their exacting sport. The coach must know the type neuromuscular adaptations the athletes require during the particular time of the year whether; it is off-season, pre-season or in-season this is significant because as a coach, one does not want to stress the neuromuscular system. This principle applied to sports health training means that the overall energy demands of the sport decide which fitness components (e.g., strength, power, endurance) should be developed so that the requirements of the sport are matched.
For example, basketball fitness training should comprise some distance work with irregular speed and nimbleness training. In contrast, golfers would need little distance work, but train for power and flexibility.
Q2 - Degrees of Freedom: the greater the number of joints involved in a movement/exercise the more difficult it is to execute safely and correctly.
Explain why the degrees of freedom are true from the definition above. Five points.
Answer: The concept of degrees of freedom states that an exercise increases in complexity and intricacy as the number of dimensions needed to manage the movement increases. Additionally, it is more likely that a client will use unsafe and ineffective exercise mechanics when the number of dimensions involved in that exercise increases.
So what are the dimensions of an exercise, exactly? They include the number of joints and muscles involved; any balance requirements; weight shifting; and changes in plane of movement or direction. An example of an exercise in which different planes of movement are used is a forward lunge that is followed by a side lunge. Changes in direction are common in cardiovascular fitness classes in which participants are asked to walk or jog in one direction, turn quickly and proceed in the opposite direction.
Q3 - Overload Principle: you must overload the system (muscles) for it to respond by growing in size and strength.
a. Choose one exercise and give two different examples of how it can be made more difficult to overload the system.
The Overload Principle is a basic sports fitness training concept. It means that in order to improve, athletes must continually work harder as they their bodies adjust to existing workouts. Overloading also plays a role in skill learning. n order for a muscle (including the heart) to increase strength, it must be gradually stressed by working against a load greater than it is used to . To increase endurance, muscles must work for a longer period of time than they are used to. If this stress is removed or decreased there will be a decrease in that particular component of fitness. A normal amount of exercise will maintain the current fitness level.
For example, if a football player's goal is to improve upper body strength, he would continue to increase training weight loads in upper body exercises until his goal was achieved.
b. Although light walking is a great place for people to start and can be part of a fitness program, explain why walking doesn't meet the criteria of overload for fit persons.
Answer: Light walking does not meet the criteria of overload for fit person. Keeping the overload principle in mind, you'll need to be aware of your intensity level to make sure you are working hard enough to overload your heart and your muscles while you exercise. Moderate-intensity exercise gets your heart pumping, but not in an overly stressful, breathless way. This kind of exercise helps you develop endurance. High-intensity exercise is tough; you breathe heavily and are overloading your heart and muscles. You need a mixture of both kinds of intensity to stay fit. When you push your intensity levels, your body responds by becoming stronger and burning more calories.
Q4 - Explain the origin of the muscle names below based on how we categorize (classify or name) muscles: pectoralis major and biceps femoris.
Answer : Muscles May Be Named According to Any of These Characteristics
1. What is the size of the muscle? Its it bigger than a muscle near it, or smaller?
2. Where is the muscle located? This may refer to a body part, or to the origin and insertion of a muscle.
3. What is its basic shape? What does it look like?
4. What is its function? Does it extend a joint or flex it?
5. How many origins does it have ("heads", parts or divisions)?
6. What is the muscle's origin and insertion?
7. What is the muscle orientation relative to the midline of the body? Or, in other words, in what direction do the muscle's fibers run? Are they straight (rectus), or perhaps oblique (slanted)?
Each of these basic characteristics are "coded" with root words used to form the larger name. Many times, as well, a muscles name must be based on its relationship to another similar or paired muscle. Let's look at some of the basic words used to describe muscles:
• biceps femoris: Biceps: two heads (biceps brachii which means "two headed muscle of arm" and biceps femoris which means "two headed muscle of the thigh")
• pectoralis major: pectoralis major is the larger muscle of the chest
Q5 - One of the greatest obstacles we face in the field is that of the "weakest link". Any action/movement/exercise is limited by the weakest muscle in the entire group. For example, a lateral deltoid raise is limited by the amount of weight that the supraspinatus can lift. When you lean to one side and execute the lateral raise at 30 degrees you take the supraspinatus out of the equation and thus can overload the medial deltoid.
