Strength and Flexibility Training

What Strength and Flexibility Training covers

Strength and Flexibility Training is examined in Component 01, Physiological factors affecting performance. It covers types of strength and strength testing, strength training methods, adaptations to strength training, types of flexibility and flexibility testing and flexibility training methods and adaptations.

The 5 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Types of strength and strength testingStrength endurance, maximum strength and explosive strength, static and dynamic strength, fibre type and cross-sectional area, the grip dynamometer, one repetition maximum, press-up and sit-up tests and the vertical jump.Open →
• Strength training methodsRepetitions and sets for maximum strength, strength endurance and explosive strength, recovery between sets, multi-gyms and free weights, plyometrics for a basketball player, and circuit training and its variables.Open →
• Adaptations to strength trainingMuscle hypertrophy of fast glycolytic fibres, hyperplasia, connective tissue, early neural gains, motor unit recruitment, the Golgi tendon organs, agonist and antagonist coordination, buffering and anaerobic enzymes.Open →
• Types of flexibility and flexibility testingStatic active, static passive and dynamic flexibility, the hurdler, joint type, connective tissue, age and gender, the sit and reach test and its limitation, and the goniometer.Open →
• Flexibility training methods and adaptationsStatic and passive stretching, PNF and its stages, dynamic stretching in a sprint warm-up, ballistic and isometric stretching, when to stretch, and how muscles and connective tissues adapt.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Strength and Flexibility Training further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Maximum strength vs Explosive strength

  Maximum strength: the greatest force a muscle can produce in one voluntary contraction. Explosive strength: the ability to apply great force very quickly in one fast movement.

• Static strength vs Dynamic strength

  Static strength: force exerted with no change in muscle length or joint position. Dynamic strength: force exerted while the limbs move through a range.

• Static active flexibility vs Static passive flexibility

  Static active flexibility: a range held by the performer's own muscle contraction alone. Static passive flexibility: a range held with help from a partner, gravity or equipment.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Define strength endurance.

   Model answer

   Strength endurance is the ability of a muscle to sustain repeated contractions over time. Strength endurance resists fatigue during long periods of work.

2. 2

   Give a sporting example where strength endurance is important.

   Model answer

   A rower needs strength endurance to repeat powerful strokes throughout a 2,000 m race. A 400 m swimmer also relies on strength endurance.

3. 3

   Define maximum strength.

   Model answer

   Maximum strength is the greatest force a muscle or muscle group can produce in a single voluntary contraction. A weightlifter's single maximal lift depends on maximum strength.

4. 4

   What is explosive or elastic strength?

   Model answer

   Explosive strength is the ability to produce maximum force in the shortest possible time. Explosive strength is often called power.

5. 5

   Which type of strength does a sprinter use leaving the blocks, and why?

   Model answer

   The sprinter uses explosive strength. The legs must apply a very large force in a fraction of a second.

6. 6

   What is the difference between static and dynamic strength?

   Model answer

   Static strength is force applied without any change in muscle length or joint position. Dynamic strength is force applied while the limbs move.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Strength and Flexibility Training revision questions

What does Strength and Flexibility Training cover in OCR A-Level Physical Education?

5 subtopics: types of strength and strength testing, strength training methods, adaptations to strength training, types of flexibility and flexibility testing and flexibility training methods and adaptations. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Strength and Flexibility Training organised?

By the OCR H555 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.