SELF-TESTING ACTIVITIES

Lesson 3
Aerobics

TOPICS
• Aerobics exercise
• Types of aerobics

Learning outcomes
At the of the lesson, you should be able to:
a. Perform aerobics
b. Internalize the importance of aerobics

Aerobic Exercise refers to exercise which is of moderate intensity, undertaken for a long duration.
Aerobic means “with oxygen” and refers to the use of oxygen in a muscle’s energy- generating
process. Many types of exercises are aerobic, and by definition are performed at moderate levels
of intensity for extended periods of time.

• Aerobics exercise is sometimes known as “cardio” exercise that requires pumping of

oxygenated blood by the heart to deliver oxygen to working muscles.
• Aerobics exercise stimulates the heart rate and breathing rate to increase in a way that can be
sustained for the exercise session. In contrast, anaerobic (without oxygen) exercise is activity
that causes you to be quickly out of breath, like sprinting or lifting a heavy weight.
• Examples of aerobic exercises include cardio machines, running, swimming, walking, hiking,
and aerobics classes, dancing, cross country skiing, and kickboxing. There are many other
types.
• Aerobic exercise can become anaerobic if performed at a level of intensity that is too high.
• Aerobic exercise not only improves fitness; it also has known benefits for both physical and
emotional health.
• Aerobic exercise can help prevent or reduce the change of developing some cancer, diabetes,
depression, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis.
• An aerobic exercise plan should be simple, practical and realistic. Specific equipment (such as
cardio machines) may be used but is not necessary for successful aerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercises you can do at home:

1. Skipping – stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the jump rope’s handles firmly.
Swing the rope atop your head and jump quickly as the rope nears the front of your feet. It
might need a little practice to get going at a faster rate, which comes with regular practice.
2. Jumping jacks – stand straight with your feet together and hands alongside your thighs. Now
jump with your feet spread sideways and arms above your head simultaneously. Jump back to
the normal position. 30 minutes of jumping jacks can help you shed 200 calories. However,
 doing it continuously could be a challenge and monotonous. Thus, break them into three
sessions of 10 minutes each get a 5 minutes rest in between.
3. Stair kicks – this aerobic exercise primarily targets your calves, hamstrings, glutes, and quad.
Apart from toning your lower body, it boosts the stamina of your cardiovascular system. Walk
up and down the stairs for 15-20 minutes at a steady pace. Gradually increase the time 30
minutes and your speed to a faster rate.
4. Butt kicks – this exercise works on your hamstring and glutes. Stand with your feet, shoulder-
width apart and bend your arms towards the sides. Bend your right knee like you are jogging
and touch your butt with the right ankle. Repeat with the other leg. Keep the pace slow until
you have perfected it. Complete 2 or 3, 30 second to 1-minutes sets.
5. Mountain climber – the primary muscles this exercise works upon are the abs, glutes, hips,
and legs. Get into a high plank position with your core tight. Now, bring your right knee up
towards the center of your stomach and quickly switch to the left leg. Begin with a slower pace
and increase it gradually. Do 1-2 sets pf 8-10 repetitions. It is necessary to align your body
properly during this exercise.
6. Bear crawls - This exercise strengthens your whole body and increases muscle power.
It boosts your metabolism and improves cardiovascular health. Get down on your legs
and hands, with knees slightly bent, but with your back flat. Walk in this position with
your right foot and left hand forward, followed by the left foot and right hand forward.
This completes one repetition. Practice 2–3 sets of 15–20 repetitions each.
7. Burpees - Burpees are intense full-body exercises which increase your blood
circulation, heart rate, strength, and flexibility. Stand with your feet shoulder-width
apart and get into a squat position. Bend forward to place your palms in front of your
feet and stretch your feet behind to get into a plank position. Immediately, return to the
squat position and jump. Practice 3–5 sets of 8–15 repetitions each.
8. Squat jacks – this exercise works great on your lower body and improves posture and stability.
Stand with your feet together and hands alongside your thighs. Jump up and spread your feet
while you settle into a squat position. Push through the heels and jump back up and return to
the starting position. Do 1-2 sets of 8-15 repetitions each.
9. Inch worm - This exercise gives a complete warm-up to your body. It strengthens your
arms, chest, upper and lower back, and abs. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Bend at your waist and let your hands touch the floor. Walk your hands forward to attain
a plank position. Once you are in the plank position, walk your feet towards your hand
and stand. Practice 2–3 sets of 10–15 repetitions each.
10. High knees - Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lift your knees up to
the waist level and drop your feet slowly down. Repeat with the other leg. This
completes one cycle. Practicing high knees burns more calories and increases the
metabolism. Practicing sets of 30 seconds each as long as you can comfortably manage
helps.
11. Box jumps - You would need a bench or a sturdy box to do this exercise. Choose a box
with the height equivalent to your mid-calf, if you are doing it for the first time. Stand
with your feet shoulder-width apart, facing the box. Now, bend your knees, swing your
arms, and land on the box lightly. To return, just step back one foot at a time.
 12. Jumping lunges – You would need a bench or a sturdy box to do this exercise. Choose a box
with the height equivalent to your mid-calf, if you are doing it for the first time. Stand with
your feet shoulder-width apart, facing the box. Now bend your knees, swing your arms, and
land on the box lightly. To return, just step back one foot at a time.

