Exercise and performance in the primary school setting

1. Exercise and performance in the primary school setting

2. Today’s lecture • Comments of lab manuals • Referencing • Adaptations to exercise • Fitness “testing” • Thermoregulation • Special considerations

3. Lab manuals • In general, very good • Effort was obvious • Need to be as specific as possible • Keep asking- and why does that happen? • Grammar- “their” / “there” • Referencing

4. Referencing • Harvard- author/date system

5. Multiple authors

6. Reference List

7. Common errors • Changing order of authors to be alphabetical • Using journal name rather than author/date • Putting full reference in text • Not referencing bold claims

8. Available from front office

9. Ex Phys in primary school How is all of this stuff relevant??

10. Adaptations to exercise • Increased endurance in children largely believed to be inherited rather than trained • Same increases in lung volumes, plasma volume, left ventricular hypertrophy and vo2 max as adults. • However these things also increase naturally with age and growth • Therefore measurable increases in fitness may be a combination of both

11. Gains in skill- neuromuscular • Fearless • Lower centre of gravity • Means that they can more easily learn skills such as tumbling, skiing, board sports etc • Also critical time to develop fundamental motor skills • Motor neuron pathways

12. Muscle strength • Number of muscle fibres is fixed at birth • 1 yr – adolescence = increases 3-fold through hypertrophy • Increases in strength more likely than size • Active muscles = greater increase • Doesn’t mean lifting weights! • Means weight bearing exercise- running, aerobics anything out of water • And resistance exercise using body weight- push ups, sit ups, jumping etc

13. Heart rate • Decrease in RHR with increased fitness same as in adults • This activity allows kids to track the change in their hear rate, and you can explain what is happening as this occurs • Left ventricle increases ability to pump blood around to the muscles • Therefore it doesn’t have to pump as often to get the blood to go around • So a decrease in RHR is a direct representation of your heart getting stronger!

15. Fitness Testing? • Don’t call it “fitness testing!!!” • Focus on individual comparison and improvement • Gain a holistic understanding of fitness • Experience feeling of improving fitness • Needs to be done correctly • Self Esteem • Ensure privacy- secret!

16. ACHPER AFEA • Growth: Height and Weight, with Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated by the computer program. • CardiorespiratoryEndurance: Multi-Stage Fitness Test and 1.6 km run/walk. • Muscular Strength and Endurance: The Curl-up and the Basketball Throw. • Muscle and Joint Flexibility: The Sit and Reach Tests and Shoulder Stretch.

22. 123 121 119 117 115 113 111 109 107 Vertical jump

24. Programmes • Kids should be active for an hour a day • Map out all school and after school activities to see if you are getting enough • Ensure that it is private • Suggest FUN stuff that counts as activity!

25. Young kids

26. Older kids

27. Thermoregulation Kids are at greater risk of overheating or overcooling Implications- • Appropriate sportswear • Drink breaks • Avoid exercise in direct sun • Look for signs hyper/hypo-thermia

28. Hypothermia- BT<35 degrees • Feeling cold • Cool, pale skin • Shivering • Loss of concentration, poor judgment • Loss of control over fine motor coordination – for example, the muscles of the fingers • Drowsiness • Lethargy • Confusion, irritability • Dizziness • Difficulty breathing • Loss of physical coordination, unsteady on feet • Stops shivering eventually • Slurred speech, speech difficulty • Slowed breathing • Dilated pupils • Coma • Death.

29. First aid for hypothermia • Don’t massage or rub the person. • Move the person out of the cold • Remove wet clothing • Try to warm the person • Share body heat • Don’t give alcohol • Do not leave the person alone • Continually monitor breathing • Don’t assume the person is dead

30. Hyperthermia- BT > 39 • Very high body temperature • Red, hot, dry skin (no sweating) • Dry swollen tongue • Rapid pulse • Throbbing headache • Dizziness, confusion, nausea • Eventual unconsciousness.

31. Preventing heat stress • Fitness - • Acclimatisation – • Avoid the hottest part of the day - start sporting activities before 9am or after 6pm during summer, avoid sport or exercise between 11am and 3pm. • Clothing - • Fluids - drink at least half a litre of fluids in the two hours before exercising. During your sport, aim to drink about 200ml every 20 minutes or so. Choose a specially formulated sports drink if your sporting event goes for more than an hour. After the game, drink around half a litre of water. • Rest breaks - frequent breaks in the shade allow the body to cool down. • Check for symptoms - be alert for the symptoms of heat stress or dehydration.

32. First aid for hyperthermia • Call triple zero (000) for an ambulance. • Try to cool them down- move to cool area, remove clothing, wet skin (not with ice) • Do not give the person fluids to drink. • Position an unconscious person on their side and clear their airway. • Monitor the body temperature and continue cooling efforts until the body temperature drops below 38°C.

33. Recommendations for normal weather Children may get overheated even in normal conditions • Exercise periods = 15-20 mins • Drink breaks - 75-100ml of water • Check anyone who looks over-heated should be checked.

34. Diabetics Blood Glucose levels • <4 mmol/L – Too low- give jelly beans/ juice etc • 4-6 mmol/L- Average • 12 mmol/L – Too high, but doesn’t require insulin yet • 15 mmol/L- Too high- requires insulin

35. Issues • Hypoglycaemia- To prevent, consume CHO within 30 min exercise • Post exercise late onset hypoglycaemia • Dehydration • Exercise 60-90 minutes after insulin injection • Watch for signs of hypoglycaemia (lethargy, slurring words etc) • Keep some glucose on hand- jelly beans or fruit juice

36. Bigger kids • Don’t assume they are unfit or unhealthy • Discourage all forms of comparison between kids • Vo2 max • Psychological/ motivational factors • PRE • Thermoregulation • Avoid bias • Increase chances of success in all students • Pedometers • Strength

37. Summary • Exercise physiology is relevant throughout the syllabus • Cross curricular • Use your discretion • There are some special considerations for kids • And special populations