KIN 240

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KIN 240 Introduction to Kinesiology

• The Importance of Physical Activity Experiences

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Introduction

• How do our physical activity experiences
  transform our bodies and our physical
  performance?
• Physical activity experiences
• Defined as any activity that includes training,
  observation of practice and personal
  participation
• Physical activity experiences are essential means
  by which we increase our capacity to perform
  physical activity
• Almost everyone has desire to improve their
  performance of physical activities
• Only way to do this is via systematic exposure to
  more an more appropriate physical activity
  experiences
• Physical activity experiences are means by which
  we achieve expected health and psychological
  benefits of experiences

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Human Physical Activity

• 4 ways in which physical activity may be
  considered unique to human species
• Intelligence based physical activity
• Involves intricate plans and is directed toward
  more sophisticated goals
• Cheetah runs fast but could not participate in
  relay race
• Ethically and aesthetically based physical
  activity
• Movements can be used to express imagination and
  moral reasoning
• Animal dances based upon instinct vs.
  choreography
• Flexibility and adaptability of physical activity
• Anatomical advantages (bipedal gait, arm freedom,
  foot function)
• Dexterity of movement possible (opposable thumb,
  UE motions)
• Ability to improve performance through planned
  experience
• Improved CV function of lion due to survival
  instinct vs. desire to improve efficiency of
  heart lungs

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Factors Influencing Experiences

• Huge disconnect between what we know about
  benefits of physical activity and our behavior
  patterns
• Most of us perform skills at far below our
  capabilities due to lack of practice
  opportunities (choice, logistics, time, etc.)
• Influencing factors include
• Social environment
• Parents, peers, teachers, coaches
• Individual circumstances
• Geography, local physical activity culture,
  economic considerations, personal attributes

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Social Environment

• People you interact with regularly can have
  significant effect on types and amounts of
  physical activity you pursue
• Parents
• Activity levels of children bear remarkable
  similarity to activity level of parents
• Showing support for physical activity pursuits
  can be helpful as well (transport to
  practices/games, buying equipment, etc.)
• Peers
• If friends are physically active, you are more
  likely to be as well
• Impact of technology significant for some
• Teachers and coaches
• Roles confirm or disconfirm individuals
  competence with activity
• In essence are gatekeepers to physical activity
  experiences

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Individual Circumstances

• Geography
• Northern climates more likely to engage in
  skiing, skating, etc. while southern climates
  more likely to engage in golf and swimming
• Local cultural practices
• HS football in Texas, wrestling in Iowa, ethnic
  groups everywhere
• Economic considerations
• More affluent/educated tend to be more active
  than poor/uneducated, especially in equipment
  intensive sports
• Personal attributes
• We tend to involve ourselves in activities that
  we enjoy
• Impact of self-perceptions of competence and
  self-esteem

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Changing Capacity to Perform Physical Activity

• Improvement in skill through practice resulting
  in learning
• Skill involves attempt to attain specific goal/s
  by execution of efficient, coordinated motor
  responses
• Practice is performance experience engaged in for
  the express purpose of refining motor control
  function to improve skill
• Learning represented by refinements in nervous
  system that result from practice
• Improvement in physical performance capacity
  through training exercise leading to conditioning
• Examples of physical performance capacities are
  strength, flexibility and cardiorespiratory
  endurance
• Training is physical activity experiences
  designed to improve those attributes
• Conditioning is evidenced by changes brought
  about in system/s via training

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Practice vs. Training

• Practice produces effects of memory, cognition,
  perception and other central nervous system
  processes associated with problem-solving
• Requires deliberate effort and intention to
  modify performance
• Most important experience if intention is to
  develop skill
• Training produces effects that are largely
  peripheral to central nervous system (muscles,
  bones, cardiorespiratory system)
• Requires little in way of deliberate attention or
  problem-solving
• Most important experience if intention is to
  develop physical performance capacity
• Performing skills over and over again will
  undoubtedly lead to some degree of conditioning
  but mindlessly performing a skill over and over
  again is not likely to lead to learning

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Performance Experience and Physical Fitness

• Physical fitness
• Physically fit person can perform essential
  activities of daily living at a high level, has
  sufficient energy remaining for active leisure
  lifestyle and can meet demands in unexpected
  events
• Motor performance fitness vs. health-related
  fitness
• Impact of hypokinetic diseases and how to address
• Measuring physical fitness
• Normative data exists for multiple
  populations/demographics
• Type of physical fitness
• Health-related fitness of interest to medical
  community
• Need/desire to focus on both elements of physical
  fitness across lifespans for population

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Impact of Quality and Quantity of Physical
Activity Experiences

• Improving skill or physical capacity is dependent
  upon ability to select appropriate practice and
  training experiences
• Principle of quality
• Experiences that engage us in most critical
  elements of activity are most likely to lead to
  increased capacity to perform activity
• Running for distance not likely to yield
  significant gains in weight lifting SAID
  principle
• Principle of quantity
• If all other factors equal, increasing frequency
  of doing critical components of activity will
  usually lead to increased capacity for
  performance of that activity
• Critical components identified via task analysis
• Point of diminishing returns (overtraining)

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Identifying Components of Physical Activity

• Must identify quality of experience that will
  bring about improvement
• Much easier to do for veteran physical activity
  professionals and very difficult for entry-level
  individuals (framework required)
• If activity more toward practice end of
  continuum, experiences applied should be those
  likely to improve skill
• Goal is to identify critical aspects of
  performance that can be learned via carefully
  constructed practices
• If activity more toward physical
  capacity/conditioning end of continuum, focus
  will be on training experiences that promote
  conditioning appropriate for the activity

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Critical Components of Physical Activity

• Determining skill components critical for
  learning
• Motor skill taxonomies are classification systems
  that categorize skills according to common
  critical elements
• Large vs. small movements, water vs. land, fast
  vs. slow
• Closed skills
• Predictable environment, movements consistent
  from trial to trial, coordinating movements with
  changing environment unnecessary, anticipation of
  external events unnecessary
• Open skills
• Environment unpredictable, movements vary from
  trial to trial, coordinating movements with
  changing environment essential, anticipation of
  external events essential

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Critical Components of Physical Activity

• Determining practice experience critical for
  improving skills
• Skills nearer to closed end of continuum best
  practiced in situations where environment is
  structured the same way on each trial
• Skills nearer to open end of continuum best
  practiced where environment structured in
  different ways on each trial to develop open
  technique that can adapt to variety of
  environmental stimuli
• Determining experiences appropriate for training
• Unlike skill, involve physical performance
  capacity elements such as muscular
  strength/endurance, flexibility, CV endurance
• Evaluate extent to which each performance
  capacity element contributes to desired activity
  (golf vs. marathon runner)
• Consultation with expert/s in field to determine
  best training methods

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Heredity and Experience

• Abilities as building blocks for experiences
• Genetic predispositions that offer
  advantages/disadvantages to particular activities
  are called abilities
• Individuals with greater amounts of unique
  abilities possess more potential for success in
  that activity than others without abilities
• Interaction of experiences and abilities
• Abilities are foundations upon which we build
  experiences
• Those with greater abilities required in activity
  have potential for higher achievement but will
  not realize potential unless they capitalize on
  opportunities for improving performance via
  practice and training
• Some fall short of potential despite unique
  abilities (underachievers)
• Some exceed potential despite lacking abilities
  (overachievers)