Scotch College

Fitness for Scotch sporting teams

Approximately 186 teams with such diverse sports as Bowls, Rowing in the Summer, the various Football codes, Cross Country in the Winter and Water Polo,, Athletics in the Spring, make up the Scotch Sporting Program.

Consider also a multitude of surfaces, differing arena sizes, indoor sports, rules, regulations, ability and maturity levels when analysing sporting fitness requirements.

Fitness Definition

Fitness implies the ability to adequately perform everyday activities and / or to meet the demands of a specific sport.

Increased fitness will improve athletic performance and minimise the chance of injury.

Building a strong fitness base will also assist in the recovery from injury.

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Components of fitness

1. Cardiorespiratory Endurance

Working muscles need oxygen and nutrients to operate efficiently. Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability to supply these essential ingredients through the heart, lungs, and circulatory system.

It is possible to increase your cardiorespiratory endurance by including 'aerobic' activities in your exercise program. They are called 'aerobic' because they require an on-going supply of oxygen at a much faster rate than under resting conditions.

Our sports require a good aerobic base whether they involve running, swimming, or rowing. Whilst many of the activities may be of short duration or repeated bursts, aerobic fitness or efficient heart, lungs and circulatory system will assist greatly in the ability to recover more quickly.

2. Anaerobic Power

Speed, agility, and quickness are important components in tennis, athletics, hockey, our various football codes, basketball, badminton, squash, volleyball, and table tennis.

(Many of the above listed sports are played over an extended period of time and although all include short bursts of energy, they do require cardiorespiratory endurance capabilities to assist in coping with oxygen debt).

Anaerobic power requires the muscles to provide instant or short-term energy when the uptake of oxygen is not always readily available. Extreme examples would include events such as shot-put, long-jump, and sprints, as they rely on the stored glycogen in the muscles.

3. Muscular Strength

When a muscle or muscle group can produce its maximum force or highest tension level against a resistance, it is said to have strength. Strength is a basic requirement for almost all sports and is important in many daily activities. Without strength your muscles would find it impossible to endure.

4. Muscular Endurance

When a muscle has the ability to maintain submaximum force levels while contracting a muscle or muscle group repeatedly for extended periods it is said to have endurance, eg rowing.

5. Body Weight and Body Composition

The size or mass of the individual is refered to as body weight. Body composition views the body weight in terms of the absolute and relative amounts of muscle, bone and fat tissues. It is possible to alter your body weight and composition by doing fairly intensive and regular exercise.

The most commonly known body composition test is the 'pinch test'. This test assesses the amount of fat which is deposited beneath the skin. It is performed with skinfold calipers which measure the width of a skinfold at eight specific body sights. The sum of these eight measurements is calculated.

6. Flexibility

In order for a joint to move fluidly through its complete range of movement, in needs to be flexible. Lack of flexibility is triggered by differing factors such as the bone structure of a joint and the size and strength of the muscles, as well as ligaments and other connective tissues.

The ability of muscles to stretch to their optimum length is dependent on these factors. By including stretching exercises in your daily routine, you can greatly improve your flexibility. Stretching warms up the muscles by increasing the blood flow. By doing this you allow muscles and tendons to become more flexible, which in turn will decrease stiffness and reduce the chance of strains and sprains.