Individual: Personal Training Paper

  • Describe your exercise habits. If you do not have exercise habits, describe the habits that you would like to incorporate into your personal training.

Since my plan is to lose 10 to 20 pounds over the next year, I’m setting up an exercise regimen that will gain about 150 minutes per week of moderately intense aerobic exercise. Three days (alternating) a week, I add strength training, trying to work all the parts of my body equally. I normally use the treadmill approximately 30 minutes for five days at 4:00 p.m. before I begin making supper.

  • Explain why locomotion movements, non-locomotion skills, and object manipulation skills should be taken into consideration when planning a program of physical development. Which types of movements and skills will you include in your exercise habits for personal training? Why?

Locomotion movements are easy to do because they are part of my natural movements. I am more likely to include walking, running or even jumping with a jump rope because these movements are familiar to me. Non-locomotion movements (using my upper body) will help to build strength and stretch muscles, while burning calories through bending and twisting/turning. Object manipulation is good for coordination. I will incorporate all three of these skills because they use my normal movements in a repetitive fashion which I think is good because it is known to me.

  • Explain how each energy system is affected by your exercise habits. Which one(s) are more prevalent in your plan?

“Energy is needed for maintenance, growth, everyday activities and exercise” (Energy Systems in the Body). The strength and length of my exercise regimen will determine how much energy is required. As my exercise increases, so does my heart rate and my breathing, requiring more oxygen. The aerobic energy system will be used. As the exercise increases and the oxygen requirement cannot be met, the anaerobic system is used since it produces energy without the use of oxygen.

I am most concerned with my aerobic system at the beginning and then at the peak of my exercising. I am thinking of my aerobic system because that is where the weight control (as food stores burn) will be. When doing my strength training, my anaerobic system will be engaged, adding strength through metabolic changes.

  • List the units of exercise and the time required to enhance physical adaptation.

I walk on a treadmill 30 minutes for a total of 150 minutes a week. In order to adapt, I plan tobreak up the 150 minutes to include 45 minutes of strength training. I intend to increase the strength training by a rep a week.In will increase the aerobic training by adding some time on my rowing machine. I anticipate that this will take approximately 3 to 6 months to accomplish.

  • Describe the impact of the exercise as it relates to either aerobic or anaerobic power.

The treadmill requires more oxygen as I build up speed and my heart rate increases which relates to my aerobic power. The strength training changes my metabolism, relating to anaerobic power.

  • Determine the relationship between the time you need to train, and the time you need to allow your body to regenerate and rest.

I don’t think that there is a danger of my overtraining, but I do recognize that the body needs to repair and strengthen itself between workouts and that I might be working against my exercise program should I not take rest days. For recreational athletes like myself, “building in rest days can help maintain a better balance between home, work and fitness goals” (Quinn, 2008). Recovery time is known to be the time when the effects of the exercising takes place. During recovery time, the body can refill the depleted energy stores and repair muscle tissue that might have broken down during the exercising. I am not an intense trainer, so I really only need short term recovery.

  • Identify potential issues in developing motor skills and motor learning from your exercise habits.

It has been said that humans learn to move and move to learn. Beginning in the womb and continuing until death, movement is considered a life force. We explore our world through movement. We develop and improve our skills as our curiosity increases. Through exercise we can learn to have more control over our movements through balance and repetitive movement. We become more accurate with our motor skills with improved motor learning.

Motor skills improve with motor learning. For example, if a person is learning to play the piano, then they develop quick fingering skills from learning the breakdown of the steps. Through practicing, the skill is developed after being learned.

  • List changes or additions to your training program designed to enhance fitness.

“Accommodation to training is the second part of the adaptation process. If the same load and the same set of exercises are consistently used time after time the body soon adapts, and then stops making progress” (O’Dell, 2004). As I become comfortable with my walking, I intend to add power walking with my friend. This may replace the treadmill, however, on inclement days, the treadmill will still be my main staple for aerobic exercise. I want to look more into strength training for all the parts of my body, not just the upper body (with weights).

Energy Systems in the Body, Retrieved May 2011 from

O'Dell, Danny, (2004), "Adaptations to training", Brian Mackenzie's Successful Coaching (ISSN 1745-7513), Issue 11

Quinn, Elizabeth, Rest and Recovery After Exercise – Improve Sports Performance (October 28, 2008). Retrieved May 2011 from