Our Player Pathway and Sports Career Pathway students have worked hard in the gym this term, whether that be building fitness for matchday, or gaining valuable real-world experience.
Player Pathway
Our students have full gym access, including our HIVE facilities, and at least one session per week with our strength and conditioning and rehab staff. This allows the students to maximise their performance on the pitch, and stay fit and healthy off the pitch.
These sessions comprise of full body workouts, focusing on movement competencies and hypertrophy, resulting in better mobility and an increase in muscle. Power production is also a key area of focus in the gym, as explosiveness on the pitch gives our students the upper hand, gaining that yard of pace and being able to work harder.
Sports Career Pathway
Strength and Conditioning
Our strength and conditioning students have been hard at work in the gym this term, gaining vital experience when shadowing our staff at Stockport Sports Village, while working alongside the Player Pathway students.
The students received an introduction on how to safely operate gym equipment, including free weights and cardio machines. Our strength and conditioning staff have also focused on upper and lower body workshops, in which the students have specialised in bench press and squat exercises.
Fitness testing is an imperative aspect of strength and conditioning in sport, and gaining this knowledge at a young age sets our students apart. Using the HIVE facilities at Stockport Sports Village, they have tested the Player Pathway students’ power, endurance, speed, agility and flexibility.
Rehab
The rehab students have focused on Exercise Prescription this term, as an introduction to the course. This involves taking normal gym movements, regressing and progressing to apply to different injuries. The students have also practiced anatomy and palpation on both a dummy and the other students. This allows the students to assess athletes for injury, getting a feel for the size, consistency, texture, location, and tenderness of an organ or body part.
Gaining a basic understanding of the anatomy is key to accessing the rehab industry, which has been a primary focus for the students this term. Split into two parts, the students studied bone and muscular groups. The bone groups were broken down into three sections: Upper limb, lower limb and back and neck. Upper limb targeted the wrist, hand, elbow and shoulders, while lower limb focused on foot, ankle, knees and hips. The back and neck workshop then showed the students the spine, scapula and cranium.
The muscular structure followed the same pattern, with the students studying upper limb, lower limb and back and chest. The upper limb workshop showed the students the movements and location of the bicep, tricep, forearms and shoulders. Similarly, the lower limb primarily targets the calves, quads, hamstrings and glutes, while the chest and back module gave our students an understanding of the back, neck, pectoral and abdominal muscles.