State another example of where action is limited by the weakest link. Explain which muscle is the weakest link and why. Explain how you would develop an exercise program to remedy the issue of the weakest link using the example you stated?
Answer :With a combination exercise, however, the amount of weight you can use to perform the movement is limited by the weakest body part involved in the exercise. As a result, you might not be lifting with the intensity you need to see muscle gains.
Take a step-up with bicep curl. In this exercise, you step up on a bench with one leg while holding dumbbells at your sides, and curl the dumbbells at the top of the step.
Q6 - Explain what a motor unit is made up of. Describe the role of the synapse, ACH, threshold, and synaptic cleft in the production of movement.
Answer : A motor unit is made up of a motor neuron and the skeletal muscle fibers innervated by that motor neuron's axonal terminals. Groups of motor units often work together to coordinate the contractions of a single muscle; all of the motor units within a muscle are considered a motor pool.
The synapse between the efferent neuron and one muscle fiber is very unusual. It is huge, and always releases enough acetylcholine to depolarize the muscle fiber above threshold. This is totally unlike synapses in the central nervous system. To make a muscle contract, the acetylcholine produced in the presynaptic neuron of the neuromuscular junction must bind to the nicotinic receptors on the postsynaptic side. Each of these receptors consists of 5 subunits that form a pentagonal structure around a central channel.
Q7 - Define the two types of motor units and explain how these two different classifications of muscles are utilized differently in endurance activities versus speed and high force activities.
Answer
A motor unit consists of a group of individual muscle fibers that are activated by a single motor neuron. When stimulated by an action potential transmitted along the motor neuron, all the fibers in a motor unit develop muscle tension (a pulling force) at the same time.
Based on response characteristics, two main categories of motor units are commonly used. One of the categories includes two subcategories:
• Type I: Type I motor units develop a low peak force in a relatively long period of time (about 60 to 120 milliseconds, or ms). Type I motor units are very resistant to fatigue because they’re nourished with an extensive blood supply to maintain aerobic metabolism. (Aerobic means using oxygen.) Another name for Type I motor units is slow-twitch oxidative, based on the slow tension development time and the use of oxygen. Because they’re fatigue resistant, Type I motor units are the first motor units recruited by the central nervous system when a muscle is activated, and they continue to be recruited as long as the muscle remains active. Type I motor units are well adapted for low-intensity work like maintaining posture. They’re sometimes called tonic motor units because they provide “muscle tone.”
• Type II: Type II motor units develop a high peak force in a relatively short period of time (10 to 50 ms). Type II motor units are called fast-twitch motor units because of this quicker response time. Another common name is the phasic motor unit, because Type II motor units are recruited after Type I motor units to provide short bursts, or phases, of higher muscle tension as required.
Q8 - For the following popular exercises state the primary joint action. For example, the elbow extends during the concentric phase of a triceps overhead extension. NOTE: you must know how to classify movements into the concentric (power) versus eccentric (preparatory) phase based on muscle action to do this assignment correctly. Five points each "a" through "f"
a. Shoulder joint. Lateral deltoid raise. Concentric phase.
b. Hip joint. Squat. Eccentric phase.
c. Knee joint. Squat. Concentric phase.
d. Elbow joint. Biceps curl. Eccentric phase.
e. Ankle joint. Gastrocnemius raise. Concentric phase.
f. Elbow joint. Triceps kickback. Concentric phase.
Answer
Shoulder Joint: Eccentric/Concentric phase involves 4 joints (wrist, elbow, shoulder, and shoulder girdle).
Hip Joint: Concentric/Eccentric phase involves 1 joint
Knee Joint: Concentric/Eccentric phase involves 1 joint
Elbow joint: Concentric/Eccentric phase involves 2 joints (elbow & wrist).
Ankle joint: Concentric/Eccentric phase involves 2 joints.
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