Lesson 4
Introduction To Gymnastics

TOPICS
• Introduction to gymnastics
• Gymnastics activities; educational, therapeutic and competitive
• Types of gymnastics

Learning outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
a. Recognize from where gymnastic had started and its contribution to education and sports
development.
b. Differentiate gymnastics as educational, therapeutic, and competitive.

I. Introduction to gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport basic to all sport and is recognized for its vital role in the
development of the total fitness of the individual. It is an artistic expression of ideas, a graceful
yet demanding and difficult movement process that aimed either for fitness or competition
purposes or both.

The record shows that during the ancient time, the Chinese and Egyptians were the first
to practice various gymnastics routines for fitness and entertainment. The Chinese developed
Kung Fu or medical gymnastic. They do lots of body exercises to prepare and condition the
body against sickness, for they do believe more on disease prevention rather than treatment.
On the other hand, the Egyptians used gymnastics simply for entertainment.

The Greeks were the first to develop the competitive aspects of gymnastics which
originally meant all forms of athletics. It was first practice at ancient Olympic Games at Mount
Olympus.

The early Greeks (Spartans) emphasized the feat for strength, while the later Greeks
(Athenians) developed the scientific system of exercises that combined the elements of skills,
grace and strength. All these sprang from their belief in the ideals of a sound mind in a body.
 The word gymnastics was defined by historian as a naked art derived from the Greek
word Gymnos which mean naked, as the word gymnazien means to practice naked. This is
why women were excluded from the ancient Games, both as competitors and spectators.

Like the Spartans, the Romans used gymnastics exercises for military training. They
use wooden horse to develop their prowess in horse riding during the battle or fight for victory.

The Hindu have another form of gymnastics exercises, performed in time with their
prayers or meditation. This approach in exercising known Yoga is quiet, smooth, and slow
for they believe that the body is the home of spirit so sacred that it should be kept perfectly
healthy.

Modern gymnastics were developed by German educators in devising exercises using

pieces of stationary apparatus to develop physical strength and discipline. The Swedish system
emphasized rhythm and coordination through movements borrowed from dance in the process
of exercising different parts of the body thus developing the aesthetic expressiveness and
gracefulness.

The following educators were instrumental in the development in gymnastics:

Johann Bernhard Basedow (German, 1723-1970) – introduced gymnastics in the school

curriculum.

Johann guts Muths (German, 1759-1839) – known as the great grandfather of gymnastics.
He invented the outdoor apparatuses like the seesaw, horizontal ladder, the oblique wooden
ladder, climbing rope, balance beam and rope ladder. He wrote the book entitled Gymnastics
for the Youth.

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (German, 1778-1852) – considered as the Father of Modern

Gymnastics. He started the Turnverein Movement (tumbling clubs) generally for young men
in Germany.

Pehr Henrik Ling (Swedish, 1776-1839) – introduce gymnastics in European schools. He

invented the stall bars and vaulting box or Swedish box.

Adolf Spies (Swiss) – introduce fancy marching and freehand exercise performed with music.

II. Gymnastic activities: educational, therapeutic and competitive

Educational gymnastics – a program that challenge you to master tactics involving strength,
rhythm, balance, flexibility, and agility.
 Therapeutic or remedial gymnastics – a series of selected exercise that help you to relieve
physical discomfort or restore function to disabled people.

