Elements of the work-out

A. Warm-up:
This is a brief (5-15 minute) period of exercise that precedes a work out. It generally involves
light calisthenics or a low-intensity form of exercise and often includes stretching exercises. It raises the
body’s temperature and allows proper blood flow. It reduces injury during intense physical activity. It can
also reduce the strain on the heart imposed by rapidly engaging in heavy exercise and may reduce
the risk of muscle and tendon injuries.
It is very important to note that it is logical to prepare the muscles that will be involved in the
work out phase. In the case of swimming or dry land swimming for example, the legs, the arms and the
core are the major muscles involved. Hence, these should be prepared during the warm up phase. The
warm up phase can mimic movements in the work out phase.
B. Work-out Proper: This phase targets your fitness goal. The main phase of exercise
C. Cool down
This is a 5 to 15-minute period of low intensity exercise that immediately follows the primary
conditioning period.This will gradually lower the body temperature and allows blood from muscles
towards the heart.Static stretching exercises can relax the muscles in the cool down phase.

On the Time/Duration of Exercise:

The duration of exercise does not include the time allotted for warm-up and cool-down. The
recommended duration of the work-out is 20 to 60 minutes. 
- The principle of individuality, progression and specificity should be considered. Hence, the duration will
depend most likely with your current fitness level. A beginner will exercise in shorter duration. 
-At the same time, if you choose lower-intensity exercise rather than high-intensity, you will need to
make the duration of exercise longer. If you exercise in higher intensity, then a shorter duration is
advised. You will see similar improvements. 

On the Type/Mode of Exercise:

Choose an activity that uses repetitive, rhythmic, large-muscle movements performed
continuously over an extended time.

Some Factors to Consider when Choosing the Mode/type of exercise:

- Availability
- Ability to perform the activity/exercise
- Preference/ interest

Note: MEDICAL CONDITION – medical examination is very important before participating in a regular
exercise.  The result of medical examination is a more exact way of determining your personal strengths
and limitations. The doctor can specify your appropriate target heart rate.  This is for your safety.

You are now ready to DEVELOP YOUR EXERCISE PLAN. Think about what physical
activity/exercise would you be doing while you read through the following: 
DEVELOPING PERSONAL EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION

Initial Conditioning Phase

Starting slowly will allow the body to adapt gradually to exercise and to avoid soreness, injury,
and discouragement. Generally, this stage lasts 4 weeks, but it can be as short as 2 weeks or as long as 6
weeks, depending on your initial fitness level. For example, if your cardiorespiratory fitness is poor, the
initial conditioning stage will likely at least closer to 6 weeks, but if you start at a relatively high
cardiorespiratory fitness level, 2 weeks might be sufficient. 
You should include 5- to 15-minute warm-up and cool-down phases with each workout. In the
initial conditioning period of your workout, exercise intensity will be low, typically 40%-60% HRR. For
people who have never been involved in a regular exercise program or who have very low fitness, the
initial intensity might even be less than the 50% HHR. It is acceptable to start at an intensity of 40%-50%
HRR if that is comfortable for you. The duration of the session will likely be short. Initial sessions for a
person with very low fitness might be as short as 10 to 15 minutes. At these intensity and duration levels,
an exercise frequency of 3 or 4 days is ideal. Here are some key points to remember for your initial
conditioning stage: 

Start at an exercise intensity that is comfortable for you.

-  Increase your training duration or intensity when you are comfortable, but do not increase intensity and
duration at the same time. Gradually increase your duration, and then work on increasing the intensity.
Your goal should be 20 to 30 minutes of continuous low to moderate (40%-60% HHR) activity at the end
of the initial conditioning phase.
- Be aware of new aches or pains. Pain is a symptom of injury and indicates that the body needs rest to
repair itself

Improvement Phase
The improvement phase can range from 12 to 40 weeks and your program will progress more
rapidly during this period than in the initial conditioning phase.  Duration and frequency are increased
first, and then the intensity is increased toward the upper end of the THR (60%-85% HRR or RPE of
13-16). The changes should be gradual, with increases in duration of no more than 20% per week until
you can do 20 to 30 minutes at a moderate to vigorous intensity. Frequency of 3 to 4 days might still be
appropriate, but if you want greater changes in your cardio-respiratory endurance, increasing to 5 days
might be necessary. A general recommendation is to increase the intensity by no more than 5% of your
HRR every sixth exercise session. If you are exercising 3 days per week, that means an increase every 2
weeks. As you can see the changes are gradual, and you should not feel pressure to make increases faster
than you feel comfortable doing.

