💪 Muscle Mechanics
An athlete holds a plank for 45 seconds.
👉 What contraction is occurring AND why?
✅ Isometric – muscle produces tension without changing length
An athlete trains at 75% intensity most days.
👉 Why is this more effective than 95–100% daily?
✅ Balances improvement with recovery, prevents overtraining
A student runs a mile without stopping.
👉 What component AND why?
✅ Cardiorespiratory endurance – sustained effort
A 5-second sprint uses which system AND why?
✅ ATP-PC – immediate energy, no oxygen
An athlete feels constantly tired and performance drops.
👉 What is likely happening?
✅ Overtraining
💡 Question:
A coach is preparing two athletes:
Athlete A (Sprinter):
Athlete B (Soccer Player):
👉 Task:
For EACH athlete, identify:
- At least TWO mistakes in their training
- The training principles or energy systems being misused or ignored
- Specific changes to improve their performance
Athlete A (Sprinter)
Mistakes:
Principles/Energy Systems:
Fix:
Athlete B (Soccer Player)
Mistakes:
Principles/Energy Systems:
Fix:
A lifter lowers a barbell slowly during a squat to build control.
👉 Why is this phase important for performance and injury prevention?
✅ Eccentric control strengthens muscles/tendons and improves stability
A program increases weight slightly each week.
👉 Why is this safer than large increases?
✅ Allows gradual adaptation, reduces injury risk
An athlete can lift very heavy once but struggles with reps.
👉 What are they lacking?
✅ Muscular endurance
A 30-second all-out effort relies on which system AND why?
✅ Lactic acid – short-term high intensity
A player improves in practice but not in games.
👉 What is the issue?
✅ Lack of specificity
An athlete only trains fast lifting (concentric) but ignores lowering phases.
👉 What problem might occur and why?
✅ Weak control, higher injury risk, poor overall strength development
An athlete stops training for 2 months and loses progress.
👉 Identify the principle AND explain why it happens.
✅ Reversibility – body loses adaptations without stimulus
A soccer player is fast but struggles changing direction.
👉 What component needs improvement AND how?
✅ Agility – drills like cone cuts, ladder work
An athlete trains only long-distance running.
👉 Which system improves AND what is neglected?
✅ Aerobic improves; ATP-PC/power declines
An athlete lifts heavier every week but gets injured.
👉 What went wrong?
✅ Too much overload without recovery
A basketball player improves vertical jump after focusing on explosive lifts.
👉 Which contraction type is most responsible AND why?
✅ Concentric – produces force to jump explosively
A football player only lifts weights but never practices sprinting.
👉 Which principle is being violated AND what is the consequence?
✅ Specificity – performance won’t transfer to game speed
Two athletes train:
👉 Who improves power more AND why?
✅ Explosive lifter – power = strength + speed
Compare a football lineman vs cross-country runner energy use.
✅ Lineman = ATP-PC; runner = aerobic
A team trains only one fitness component (strength).
👉 What problem will this cause?
✅ Incomplete performance (missing endurance, agility, etc.)
Explain how eccentric, concentric, and isometric contractions all work together in a squat.
✅ Lowering = eccentric, holding bottom = isometric, standing up = concentric
Design a training week that includes progression, recovery, and intensity balance.
✅ Example: heavy day, moderate day, recovery day, gradual increase week to week
Design a workout to improve both endurance and agility for a sport athlete.
✅ Combination of conditioning + change-of-direction drills
A coach wants to improve explosive performance.
👉 Design a workout targeting the correct energy system AND explain why.
✅ Short sprints, full rest → ATP-PC system
A coach designs this program:
👉 Identify at least THREE major problems AND explain how to fix them.
✅ Problems:
✅ Fix: