Category 5: How Can Exercise Assessment and Prescription Be Personalised?
What document is commonly used before beginning an exercise program to identify potential health risks?
A pre-exercise questionnaire.
What training method involves alternating periods of high-intensity work and recovery?
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
What phase of a yearly training program occurs immediately before the competitive season?
Pre-season.
Which nutrient is the body's preferred source of energy during moderate to high-intensity exercise?
Carbohydrates
What field of study examines how the body moves efficiently?
Biomechanics.
Why do exercise professionals conduct health screening before prescribing exercise?
To identify health risks, ensure participant safety, and determine appropriate exercise intensity and activities
Which principle of training states that fitness improvements are lost when training stops?
Reversibility
Name one component that should be included in every training session regardless of the sport.
Warm-up, cool-down, skill practice, conditioning, or evaluation.
Why is hydration important during exercise?
Hydration helps regulate body temperature, maintain performance, and reduce the risk of fatigue and heat-related illness.
What recovery strategy involves the use of water to assist recovery after exercise?
Hydrotherapy.
Name one benefit of fitness or performance testing for recreational participants
It allows individuals to establish a baseline, monitor progress, set goals, and improve health outcomes
Which physiological adaptation allows the heart to pump more blood per beat following endurance training?
Increased stroke volume.
Why might a group sport require more tactical training than an individual sport?
Group sports require players to coordinate strategies, communication, positioning, and teamwork during competition.
What is one key benefit of adequate sleep for athletes?
Sleep enhances recovery, reduces fatigue, supports injury prevention, and improves performance.
What injury assessment tool uses the steps Talk, Observe, Touch, Active Movement, Passive Movement and Skills Test?
TOTAPS
Explain how exercise assessment helps develop an effective training program.
Assessment identifies strengths, weaknesses, fitness levels, goals, and health considerations, allowing exercise programs to be tailored to individual needs.
Explain why specificity is considered one of the most important training principles.
Specificity ensures training matches the demands of the sport or activity, resulting in adaptations that directly improve performance.
Compare the purpose of peaking and tapering in an annual training plan.
Tapering reduces training load before competition, allowing recovery, while peaking aims to achieve maximum performance at the most important competition.
Explain how post-exercise nutrition promotes recovery.
Post-exercise nutrition replenishes glycogen stores, repairs damaged muscle tissue, restores hydration levels, and prepares the athlete for future training sessions.
Explain how technology can improve sporting performance.
Technology allows athletes and coaches to monitor training loads, analyse performance data, improve technique, track progress, and enhance recovery strategies.
A 55-year-old sedentary adult and an elite athlete complete the same fitness test. Evaluate why their exercise prescriptions should differ.
Their fitness levels, goals, risk factors, and training needs are different. The sedentary adult requires gradual progression and health-focused exercise, while the elite athlete requires sport-specific, high-performance training. Personalisation improves both safety and effectiveness.
Analyse how progressive overload and training thresholds work together to improve performance.
Progressive overload gradually increases training demands, while training thresholds ensure adequate intensity is reached to stimulate adaptation. Together they promote physiological improvements and prevent performance plateaus.
Evaluate how psychological strategies can improve both individual and team sport performance.
Psychological strategies help athletes manage stress, control arousal levels, improve concentration, and build confidence. In team sports they can also enhance communication and group cohesion, leading to improved performance outcomes.
Assess whether supplements such as caffeine and creatine should be used to improve athletic performance.
Supplements may enhance performance when used appropriately and supported by evidence. However, athletes should consider health implications, ethical concerns, individual needs, and whether performance goals can be achieved through nutrition and training alone.
Justify the importance of effective injury management and rehabilitation before returning to sport.
Effective rehabilitation restores function, reduces the likelihood of re-injury, ensures athletes safely regain fitness and skill levels, and supports long-term performance and wellbeing. Return-to-play decisions must prioritise athlete health and safety.