Maintenance Phase
The average college-aged student will generally reach the maintenance phase of the exercise
prescription after 16 to 28 weeks of training, but it might take longer for those who started at a low fitness
level. In the maintenance stage, you have achieved your fitness goal, and your new goal is to maintain this
level of fitness. You still need to exercise regularly, but you do not need to keep increasing all of the
components of your exercise prescription. Several studies have shown that the key factor in maintaining
cardiorespiratory fitness is exercise intensity. If you keep your intensity at the same level you reached in
the final weeks of the improvement stage, you can reduce your frequency. Exercising as few as 2 days per
week can still maintain your fitness level. If you keep to the same frequency and intensity as you achieved
during the final wheel of the improvement stage, you can reduce duration to 20 to 25 minutes per session.
However, if you hold frequency and duration constant, decreasing intensity by even one-third can
significantly decrease your cardiorespiratory endurance. So, if you keep up your exercise intensity, you
can cut back the duration or frequency and keep your hard-earned benefits.
Adapted from: Powers, S., Dodd, S. & Jackson, E. (2015). Total Fitness and Wellness
Let’s do this.
It is important to note that you should have read and explored the material in EXPLAIN
SECTION before accomplishing this part.
Activity 2: Creating a dry-land workout plan
Instructions. 

1. Create a dry-land swimming workout plan using movements and positions that are involved in
basic swimming skills such as floating, gliding, and flutter kick.
2. Your workout plan should focus on improving your fitness level as a swimmer or a non-
swimmer.  (You can state in your own words the kind of exercise that you will be doing.)
3. identifying the target muscles for each exercise.
4. Clearly state your personal fitness goal
5. use the given template for your workout plan. An example on the first row has been provided for
you. Go back to the resource materials accompanying this unit if needed. (pls. see below)
6. be guided with the given rubric (pls. see below)
7. Save your file using PDF format.
8. File name format: Family Name_ First Name _ Class code _Activity
e.g. Dela Cruz_Juan_0000_Dryland Workout Plan
9. The rubric will further guide you to successfully accomplish this task.

Template for the Circuit Training Design: Written Output

Personal fitness goal: 

Exercise Specific Target Muscle (1 main

target muscles)
Station 1
Flutter kick (superman position or
facing the floor) Core: Abdominal muscle

Station 2

Station 3

Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Station 8

TARGET HEART RATE

(initial phase)
Target heart rate
(improvement phase)
Target heart rate (maintenance
phase)

Dryland Swimming Circuit Training Design Rubric

Criteria Exceeding Meeting Approaching Below

Expectations Expectations Expectations Expectations
A+ (47-50) B+ (39-42) C+ (31-34) D+ (23-26)
A- (43-46) B- (35-38) C- (27-30) D- (19-22)

Circuit -A statement of -The purpose -Some purpose -No statement

Purpose/ Goal purpose and/or and/or desired and/or desired of purpose
desired outcomes outcomes were outcomes were and/or desired
were stated and stated, but stated outcomes
in great detail. lacked detail. were stated.
-Goals are too
-Goals are clear, -Goals are clear general and not - Goals are
measurable and and realistic, but measurable. non-existent
realistic. Goals no identification Goals are not or too vague
based on of ways to based on and unclear.
interpretation of measure them. interpretation of
activity given the activity
given.

Plan -Plan addresses all -Plan addresses all -Plan addresses -Plan addresses
of the stated goals. of the stated goals. most (50%) of the some (25%) of
stated goals. the stated goals.
-All activities are -Most
relevant and are (50%)activities are -Some -Activities are
sequenced properly. relevant and are (25%)activities are inappropriate or
sequenced properly. inappropriate and are not
- All target muscles are sequenced sequenced
for each exercise are - - Some the target properly. properly.
identified properly muscles are not
 identified properly - Most of the target - Almost all of
muscles are not the target
identified property muscles are not
appropriately
identified

Appropriatene All exercises are One or two More than 2 Most

ss of Exercises specific to target exercises did are exercises are not exercises are
body part and not specific to specific to target inappropriate
(Health Related target body body part/HRF to target body
Fitness) HRF part/HRF part/HRF
goals.

Organization -The program's -The program's -The program is -The

format is format is well- formatted program's
attractive and attractive and and well- format and
well-organized. well-organized. organized. organization
is confusing
-Circuit runs -Circuit runs -Nothing about to the reader.
smoothly and has smoothly, but the circuit runs
good flow from flow between smoothly. -Nothing
station to station. stations needs about the
improvement. circuit runs
smoothly.

Note: It is important to develop a routine that you enjoy while targeting your fitness and wellness goal.
You may change your exercise routine as often as you like to target the different muscle groups or
prevent you from getting bored. Make a point to incorporate more of these everyday tasks into your daily
routine so you can enjoy the benefits of a strong body.

ACTIVITY 3: Video Presentation

1. Demonstrate your designed Circuit workout plan through a video
2. The video should demonstrate dry-land exercises that incorporate fundamental skill
movement in swimming (floating, gliding, and flutter kick)
3. Do one round of the eight different exercises, performing each exercise for 30 seconds
with just 10 seconds rest in-between.
4. Accompany your workout with music. You may use Tabata music. (please don’t use
music with vulgar or with offensive lyrics.
5. You may use any available equipment for your exercise.
6. Use appropriate training exercise attire.
7. Always integrate the principles of exercises and their phases.
8. Save your video as an MP4 file.
9. File name format: Family Name_ First Name _ Class code _Activity
e.g. Dela Cruz_Juan_0000_Video presentation
10. You will be graded using the following criteria

a. Appropriateness of Exercises 15 pts

b. Proper Execution 15 pts
c. Effort in each station 10 pts
d. Mechanics:(all instructions were followed, video output is clear)10 pts