Competitive gymnastics – consist of prescribed sets of events for men and women each of
which is scored separately in order to determine winner.

III. Types of gymnastics

1. Women’s artistic gymnastics

Women’s artistic gymnastics (often shortened to just “women’s gymnastics”) attracts the
most participants and is generally the most well-known type of gymnastics. It’s also one
of the first tickets to sell out at the Olympic Games.

The events: in women’s artistic gymnastics, athletes compete on four apparatus (vault,
uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise).

Competition: The Olympic competition consists of:

• Team: five athletes are on a team (in the future, that will change to just four). In
preliminaries, four athletes compete on each event and three score count. In finals, three
athletes compete on each event and every score counts towards the team total.
• Individual all -around: an athlete competes in all four events and the total score is added
up.
• Individual event: an event champion is named on each apparatus.

2. Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

This is the second most popular type of gymnastics in the United States and the oldest form
of gymnastics.

The events: Men compete on six apparatus: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault,
parallel bars and horizontal bar (usually called high bar).

Competition: Olympic competition is held in the same format as women’s artistic

gymnastics, with a team, all-around and individual events competition. The only difference
is that the men compete in their six events, whereas the women compete across their four
events.

3. Rhythmic gymnastics
In rhythmic gymnastics, gymnasts perform jumps, tosses, leaps and other moves with
different types of apparatus. This is currently a female-only sport in the Olympics.

The events: athletes compete with five different types of apparatus: rope, hoop, ball, clubs,
and ribbon. Floor exercise is also an event in the lower levels or competition.
 Competition: at the Olympics, rhythmic gymnasts compete in:
• Individual all-around: an athlete competes on four of the five events (every two years,
one apparatus is rotated out) and the total score is added.
• Individual events: a gymnast is named the champion on each of the four apparatus
currently in rotation.
• Group competition: five gymnasts compete in two different routines. In one routine, all
of the athletes use the same apparatus. In the second routine, the gymnasts use two
different pieces of equipment (for example, three gymnasts will use the ball and two
gymnasts will use the hoop).

4. Trampoline
In trampoline gymnastics, gymnasts perform high-flying flips and twists on every bounce.
This became an Olympic discipline for the 2000 Olympics.

To add trampolinists to the quota allotted for gymnastics, artistic teams were reduced from
seven team members to six.

The event: a compulsory and a voluntary routine are performed in the Olympic
competitions. Each consists of ten skills and is done on the same type of trampoline.

Double mini (gymnasts use a smaller, two-level trampoline) and synchronized (two
athletes perform at the same time on different trampolines) are competitive events in the
U.S., but not in the Olympics.

5. Tumbling
Power tumbling is performed on a spring performed on a spring runway much bouncier
that the floor exercise mat used in artistic gymnastics. Because of its spring, athletes are
able to perform very complicated flips and twists in succession.

The events: all tumbling is done on the same strip. The gymnast performs two passes in
each stage of the competition, with eight elements in each pass.

Competition: tumbling is not an Olympic event, but is part of the junior Olympic program
in the United States and is competed internationally as well.

6. Acrobatic gymnastics
In acrobatic gymnastics, the athletes are the equipment. A two to four gymnast team
performs all types of handstands, holds and balances on each other, while members of the
team throw and catch their teammates.

The events: acrobatics is always performed on the same floor exercise mat.
 The events competed are men’s pairs, women’s pairs, mixed pairs, women’s groups (three
gymnasts) and men’s groups (four gymnasts).

Competition: acrobatic gymnastics is not an Olympic event, but it is also part of the U.S.
junior Olympic program and is competed internationally.

7. Group gymnastics
Group gymnastics in the United States is usually performed competitively under the name
TeamGym. In TeamGym, athletes compete together in a group of six to sixteen gymnasts.
The group may be all-female, all-male or mixed.

The events: in the U.S., participants in TeamGym compete in the group jum event
(performances in tumbling, vault, and mini-trampoline) and the group floor exercise.

Competition: TeamGym is not an Olympic event, but is competed in the United States
and abroad in invitational meets, as well as local, regional, national and international
competitions.

Prepared by
FRANCIS F. PALAGANAS
Instructor