Preparation and Training Methods | AQA A-Level Physical Education (7582)
Preparation and Training Methods
- 76 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Paper 2: Factors affecting optimal performance in physical activity and sport
- Paper 2
Preparation and Training Methods is examined in Paper 2, Factors affecting optimal performance in physical activity and sport.
It covers fitness testing: data, validity and reliability, warm-up, cool-down and stretching, principles of training and FITT, periodisation, tapering and peaking and training methods for fitness and health.
Sample questions from Preparation and Training Methods
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Fitness testing: data, validity and reliability
What is qualitative data, and how might a coach collect it?
Show the answer
Qualitative data is descriptive, non-numerical information about feelings, opinions or technique. A coach might collect it through interviews, observation or a training diary. -
Fitness testing: data, validity and reliability
What does reliability mean in fitness testing?
Show the answer
A test is reliable if it gives consistent results when repeated under the same conditions. Reliable results allow genuine changes in fitness to be detected. -
Warm-up, cool-down and stretching
What is the physiological purpose of a cool-down?
Show the answer
A cool-down is light activity that keeps heart rate and breathing elevated for a few minutes. The skeletal muscle pump then maintains venous return and prevents blood pooling. -
Warm-up, cool-down and stretching
Define ballistic stretching.
Show the answer
Ballistic stretching uses swinging or bouncing movements to push a limb beyond its normal range. The movement relies on momentum rather than a controlled hold. -
Principles of training and FITT
How could an injury lead to reversibility, and how can its effect be limited?
Show the answer
An injured performer who stops training begins to lose adaptations within a few weeks. Cross-training that spares the injured area, such as swimming, can maintain fitness. -
Principles of training and FITT
Explain time and type in the FITT principles.
Show the answer
Time is the duration of each session or exercise. Type is the training method chosen, which should suit the fitness component and the sport. -
Periodisation, tapering and peaking
What is the aim of the competition period?
Show the answer
The competition period maintains fitness and refines skill while the performer competes. The volume of training falls, while quality and intensity stay high. -
Periodisation, tapering and peaking
Why does tapering improve performance?
Show the answer
Reduced volume allows muscle glycogen to be fully restored and minor muscle damage to heal. Fatigue falls while fitness is retained, so the performer arrives fresh.
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Fitness testing: data, validity and reliability | Laboratory and field tests, quantitative and qualitative data, objective and subjective data, validity and reliability, and using test results to plan training. | 15 |
| Warm-up, cool-down and stretching | The effects of a warm-up on muscles, oxygen delivery and joints, its three phases, the cool-down and lactate removal, DOMS, and static and ballistic stretching. | 15 |
| Principles of training and FITT | Specificity, progressive overload, reversibility and recovery, overtraining, the FITT principles, and a worked training zone calculation. | 15 |
| Periodisation, tapering and peaking | Macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles, the preparation, competition and transition periods, double periodisation, tapering and peaking. | 15 |
| Training methods for fitness and health | Interval training and HIIT, continuous and fartlek training, circuit training, weight training and one-repetition maximum with a worked load, and PNF stretching. | 16 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Physical Education Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,084 questions with their answers.