Needs Analysis

An evaluation of the sport

Running is a cyclic motion where the sequence of movements is repeated continously (Bompa & Carrera, 2005). The gait cycle starts when there is contact on the ground with one foot and ends when the same foot comes into contact with the ground again, there are two phases involved which are the swing and stance phase (Novacheck, 1998). During these phases both feet never contact the ground at the same time and there are two times where the feet are both off the ground (Novacheck, 1998). The muscles involved in the propulsive phase are the gastrocnemius and the soleus and the key muscle involved in increasing knee height during running is  the illiopsoas (Bompa & Carrera, 2005). The quadriceps, hamstrings, hip extensors and anterior tibialis are also heavily involved and the core muscles such as the Latisimus Dorsi act as shock absorbers and stabilizers (Bompa & Carrera, 2005). A marathon runner will require predominantly type I slow oxidative muscle fibres which are significantly fatigue resistant (Bompa & Carrera, 2005) and will reply on the aerobic metabolism for energy (Kraemer & Ratamess, 2004). Research has shown factors that commonly cause injury include errors in training, a lack of knowledge and inexperience, and previous injuries (Parker, Weitzenberg, Amey & Nied, 2011) and the running injuries could cause include Achilles tendinitis, illiotibial band friction and plantar fasciitis (Fredericson & Anuruddh, 2007).

Evaluation of the athlete:

The athlete is a complete novice at running, has no experience using free-weights or resistance machines and currently has no specific season but intends to run and compete in the London marathon in one year’s time. The athlete performed poorly on the movement assesment on basic strength tests and revealed a poor technique on the squat where they raised their heels. The assessment also found poor core stability and poor performances on running mechanics drills where the athlete had forefoot contact even when running at low speeds.

Although the athlete has no history of sports injuries they do have intermittent hamstring and calf tightness and bilateral gluteus medius weakness. Therefore the athlete’s primary resistance training goal is to improve muscular endurance, and the athlete’s secondary training goals are to improve strength particularly in the Gluteus medius and to improve core stability.