Planning a safe conditioning programme – Physical Conditioning (Senior 3 Physical Education) | Ganzaa

Physical Conditioning

Lessons

Senior 3 · Physical Education

Physical Conditioning

4 lessons

Lesson 4 of 4

Planning a safe conditioning programme

25 min

Eight weeks to the trials

Uwase wants a place in the school netball team, and the trials are in eight weeks. If she simply plays more netball, she will improve a little. If she follows a plan built on the principles of training, with the drills from the last three lessons, she will improve much more, and she is far less likely to be injured on the way. This lesson shows you how to build that plan and what to do when something goes wrong during training.

Definition

Principles of training: the rules that make training work.

Specificity: train the fitness, muscles and movements your activity needs. A netball player trains short sprints and jumps, not only long slow runs.
Progressive overload: make the work slowly harder as the body adapts.
Reversibility: fitness gained is lost when training stops, often faster than it was gained.
Individual differences: people respond differently, so plans are fitted to the person.
Rest and recovery: the body adapts during rest, so hard days need easier days after them.

FITT: the four things you can adjust in a plan: Frequency (how often), Intensity (how hard), Time (how long) and Type (which activity).

Building the plan with FITT

FITT	Uwase, weeks 1 to 2	Uwase, weeks 7 to 8
Frequency	3 sessions a week (Mon, Wed, Fri)	4 sessions a week, never two hard days in a row
Intensity	60 to 70% of heart rate reserve; body-weight exercises	70 to 80% of heart rate reserve; 2.4 kg bottles
Time	30 minutes plus warm-up and cool-down	40 minutes plus warm-up and cool-down
Type	Interval runs, ladder drills, push-ups, squats, planks	Netball-specific: 5 m shuttle sprints, jump and land drills, mirror dodging, planks

Every session follows the same shape: warm-up (pulse raiser, mobility, dynamic stretches) → main part → cool-down (easy jogging or walking, then static stretches). Re-test (for example the Illinois test and a one-minute push-up test) every 3 to 4 weeks to see whether the plan works.

Worked example

Worked example 1: a gradual increase. In week 1 Uwase trains for 30 minutes, 3 times a week. A common rule of thumb is to raise the weekly total by no more than about 10% a week.

Week 1 total: $3 \times 30 = 90$ minutes.
Week 2 at most: $90 \times 1.1 = 99$ minutes, so 3 sessions of 33 minutes.
Going straight to 4 sessions of 40 minutes (160 minutes) would be a rise of about 78%: too fast, and a common cause of shin and knee pain.

Worked example

Worked example 2: reversibility. After her trials Uwase stops training for four weeks. Her plank hold falls from 80 s to 60 s.

\text{loss} = \frac{80 - 60}{80} \times 100\% = 25\%

A quarter of her core endurance has gone in a month. Two short sessions a week would have kept most of it.

Staying safe and giving first aid

Prevention comes first: warm up and cool down, check the ground and equipment, drink water before, during and after training, and train in the cooler part of the day. When something does go wrong, act calmly and call an adult at once.

Problem	Signs	First aid
Sprain or strain (twisted ankle, pulled muscle)	Pain, swelling, difficulty moving the joint	Stop and rest. Cool with ice or a cold pack wrapped in a cloth, for no more than 10 minutes. Support the injured part raised, with a loose bandage. Do not use heat. Seek medical help if a bone may be broken or it does not improve.
Heat exhaustion	Heavy sweating, headache, dizziness, nausea, cramps	Move to the shade, loosen or remove extra clothing, cool the skin and give water to drink.
Heat stroke (an emergency)	Very hot body after hard exercise in heat, with confusion, strange behaviour, collapse or a seizure	Call 912. Cool first, transfer second: remove from the heat and cool the whole body fast, ideally by immersion from the neck down in cold water; otherwise soak with cold water and fan.
Suspected concussion (after a blow to the head)	Headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea, blurred vision, unusual sleepiness or behaviour	Remove from play at once; no return that day. Refer to a health professional. Call 912 if the person becomes less responsive, vomits repeatedly or has a seizure.
Bleeding	Blood from a wound	Press firmly and directly on the wound, over a clean dressing, and keep pressing.

Figure: what to do if a player collapses, following the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) Guidelines 2025. An AED (automated external defibrillator) is a portable machine that checks the heart rhythm and tells you, by voice, what to do.

Video: "Unresponsive and not breathing: first aid steps and key action", British Red Cross. A 70-second summary of the right-hand side of the flowchart. In Rwanda, call 912 for an ambulance.

Tip

Exam technique. When a question asks you to plan a programme, use FITT as your headings, name at least two principles of training and show the progression from the first week to the last. Always mention the warm-up, the cool-down and one safety point.

Warning

Common mistakes. Training hard every day with no rest leads to tiredness and injury, not faster progress. Do not give food or drink to someone who is confused or drowsy. Never put a player who may have a concussion back into the game because they "feel fine". Do not move a player who may have hurt the neck unless they are in danger where they lie.

✦

Practice

State what each letter of FITT stands for.
Explain the principle of specificity using a basketball player as the example.
A pupil trains 4 × 25 minutes in one week. Using the 10% rule of thumb, what is the most she should do the next week?
Mugisha could do 30 push-ups in a minute. After six weeks without training he manages 21. Calculate the percentage loss and name the principle it shows.
During a match on a hot afternoon, a player becomes confused and collapses, with very hot skin. Name the likely condition and list the first-aid steps.
A defender is hit on the head by the ball and says she is dizzy but wants to keep playing. What should the teacher do, and why?
A player collapses and is gasping only now and then. Is this normal breathing? What do you do?
Write a two-week FITT plan for a footballer who wants better speed and endurance, with a clear progression.

Show answersHide answers

Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type.
Train what the sport needs: sprints and changes of direction, jumping and landing, and shooting and dribbling skills, rather than only long slow runs.
4 × 25 = 100 minutes, so about 110 minutes at most next week.
(30 − 21) ÷ 30 × 100% = 30% loss; reversibility.
Heat stroke. Call 912; stop the activity and move the player out of the heat; cool the whole body fast, ideally in cold water from the neck down, otherwise soak with water and fan; cool first, then transfer; if they stop breathing normally, start CPR.
Remove her from play at once and keep her out for the rest of the day, because these are signs of possible concussion; refer her to a health professional and call 912 if she gets worse.
No: occasional gasps are not normal breathing. Call 912, send for an AED and start chest compressions at once.
Example: Week 1: F 3 times; I 60 to 70% of heart rate reserve; T 30 min; T 6 × 200 m intervals, ladder drills, squats and planks. Week 2: F 3 times; I 70%; T 33 min; T 7 × 200 m, 5 m shuttle sprints, squats with 2.4 kg bottles. One change at a time, with a rest day between sessions.

Remember

Principles: specificity, progressive overload, reversibility, individual differences, rest and recovery.
FITT: frequency, intensity, time, type; change one thing at a time.
Sprain: rest, wrapped ice no more than 10 minutes, support raised. Concussion: out for the day.
Collapse and not breathing normally: call 912, get an AED, start CPR, 5 to 6 cm deep at 100 to 120 a minute.

1Eight weeks to the trials

2Building the plan with FITT

3Staying safe and giving first aid

Eight weeks to the trials

Building the plan with FITT

Staying safe and giving first aid